Summer 4999, 26 Guromoth

Lily stalked the catwalks of the Warlocks' library. Unlike their other towers, this one was completely hollow from the ground floor up, five stories worth of shelves shooting out from the spiraling stairs in the center like the spokes of a wheel.

That wasn't the best part of the Warlocks' last stronghold though, that was reserved for two of its residents. Together, they were capable of moving the entire structure, teleporting it from one location to another in a few breaths. Elen and Patrich were also the sanest of those left to reside in little central, and as such were doing their best to avoid the irate fire dragon.

Lily was restless. Still free, and yet she'd rarely felt so trapped. She twisted her face and voice into a mockery of the Giorgos Paladin, "It's not a damn prison." Confident she was still the sanest person here, she grumbled out loud, "That's the damn problem."

Behind her, books fell to the iron catwalk. Lily spun with a startled hiss, reaching for her staff -collapsed and sheathed across her lower back. A head with bright red hair spiked down the center, poked out from the other side of the shelf, "You would rather a prison?" Tolinar asked, one of his pet chickens fluttering from the hole in the books to perch on the railing beside Lily.

Lily growled, drawing the weapon and bopping the elderly Warlock on the head with it. "Yes." she answered through clenched teeth, trying to explain while the maddest of them crawled through the hole he'd made -knocking more books off the shelf with hardly a care for the aneurysm he was going to give Patrich by doing so- "A real prison would at least be honest." 

But that wasn't the whole of it. Lily sheathed her staff and sat down. Sliding over to let her legs dangle, she draped her arms over the central bar of the handrail to let them hang too. She waited until Tolinar joined her, mirroring her position with his chicken clucking from above, "There's absolutely no reason why they should want to keep me. And worse, they're using Shon as a damn hostage. If they changed their mind, I wouldn't be able to fight my way out without him paying the price..." and she'd probably have to hurt people, a lot of people. Unlike the other elements, hers wasn't really good for anything else. Lily didn't know if Shon could forgive her for that, and didn't want to test it. 

"I agree!" Tolinar declared, "Why should they wish to observe a dragon in a setting safe for them? Maybe if you let me turn you into something else, ooo an elephant would be too large for the Guild! I could-"

Lily bopped him with her stick again, "Not helping."

"Ow..." the Warlock was at least sixty years old, probably older, but he whined like a toddler, "you're just mad because you didn't get to mate."

Lily growled but Rose interjected from the stairs, "Yes, Tolinar, very observant." 

"It's not just that," Lily mumbled. 

Rose huffed. Joining them, she started picking up the fallen books as she spoke, "Of course not, there's also the fact that they want to lock you up just for existing. That they don't trust us despite that we've virtually done their jobs for them. And the little fact that all these decisions are being made by a direct descendant of the slayer himself." 

She stopped after only a few books, lifting her long full skirts to kick Tolinar, "You dropped them, you pick them up. If Patrich sees, it will be your chickens he sends into the outer planes next." Rose crossed her arms and glared down at Lily.

Lily leaned back on her hands to look up at her watery sister upside down, cocking her head to the side curiously. There was no way Rose would-

"Shon doesn't deserve you." 

Rose casually sidestepped as Lily rolled backward and onto her feet with a snarl, "You have no idea what-"

"I know he chose the kingdom over you." the infuriating waterwoman remained calm in the face of Lily's fury. It took all of Lily's already strained control to resist brandishing her weapon.

"No fires in the library." Tolinar sang, humming as he continued to pick up after himself. 

Rose rolled her eyes, continuing, "Don't bother with that old argument about you asking him to join. That was when you both wanted to stop this lot," She kicked Tolinar again, gently, "Since then we've handed them the Nins, and virtually dismantled the entire organization." 

Perhaps Lily's extreme emotions had been contagious after all, because Rose was starting to show her temper, "For thousands of years they've been working under the kingdom's nose, and we were the ones who stopped them. They should be celebrating us, not locking us up to study like we're still just experiments. They accuse us of having no morals, no principles, when on what principle could they possibly justify this pathetic hunt?" 

Rose's show of indignation -seemingly on Lily's behalf- had Lily letting her guard down, even smiling. She regretted it almost instantly. "And that man is complicit. There is absolutely no justification for him not resigning on principle even if he didn't love you. The fact that he -supposedly- does, makes it unfor-"

"Enough!" Lily roared, vibrating the catwalks and dropping more books. Red had crept into the edges of her vision, and Rose's dress was steaming. The Waterwyrm countered Lily's angry fire, preventing it from catching her flammables alight, but she couldn't fully dissipate the heat and was sweating profusely.

