A/N: Sorry about the long delay- school's been pretty hectic, and this chapter gave me a few problems with what to reveal and what to as-yet conceal. Hope you enjoy- and R&R!!


A week has passed. A week of fear, panic, and confusion. Messages were sent, messages received, and no conclusion was reached. The only thing everyone agreed upon: Rysanor was gone, and something had happened in the Leonin. Self-proclaimed prophets miraculously appeared at every street corner of every city, each of them declaring the destruction of Rysanor as a different portent: death, destruction, the arrival of a god, floods, earthquakes, paradise's arrival- they were each proclaimed as true. The Eleann all around the world were completely shocked, at a loss for answers.

And yet, life went on. Food was grown, harvested, sold, and eaten; animals were fed, bred, butchered; people slept, ate, and worked. In some ways, the world was the same as always. In other ways, the world had changed forever.

In her workshop, Elmeir almost never stopped working. She pored over the piece of Rysanor, refusing to give up until she knew the answers to her questions. Elasien, and then Arkon, pleaded with her to rest, to no avail. She grew thin and irritable as the week progressed. Iralor was almost a constant presence in her workshop as well- the two individuals growing more and more irritated as the week progressed.

Finally, one week and two days after the night sky had forever changed, Elmeir emerged from her workshop, Iralor behind her. They looked awful. Their eyes were glazed, two pinpricks of light barely showing through their heavy eyelids. Huge bags were evident under their eyes, and both were slumped from fatigue. Elasien was the only one who was remotely prepared for the sight. After all, he'd been the one imploring them- especially Elmeir- to eat something, anything, and to get some rest before they collapsed from exhaustion. As it was, they were that close to collapsing anyway. But they were smiling through their exhaustion. As soon as Elasien saw them, messengers sped out to the other Intellectuals, and within fifteen minutes, they were all gathered in Elmeir's home.

Elmeir and Arkon were sitting together on the couch, Elmeir eating a warm broth- her first good meal in a week. Iralor, next to Glendura, was doing the same, only Glendura was also gently reprimanding her husband.

Are you done trying to kill yourself from exhaustion now?

Iralor grumbled tiredly. I was not going to kill myself, dear. I know my limits- after all, I've been testing them for years!

Glendura sighed. And one of these days you are going to push them too far. She leaned over and kissed him gently. Just don't go too far, please, she whispered. Iralor looked at her and nodded silently. Glendura sighed again, and sat back, content to have her husband back next to her, where he belonged.

This time, Elasien started the group's discussion. When I saw Elmeir and Iralor emerge from the workroom, I knew one thing: they must have found something. You all know these two- stubborn to the death. If they stopped researching, that only means they've found something. And I would guess it is important enough to us to have them tell us what they've found now, before getting some rest. At least they're eating now. He shrugged, and a brief trickle of nervous laughter passed through the small group.

Elmeir looked up from her broth at Iralor. Receving a small nod, she thought for a moment, and then began speaking. After a week of difficult trial and error, Iralor and I have found what this spell has wrought on our world. Using the stone from Rysanor and the minute tracings of the spell thereon, we were able to piece together the truth of what happened that already infamous night in the Leonin Desert.

Heimerl- for it was he- tried a spell that was supposed to decrease the powers of everyone else, except for him and his followers, so that they could rule the planet. Unfortunately this did not succeed, and they were most probably completely consumed by the spell. At least, this is what I- we hope. A Heimerl who still has all his powers intact is not a pleasant prospect. She grimaced, and went on. This spell most definitely called on the power of Rysanor, the third moon, and the most mystic- with the most potential power. Heimerl underestimated that power, enough so that he lost control of the moon, which then exploded. But this has nothing to do with what really happened to the spell.

Iralor picked up the story and continued. This spell was designed to change all of us, for the worse. And a spell that is not completed changes in unpredictable ways. In this case, the spell grew enormously; we are indeed going to lose our powers, or the vast majority of them. A collective gasp from the audience. Iralor looked at them grimly. Yes. I'm sorry- there's nothing we can do to halt this Change. But there is hope. It has not taken place all at once- otherwise, none of us would be looking the way we are now. Those red beings we saw in the coniecturameter- that is what happens when the Change strikes. Since we still resemble Eleann, obviously the spell hasn't hit here yet. According to my calculations, we have somewhere between two and seven years for the entire planet to be covered. He shrugged. I know that is a large time interval, but this soon after the incident, there is no way to find if the rate of expansion will continue steadily, or if it will increase exponentially in speed. As time passes, we will have a more accurate guess, but as it stands, we have time.

But time for what? Rylorien put in. Valerin threw her a glance. Time to find a solution, obviously.

But what solution is possible? I'm assuming there is no way of stopping this spell... or is there? Glendura's worried frown looked to her husband for reassurance.

Iralor sighed heavily. Unfortunately, no. The spell is just to powerful, to huge, for us to stop. I doubt if we got every single magic user in Lyra together, we could completely halt it, over the entire planet. But Elmeir, here, she's thought of something.

Once again, Elmeir began speaking. She was holding tight to Arkon's hand as she spoke. Although we cannot stop the spell for the entire planet, we could theoretically make four to five Eleann resistant to this Change, as well as practically immortal. Everyone else... she shrugged eloquently. I don't know. Eventually, the Change will have spread over Lyra, and... unless we try this, we will all be those little red things.

Rylorien was wrinkling her golden brow. Slowly, she said, What if we were to affect the way the Eleann were to change? As in... make specific forms... would that be possible?

Elmeir looked up. It is possible... but it would be difficult. We'd have to do more tests and truly understand the effects of the Change...

Elasien looked up. It seems to me that Rylorien's idea is a good one. Anything is better than those sad-faced red beings.

But I also think we should try to preserve a few Eleann, if at all possible. We cannot let our race die out entirely, without even trying, Valerin pointed out.

I don't see why not. What have we truly given the world? What have we given the world that these potential new races cannot? Rylorien added.

I think we should preserve our heritage, even if no one were to remember it. If anything, just to keep our story from entering folk tales... nobody will remember us, or our accomplishments. Elmeir interjected.

But do you really think our achievements are truly that great? All we have done is supposedly improve on Nature's gifts to us, using various instruments. Rylorien was frowning again.

I think we have truly done worthwhile things! These instruments are much more precise than any intuition we could have.

Rylorien shrugged, and backed down. Elmeir was wonderful in her way, she thought, but you didn't want to argue with her- especially not about the accomplishments of the Eleann.

Iralor cleared his throat in the sudden rather awkward silence. Well then... I suppose we'll look into the multiple races idea, as well as the preservation of some Eleann.... but one more thing: for that, we will have to choose the four.

Or five. Elmeir put in. I believe we could do five.

But it would be a stretch of both our power and resources, Iralor commented.

A stretch, true, but not one we wouldn't be able to surmount. Elmeir was adamant.

Arkon couldn't keep quiet. He whispered into Elmeir's ear, Mia, do you really think you can do this? What good would it do for us all if you were to stretch yourself so far that you could no longer help later generations? I look forward to seeing you alive for many years to come, not dead through overwork.

Elmeir blushed slightly, and whispered back, That is, of course, expecting the world survives the next few years...

I leave the planet in your very capable hands. He gently kissed her cheek.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see.



A/N: Please please please review! I'm having some trouble with pacing... any advice would be most welcome!