"Commander Kahrun!" a soldier rushed into the office, heavily breathing as if he was running across the whole city. "Commander Kahrun!"

"What happened?" the Reian leader asked with calm.

"It's... It's the Young Lady!" the soldier blurted out.

"What happened to her?"

"She... we found her unconscious on the road to Garldar village. With... pieces of dead Balaur around her.

"WHAT?!" Kahrun got up from his chair and his expression hardened. "Where is she now?"

"We took her to the infirmary, we couldn't wake her up. As if it was a spell..."

"Alright," Kahrun took a moment to think. He was their leader and was supposed to act calmly and decisively at any situation. "Tell the healers to inform me about her condition once they know what's wrong. Then get Kutos, I want to talk with him."

"Yes, sir," the soldier bowed and left. The Reian leader started pacing back and forth through his office. He couldn't even imagine why would Chellia leave the city, he remembered how scared she was just when someone mentioned Beritra in front of her. Why would she risk going back to him? Was Kaisinel's treatment of her mind not enough? And how did those Balaur get there? After several minutes a healer came and briefly commented Chellia's condition; it indeed was a magical sleep, but didn't appear to be harmful. She had few minor injuries, but those will be quickly healed naturally. Other than that she was alright.

"Thank you," Kahrun nodded. "Send her to me the moment she's able to walk and talk."

"As you wish, sir," the healer bowed and left, greeting general Kutos at the door.

"Sir Kahrun," he lightly bowed.

"Thank you, Kutos for coming so quickly. You've heard of those Balaur already, right?" the leader asked and when the general nodded, he continued: "They are top priority now. How did they get there and how they died. Also find out where Chellia was last night and how did she end up unconscious in the middle of the road. I will question her myself, but you send your men to find as much information as they can without even letting her know."

"Do you suspect her of something, Kahrun?"

"Her mind was altered by Beritra. I know Kaisinel has treated her, but even he might have overlooked something. If she's still under the Balaur influence, it would be dangerous to let her run around like this. Also question the Lepharist again. Use any means necessary. Even if it's just a coincidence that the same day he appeared Chellia left the city, I want to know what they want to her."

"As you command."

~ x ~

"Tell me more about that unison," lady Lumiel asked Shien, when she came to her office the next day.

"There's nothing to tell, my lady, everything is in the report," Shien refused. "And I will make sure it will never happen again."

"Why?" the Lady of Wisdom pierced her with an icy gaze.

"It was an accident. I don't even know how it happened, but I will do everything to prevent it," she replied and clenched her fists.

"Alright, if you don't want to tell me more than is already in the report, be silent then. Return to Kaisinel's Beacon and continue with your duties there. You will be informed when your assistance will be required elsewhere," the Lady decided.

"Why?" Shien glared at her and she had to put a lot of effort to keep her tears inside. "That place is terrible. I can barely think there. Everyone else would be capable of..."

"I gave you an order, Shienar. You're not supposed to question it. This reaction is the exact reason why you're going to stay there until you learn how to control your emotions and fears or an emergency calls you elsewhere. You have power. It is your duty to use it to help Asmodae prosper. Dismissed."

"As you wish, my lady," she replied bitterly and left the office, slamming the door behind her.

The Lady of Wisdom sighed. That girl was really hard to control. Luckily she wasn't stupid and followed orders even if she didn't like them. She's strong, she will get over her fears, the Lady thought. Better leave her alone for now. But is there enough time left?

~ x ~

When Chellia woke up, she felt dizzy and all her muscles were numb. It took her several moments to realise where she was. The bright walls of Sarpan infirmary were not unfamiliar to her. She frowned. If they found her and carried her here, it meant Kahrun will have unpleasant questions. She sat on her bed and looked around. The curtains to separate the patients were drawn and she didn't hear anyone from behind them. The only creature keeping her company was the familiar little furball cuddled next to her pillow. When she moved, it opened its red eyes and mewled.