Lily closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She centered herself as Master Velona had taught her, pulling in her energy -and with it her emotional reactionary fire- back to her centerline. Calming the flame within so it burned steady, like a candle in a closed room.

She was still livid. If anything, the exercise had made Lily even angrier, on principle, for having needed it. But Rose had stopped sweating and Tolinar hummed again, "No fire in the library." So at least she still had some control over something in her life.

"Stop it, Rose." Lily warned, "You don't know him. You don't-"

"You're absolutely right, Lily. I don't know him." Rose interrupted, cooly calm once more, "and I never will, because he will never abandon the Temple or king-"

In a flash of Monk-trained speed, Lily pressed her forehead to steam against her sister's incessantly wet skin, “Not. Another. Word."

Rose stepped away from Lily, and took a moment to look her fiery sister over a few times, letting the silence stretch symbolically, before seeming to change the subject, "I'm considering surrendering myself to the Mages." 

That was enough to shock Lily out of her animosity, "You... but... Didn't you just say..." 

Rose waved a dismissive hand then tossed her bronze hair over her shoulder, "Well of course I would rather not, but the principle of the matter is the only thing keeping me here. Well, that and because someone needs to keep an eye on the remnants." she shrugged, "but in Deim, even from the Guild, I could influence things again, and... well." Rose coughed, failing to hide a blush but confessing, "I've only ever lived with Warlocks... If we are going to retake our rightful place as dragons, shouldn't I have a better idea of what most of the civilized world is actually like? Shouldn't I flaunt myself? Not hide away like some criminal."

"But... Five years, Rose. And that's only if the king doesn't change his mind." Lily argued, too confused to be upset.

"You've already been running for well over four." Rose countered. Before Lily could respond she continued, "And I don't have the hang-ups you do about hurting people, Lily. I'm a dragon, they can only hold me for so long as I choose to play their games."

Tolinar gave an impressed whistle at that line, and Rose smirked. Lily shook her head, running her hand through her hair like Shon did... It didn't help and she tilted her head at Rose, "I mean... it's your choice, but..." she trailed off, not sure what to say. 

"Yes, but." Rose agreed, "As I said, I'm only considering it. I don't expect you to entertain the idea," she smirked again, "on principle," then changed the subject once more, "and I won't truly be out of things to do here until we find our siblings. As far as we know, they don't even realize they have choices, let alone what they are."

Yes! Something to DO! Lily thought. Doing allowed her to forget, for a little while at least, but then Tolinar ruined it by asking,

"Do you think your chosen one will go after the death knight?" 

Lily rolled her entire head with her eyes to emphasize the stupidity of that question, but then Tolinar clarified, his voice weirdly... normal, "The team will go after the Warlocks seeking it. I want to know if your chosen mate will listen to his need to destroy the death knight of Yoryuu." 

Lily cocked her head at the Warlock. He watched her, smiling, the books continuing to be picked up and put on the shelf by a number of unseen magical hands behind him. Tolinar had done this before -shown moments of seeming lucidity- but not since they'd killed the Nins.

"If he isn't directly ordered not to... then yes." Lily answered, tilting her head to the other side, "why do you care, Tolinar?" 

And like that, it was over. Tolinar clapped his hands, bobbing his head like one of his chickens, "I wonder if we can get a scry working! Oh my, we might catch the moment he does it! Then we can see if there is a way to help the others. Though I doubt there are enough death knights for each..." he dissolved into mumbles, wandering over to grab his chicken from the railing and starting down the spiral stairs without looking back. 

Lily looked from the retreating Warlock to Rose, "What's he talking about?" 

Rose was still watching Tolinar, narrowing her eyes at the madman's retreating spiked head, "No... idea..." she drew the words out, then shook her head, "Anyway, we've got three missing siblings to introduce ourselves to. Come on, despite your constant blasphemy, the gods must be smiling down on you. There are some particularly interesting reports from both Halakon and Oane." 

Lily was still angry, and tried her best to convey that as she cheered, "woo... hoo... a choice! I was starting to feel I'd never have another."

Rose had started walking, but stopped at Lily's sarcasm, turning around to cock her head, she stated, "You could also choose neither, Lily. No one is keeping you here." 

