Part One

Durdrin, my father, and Larynda De’Endar, my mother, met each other a few years before the night Larynda succeeded her mother and became Matron Mother of House De'Endar.

My grandmother had died, and my mother had hired my father’s mercenary group, The Barra D’aron, to protect her from her sisters. In Felynafay when the Matron Mother of a house died or… more commonly… was killed by her daughter, the daughters would often fight each other for the top spot in the house. Grandmother was Matron Mother of the sixth house of Felynafay before she died of old age, a rare occurrence in Drow society.

Thanks to the assistance from my father and his mercenaries, my mother’s three sisters were killed, and she became Matron Mother Larynda of House De’Endar. Grateful for the help and wanting to show her appreciation for her new station, Larynda took Durdrin to her bed chambers. I’d come along a few hundred years and many more romantic encounters later, in the year fifteen-eighty-five.

I don’t know much about the time between when they met and when I was born. However, I do know that on the day I was born, my two brothers, four of my five sisters, five hundred House De’Endar soldiers, along with the Barra D’aron, utterly annihilated the fifth house of Felynafay.

Using a wall of eternal darkness globes to block the battle from view, my family massacred every living being in the house including the slaves. There would be no one left to speak the name of the house that no longer existed.

So, I was born, and my house moved up from sixth house to fifth house of Felynafay.

In our society, there were twenty houses that comprised the nobility, each controlling a yard in our city. A yard referred to the territories the city was divided into. Among these twenty houses, the top ten houses held seats on the ruling council. The ruling council houses commanded the more prestigious yards within the city, further solidifying their status and influence in our society. As Drow, we considered ourselves genetically superior to those beneath us and we ruled over the Deep Dark, our underground home.

Years of selective breeding with only the finest Drow specimens led to the nobility being stronger, faster, smarter, and better looking than the non-Drow. In order to achieve the greatness required to become a ruling house and hold your position you had to be the best, at least, that’s what I was taught as a child.

Dark Elves and Drow alike were motivated by their own greed and hedonism… and the nearest thing to loyalty you’d find is with your house, your family. There was strength in numbers, we understood that much, so family were the only ones you could even remotely trust. If you could even trust them…

My life was uneventful until I turned five years old. At that time, my older brother was afraid that maybe one day I’d try to take his place as Mother’s favorite, so he tried to poison me. However, he did not give me enough, and I survived. Mother pretended to believe it was someone outside the house who had done the deed and conspired to poison her Masdrin, but she knew who the real culprit was.

I would recover a few weeks later and be summoned to the throne room where I found Mother sitting in her throne. On her right stood my five sisters, Jhule, Maya, T'rissdra, Cazna and Baeda. On her left stood my brothers Vielyn and Antzar.

“Come, my son, your dear mother has a gift for you.” I heard her purr.

“Yes, Mother.” I replied as I walked towards her. I stopped and kneeled at her feet, keeping my eyes down like a good boy.

“Masdrin, I am glad to see you’ve recovered from your ordeal. I want you to know, we’ve caught the wretched thing that tried to poison you.” She said softly. I resisted the urge to look up at her. I had gotten whipped in the past for such an indiscretion. “Look at me, my son.” I heard her beckon and my head snapped up immediately to look my mother in the face. I knew better than to disobey her… even if what she told me contradicted what I was taught. Mother’s word was absolute.

“Today we give you the gift of revenge on the one who tried to kill you.” Mother said with a malicious grin.

“Thank you, Matron Mother.” I had been trained to say any time Matron Larynda had showed me any attention.

Mother smiled at me, another rare occurrence, and it felt good. I made a note to find out what made her smile and do that, I liked it when Mother smiled at me, it was much more pleasant than when she was angry with me.

“Seize him!” Mother then shouted angrily, startling me as she pointed her long slender finger at the younger of my two older brothers. My oldest brother, Vielyn, was weapon master of our house, charged with the protection of Matron Larynda and the rest of us. He was happy that he, himself, wasn’t being blamed for my poisoning and quickly complied when mother told them to seize his younger brother.

Antzar reached for his blade, but Vielyn was faster. Without even drawing his own weapon, Vielyn swatted Antzar’s hand away from his dagger, stepped behind him and wrapped his arm around Antzar’s neck. Vielyn leaned back and nearly lifted Antzar up off the ground by his neck while my two oldest sisters, Jhule and Maya, grabbed Antzar’s arms to help Vielyn restrain him.