"Ouzo," she smiled and stretched her hand towards the spirit. At first it backed away, then it sniffed her fingers and hesitantly walked to her. "What's wrong?" she was confused. She had the spirit for few weeks already and it never reacted to her like this. "Why are you afraid of me?"

The curtain opened and a nurse came in to check on Chellia.

"I see you're alright now," she said after confirming the girl's state. "Commander Kahrun wants to see you immediately."

"Okay," Chellia nodded and turned to Ouzo, who was now shaking. "Don't be scared, Ouzo, it's me. You know I won't hurt you."

The creature yelped, but it let her to pat its head.

"Miss, Commander Kahrun..." the nurse wanted to remind her, but stopped, when she saw Chellia's angry look.

"Yes, I know, I'll go see him right after I take care of my spirit," she spat. "Since none of you bothered to even look..."

"That creature didn't let anyone to touch it," the nurse said in defense.

"Of course it didn't! It's scared to death, can't you see it?" the Young Lady raised her voice. But then she turned to Ouzo again and smiled amiably. "Don't worry, I'm with you, okay?"

When the nurse saw there was nothing she could do to convince Chellia to follow the leader's order, she left without a word. After several moments of kind words, the wind spirit finally calmed down enough for Chellia to hold it in her arms. She carried the spirit and all the way to Kahrun's office she kept whispering to keep it calm. In front of the door she hesitated for a moment. He will be mad, she knew it. And she really didn't look forward to meet him. But there was no other option. She took a deep breath and entered the office. Kahrun was sitting behind his desk and watching her with a strict expression. For almost a minute he didn't say anything. She tried to remain calm, but his gaze made her nervous. But then she reminded what he kept secret from her and frowned.

"Yes, I know, I left the city when I shouldn't. I'm sorry I made you worried. But everything is alright now, the Balaur are dead and..."

"Who killed those Balaur?" he interrupted her starting monologue.

"I... I don't know. One was killed by Ouzo, the others just froze and fell apart."

"Just froze? And you don't know?" he raised his eyebrow in surprise, but didn't stop frowning.

"I saw them getting covered in ice," she replied firmly. "And then they popped like a fried corn. Then I saw some bright light and woke up here. So someone else was there, but I have no idea who."

"Why were you outside the city?" Kahrun kept a strict tone in his voice, which made Chellia feel uneasy. He was probably more angry than she thought.

"I... There was something important I had to do."

"What was so important that you had to throw yourself into the danger of being caught by Beritra again?"

She stayed silent.

"Talk. That's an order."

She clenched her fist and looked at him, her only eye was glowing with anger.

"You're plotting against me, you keep things that I should know secret from me, so why should I even consider obeying such order?" she raised her voice. "You're no better than Beritra and I won't become your tool in whatever you're trying to achieve!"

"A tool?" Kahrun got up. "No one here is treating you as a tool. I'm trying to give you as much freedom of choice as possible, but if you didn't notice, we are still at war. And in war a lot of things must be put aside just to survive. Now tell me, how exactly am I plotting against you."

She stared at him, flooded with anger and guilt in equal share. There was no way she could tell him the whole truth. Yes, Lephar, or more precisely Israphel, was shady, but if she's careful, she might be able to use his information for her own benefit. And if Kahrun knew, he would ruin everything. But there was the prisoner, she didn't doubt he'll speak sooner or later.

"I... I heard you in the garden," she admitted. "So I asked that prisoner what he wants from me. He said Lephar wanted to speak with me personally. I knew you wouldn't allow it, but I really wanted to know what he wanted. So I went to the Garldar village. But no one was there. I spent all night sneaking around, trying to find anything or be found by someone who would expected me, but the village was sleeping. In the end I gave up and returned, but I was ambushed by those Balaur. And you already know the rest."

"What were you thinking?" he finally lost his calm and hit the table. "Do you realise what could happen? If Lephar was there and captured you, no one would even know you need help! You should have come to me..."

"You didn't even want me to talk with that prisoner, there would be no way to convince you to let me go."