Lily bristled, but Rose was already walking away.

*** 

It was raining in Diem.

Shon exited the Mages Guild with the rest of the team, still relatively subdued after Tristen informed them of the possible death knight over breakfast.

The Paladin hadn't specified how he got the information, but he didn't have to. The others assumed -correctly- that it had come from Lily. Thought they also assumed -incorrectly- that it had been through a letter sneakily delivered while she had them distracted at the docks. Or perhaps wrapped in a rock and flung through the window to peg Tristen on the head -which was her preferred method of delivering such leads. 

The least subdued of them turned at the base of the stairs. Rain running in thick rivlets from his hood, Os spit his wad of tobacco in the road and grumbled, "Gods damn north in the blasted winter, and now Talkar in summer?" 

That started a ripple of normalcy up the team as Ranito rolled his eyes, "Saint Tzibus' frugality, you should easily be able to afford proper cloaks for each region by now."

Like a particularly put-upon shepherd, Tristen mouthed a prayer and silently herded the team out of the way of the main thoroughfare.

Following his gestures without breaking the flow of their banter, Ebonwing snickered, "To be fair, Os has more expenses than the rest of us."

Lighting a smoke in the shade of his hood, Oswall pulled on the fag in short puffs, letting the smoke out with his words and further obscuring his face, "What do you know about it?" Apparently Os was more on edge over the death knight than Shon previously assumed.

Ebonwing either didn't notice, or didn't care, and snickered, "Whores have too much sense to give it away for free, Os, no matter how much they like you." 

Oswall's expression cleared and he smirked, using his smoke to salute the Druid, "If you appreciate a service, pay fair value for it."

Ranito wouldn't be distracted, "You've been living with us, food and room covered. Shon has a cloak with double enchantment-"

"Oi, he's two ranks higher than me." Os tried to justify.

Ryuuko snapped at Shon's ear, digging four sets of tiny dragon claws into his shoulder, and -worst of all- whistled to get the others' attention. Shon tried to flick the pseudodragon's jaw in retribution, but it dodged, biting his finger. So, he used his thumb to grab it by the mouth and flung it off his shoulder.

Alena, nearly as bothered as Tristen over the death knight, finally joined in to sigh in disapproval. Waiting for Ryuuko to land on her shoulder, she asked, "Well, what did it want you to say?" Ryuuko wrapped its long neck around the back of Alena's hood, twittering mockingly at Shon from the other side. 

Shon ran a hand over his hair and fixed his cloak's -still dry- hood, but answered, "I was a Corporal when I commissioned it." -A lightweight fabric, it was designed for keeping the sun off and was enchanted with water repelling on the outside and cooling on the inside. It was also held in place by an expertly crafted silver lily with pale blue diamonds on the stamen. The same shade as Shon's eyes.-

"See! And special commission doubles the cost." Ranito exclaimed, pulling out his notebook and shaking it.

The Mage didn't usually get so passionate and Tristen broke his silence to ask what they were all thinking, "Why do you care, Archmage?"

"Because he's been living with us for four years and I have no idea where his money goes!" Ranito smacked his notebook with the back of his boney hand as if it had failed him somehow.

Oswall's eye twitched, but he continued to smirk, blowing smoke rings at the Mage before asking, "Oh yeah? And what are your top theories?"

"Could we not do this here?" Tristen asked.

The others continued as if they hadn't heard the Paladin, Ebonwing telling Ranito, "Maybe not the top, keep it work-friendly," while even Alena bit her lip saying,

"Well... if Os doesn't mind..."

Ranito himself flipped open his book, hunching over it to protect the pages and declaring, "Either his tobacco is far more specialized and expensive than my calculations have accounted for..."

Ryuuko whistled as the Mage trailed off to flip through a few more pages, Oswall rolled a new smoke, and Alena eventually gave in to her curiosity, prompting, "Or...?"

Ranito didn't look up from his notebook, instead taking new notes as he answered flatly, "Illegitimate children."

Ryuuko twittered; Ebonwing laughed out loud; Alena hid her blush with her hood; Tristen pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head at the Archmage; and Shon arched an eyebrow down at Oswall himself. The Rogue was using his first smoke to light his second, and didn't respond until he flicked the old one away to hiss in a puddle, mumbling, "Sure, let's go with that one. Maybe the Temple will up my pay to include dependants."

