"Have we a report on Felix's return yet, Iodem?" Picard asked, idly straightening his tunic, not looking to the man to his right.

"No sir. We've received no new report after his excursion to Imil. Should we send out another excursion to look for him?" Iodem responded. Picard grumbled audibly and turned to face him.

"If we do that, based on our recent run of luck, the excursion would go missing and then we'd be even further in the hole, now wouldn't we?" He stated sarcastically. Picard was notably perturbed that his best warriors were not around and yet another caravan had been raided the night before, only the reports indicated a considerably larger force of undead fighters and some sketchy reports of two other fighters with them. All indications seemed to point that these same raiders were responsible for the other attacks that had been going on recently. These were no mere thieves. . . Picard knew even without the guidance of an expert that the groups of undead encountered could only be created and controlled by a mage of incredible power and experience. . .

And no mage of such power and experience would stay quiet for very long.

No question about it. Felix needed to return, and fast.

"You've seemed very on edge as of late, sir." Iodem turned to face his king. "Is there something bothering you aside from Felix's absence?" Picard's golden eyes glanced quickly to Iodem's, and then he returned them forward. He gave off what sounded like a short sigh before he answered.

"Yes, Iodem. I feel as though something will happen soon."

"And obviously it's not a good happening, is it?" Picard was silent for several moments before he answered.

"No, it's not."

"What would you have me do?" Again, the king said nothing, but it was obvious he was in deep contemplation.

Picard knew very well that if something was going to happen, it would likely happen very soon and it would probably be very bad and very dangerous. The obvious counter to this would be to put the Knights and Paladins on full alert and bring any of them that were off duty back on. While this idea looked good on the surface, there were a number of other factors to consider. First, calling all the Knights and Paladins to full alert was a rare event, and this always meant trouble. Once the populace caught wind of this action, the citizens of Vale would no doubt become antsy and paranoia could flourish. Second, doing so would make his warriors nervous, much the same as the citizens. Third, he had to consider what he would make the Knights and Paladins do while on alert. Leaving that many troops on standby for too long would hurt morale and ultimately cause more problems. On the flip side of the coin, being caught unprepared would have dire consequences. Keeping all of this in mind, Picard shifted his view to Iodem.

"Alert the highest ranking Knights and Paladins that something may come up, but make sure they know that they are not to go on full alert, but to be ready to do so on my command."

"Right away." Iodem replied, leaving Picard's chamber. The Mercury Adept let out a heavy sigh he had been holding in as soon as Iodem shut his door. This was a precarious situation indeed. He was not so much concerned about his own life, but rather of his people. This thought alone made him much different than any other monarch that had reigned over Angara and was one of the reasons why he was so popular with most of the public. Some of the nobles disliked him for his sympathy to the poor and the increased taxes on their shoulders, but Picard didn't become king because he was a fine warrior. No, the previous king had appointed him as heir because the former king realized that he knew how to handle people like the rich. But his knowledge of politics and winning people over would do him no good here. He'd have to use his soldier's instinct, and thankfully, that was something that seldom lies dormant.

"I was hoping never to have a potentially monumental disaster on my hands during my reign." Picard grumbled quietly under his breath, his eyelids closing as he spoke to himself. "A futile wish, I suppose. I pray I worry over nothing, and although I'm no Jupiter Adept, I can't shake the feeling." He opened his eyes once more, and walked over to his massive window and looked down on the city of Vale and all of its inhabitants. People were scurrying everywhere, completely oblivious of the potential threat they were under. "Get back soon, my friend. Time is of the utmost importance, and it is fleeting fast."

************************

The young squire Isaac roused himself from his sleep, a familiar dream having run through his head once again. He sat up from the cold earthen ground he lay upon, and gazed wearily at the campfire. Its once roaring flames were now reduced to sparking embers that only gave off the dimmest of light. In this light, he could clearly see the outlines of his comrades' still forms, the phantom of sleep having possessed them. Isaac rubbed his eyes lightly, trying to disperse the blur that came from a slumber interrupted. He then glanced around at each figure and regarded them silently. As he regarded each figure, keeping a special watchful eye on the newcomer Alex, Isaac realized one of them was missing. He ran through the list of people lying on the ground and he came to the conclusion that Mia was missing. Worried, Isaac rose from his position and checked the general area. Failing this, he closed his eyes and sighed. She had probably wandered off again . . . this wasn't the first time that she had left in the middle of the night. Occasionally, Isaac would've gone looking for her, sometimes finding her, sometimes not. However, she always returned in the morning and no one but Isaac knew she had been gone. Not feeling particularly sleepy, Isaac wandered off on his search.