Antzar was strong and tried to resist but Vielyn was stronger. He tightened his grip and squeezed Antzar’s neck cutting off his air supply and forcing him to stop resisting. “DON’T YOU KILL HIM VIELYN!” Mother shouted at my oldest brother, who was grinning wide as he brought his younger brother to the brink of death in order to force him to stop resisting. Vielyn loosened his grip just a little and I watched Antzar gasp for air.

In all the commotion, Mother had slipped from her throne to stand beside me while I watched my siblings restrain my traitorous brother.

She stood next to me holding a small wooden box which she then held out in front of me. Matron Larynda flipped the lid open to reveal a slender, black dagger with an intricate gold cross guard that coiled around to form a finger loop on each side of the blade. The cross guard formed two long golden sharp horns that terminated into fine points. The grip of the weapon was a crimson red wrap with gold colored stitching holding it in place and the pommel consisted of a small adamantine spike.

“Take this blade, Masdrin, and plunge it into Antzar’s heart.” Mother ordered me. I looked up at her with a puzzled look on my face, I had been taught that we were not supposed to hurt our own family. It was a lesson I had learned the hard way when I decided to bite Vielyn… and he backhanded me across the room.

“Antzar is the one who poisoned you, Masdrin. He fears you, you see, and so he tried to murder you.” Mother said as a frown spread across her face. “He betrayed our family and what is the penalty for anyone who betrays our family?” Mother asked.

“Death.” I replied. We were taught absolute loyalty to the family from the moment we could start understanding words. No single one of us was above the family.

“That’s right, so you take that dagger, and you kill the one who tried to kill you. He betrayed our family.” Mother said and I gave her an affirmative nod and reached for the dagger.

I picked up the dagger and strode confidently towards my older brother. Even though Vielyn had him by the neck and both Jhule and Maya had his arms restrained, Antzar still managed to kick out. He connected square with my chest and launched me across the House De’Endar throne room. As I hit the ground near Mother’s feet, I heard Antzar grunt in pain when Vielyn applied a bit of twisting pressure on his neck, subduing him once again.

“Get up, baby brother, and kill this traitor!” My oldest brother called out. I looked up to see him grinning wide. I too forced a grin while I picked myself up off the ground, this would make mother very happy. Antzar’s kick had knocked the wind out of me and broke two ribs, but young Drow were tough. I was in more pain than I had ever been in my life, but I couldn’t let that stop me. I stifled a grunt as I leaned over and picked up my dagger. Mother had given me a task.

I straightened myself out and walked towards Antzar once again. Once again, he kicked out at me, but this time I was ready. I caught his leg with my foot and using all my strength and momentum I managed to divert myself from being launched across the room again to being launched straight up in the air above my sibling’s heads, just as I had planned. I hit the peak of my ascent and as I began to drop, I readied the dagger, gripping it tight in both hands while I twisted my body around to line up my strike. I came down hard as the entire weight of my five-year-old frame was placed behind the point of the dagger. That point easily pierced my brother’s fine chainmail shirt and plunged deep into his heart, while Vielyn ensured that I wouldn’t accidentally hurt him as he held Antzar tight. I released the blade and rolled to the ground with a thud then groaned in pain as that little stunt had broken another rib.

Vielyn, Jhule, and Maya released their grip on Antzar’s now lifeless body, and it landed unceremoniously on the floor beside me with a dull thud. I slowly stood up, doing my best to try and hide my pain, I retrieved my new gift from my dead brother’s chest. I wiped the blade on Antzar’s cloak before putting it back in its sheath and affixing the sheath to my belt. “Thank you, Matron Mother. I like my present a lot.” I said through gritted teeth.

Standing there forcing a smile and doing my best to fight back tears, I heard my sister T'rissdra speak up. “Mother, I think it’s broken. Maybe we should just put him down, he’s just a male…” she said drawing looks from everyone. They all knew something that I didn’t, my father was one of the few very important males in Felynafay.

“Shut up.” Mother barked at my sister before turning to face my brother. “Vielyn, take him to the physician. If he dies, you die. Understand me, son?” Mother warned.

“I’ll make sure he’s okay, Mother.” He said with a subtle nod. He scooped me up in his arms and walked briskly out of the throne room and towards the physician’s quarters.

“Vielyn, did I do good?” I asked with a grunt.

My brother gave me a proud grin. “Yes,” He replied. “You did very good, little brother.” He added. I grinned back at him before passing out from my injuries.

Vielyn was fiercely loyal to the family and would obey Mother’s orders to the letter.