Shon turned away from the lot of them, but Ryuuko sent him a wordless threat. So, rather than argue with the little dragon again, Shon shared his thoughts, "Enlisted don't get dependant benefits." that was reserved for Clerics and Paladins.

"Hence the illegitimacy," Ranito mumbled.

Tristen's response was soft and quiet, but firm, "It is none of your business, Archmage."

Ranito looked up, eyes wide, saying, "Clearly. But I'm so curious."

"Alright, we're done here," Tristen stated louder, encompassing all of them. The team stilled like a weight had settled over them once more, "I'm going to report to his majesty, expect orders and make any arrangements. Until then, you are dismissed."

Oswall puffed on his smoke, waiving silently over his shoulder as he walked away from them and their shared home. Tristen cleared his throat, but didn't call the Rogue back, nor did he stop Ranito when the Mage turned right back around to return to the Guild. Ebonwing and Alena exchanged looks, oblivious as Shon held his breath. 

"Would you be willing to accompany me, Shon?" Tristen asked. He'd requested, so Shon didn't hesitate to shake his head. Even Ryuuko agreed, chittering at Tristen as Shon turned his back on the Paladin to walk home. 

"Ladies first in the baths!" Ebonwing announced, then punctuated with a caw as she changed into a crow, circling them and pulling down Shon's hood before winging towards the manor in a straight line.

Shon fixed the hood, then nearly jumped out of his skin as Alena spoke from beside him, "I bet Ryuuko could catch her if you want to use the tubs first." she pet the dragon's side and Ryuuko itself chirped in confidence. 

Shon shook his head, and Alena shrugged, trying instead, "I agree, it's not like we did anything to warrant-"

"Not today." Shon interrupted. Alena was the youngest of the team, having been only nineteen when it was formed, and despite also being the kindest in most regards, she was constantly attempting to get Shon to talk in conversation. On good days, it was like a game between them, but today wasn't a good day. "Please, Alena?" Shon added, glancing her way through the strands of loose hair that had worked their way out of his ponytail. 

She blushed, looking away and thus not seeing his resulting eyebrow arch at the response. "Alright," she answered softly, fiddling with her fingers and watching her feat as they walked, "It's just... I'm not sure if this is better or worse than Warlock liches..."

Worse, it was definitely worse... Shon barely resisted running a hand over his hair, but said, "Better."

Alena latched on to Shon's willingness to talk about this like she was starving for words, "You think so? Why?"

Shon glared ahead, running his hand over his long hair, all the way down the ponytail. Ryuuko took advantage, leaping delicately up from Alena's shoulder to drape across Shon's neck like a scarf. Shon let it get comfortable, then fixed the hood yet again, before he found the right words to explain without giving everything away, "The death knight exists separate from the Warlocks. It's better that we know."

Alena leaned over to look up at him, confirming, "You mean if it's a choice between Warlock liches AND a death knight we don't know about OR just the death knight, that we do know about, you would rather the second?"

Ryuuko whistled an affirmative and Shon nodded. He would leave it at that. Alena didn't need to know how relieved he'd been that they wouldn't be able to accuse Lily of intending to intentionally create undead. He doubted the king's current level of leniency would hold in the face of something like that. 

Alena puffed out her cheeks like an indignant child, "That's cheating. Hypothetical worries are either one or the other, not one or both."

Shon huffed through his nose, not taking the bait to argue. Seeing that expression hurt, Lily used it frequently, often for the same reason. He truly believed the team would like Lily if they got a chance to get to know each other, but that thought just made his raw heart chafe further. 

Alena opened her mouth, then closed it again, her face falling but respecting Shon's request. When they reached the large iron gates to their manor Shon opened them for her and Ryuuko whistled quietly, without drawing attention. It would've liked Shon to continue socializing -he was always more comfortable one-on-one anyway- but it also understood his mood enough not to push any further than it already had.

They walked in silence through the front garden, into the grand entryway, and all the way up the stairs to the second floor and their private rooms. At the landing, Alena turned right, and Shon left. The manor was quiet and Shon's baritone voice carried without needing to raise it, "Thank you, Alena." 

He didn't look at her, but Ryuuko sent him its vision of her beaming smile before Shon entered his room, where Ebonwing was sitting on his bed. 

