Arai took the lead. Sword in hand, he began to climb the dark, winding steps, his armor clanking with every footfall. He was tired, and thirsty, and bruised, and bleeding, but still he carried on -- ignoring the blood, ignoring the pain, ignoring the weight of his armor. His journey, at last, was nearing its end -- the Night Queen's inner sanctum was just ahead, at the top of these steps, at the top of this gloomy tower.

She would die tonight. He would make sure of that.

His companions -- the two that remained -- followed him up the steps. Odo was a huge bear of a man, nearly seven feet tall and incredibly strong. He carried a battle axe in one hand and a flaming torch in the other, and his expression, at the moment, was uncharacteristically serious. Half his face was covered in blood, but Arai was sure it wasn't his blood, but rather, the blood of the Night Queen's guards, whom they had encountered several floors below.

Behind Odo came Maya, another of Arai's stalwart companions, and the one who had been with him the longest. She wore the blue robes of the Selestrian Order, and carried a staff topped with a brilliant red ruby. Maya, however, was not a fighter, but a healer -- an expert herbalist and bonemender -- and her staff was less a weapon than a symbol of her office. Arai had wanted her to stay behind with Grizz and the others at Fort Drakness, but she had insisted on accompanying him to the Night Queen's tower. "I was with you in the beginning," she had told him determinedly, "and I'll see it through to the end."

He glanced back at her. Maya was a lovely young woman, with ocean-blue eyes and blonde hair that just brushed her shoulders, but she looked rather disheveled at the moment: her robes were dirty from the fall she had taken earlier, and the ribbons she used to tie her hair had come undone. "How are you holding up?" he whispered to her.

"I'll be fine," she whispered back. "It's Vex I'm worried about."

Arai frowned. Vex, a young sorcerer, was another companion who had accompanied him to the Nightfall. They had been separated when the Night Queen's guards had ambushed them below. "I'll hold them off!" Vex had shouted at them, desperately slinging spells at the black-armored warriors. "Go!"

And so, reluctantly, they had gone, leaving him behind. Arai wondered if he was still alive.

He shook his head, forcing the thoughts from his mind. He couldn't afford to lose focus now; there was still work to be done. It had been over a hundred years since the Night Queen had seized control of Velon, and Arai's rebellion was the first one that had even come close to succeeding. They had to seize this opportunity. They had to rid the world of this sorceress, once and for all. Nothing else mattered.

They arrived, at last, at the top of the steps, where stood a giant door. The doors had been sealed with a magical lock, but Arai's sword, Silus, cut through it easily.

"Are you ready?" Arai asked his friends.

"Ready," Maya said.

"Ready," Odo growled. "Let's kill this witch and go home."

Arai nodded gravely at that, and pushed the doors open. They groaned terribly on their hinges.

The room beyond was as dark and gloomy as the rest of the tower, lit only by a handful of candles. It was a big room, with a smoking, bubbling cauldron in its center, and it was very cluttered, full of books and scrolls. The walls were lined with shelves, and the shelves, too, were cluttered: dismembered dolls, bits of jewelry, dozens of glass jars and vials, and assorted hand tools were messily arranged along the whole length of the room. There was also a large workbench in one corner. The room, Arai thought, looked more like a blacksmith's shop or manufactory than a witch's chambers.

In the center of the room, looking down into the cauldron, was the witch herself: the Night Queen. This was the first time Arai had ever seen her -- to the best of his knowledge it was the first time anyone had ever seen her, with the possible exception of Lord Pierce and his ancestors. The Night Queen had secluded herself within the tower of Nightfall for the better part of a century, ruling through her proxies; she had never had any direct contact with the people of Velon.

The witch was almost as tall as Odo, and fully armored. The armor she wore was similar to that of her guards -- it was extremely ornate, and it glistened like obsidian. Her face was completely concealed behind a huge, horned helmet, which made her look even taller, and a black cape had been draped about her shoulders. She was carrying a staff in one gauntled hand -- the famous Staff of Night. Dozens of jewels, amulets, bits of bone, blobs of amber, and other strange accouterments had been affixed to it; some of these talismans were glowing ominously.

She was a terrifying presence. Arai had spent the last two years fighting the Night Queen's minions -- her monsters, her assassins, her elite guards, even her fearsome dragon Catalyus -- but none of those had frightened him. Finally seeing the Night Queen in person, however -- this was enough to unnerve even him. He had grown up hearing tales of the Night Queen's incredible power, of her incredible cruelty.

He tightened his grip on his sword.

The witch looked up from her cauldron, regarding them calmly. "You must be Arai," she said, her voice reverberating through the room.

"You're finished, Lillandra," he declared. "Your men have already fled the capital. The Steelmen are laying siege to Fort Drakness as we speak, and your dragon is nothing but a pile of maginite now -- the Ice Wyrm I rode out of the Frozen Mountains saw to that. The rest of your monsters will soon follow."

"I can always call for more monsters."