He stood over us as the physician worked to set my broken bones while ensuring that any medication was first tested on a slave to make sure it did not contain more poison. Vielyn suspected that Antzar had acquired the poison from the physician, but with no proof couldn’t act on those suspicions. Instead, my big brother would watch, vigilant like a spider on their web, as the physician worked away.

A few months would pass, and my wounds would heal with frequent visits from the physician. From then on Vielyn kept me close to him, teaching me the basics of fighting as well as the ways of life in our house.

When I was ten years old, I was walking past my mother’s chambers to go to my own when I overheard arguing.

“He’s not going to the fucking academy. He’ll be trained by me and the Barra D’aron!” I heard a male voice say angrily.

“He’ll go where I tell him to go!” I heard Mother retort.

I pushed the door open just enough to peek through the crack and see Mother arguing with a man I had never seen before. He looked oddly familiar, though, and he had a short, extremely dark, crimson coloured buzz cut, similar in color to my own longer slicked back hair.

The man raised his hand and poked Mother’s chest with his finger as he muttered something I couldn’t hear. This was something I knew was wrong, no man put his hands on a Matron Mother of Felynafay without her express approval and Mother didn’t look very approving.

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I shoved the door open hard and glared at the man as I strode confidently across the room. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stood next to mother watching the strange man.

The mercenary leader wasn’t intimidated by me. He cast me a quick glance, scoffed, and then turned back to Mother. He raised his hand again and with a very subtle movement of my own hand, I gripped my House De’Endar dagger, drew it, and concealed it behind my leg.

He went to poke at Mother again and I swung the blade between the two of them with as much force and speed as I could manage. Durdrin howled in pain when the blade severed his finger. “You little son of a bitch!” He sneered as he grabbed me by the collar with his good hand and lifted me up off the ground.

“VIELYN!” Mother shouted, beckoning the one Drow in the house who would give this man a run for his money.

I couldn’t breathe, the man’s grip on my collar was cutting off my air supply. He pulled me close, nose to nose with him, as he spoke. “I should kill you for this.” He sneered before swinging a powerful backhand against my jaw and dropping me to the ground.

As I faded into unconsciousness, I heard the man re-affirm his point to Mother.

“He trains with me!” was the last thing I heard before blacking out.

I awoke the next morning in my bed with my jaw wired shut and aching horribly.

I groaned and rolled over before sitting up. I was happy when I spotted Vielyn sitting near my door reading a book.

“You’re a lucky boy, Masdrin.” He said with a grin.

I couldn’t speak so I replied with basic Drow Sign Language. “Don’t feel lucky.” I signed. “What happen?”

Vielyn set down his book and leaned forward in his chair. “You stood up to one of the most dangerous men in this city. You cut his finger off and he broke your jaw.” Vielyn explained. “When I heard Mother shout for me, I came running. I saw you on the floor and the two of them arguing. He settled down when he saw me, though. Even he knows not to mess with your big brother.” He explained with a sense of pride I often saw my brother show.

I tried to smile but it hurt too much. “You battle him?” I signed to my brother.

“No. I didn’t have to.” Vielyn recalled the events of the other night and chuckled. “Do you know who that was? The man who’s finger you cut off?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “No matter. He touch Mother.” I signed.

“Oh, but he does matter. That was Durdrin, leader of the Barra D’aron.” Vielyn said as he shook his head.

With a shrug of my shoulders my brother knew that the name of the man and his company meant nothing to me.

“If you weren’t his son, he may have very well killed you… and gotten away with it…” Vielyn replied. I tilted my head as I looked at him. “When you both heal up you will be sent with him for a while. Your education will not take place at the Academy, you’ll go and see the world with Durdrin and the Barra D’aron.” Vielyn said as he flashed his grin at me.

“Mother does not like the idea, but the truth is it will be a better education for you. It will turn you into a real asset to our family.” He said proudly.

I didn’t know how to respond. “Move out of house?” I signed.

Vielyn nodded slowly “Yes, for a short while at least. When you come back House De’Endar will be ready to climb to the top of the ruling council.” He explained. “You make me proud, baby brother. But first, lay back and rest. You need to heal before you leave the safety of our house.” I nodded my head and laid back down to process everything Vielyn had told me.

When my jaw had fully healed and the physician had removed wires that set my jaw in place, I was summoned to Mother’s throne room once again.

Cazna and Baeda came to me first with some new clothing. Fine new garments fit for someone of my station, I was told.