He arched an eyebrow at the Druid but walked in as if unbothered by her presence. Was this going to be another bombardment of interventions? Had he been too obvious again? When Shon started depending too much on blocking off his emotions, forcing himself into apathetic numbness, he also risked becoming too expressionless. When that happened, the others, particularly the gods touched -Ebonwing, Alena, and Tristen- started to worry.

Shon stripped off his cloak and sword, draping the first over his chair and placing the second in its stand on his fireplace mantle. He was still too raw from the night before, but did his best to act 'normal', while Ebonwing negated all his efforts by saying, "I guess I was right to be suspicious." With a sinking dread, Shon alternated his arched brow to the other side.

She met his look and took a bracing breath, then said, "You don't usually lock your door."

Out of the corner of his eye, Shon saw his pommel change from its tired dark blue to cloudy white. Ryuuko hissed at Ebonwing, but Shon couldn't answer. Pulling out his desk chair, he took a seat, crossing his arms and taking his own deep breath before stating, "I owe Saint Giorgos an apology."

"I didn't tell him to interrupt! That was all-"

Shon turned away from her, taking out his journal and asking, "You know it's confidential?"

"Yeah... and about Yua being ordered too..." 

Shon looked up from sharpening his pencil to see Ebonwing glaring at his door as if Tristen were waiting on the other side. Of all the people who could've found out, Ebonwing must've been the hardest for Tristen to face. A small, spiteful, part of Shon was already imagining what that might've looked like, intending to immortalize in pencil the Druid ripping the Paladin a new one for interfering in her love life.

Ryuuko twittered softly in Shon's ear. Of all the team members still in the dark, Ebonwing might understand some of what he felt... Shon ignored it, beginning a drawing. The little dragon nipped his ear and lept for Ebonwing, landing on her short-cropped hair and purring.

Shon could feel its intent, trying to convince him to confide in Ebonwing now that she knew. Though if that was what Ebonwing herself was hoping for, she went about it in the worst possible way.

Oblivious to the silent communication between Sorcerer and familiar, she shrugged, patting the pseudodragon on its side and saying, "Though to be fair, it never came up. I mean, I knew you'd worked together, but it never crossed my mind that you and the f-" Ryuuko bit her and took off to drape over Shon again, hissing at Ebonwing over his shoulder. 

Shon never looked away from his drawing, his grip remaining loose on his pencil but jaw clenched tight as if making up for the difference. He didn't look at the Druid as she shook out her hand, but he did pet Ryuuko in a rare public display of affection.

Not ready to give up, Ebonwing said, "Okay, I deserved that. But I was just trying to emphasize-" 

"So you listened to Tris too," Shon stated, finally glancing her way.

Crossing her arms and legs, Ebonwing scoffed, "Well, he hadn't explained anything. I just said I needed to talk to him, about you, and he went rushing off to cock block you. I didn't-"

"Eb. Enough."

Ebonwing flinched at his tone, though it hadn't come out quite as Shon intended, sounding more weary than authoritative. So, accurate at least. He set his pencil down carefully but still didn't turn to look at her, asking, "What do you want, Ebonwing?" 

She took a deep breath, holding it for a moment, then spoke very quickly, "Look, I just wanted to say that I understand why you can't help us bring her in..." Shon looked over, she'd been the first to use the word 'can't' rather than 'won't'. But she wasn't looking at him, she was leaning back and talking to the ceiling, "... but that it's okay..." Shon twitched, looking back down at his drawing, "... I mean, she'll come in eventually, though I'd rather she did on her own. And it'll only be for a little while all things considered. And before that, after this actually, Tris said you'll be able to tell the others. I'm sure together we'll be able to convince her and-"

"No." Shon said, meeting Ebonwing's eyes. But he was too tired to glare and she just blinked at him, leaning forward before finally prompting,

"No... what?" 

Ryuuko tried to come to his defense, chittering at Ebonwing from his shoulder as if she could-

"I really don't think that's the same thing." the Druid told Ryuuko. 

The little dragon squawked in surprise, sitting up like a curious cat and turning its long neck to its human to blink at him, then cocking its head at Ebonwing again, before looking at Shon once more and chirping. 

"Cathbad's bush, Ryuuko, pick a dialect." Ebonwing sighed, then smirked at Shon, uncrossing and recrossing her long legs on the other side. 

Shon didn't need words to understand his familiar. They communicated on a different level, through emotions and intuition. Though Shon often spoke to it, both mentally and out loud, Ryuuko had never used words, even mentally, to communicate with Shon. Right now, they were both shocked enough that Shon wasn't sure where his emotion ended and Ryuuko's began. Reflexively he arched an eyebrow at the Druid. 