"Yes, and I have good reasons for that. That ambush speaks for itself."

"I just wanted to get some useful information about the Lepharists. I know they are pain in the butt of everyone and I just wanted to help."

"Alright, I can understand your reasons. But I strongly disagree with your actions," Kahrun shook his head. "Fortunately nothing serious happened, but next time, if you get any information, come to me before you act. You're still inexperienced and even if you have good intentions, you may do more harm than help. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she said meekly. She did understand, but as well as her commander, she disagreed wit him.

"Good. As a punishment for breaking my order and leaving the city, you'll now return to your chambers and stay there, until you're called. No free walks around, no shopping, no sightseeing. Understood?"

"But... what about my lessons and training?"

"I'll assign you a guard who will know your schedule and will accompany you."

"Okay," she sighed. "Can I go?"

"Yes. Dismissed."

Chellia bowed and left the office. She loitered through the palace halls and slowly walked to her room. Ouzo was still silently sitting in her arms, watching the surroundings for potential threats. It calmed down a bit, when she closed the door and put it on her bed while laying down next to it.

"So, Ouzo, tell me," she said silently. "What scared you so much? Was it that hooded person?"

The spirit hesitantly nodded.

"Do you know who was it? And what he wanted?"

The creature shook its head. Chellia sighed.

"You know," she pondered and watched the ceiling. "Maybe it's a good thing the Balaur attacked. I mean, nothing serious happened, I just slept half of the day. You will be okay too, right? I know, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful from now on. I'll be a nice Young Lady, until Kahrun calms down and stops watching my every step."

The little furball sighed and shook its head.

~ x ~

The Lady of Life entered her stateroom and wearily sat on a couch. The visit of Pandaemonium turned out to be very exhausting, and not only because of Lumiel's importune questions. The Elyos chosen to accompany her were all disciplined and professional and didn't cause any major problems, but the events of the last hour before their departure were too much even for them. They felt confused and betrayed and weren't afraid to say that. Only few understood she had a little or no choice.

"My lady, lord Vaizel is here to visit you," her servant said quietly and stared at the floor.

"Tell him to come here," May sighed. "And bring some light refreshment."

"Yes, my lady," Mirri bowed and left.

The Lord of Freedom marched into the room with a shiny smile on his face.

"Welcome back. So? How was Pandaemonium?" he asked lightly. After he made sure no one was listening, he lowered his voice and added: "And what about the daddy? Was he happy? Can I have a drink with him now?"

"Ah, Vaizel, it was a disaster," May shook her head and gestured at one of the armchairs, where Vaizel gladly sat. "And don't ask this question, please. I couldn't even tell him, he wasn't even supposed to be there."

"But I see he was," he grinned and looked notably at her cleavage.

"Well," she instinctively touched her old-new necklace. The same necklace Zikel gave her before she died, but he didn't carry it with her to Elysea. "Yes, he... appeared there just when we were about to leave. But you've already read that in someone's report, right?"

"Nah, I just listened to the most important things, I'll read the rest later. Ya know, no one is talking about anything else."

"I'm so sorry, Vaizel," her face saddened.

At that moment the door opened with a loud thud and angry Lord of Illusions stormed into the room.

"What the hell were you doing?" he shouted the moment he saw May.

"Oh, come on, do you have to yell like this?" Vaizel looked very annoyed. "We're just discussing it, you're welcome to join, but only if you stop shouting."

Kaisinel was surprised by the presence of someone else and for few seconds he didn't know what to say.

"I... I'm sorry, my lady," the servant said quietly from the door. "H-he just rushed in I... I brought the fruits and lemoned water as you asked."

"Thank you, Mirri, put it here and leave us," May smiled at her and then looked seriously at the master of spirits. "I am sorry, Kaisinel. I know you're angry, but I couldn't... I didn't know what should I do."

"You should have never go there," the Lord of Illusions grunted and sat into an armchair.

"Since it was Lumiel's invitation and she promised Zikel won't be there to interfere, I don't think there was something wrong with simply going there," Vaizel objected.