A black shirt made of spidersilk with gold scrollwork embroidering on the collar. It had a shiny gold button near the point of the collar on each side. The shirt buttoned up in front with fancy engraved gold buttons which were covered by a flap of the supple silk fabric. A set of Adamantine and ruby cufflinks fastened my cuffs, and I tucked the shirt into the waistband of my fine black dress pants. As I put on my belt, I affixed my House De’Endar dagger to it so that it hung down in front of my left thigh.

I smiled at my sisters, and they returned the smile. “Mother also wanted you to have these.” Cazna said as she held out a neatly folded black cloak and a fedora hat with a red feather from a surface bird called a cardinal. I placed the hat on my head and the cloak over my shoulders with a flourish and smiled at my sisters.

I noticed Baeda had her hands behind her back and I eyed her carefully. She brought her hands around in front of her to show a small pair of fine shark skin boots “I had these made for you.” My sister said before handing them to me. I took the boots graciously and slipped them onto my feet. They were soft and comfortable and were ornately decorated with embroidery similar to my collar.

“Thank you, sisters!” I said happily as I gave Baeda a hug. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight. When she released me, I turned and hugged Cazna too.

“That clothing is very special and expensive, Masdrin, so make sure you look after them. They’re a symbol of your station, Second-Boy of House De’Endar.” Baeda explained.

“Now go and see Mother. She is waiting for you.” Cazna said with a wide smile. All my siblings understood something that I did not. I was the familial bond between House De’Endar and The Barra D’aron. By Mother acquiescing and allowing Durdrin to train me instead of sending me to the academy it would strengthen the bond between House De’Endar and The Barra D’aron. This would ensure the mercenary group would remain loyal to our house.

I strolled confidently through the halls of House De’Endar until I came to the door of the throne room. The two spear-wielding Drow warriors guarding the door pulled it open for me and I walked through with my head held high, my two sisters right behind me.

“Hello, Matron Mother.” I said as I dropped to one knee and looked to the ground at her feet. My sisters took their place beside Mother.

“Get up, son. You kneel for no one. Not anymore.” Mother replied and I slowly stood up. “You are Masdrin De’Endar, second-boy of House De’Endar, fifth house of Felynafay. You do not need to avert your eyes; you do not kneel.” Mother explained to me.

For one of the only times in my life I looked her directly in her eyes uninvited and, to my surprise, I wasn’t punished. Mother was smiling and a crooked grin found its way onto my face. Mother winced slightly as she noticed the crooked grin, the broken jaw had done some minor damage to the muscles in my right cheek.

I looked at all my sisters and then to my brother before looking back to Mother. “Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

“Because you are special, my handsome boy. Unlike most Drow, who are sent to the academy to learn, you’re going to go with Durdrin, the leader of the Barra D’aron. He is going to teach you the ways of the Shadow Knights. You’ll be much stronger and much smarter than those who go to the academy” Mother responded.

My crooked grin grew wider “Is he still mad at me for cutting his finger off?” I asked. Mother laughed as did Vielyn and Jhule, my two oldest siblings.

A male’s voice came out of the shadows “No, son, your mother’s physician was able to re-attach it, right after he set your jaw.” Durdrin said as he stepped out from behind Mother’s throne.

He held up his hand to reveal the scar around his index finger. “Did you learn anything?” I asked. It was a question often posed to me when my behavior was corrected. I noticed Mother smirk and it emboldened me.

“Yes, I learned that my son would protect his family at any cost, even his own life.” Durdrin said proudly. “I wonder what else you’re capable of…” he pondered to himself.

I glanced from Durdrin to Mother and then back to Durdrin “What will I learn with you?” I asked. This time though, I was inquisitive, not sarcastic or snide.

My father walked over and put his arm around my shoulder. “My son, I am going to teach you everything you need to know to live a long prosperous life. You’ll be trained to fight by the finest warriors in all of Felynafay, you’ll be taught how to outthink your enemy by the finest strategists in the entire world. We’ll travel all over the world, both underground and up on the surface and you’ll learn not only the ways of the Drow but also the ways of many other cultures.” Durdrin said with a wide grin.

He leaned down real close to my ear. “You have so much more waiting for you than being second-boy of the fifth house.” He whispered.

Durdrin was right but I doubt he ever thought I’d become the King of Emberstone by the time I was a hundred years old and the single most powerful man in all Astenet by the time I was four hundred years old.