Ebonwing gripped her stomach with one hand and pointed at him with the other, laughing out loud at what must be a very dumbfounded expression on Shon's face.

He was shocked enough to talk unprompted, "Four years... Four years and you're only now telling us you can speak with Ryuuko?"

Ebonwing wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand, calming enough to correct, "technically we can all talk to Ryuuko, it understands common fluently." 

Shon growled low in his chest, and Ryuuko chittered at her. This time she didn't directly respond to whatever Ryuuko had communicated, instead explaining to them both, "Ryuuko uses a weird dialect in general, it's probably common in Clearhelm, but I haven't spent much time there." she shrugged, "on top of that, it's constantly switching between different types of bird chirps and mammalian chitters, I usually get the intent from bearing and attitude before I register if I can even understand any 'words' underneath. But they're not exactly words like we know them, and the structure is simpler, and faster. Kind of like that nifty hand language deaf people use." she shrugged again, crossing her arms and tilting her head at Shon, "Anyway, it worked." 

Shon furrowed his brow and Ebonwing rolled her eyes, then gestured with her head at his sword. It was swirling quickly, but had darkened. She'd distracted him. But as the realization hit, so did the memory of why he needed distracting to begin with, and the sword calmed, lightening a fraction.

Ebonwing's voice dropped and lost its jovial tone, "Damn, that was faster than I thought. You must be really upset." Shon didn't answer and Ebonwing leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees to look up at him, "Look, Ryuuko basically said the same thing Tris did. That you have a deal about not capturing Lily, but I don't understand why you won't try to convince her to come. Bribe her with icy di-"

"No." Shon interrupted before Ebonwing could get too crude, and continued before she could argue or try again, "Not in any way, Eb." he didn't glare at her, instead, he watched his sword, the cloudy swirl had stilled completely, but the color was growing more transparent. Shon's chest hurt. Ryuuko nuzzled his cheek, crooning softly. 

Crossing his arms over his desk Shon let his head fall into them, speaking to his knees, "Just go, Ebonwing. Please." He was so damn tired, but his mind wouldn't hold still, going over anything and everything to do with the kingdom's insistence on bringing Lily in, as if it hadn't already run itself in circles around the issue a million times. But all paths led to the same destinations. 

“Give me a good reason, big guy. I don’t like leaving you alone like this, and I can’t exactly tell the others.” So if it wasn’t an intervention for his depression before, it was now. 

Shon turned his head to lay on his arms and watch the Druid. She was too serious to grin, but attempted to arch a brow at him and instead scrunched half of her face to try and make the other side look higher. Shon sighed, turning his face down again to say, “I already decided to come back, Ebonwing…” he could've died, with honor, when they’d faced the Nins, but Shon had chosen life. Something he still occasionally regretted. He sighed heavily, that tactic wouldn’t work on her, so instead, he squeezed his eyes shut and said, “That was the first time I’d held her in years, Eb. Please, some alone time?”

Shon predicted her assumption correctly. Ebonwing snickered and even stood, “Well, at least wait until I’m out.” She walked to his door, resting her hand on the handle and saying, “When Yua comes to visit -sometime after the death knight- we’re going to take you out and get you hammered. You can tell me all about the Lily you know.”

Shon arched an eyebrow at her, so she shrugged, “I’ve only faced her from the other side-”

“She’s the same.” Shon said, and when Ebonwing looked confused he sat up, running both hands over his hair and down his neck, “No different on either side of the battlefield.” he arched his other brow and reminded her, “You met her… at Winter Solstice.” Lily had snuck into a royal ball disguised by magic that had only hidden her more alien features, concealing her scales, and turning her metallic golden hair blond. The rest of the team hadn't realized it was her until weeks after, when Lily told them.

“Son of a bitch!” Ebonwing shouted, turning all the way round to face him again and snapping her fingers, “She was there to see YOU! I’d always wondered why…” she trailed off, but then grinned, “you know what, I like this better. I like her as is, and I’m sure I’ll like her even more when we can gang up on you.” 

Shon groaned, letting his head fall back onto his desk again and speaking over her laughter, “Just… go, Eb…” 

“Yeah yeah.” he listened as she opened his door, but she had one last thing to say, “After this mission… let’s talk. Alena wants you to take some time to see some of the Lune- You know what, we’ll talk about it later. See ya, big guy.” She left then, finally. And Shon was alone, again. 

