Faris looked over his shoulder before disappearing in a golden whoosh of light. He slowly approached the darkened cave entrance and softly whispered,"Ea."

A candle lit and after a pause a wall of candles caught flame and brightened. A figure was at a spinning wheel turning it in a steady rhythm. The thread was perfectly round and bright white. 

"You should not have come," said the figure letting a chuckle go.

"I am sorry, Dear Aulder. I just have to know." Faris plead. 

"She is the one and you know it, you feel it in your scales,"The figure admonished.

"You know I don't have scales." He bristled 

Aulder's skin rippled revealing very distinct scales in blue and lavender then subsiding to leave the appearance of skin. Then the figure leaned in and lifted the spool and very carefully burnt the end with a wisp of firebreath and tied it off.

"Too much of the Elves in you." the figure studied him with a stern eye, "You cannot even see well in the dark."

"I do not question that. I do question the Gods for sending a stubborn, out of shape old woman to do what is required." He was exasperated.

"You sound most ungrateful child." Aulder spat, leaving sparks in the air, "you need to put her at ease. If we don't have her help, then we risk the magic."

Faris simply bowed and motioned the candles to go out.

"He knows she is here too," Aulder warned.

He once again looked over his shoulder and then stepped into a golden light with a whoosh and arrived at the camp. He strode angrily toward his own tent to find several paiges waiting. He sighed and resigned himself to reading messages being stacked on his desk in a haphazard fashion. Who knew his mirror would be this busy.

One had an urgent mark on the outside. He picked it up and opened it first. It was a warning that they had to put up a stronger barrier around the city because some healers were attacked at an infirmary on the outskirts. The shadows were grabbing at any of the Healer's sigils, in general. They were reaching out blindly, and he hoped this was to their advantage. They had obviously not found what they were looking for yet. He walked over to his mirror and waved his hand and spoke quietly the name Dragonis.

The image of a very old grumpy elf appeared,"Yes?"

"I wish to talk to your lord." Faris sighed.

"Impossible, He is in the library and said to not be disturbed." The elf grinned at him in a disdainful manner.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Just tell him I need him to come to me. It is urgent, and I think he will be interested." Faris huffed and then waved his hand over the mirror again to reveal his own face. He let the top of his head rest against the mirror as he muttered to himself.

He then made another swipe over the mirror and promptly spoke the name Leirec. 

"Yes, Lord General?" A woman with short black hair looked at him concerned. 

"I need to speak with all the other Commanders and Captains. Please prepare a meeting at the command tent." Faris said gruffly. He was far shorter with her than he intended. She waved the mirror closed and he again rest his head against the mirror.

He turned to stare at his desk and all the messages the paiges had taken down. He sighed loudly and paced between his desk and the mirror. He decided to check on Xander and his mother more personally. He walked out the door of the tent and walked through the camp to Xander's tent. Faris saw Xander stick his head out of the tent as he approached.

“She is sleeping. She is still," Xander paused looking concerned, “unsettled.”

“I am sorry,” Lord Faris said then admitted, “Your mother is not exactly how I imagined her,” 

"She is ever rarely how anyone imagines her,” Xander said grinning. Faris chuckled.

"Now, I have had some news. Can you spare time to walk with me to the command tent?" Faris asked while mindlessly sticking his fingernail into the wood of Xander's tent.

"You want to walk? This must be bad." Xander looked worried.

"It is certainly troublesome," Faris confirmed, "It's about the shadows." 

Screaming erupted not far from them, and both Faris and Xander rushed to see what the problem was. They arrived in time to see several shadows being snuffed except one that was carrying something odd and it seemed to slip every attempt to kill it. Finally, the shadow seemed to slightly catch fire and crumble in on itself and fell to dust, and the object it was carrying hit the ground with a hard thump. A woman with fiery red hair leaned over to pick it up and let the disgust show on her face.

"What is it, Kenna?" Faris had a lump in his throat. She merely held up the severed hand to show him, and it had the Healer's mark, "Get it inside quickly we may still be able to save the hand."

She nodded and went inside the tent, and Faris saw the man holding his arm and crying. He then went to assess his surroundings for weakness in the force field. When he could find none, he came back to the tent.

Xan and Kenna both came up to greet him.

"Who is responsible for the shield this shift? Who was feeding it when the shadows broke through?" Faris was almost yelling but managed to get his anger under control.

"I can find out," Kenna offered. 

"No, I would prefer you guard the guest in my tent," Xander said and then added, "I will find out who was on duty."

"I need you with me at the command tent Xan, send Hector to find out." Faris grew impatient. He stormed off and as he did he looked over his shoulder to see Xan and Kenna kissing. He picked up his pace and huffed.