"No," he snarled. Behind him, his two companions had begun to spread out -- Odo, hefting his battle axe, was moving to his right, while Maya, clutching her staff, was moving to his left. "You've terrorized this country long enough. For King Reemus, for my father, and for the people of Velon, I will cut you down."

The witch regarded him for a long moment. "I won't let it end like this," she said at last, and to Arai it seemed as though she was speaking more to herself than to him. "I've spent too much, sacrificed too much, to see it all come crashing down now." She loosened her cape and flung it away. "Come, then! You've defeated Lord Pierce? You've defeated Catalyus? Let us see how you fare, then, against Lillandra, the Queen of the Night!" She raised her staff, and out of the tip came a ball of flame.

Arai dove for cover, and the flame splashed against the brick wall behind him. At the same moment, Odo, roaring out a battle cry, threw himself at the witch, swinging his axe for all he was worth. She retreated a few steps, then spun her staff around and pointed the other end of it at him. Immediately, he was lifted off his feet, as if by a strong wind -- the axe went flying out of his hand, and he crashed into one of the witch's bookshelves, which toppled over and fell on him. Dazed, he dug himself out of the pile of fallen books and scrambled to retrieve his axe.

Maya attacked next, with her ruby-tipped staff, but she had no better luck: the Night Queen threw her back with a jet of flame.

But now Arai was charging forward, holding his sword out like a talisman. The blade cancelled out magic and protected him from magical harm; it was the one weapon the Night Queen could not stand against. It had taken him almost two years to find the sword, in the arctic wastes beyond the Frozen Mountains. It would not fail him now.

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The Night Queen pointed her staff at him as he came barrelling forward. Another fireball erupted from the tip, but Arai forced himself to stand firm this time, and with the sword held out before him, the flames washed over him harmlessly. Grimly, he took a step forward, but the witch kicked over her cauldron, right in front of him, and the boiling, noxious fluid within spilled out, forcing him to back away from it, lest he be burned.

Odo was on his feet now and ready to throw himself at the witch once again. Maya, too, looked ready to join the battle. Together, the two of them raced forward, on either side of Arai.

The Night Queen held her staff horizontally, gripping it with both hands, and began whispering something he couldn't quite hear. The air pressure in the room suddenly changed; Arai felt his ears pop. He held his sword out again, to shield himself from whatever magic the witch was conjuring up, and shouted a warning to Odo and Maya: "Look out!"

The Night Queen finished speaking, and the dark room was suddenly illuminated by a brilliant flash of light, so bright that Arai was forced to close his eyes against it. When he opened them, he found the witch still standing in front of him, holding her staff...but Odo, on his right, and Maya, on his left, had stopped dead in their tracks.

Both of them had been turned to stone.

"Odo? Maya?" But there was no response. His friends were nothing more than lifeless statues now, both of them frozen in mid-stride.

The witch stared at him, clearly confused by the fact that her spell hadn't worked on him. "How did you...?"

Silus had protected him from her spell, but Arai saw no need to explain this to her. Infuriated, he howled out a war cry of his own and flung himself at the Night Queen, raising his sword and bringing it down on her with all the strength he had. She started to say something -- probably she was trying to cast another spell -- but it was too late; Silus, the Radiant Blade, was already crashing down.

Panicked, the witch scrambled back, raising the Staff of Night in a desperate attempt to block the sword.

The two weapons met, and the Night Queen screamed. There was some kind of explosion; Arai remembered seeing a shower of sparks.

And then everything went black.

* * *

He awoke with the sun in his eyes. For a moment he thought he must be back home, in the house he shared with his father, and that the sunlight was streaming in through the window over his bed. But that couldn't be; that house had burned to the ground two years ago.

Blinking the sun out of his eyes, he sat up and looked around.

He was sitting on a grassy knoll near the bank of a large river, which must have been at least two hundred feet across. The river ran through a thick forest; there were evergreen trees on both shores. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm, and the sky was very blue. The air was full of birdsong.

Disoriented, he slowly climbed to his feet and took stock of himself. He was wearing his armor, and his sword was lying on the ground next to him. He picked it up and sheathed it.

Where the hell was he? The memories suddenly came flooding back -- he remembered his battle to the top of the Nightfall, his confrontation with the Night Queen, and the moment Odo and Maya had been turned to stone. What had happened? How had he gotten here?

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. It had been the middle of the night when he had stormed the Nightfall, but it appeared to be midday now. And this couldn't possibly be Velon -- it was winter in Velon, but here, it was obviously spring, or perhaps early summer. How long had he been asleep? Had the Night Queen managed to cast some spell on him after all?

He looked around some more. He appeared be alone...

No, he wasn't alone; there was someone else lying on the riverbank, about twenty feet away from where he stood. He approached the figure cautiously.

It was a girl, perhaps seventeen or eighteen years old -- a few years younger than Arai. She was extremely pale, with bright red lips and long, dark hair, and she was dressed in a strange, old-fashioned kind of outfit, which consisted of interlinking straps made of black leather that had been woven together into a blouse and skirt. She was also wearing a golden bracelet with several rubies set into it. She was fast asleep.