Ryuuko tried to nuzzle his cheek past his hunched shoulders, crooning. Shon turned his head to let it, whispering to the familiar, “I’m sorry, Ryuuko…” though what exactly he was sorry for, Shon didn’t know.

‘Everything.’ he thought. 

***

The King was holding court.

Not wanting to deal with the crowd of nobles, Tristen had one of the attendants deliver a whispered message to his majesty. He waited in the back of the grand chamber until he saw for himself the message delivered, noting King Conar's nod before exiting to wait in a private audience chamber.

Tristen stood, looking out the large windows taking up most of the outer wall, lost in thought. A death knight would be a dreadful discovery regardless of specifics, but these specifics made it particularly troublesome.

"It may be nothing..." he whispered.

"And yet, if it isn't," 

Tristen turned, in his distracted state he hadn't heard the Master Archmage enter. Prince Corwin approached to stand beside him, looking out into the garden and finishing, "then this is most dire news indeed."

"Archmage Ranito made his report?" Tristen asked, watching the Master of the Mages Guild in the window's reflection. 

Corwin rubbed his head, answering, "Yes. I have people looking for our copies of the books..." some would be kept in a vault in the Temple of Saint Giorgos, but a few may still be in the restricted Archmage's library at the capital guild, "... we'll need to know what they presume to know, if-"

Tristen turned, stepping away from the council member to salute as a knight, then swept his arm down to bow to his prince, "With all due respect, Master Archmage, perhaps we should wait for his majesty to discuss the specifics?"

Prince Corwin blinked down at him, but then sighed, taking a seat at the table provided, "Forgive me, cousin, you are correct, I would rather not go over the details twice." 

Tristen mirrored Corwin's sigh, taking his own seat -only slightly more at ease with the relaxed protocols. He took a moment to watch his younger cousin, and said softly, "You seem tired, Corwin." 

The Master Archmage managed a grin that brought Tristen back to a better time, when their only worries were the smooth running of their kingdom. A time when Tristen's primary duties were enforcing clear, fair, laws for the betterment of all. Pock-marked with occasional hunts for the abominations threatening the people, draken and drakwalves, sometimes greater threats, such as wyverns, leviathans, or drakes, perhaps the occasional giant or magical monster like kelpies or dragonnels. A simpler time. 

"Is it that obvious?" Corwin asked.

Tristen did his best to return the grin, assuring, "Probably not to those who hadn't seen your journeyman days." 

Amongst family, the Prince continued to show his humanity, leaning back in his chair and running both hands over his face, then back over his naturally gray hair to grip his neck, saying, "Saint Giorgos's sacrifice, I miss those days. At least then I was only mentally exhausted. Now..." he met Tristen's royal gray eyes with his own, and sighed again, "Ranito also informed me of the Firewyrm's statement concerning her Warlocks."

Tristen crossed his arms, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and squeeze the budding headache away, "We suspected that they had many of their members interspersed among the populous. She merely confirmed it."

It was just another example of the new complexity of their duties. On the one hand, becoming a Warlock at all was worthy of capital punishment. They'd sold their souls to an otherworldly being, not a god, and were granted great and dangerous powers that would inevitably drive them mad. But on the other hand, they'd discovered the reasons these particular Warlocks would go to such lengths, and had even utilized the data they'd gathered to better prepare for the Magical storms.

But the kingdom had yet to find an alternative to the Warlock's theory, that the only way to actually stop the destruction was to revive the dragon species. It was a near certainty that the return of the dragons would result in a return to war between the provinces. Not right away, but the provinces that followed Horsa would eventually re-ally themselves with Inryuu's brood -assuming those sworn to Hengist didn't make the first move in allying with Yoryuu's dragons- resulting in a civil war that would completely reverse the last five thousand years of progress. 

War was always a disaster, but with dragons in the mix, the collateral damage would be exponential. All the histories showed as much, again and again. Only now there was an added layer of worry, that the dragons might instead focus on revenge against the human species...

"Which means," the Prince said seriously, "That after this hunt, you will need to shift to your secondary mission. It will be others' jobs to sniff out the individuals, we need you on the known dangers." on the wyrms.