It hadn't taken him long to find Mia sitting under a large tree. She was looking out over the massive grassland they had been transversing, completely unaware of Isaac's presence. Unaware, that is, until Isaac sat beside her.

"You're up late. Why did you leave the campsite again?" Isaac asked her when he settled down.

"I had another dream. I didn't think I could get back to sleep, so I decided to just sit here and think."

"Thinking is not exactly helpful when it comes to getting more sleep." Isaac commented. A strange sort of silence hung in the air for a few moments.

"Isaac, we are not far from Vale now, are we?"

"We could probably be there tomorrow evening if we move relatively quickly and if the weather holds."

"I can hardly wait to see it. You said it was a sight to behold."

"Myself, I just want to see home again. This trip has been fraught with unexpected happenings and has been quite tiring."

"Understandable." Mia replied. Again, an eerie silence settled down over them for several moments, as though they were trying to avoid the inevitable subject. Tired of the dodging, Mia decided to speak again. "Isaac, are you sure you're ready to give up your position in the Paladin corps? You're making a huge sacrifice for me, and . . . we've scarcely known each other a month!" Isaac's head turned to make eye contact with Mia.

"We've gone over this before. Yes, I'm ready to do this, Mia. Today is no different than when we first discussed this."

"Maybe not, but the whole prospect seems much more real now that we are this close to Vale. Suppose that this whole thing is a mistake?"

The squire's eyes hardened into blue stones. "Stop trying to talk me out of loving you, please." Isaac firmly stated. "I am ready to do this for you, and that's final."

"I just don't want you to do anything you'll regret later on." Mia replied.

"I have no regrets. Life is way too short to have any and still be happy." He returned, eyes softening considerably. Mia made no reply, save staring at Isaac both with a strange sort of merging between disbelief and love. "You don't believe me?"

"I do, but. . ." Mia stopped. "I don't know." She sighed, looking at the stars. "I guess I'll just have to trust your judgment again."

"Right. Everything will be fine."

"Then so it shall be." Mia smiled with a light sigh. Isaac smiled at her.

"Thank you, Mia." Isaac said.

"For believing in you?"

"That, and everything else you've done."

"You're the one that should be thanked, Isaac."

"Please stop that. Let's just enjoy the night." Both paused, not turning away from one another. In the deafening silence, they drew closer into a long and loving kiss.

**************************

Felix grumbled as he aroused from his slumber. It was dark and the embers of the fire were long burnt out. He sat forward and stretched. He had a nasty crick in his neck and he rolled his head around several times to try to roll it out. Failing that, he grumbled inaudibly to himself as he casted a little bit of Cure on himself to rid himself of the discomfort. He glanced slowly around the campsite, hearing both Garet and Dargon's raucous snoring. It sounded like Weyard itself shook with every rise and fall of the Knights' chests. The Paladin stifled what would've been a chuckle.

Despite the seemingly pleasant situation around right now, something felt off. He looked to where his squire should've been sleeping, but there was no sign of him. He rose to his feet and felt the ground with the tips of his fingers. He had been gone for quite some time; the earth had cooled back down from where he had once been sleeping.

Rising back up, he looked around for any sort of direction his squire could've gone off to, but before he left, he made sure to check that Jenna was right where she was supposed to be. Thankfully, she was and she hadn't moved except for putting a protecting arm around Garet. Felix smiled to himself briefly. As crazy as it sounded, the two hotheads seemed to be made for one another. Digressing from that, he took another look around camp, and noticed that Mia was missing as well.

