A/N: The world was created by our DM, and for further information check out our wiki. /wiki/ The characters and situations belong to members of our DND group. This was collaborative work of myself, Duff, and Stuit. Enjoy!

Prolog—

Something's not right, Jenos thought to himself. For the past several days, he had been assaulted by a nagging feeling that he was needed elsewhere, but his latest venture with the Goddess of Life had kept him in constant battle the entire time, keeping him from checking on his family back in the mortal realm. For eight straight days, he and his companions had waged an attack on the forces of darkness - first warding off an attempt to release a pack of nightmarish demons upon the world of the living, then pushing the assault back and taking the fight to its source. Now, the last of his enemies slain, Jenos knelt down several paces away from his brethren and attempted to concentrate. As a gift to the Warblade for a life of service and for sacrificing a normal life with his family, the Goddess had granted him the ability to visit others, as if he were a vision in their head or an apparition. He used his ability to check in on his family back home, often visiting his beloved wife in her dreams. This time, however, he could neither see nor hear anything from her. After his third attempt, he began to panic. Something's interfering, Jenos, he told himself. Try someone else. He took a deep breath, attempted to stop his mind from jumping to the worst possible conclusions, and focused on his oldest daughter, Tirai. He found her at the pub, in her mother's room. The anguish that she radiated flared across the cosmos and stabbed into her father's heart, nearly dropping him to his knees. He steeled his resolve and attempted to communicate with her.

In Luminar, Tirai Idanian felt a familiar presence calling to her from behind. She turned to see the ghostly apparition of her father. Her heart sank as she noticed the look of concern on his face. "Tirai? Where's your mother?"

She hurried to him and wrapped her arms around his chest as she had when she had been little. She fought back tears as she looked up towards her father. "She's…she's not here, Poppa."

"Where is she?" he asked through gritted teeth, afraid of what he was about to hear.

Tirai swallowing hard, she took a step away from her father. She wiped away the tears she was unable to fight anymore. "Poppa, there was an attack on the family." She spoke as clearly as she could "Before you say anything, let me explain." She held up her hand to her father and carefully continued to speak, her voice wavering. "A man attempted to kidnap your grandson." The look of confusion on his face broke through the anguish for a moment and she felt a slight smile tug at her lips. "Daniel wanted to surprise you when you visited, by introducing you to a namesake."

The tears continued to flow from the young woman. "Daniel was on duty, his wife was at the temple, and mom was babysitting. The attacker didn't expect her to be there. You know mom; she doesn't take people sneaking up on her very well." Tirai wiped the tears from her face and tried to breathe through the sobs that were beginning to take her. "She took him, but his blade was poisoned." The look of pain on her father's face was more than she could bear, and the tears continued to flow with a renewed vigor. "We tried to get her to help, but it was too late. She said she loved you before she died. We didn't know when you would be returning, dad. She told us a week or two ago that the last time she spoke with you, you were on the verge of something big. We placed her in the family chapel. We made sure she had meadow violets with her."

Jenos swallowed, unable to contain the tears that were now streaming down his face. "We're supposed to be home in a few days, but I'm going to come home now. This isn't over."

As Jenos broke his connection, he finally allowed the full realization of what he had been told to wash over him. Acting on pure muscle memory and overwhelmed with the terrible news he had received, Jenos let out an agonizing howl and, reaching for his greatsword, swung at the nearest corpse. The blow, fueled by an unquenchable rage, split the body in two effortlessly. As his friends began to approach - carefully - he threw the weapon down and balled his gauntleted hands into fists.

Alec was the first to step forward and speak up. "What's the matter, old friend?"

Jenos took several moments to regain his composure, forcing himself to breathe in an effort to get his mind back on track. This isn't over. "Lexie's dead. An assassin attempted to break into our home; she got him, but his weapon was poisoned."

Thacomus chimed in, cautiously. "Were they able to revive her?"

Jenos shook his head. "From the sounds of it. No."

"We'll be heading home in just a couple days, Jenos." Aleron began, but was cut off.

"No. I'm going back, now."

As he spoke, the Goddess - distracted from her duties on the other end of the field - approached the group. "Jenos. I just felt an incredible pain from you, as if your heart had been ripped from you. What is the matter, my child?"

"Lexie's dead. We're going back to Luminar. Now."

The group found themselves unable to respond to the anger in their friend's voice. They had served with the Goddess herself for three standard decades, and had never heard anyone break their reverence and speak to her in such a harsh tone."

"Jenos, my son, we still have work to do here."

"And I have work to do back home, Goddess. Please. We planned to return in a few days anyway. I need to be there. I need to set this right. Please." He bent down and retrieved his weapon, returning it to its sheath.

The Goddess paused for a moment. "Very well, Guardian Idanian. I will send you home now, but please understand that it will be several days before your companions can return."

"And you, Goddess? Can you not fix this? She was your faithful servant."

"I do not know, Jenos," she responded. "There is something dark about all this. We shall see."