"Is that what this is about?" a new voice interjected from the door, and both men stood to bow as the King entered. He waved them down, and Tristen noticed his hand twitch, as though the King wished to remove his crown for this conversation. King Connar apparently thought better of it, taking his seat at the head of the table and saying, "You are finally ready to focus on the wyrms?"

Tristan took a breath, but waited for his General to close the door to say, "Nearly, your majesty. I'm afraid I have some... unrelated news..." He explained to the best of his ability what the Firewyrm had relayed of the possible death knight, the Master Archmage interjecting at the end to inform them that he had people looking into it already. 

The King had managed to school his expression perfectly, turning to the General but asking the room at large, "Do you believe this is truly possible? A death knight has been... existing, unbeknownst to anyone, for over five thousand years?"

The General, on the other hand, had taken the news nearly as hard as Tristen when Shon had sprung it on him in an effort to change the subject. He too was a relative -though a distant one- and despite the King's continued formality, he took a seat unprompted, staring into the middle distance and mouthing a prayer before swallowing to say, "It is possible. Traditionally, a death knight can only be destroyed by another of their order, or through redemption." 

"By comparison, liches are easy." Corwin added, "Find their phylactery, destroy it, and they will be forced beyond." 

"And this one is, supposedly, part of an order that no longer exists." The General said.

The King acknowledged their words with a nod, then looked down at his hands resting on the table. No one interrupted while the monarch thought. Tristen took slow calming breaths, trying to resist jumping to any conclusions while he waited, and eventually, King Conor spoke, "We should pray that it found redemption -somehow- in the intervening years, but prepare for the worst." He met Tristen's eyes, "We will report this to the council and convene once we have the information in these books. But time is of the essence, you will take your team to hunt the Warlocks looking for this death knight. If possible you will confirm its existence, but you will not engage unless forced to do so. If necessary, we will assemble a platoon of Saint Giorgos Paladins to capture or contain the death knight until a way to destroy it can be found." 

A platoon was anywhere between 18-40 soldiers, and in this case, would consist of only divinely blessed knights. But would it be enough against a literal immortal? A monster with intelligence and cursed magic able to corrupt the living and create undead from its fallen foes? Tristen saluted his king, then bowed deeply saying, "as you command. I would also like to note the source of this-"

Corwin cleared his throat, and the King himself didn't let Tristen finish as he addressed his brother, "We know your mind, Master Archmage, and you know mine. Unless you have anything new to input concerning the wyrms?" 

"I merely wished to suggest that, though we had hoped to convince the Firewyrm to come in first, it might be prudent to look for those Wyrms not directly connected to the Warlocks instead."

King Conar smiled, and even sighed gratefully, "Yes, thank you brother." he turned back to Tristen and the smile faded, "I look forward to the day I can thank her in person, but until then, I cannot stress enough the importance of bringing the wyrms into custody. Four of the five know little to nothing of our laws and haven't earned their Sorcerer's clearance. Even if they were human, they would be required to come in for assessment and training." Tristen wouldn't have interrupted, but the King must've noticed him tense because he continued, "I know that the Firewyrm has, in fact, earned her clearance. However, that isn't the only concern, and as someone who has worked with and for the kingdom, she should understand that. In addition, you may tell her, if given the chance, that we had hoped she could act as an ambassador, possibly a mentor to her more... inexperienced siblings."

Tristen closed his eyes in prayer, but bowed again, saying, "If given a chance, your majesty." he had very little faith it could sway her.

The General exchanged looks with the Prince, who nodded. The head of his order stood to address Sir Tristen, "You understand, Colonel, that they are nearly as dangerous as the Warlocks who created them? The fact that it may be unintentional merely compounds the risk."

When the King didn't silence the General, the Prince added, "One temper tantrum from a sorcerer of their power and people will die. Innocent people. Our people. The Firewyrm herself lost control even after gaining her clearance. We can only thank Saint Giorgos there was no collateral damage." the dead Warlock and damaged Barbarian encampment apparently didn't count. 

"By his own report, she was only contained by the Hengist representative intervening." The General added.

Attacked from all sides, Tristen didn't attempt to defend Lily against his superiors. Their minds had been made up since the beginning, and his Oath included following their orders. Orders he agreed with in this instance.

Though he wished an alternative could be found, Tristen hadn't managed to think of one and so wasn't prepared to argue. He saluted once more to the room at large, holding the posture until the King stood to dismiss him, "Place your team on standby, you will depart as soon as the Mage's Guild has their information compiled."