His first instinct was that there was some kind of trouble afoot, but he knew that if his squire knew some kind of danger was at hand, he himself would've been alerted by Isaac. After contemplating again for a moment, he then determined that they were off, possibly getting some water from a nearby stream or something of the nature. The Paladin decided to go have a look for them and see if he could find them. After all, they were close to Vale, and he didn't want to lose either of them so close to home.

The Venus Adept noted the soft footprints in the soil from Isaac's boots and proceeded to follow them. However, following the light tread of his squire in almost pitch darkness was not easy. Eventually, he lost the trail he was following and decided to just trust his instincts; they led him to a shallow hill. He walked up so he could see over the crest of it, and in his field of vision, he saw a large tree and a couple of figures below it. After a quick glance, he identified the figures as his squire and the healer.

He figured that Mia was still grieving over her town and Isaac was doing his best to listen, like he had in Imil. Felix smiled inwardly at his apprentice's kindness and his ability to fulfill his duty. Isaac had always been one with the code and he adhered to it with an astounding amount of controlled zeal. Felix, in one brief moment, was swelling with pride. . . something he had hardly done before. He looked up at the two below the tree again and prepared to approach. As he took his first step over the hill, he noticed something strange.

Felix blinked once. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. He had to have been seeing things. He rubbed his eyes with his hands once quickly and looked again. It was; his eyes weren't deceiving him. His squire, Isaac, was kissing Mia. He took three steps back and felt his mind melt down. He was completely shocked, and yet wasn't as surprised as he should've been. Isaac had indeed been a little different since they found him in Imil, but he would've never guessed he would've done the unforgivable. He not only fell in love with a woman, but he had kept it hidden from his master. Deceitful. Felix staggered back, a sort of shocked anger rising within him. He wanted to just go over and let his squire have it right here and now, but he was so lost for rational thought he couldn't bring himself to. Besides, such anger was frowned upon by the code. He tried to calm himself down, and he wasn't doing well. Instead of standing below the crest of the hill and continuing to stew, he walked off to camp, his mind trying to rework the situation.

It all made sense now. Isaac had always looked at Mia with come strange awe, but the Paladin had thought of it as an awe of respect or friendship. The healer seemed strangely alive for someone who had been put through the trials she had, as well. Again, she seemed to gaze at Isaac with a previously indescribable fascination. All of this now became clear. However, how long his squire had been actually breaking the code was unknown to him, but based on the experiences he could look back on, he'd say Isaac had fallen for her before his arrival.

With his mind in controlled disarray, he managed to stumble back to camp. Felix returned to the position where he had been sleeping and sat down. His thoughts were running away from him; something he wasn't allowed to have happen. The Venus Adept put himself into a quick but deep meditation to clear the raging hurricane. Several moments passed before he reclined on his back and turned over on his side. His mind, now settled and at relative peace, turned to what his next action would be. Certainly he could not let his squire get away with this. Although Isaac was his most trusted friend, he could not let this pass; no one was above the code. He debated inwardly how to approach his student with this newfound event.

Of course, there was no avoiding the fact that a court martial would be involved. Isaac would most likely lose his Paladinhood for this offense if the tribunal found him guilty. Even then, he might face another punishment. Of course, Felix himself would have to bring the charges and he himself would likely be the pivotal factor in proving Isaac's guilt. As much as he abhorred the thought, it was his duty and he would most certainly do it.

He knew that all of the publicity would humiliate Isaac greatly and probably would damage his own reputation as a master. However, both hardly bothered him; he merely acknowledged it to himself. The raven-haired warrior made the final decision to confront Isaac after they'd returned to Vale so he could address the issue to him both formally and privately. That settled, he let his mind drift away into an uneasy and light slumber.

***************************

"Has the time finally come?"

"Yes, it has." Saturos replied to the question from Menardi.

"But we have not yet found the last of the Elemental Stars. What if we should fail?"

"It is a risk I am willing to take. Vale must fall either way; the Elemental Stars just would've made our job a little easier."

"It would've made it a LOT easier, Saturos!" Menardi snapped. Saturos gave her a burning glance for a split second, but then smiled cunningly.

"Yes, but even you'll admit that assaulting Vale head on is a lot more fun."