The girl was unfamiliar to him. What was she doing here? Was she all right? Was she injured?

He was just about to kneel down next to her, to check if she was breathing, when he noticed something lying in the sand a few feet away from her. It was a broken staff, covered with strange talismans. He recognized it instantly: the Staff of Night.

He frowned, and gave the girl another look. Could it be?

The girl's eyes suddenly flashed open. Seeing Arai, she sputtered out an oath and scrambled away from him. "Stay back," she warned. Then, spotting the broken staff, she lunged for it, whispered something under her breath, and pointed one of the pieces at him. Alarmed, Arai reached for his sword, to protect himself from whatever spell the girl was casting.

Nothing happened, however. The girl tried again, and again, but still, nothing happened; the magic failed to respond. Frustrated, she threw the staff to the ground and muttered, "Useless."

Arai drew his sword anyway. "Who are you?" he demanded.

She straightened, and gave him an imperious look. She was a rather pretty girl, he thought -- not quite beautiful, but certainly attractive. Her dark hair and dark eyes contrasted sharply with her pale skin, and she had a nice figure.

"I'm Lillandra," she declared.

Arai's frown deepened. He had already begun to suspect this, but how was it possible? This girl looked nothing like the armored monster he had encountered at the top of the Nightfall. For one thing, she must have been at least two feet shorter. Arai towered over her.

"Lillandra," he said suspiciously.

"Yes."

"The Queen of the Night? The Shadow of Velon?"

She nodded.

"You look different without your armor."

"That was just an illusion," she said. "The armor, the helmet, all of it."

"And this is the reality?"

She nodded again.

"That's impossible. The Night Queen was over a hundred years old. You don't look a day over eighteen."

"I've been asleep for a very long time."

Arai didn't know what she meant by that, but he let it slide. With his sword still drawn, he began moving towards her. "Where are we?"

She backed away from him, afraid. "I don't know."

"How did we get here?"

"I don't know."

"How much time has passed since our battle at the Nightfall?"

"I don't know."

"What do you know?"

She didn't answer that, but said instead, "There's something special about that sword."

"Oh, indeed."

"Where did it come from?"

"Why should I tell you? Why shouldn't I cut you down right here?" He pointed the blade at her. "You may look different, but you're still the Queen of the Night, the usurper who killed King Reemus and conquered Velon. You've allowed monsters to run rampant all over the country. Your men killed my father."

"Your father?"

"Hetsu, the captain of the Steelmen."

"Never heard of him," she said carelessly.

Arai narrowed his eyes at this insult. "If you thought putting on this disguise would stay my hand, you were sorely mistaken. I swore to kill you, and I intend to do exactly that." He took a step forward.

"Wait!" she cried. "You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Your friends. Your friends, back at the Nightfall. I turned them to stone."

"So you did." He raised his sword.

"I'm the only one who can reverse that spell," she said desperately. "If you kill me, they'll never return to normal."

Arai stopped. Was this true? It very well could be. The witch would say anything to save herself, he was sure, but if there was even the slightest possibility that she was telling the truth...

He lowered his sword. "Very well. I'll leave you alive until you reverse the spell...or until I can find a sorcerer who can tell me the truth of the matter. Make no mistake, though. You've only delayed the inevitable. I swore to kill you--"

"--and you intend to do exactly that," she finished. "Yes, I heard you the first time."

Arai sheathed his sword, picked up the broken pieces of the Staff of Night, and threw them into the river. The staff had been made of some kind of gnarled oak, but the pieces were so weighed down with amulets and talismans that they sank immediately.

"It took me seventy years to construct those zemi," the witch said bitterly.

"Zemi?"

"The enchanted objects affixed to the staff. The Crux of Illusion, the Eagle's Wing, the Lock of Petrification, the Prickle of Ice..." She trailed off, her hands curling into little fists. "All that work..."

"And give me that bracelet, too."

She glanced at the golden bracelet. "It's just for show," she told him. "There's no magic in it."

But Arai wasn't taking any chances. "Hand it over."

She reluctantly slipped the bracelet off her wrist and gave it to him. He put it on his belt.

"Now," he said brusquely, "let's get moving."

"Where are we going?"

"Upriver. We need to find out where we are, and how we got here." He lifted his chin in the direction he intended for them to go. "Start walking."

"I don't--"

"If you try to escape me I'll cut you in two, and don't bother trying to cast any spells." He tapped the pommel of his sword. "Silus protects me from magical harm."

"Silus? The Radiant Blade? You're joking."

He shook his head.

She eyed the sword nervously. "You actually found it. Lord Pierce told me you'd gone searching for it, but--"

"Start walking," he repeated.

She closed her mouth and gave him a dark look, but she did as he asked, and together -- Lillandra took the lead, so Arai could keep an eye on her -- they started making their way up the shore.