"You never think."

"Sometimes I do. And since May is here, I have to do it more often. Seriously, May, you should move over there and send us Lumiel. That would solve a lot of trouble."

"You... don't mean it seriously, right?" May got a bit scared.

"Hah, of course not," Vaizel grinned again. "Now tell us what happened."

"Well, as you mentioned, Zikel wasn't even supposed to be in Pandaemonium during my visit, he shouldn't even know I was there, lady Lumiel planned everything for time when he was in Reshanta. But he somehow found out, got angry because we kept this secret from him and decided to deal with it in... his way," May sighed. "When we were about to leave and lady Lumiel was giving us a formal goodbye at the teleporter, he just came there and said someone has to give me a proper goodbye. Then he gave me this necklace and kissed me. And... that's all. He... whispered me some things, but I won't tell you what. If someone else heard that, I'm sure you'll read it in your reports."

"You shouldn't let him do that," Kaisinel insisted.

"And what was I supposed to do then? Slap him? After not seeing me for so long, how do you think he would react if I rejected him?"

"And before you two start argue, again," Vaizel cleared his throat. "She's right. There have already been some rumors about them. If she rejected him publicly, after he basically admitted those rumors were true, it could really shaken the truce we have. Though I'm quite sure you weren't thinking about it this way, am I right, May?"

"I... he would be hurt..."

"Typical, you're thinking about Asmodians more than about your own peope," Kaisinel snorted. "Apparently you're still an Asmodian."

"That's not true and please don't insult me like this. I'm really sorry about what happened, but I can't take it back. I know you hate the fact that I love Zikel. And I'm trying to not remind you that, I haven't been in contact with him since the conference, but this time I had no other choice. I... I'm sorry."

"Fine, I get it," the Lord of Illusions got up. "Next time at least inform him ahead and keep it private. Keep up your duties as Lady of Life and I won't have to talk to you again."

"Actually, Kaisinel, I know you won't like this," May started carefully. "But I need to ask you for a favor."

~ x ~

The days in Kaisinel's Beacon were passing by slowly and with each hour Shien hated that place more and more. She knew lady Lumiel won't let her leave until she starts loving it here, but she couldn't help herself. The Elyos fortress was too much stressful for her and since her return she preferred to stay away from others even more than before. She avoided the canteen at the main meals times and instead closed herself in the lab and focused on preparing the supplies. Even now, when she was slowly becoming hungry, she tried to do as much of work as possible before the rest of alchemists finish their lunch and return here.

"Hello, beautiful," suddenly a very familiar voice whispered to her ear and gentle hands caught her around her waist. "I haven't seen you in the canteen, have you eaten today?"

"Shade," she breathed out and dropped the herbs she was holding. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just playing a delivery boy, until the clerics decide I'm fit enough to do anything else," he smiled. "Hm, and what are you mixing here? Cenna-lyms?"

"Yes."

"Would you mind if I took some?"

"Of course I would mind!" she turned around and looked at him in disbelief. Then she realised how close they are and blushed, but it didn't stop you from finishing her thought: "Don't you remember what these pills did to you the last time?"

"Oh," for a moment he was shocked by her reaction, but then he smiled and kissed her. "I'm glad you're worried about my health, Shien, but if I haven't taken them, the Balaur would have killed me for sure. Don't be afraid, I'm not that reckless to eat it like a candy."

Before she could think of an answer, he embraced her tightly and gave her long kiss.

"Stop, someone may come," she feebly tried to free herself from his arms.

"Yeah," he whispered and continued with kissing, "that will," another kiss, "be me..."

"Shade!"

"Of course," he looked into her eyes and smiled again, "only if you allow me."

Shien gasped and stared at him, trying to find an appropriate answer, when an extremely annoying sound pierced the silence. The horn informing about fortress being under attack was the last sound they expected at the moment.