I looked from Durdrin to Mother as she began to speak. “Masdrin, go make House De’Endar proud.” She said before looking towards Durdrin. “Your father will take good care of you and teach you well.” Mother said as she turned her head to face me once again. “Do not disappoint me, Masdrin. My brave, handsome boy. You and your brother will lead our armies and we’ll ascend through the ranks of the ruling council until we’re at the top.”

“Yes, mother.” I replied before moving to stand proudly in front of my oldest brother. He had been my best friend and my protector since I was an infant.

“Brother, I will miss you.” I said with a frown. Vielyn knelt down to my level and looked me in the eye “Baby brother, you do what Durdrin tells you. Stay on your toes, stay strong, stay sharp.” Vielyn said before standing back up.

He looked from me to Durdrin and then back to me.

Vielyn reached for his belt, to his kukri that was belted to his hip. He drew the blade and inspected it closely; the adamantine edge was scary sharp. This particular blade had a powerful vampiric enchantment, and I knew Vielyn could summon it to his hand with just a thought.

There were five red sapphires embedded in the pommel and five emeralds wrapping around the top of the black horn grip. Vielyn sighed and sheathed the blade before removing the sheathed weapon from his belt. He reached down and fastened it to the right side of my belt, opposite my House De’Endar dagger.

“I will not be there to protect you, so you must protect yourself. That will help you.” Vielyn said as he checked to make sure the weapon was secure.

“I am honored to carry your blade, brother…” I replied proudly. “But how will you protect Mother and our sisters?” I asked.

Vielyn smiled wide and held up his hands “Do you doubt the Weapon Master of the fifth house of Felynafay? I can kill any threat against us with my bare hands!” Vielyn replied with a wide grin. “I just use the blade because Matron Larynda likes when we put on a show.” He said with a wink. I smiled at him and was pretty sure he wasn’t bluffing.

“Come, son, we have no time to waste.” Durdrin, who was grinning happily, said eagerly.

I sighed and looked up to Vielyn as I fought back tears, I was scared to leave the safety of my home, the safety of my family. I felt Vielyn’s hand strike me upside the head, not hard, just hard enough to get my attention before he wagged his finger in my face. “None of that! You’re second-boy of House De’Endar. You’re strong. You fear nothing.” He said sternly.

I steeled myself and nodded before turning and walking back over to Durdrin. My father put his arm around me once again and we headed out of the throne room. “When will I come back?” I asked as we moved through the halls of my house.

Durdrin shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll come back when you’re ready.” He said with a smile. Durdrin had his own plans for me, though, and only a very small fraction of those plans involved House De’Endar. I nodded my head and smiled as we exited the house and walked out of the House De’Endar compound.

I was only ten and a half years old, and I had never been outside the gates of my house until this day. We walked towards an elaborately gilded carriage that was being pulled by a huge black Griffon. “Whoa...” I said as I looked at the magnificent creature in awe. “This is Korlis. He’s a Griffon, but he’s special. He’s much bigger than a normal Griffon and he’s adapted for life underground as well as above ground.” Durdrin said as he waved me into the carriage. I climbed in behind him and sat across from him, riding backwards all the way to the Barra D’aron compound.

As we rode through the underground metropolis I looked on in awe at the splendor of the city. It was dimly lit by different colors of faerie fire and dancing lights. Dark elves and Drow could cast both of those as innate abilities, as well as levitate, cast eternal darkness and a few other abilities I had only just learned to harness.

The “houses” in the town were intricately carved stalactite and stalagmite formations or if you were less fortunate, a hole dug into the cavern wall. As we travelled through the underground metropolis, I realized how nice of a home I had compared to some of the less fortunate dark elves.

“Do not pay them any mind. They are not strong enough to take the power they crave so they stay in their holes.” Durdrin said as he noticed me noticing them.

I looked to him and smiled. “My house is much nicer than most of these places.” I said with a smile as I looked out the windows of the carriage.

Durdrin nodded his head. “Yes… because your mother is smarter and stronger than these elves. Your mother made smart choices and was able to take the power she wanted and, so far, has been able to hold onto it.” Durdrin said with a grin, he knew he had played a large role in her rise to power.

I nodded my head as I began to understand what he was telling me. “We have a nicer place because we are better than them, because Mother is strong and smart.” I said and Durdrin nodded his head.

I turned to look behind me as the carriage began to speed up. We were heading for a dead end, the road ended at a wall of solid stone, or so it seemed. “Uhh…” I said as Korlis barreled towards the wall at full speed. Durdrin didn’t seem to care that we were speeding towards a solid stone wall, he just rested his foot on his knee and folded his hands behind his head then leaned back and smiled at me.