"I admit nothing." Menardi returned, hiding and equally devilish smile. The two of them were standing on the highest spire of Saturos' keep. The top of the tower was made out of the same dark granite stone as the rest of the castle. The circular main keep was also surrounded by four other smaller keeps that served not only as a defensive position, but as a method of intimidation. The other four keeps were not cylindrical like the main one, but were more of a harsh triangular shape that came to a vicious point at the tip of each tower. On top of the main keep, where the two Mars Adepts were standing, was a large altar, constructed entirely of black obsidian.

The altar itself was massive. It was easily twice the size of Saturos, although it was almost thrice his size. The altar was a strange twist of curves, shaped like a serpentine dragon of old. As it climbed into the air, the dragon had four limbs, each where it looked like an object could be placed. In three of the four, a different color glowed. The one closest to the ground held the golden Venus Star, which illuminated the void with an eerie yellow glow. The one highest to the sky gleamed a deep purple, emanating from the Jupiter Star. The talon just below the Jupiter Star was basking the area in crimson; the Mars Star's energy causing the phenomenon. Only the second to the bottom talon remained vacant. . . missing the azure glow of the lost Mercury Star.

"You know that this attack may very well have some hidden bonuses to it, Menardi."

"Like?" She enquired.

"Suppose that your beloved sister never made it back? I'm sure we can arrange for an appropriately suicidal mission for her during the attack."

"I find your method of thought fascinating, Saturos." She replied. "However, my sister is not as stupid as you like to think she is."

"She is intelligent, that is for certain. But not even she could guess the subtlety of what I have in mind."

"Go on."

"In the city of Vale lies an arcane library, located not far from the Mage's Guild. Few know of its existence, but there are some tomes in there that are of incredible power and use to us. Of course, the mages would be distracted by the attack and not defend it, making it a simple chore for Karst to walk in and steal a few books."

Menardi eyed him cautiously. "Is any of that true, Saturos?"

"Not a word." Saturos grinned. "The location I have described is in fact, fictional. Instead of winding up in a library, she'd end up in the middle of one of Vale's greatest traps. The trap itself is disguised as an ordinary building leading to the castle, but once on the inside, the invader is promptly dumped into a pit where one meets. . . a rather unpleasant end."

"And why would Karst think it is an arcane library?"

"Because that's what it's designed to look like." He smirked. "Your sister won't know what hit her until she lies dead in that forsaken pit."

"That end is desirable, truly." She mused. "But what about your idiot brother?"

"Simple. I simply let him fight the King."

"You mean Agatio will lose?"

"It is certain. Picard is one of the finest warriors in the world and he has most definitely not let his throne make him soft. Aside from that, he is a powerful Mercury Adept that has extensive abilities to use his element both offensively and defensively. He is not an easy opponent."

"But what makes you think Agatio will lose for certain?"

"It is very simple, Menardi. Picard will be fighting to protect something, which will make him amazingly stronger. Agatio would be the aggressor, and Picard would stop nothing short of finishing the job on the spot."

"Another thing for you, Saturos. Would you be able to defeat Picard?"

"It might take some effort, but yes, it is certain that he would fall to my blade if I took up the task myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you doubt my power? You more than anyone else should know my limits. You've seen them."

"Indeed." She mused again. "Picard would lose to you. But what about Felix and Dargon?"

"They are of no importance. As it stands now they could not stop us even if they knew what we were up to. Besides, after our little attack, Vale will not have nearly enough troops to attempt to storm this keep. It would take thousands of Knights and Paladins to even get close. No one knows the secret of getting in here but us."

"And what of the Mercury Star?"

"I plan to take a few mages hostage and let you work your. . . 'persuasive' magic on them to make them talk. Besides. . . I believe I have a new lead to the Star. . . and our timing for this attack could not be more perfect."

"So, shall I tell Karst and Agatio to send the troops out now?"

"Yes. And send the Angelslayer too. It never hurts to be prepared, now does it?"

"No. Never." Menardi said, turning away and heading for the stairway down from the Keep.

"And Menardi. . . do have them hurry. I'd like to have their 'missions' complete as soon as possible."