"I'll see you after this," Shade's face became serious and he gave her a quick kiss and ran out of the room. For several seconds Shien stood there confused, but the alarm woke her up pretty fast. She looked around to ensure nothing was about to ignite or explode and left the room. She weaved her way through running Elyos soldiers to reach general Tirins, in case he needed to send a messenger to Danuar Spire.

"What took you so long?" the general frowned when she got there.

"I was in the lab, general, I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if the fortress exploded from the inside now," she snapped and took a deep breath. "Your orders?"

"Go to the teleporter or if that proves to be impossible, any place where you can create portal. Make any preparations necessary to summon it the moment my messanger reaches you."

"Yes, general," Shien nodded and left. The path to the teleporter wasn't the easiest. The Balaur somehow found their way around the protective field and now fired at everything from some large powerful cannons, while their warriors tried to breach the defences of the fortress's soldiers. The teleporter place was abandoned. No one seemed to pay attention to lone flight transporter statue, which was useless in current situation due to massive aether and ide turbulences.

"Get down!" she heard and something bumped to her. She landed on her back and her head hit the ground heavily. "This... brings back memories," Shade grinned, he was leaning his hands and knees against the ground to not lay all his weight on her. "Stay down, I'll deal with it."

He got up and with a speed of lightning he moved behind the Balaur warrior who just attacked them. Shien noticed he had an ugly slash across his back, where did he got it she knew instantly, the Balaur was well-trained with a weapon of extended range, some kind of scythe on a chain. But it didn't help him against precise strikes of a skilled assassin. Especially when coming from behind. The dead body fell to the ground and Shade dropped to his knees.

"Shade!" Shien ran towards him and braced him so he could stand. "I'll get you to clerics."

"No," he refused. "Summon the portal."

"But you're injured!"

"They'll heal me in the Spire. Now, the portal."

"What?"

"General Tirins thought it's a good idea to send someone who is not at full strength yet than his own soldiers who can fight. Summon the portal, Shien. Now."

"Okay," she stepped back and started gathering aether. "But be careful, please."

When the shimmering circle appeared, he smiled.

"Go!" Shien said when she stabilised the portal enough for someone to go through. Since the portal was bound, she didn't have problems with keeping it up and still being aware of her surroundings, so when Shade disappeared, she quickly closed it and turned to a Balaur soldier who was running towards her. She pushed him a bit back with a simple pressure wave and attempted to gather aether for a spell with greater effect, but he recovered sooner than she expected and she had to stop casting to evade his attack. After a while of running and trying to fight back an Elyos soldier stood between them and blocked the incoming attack with his shield. Then with speed and agility Shien wouldn't expect from someone in full plate armour, he defeated the Balaur in several tens of seconds.

"Get lost, girl, if you can't fight," he grunted from under his helm.

"I can fight too!"

"I've seen that."

"Yeah, close combat is not my speciality, but try to do this," she patted the glowing crystal on her wrist and whispered few words. The aether flowed through her and enhanced by the jewel it created a complex pattern above one of the places where the Balaur cannons fired from. In a split second the pattern changed into dark clouds and lightning and pieces of ice begun raining on the Balaur. Shien had to catch near wall to not fall from the sudden loss of aether.

"And now you're done for," the soldier shook his head. "Stop trotting out and get lost."

"I can... still fight," she retorted. A sudden blast of energy hit her and threw her few meters back, where she hit a column. She looked at the direction from where it came and saw a Balaur sorceress forming another spell. But her view got blocked by the man in plate armour and his shield.

"Don't make me repeat myself, girl. Get lost!"

"Out of my way, Elyos," she spat and gatheread all the aether she could. As a side effect she hovered less than a meter above the ground. At the same moment the Balaur unleashed her spell, the Asmodian finished casting hers. Two serpent-like flames bursted from her hands and spiraled their way to the Balaur. Whether they hit or not, Shien couldn't see. The enemy's spell found its target and she slammed to the column behind her.

I must... continue fighting... she thought while falling. She felt pain when her body hit the ground and then the world vanished.