We blew through the stone like it wasn’t even there and on the other side of the magical doorway we found ourselves inside the Barra D’aron compound. “Only those who are supposed to pass through can pass through. If anyone were chasing us, they’d hit that wall as surely as your blade cut my finger.” Durdrin said. He was smiling wide and as I looked around, I smiled as well.

In different areas of the yard there were dark skinned elves of all ages training in hand-to-hand combat with many different weapon styles. There were young elves, just a few years older than me, training with wooden weapons and it seemed that the training got more and more dangerous the older the elf got.

“Will I train with those kids? They’re all bigger than me.” I asked as the carriage slowed to a crawl while moving through the training grounds.

Durdrin shook his head and pointed towards some adults who were training with real weapons “You’re going to train with them.” He said and my jaw dropped.

“Don’t worry, you won’t train with sharp weapons at first, but you will train against real warriors. You will lead these warriors one day. You need to be the best and they need to respect you… but respect must be earned, not freely given.” Durdrin said firmly “Do you understand?” he asked me.

I nodded my head “Yes Durdr… Father, I understand.” I said as I watched one particular duo train.

They were both wielding two swords, real swords, and going at each other in a flurry of blows. “Will they kill each other?” I asked.

Durdrin shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly “Perhaps. If they can’t handle their training then they aren’t fit to be called Barra D’aron.” He said as the two men exchanged blows. The bigger one was clearly going easy on the smaller one, but the smaller one was fighting ferociously none-the-less.

We watched the show as the two warriors battled furiously until after a long while the smaller one finally yielded. Both fighters were bleeding and near the edge of exhaustion and as my father and I stepped out of the carriage the two male elves sheathed their weapons. They stood at attention before raising their left hand, palm out, with their middle finger near their eyebrow, to salute my father.

“Masdrin, this is Caelnel and Rylzt. Boys, this is my son, Masdrin. You’ll be training him.” Father said.

The smaller Drow with short black hair nodded and stepped forward. “Can you fight?” he asked as he jabbed me in the chest with his finger.

“I wouldn’t do that…” Durdrin said as he waved his reconnected finger in the air.

Caelnel noticed the scar on Durdrin’s finger and the sinister grin on my face. “You?” he asked, and my grin got wider as I nodded my head. Caelnel quickly retracted his finger and patted me on the shoulder “Uh... good boy.” He said cautiously, he didn’t want to get cut or stuck by the child who was brave enough to take a swing at Durdrin.

“And I wouldn’t touch those fancy weapons he has there… the dagger is a house weapon; they’re trapped as you know… the other was given to him by Vielyn De’Endar.” My father explained to the two of them. At the time I didn’t understand the significance of mentioning my brother, but I would later learn that Vielyn had a reputation in Felynafay as one of the best fighters in the city and even his weapon had a reputation.

Caelnel turned to face Durdrin and gave him a quick nod to indicate he understood. “Has he trained his abilities yet?” He asked, talking about the innate abilities Dark Elves and especially Drow could perform, abilities they were born with but had to be trained in how to use.

Durdrin thought for a moment and then shrugged and turned to face me “Can you levitate?” He asked as he began to float a few inches off the ground.

I nodded my head and levitated off the ground bringing myself to eye level with him “Mother insisted I learn so I could help my youngest sisters with the cleaning.” I replied.

Durdrin nodded and we both dropped gently back down to the ground. “Can you cast dancing lights?” He asked as he created a purple colored orb that gave off a bright lavender light.

“Yes.” I replied as I created a green colored orb that gave off a pure white light “Mother’s favorite. I was responsible for making her reading room just the right brightness for when she wanted to read.” I said with a shrug.

Durdrin smiled and then suddenly I found myself outlined in harmless purple faerie fire “Can you do that?” he asked. I outlined Caelnel in red, Durdrin in blue and Rylzt in orange faerie fire. “Mother would have me decorate the dining hall when we had company.” I answered with a smile.

Durdrin nodded his head and turned to Rylzt “Teach him to fight like a Shadow Knight, I want him to lead Shadow Nine when he’s old enough.” He ordered before glancing to Caelnel, the current leader of Shadow Nine. “Caelnel, I need to discuss a few things with you. I have a very important job for you, perhaps the most important job you’ve ever done for me.”

I would barely see Durdrin, or anyone else I knew, for four and a half years. The very important job that Durdrin had given Caelnel was to oversee my training and wellbeing and that’s exactly what he did.