The first thing she felt when she partially regained her consciousness, was a sharp splitting pain inside her head. She opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again, as even the dim light made her headache worse. Someone gently raised her head and put a glass full of something terrible to her lips.

"I know it's awful, but you have to drink it," she heard the voice of one of the fortress healers. She didn't have any strength to resist, so when the glass got empty, she only coughed and fell asleep again.

The next time she woke up she felt much better. Not good enough to run around or fight, but at least she could open her eyes and sit. Her head was still spinning and hurt like hell, but compared to before it was bearable. She wasn't in her room, but in the infirmary and instead of her dress she wore a simple, soft patient's shirt. At a drawer next to her bed was a glass with a suspiciously looking liquid, it smelled like the one she was forced to drink before. She frowned, found her clothes and changed. Just when she finished, the curtain opened and Canta came to see her.

"What... are you doing, Shien? You should still rest!" the songweaver looked surprised.

"I'm fine, Canta," she replied simply. "This still looks like the Beacon, so I assume we won? How long was I asleep?"

"Two days. And yes, the Asmodians sent us help, so we were able to defend. You should really get back to bed, the clerics said..."

"I don't care what they said, I'm fine now. I have no injury, and I don't suffer from any illness. I'm just little low on aether, that's all."

"Little low on aether?" Canta looked at her with dismay. "You're almost depleted! You could have died permanently! Why did you push yourself that far?"

"I said I'm fine. How many times do I have to say that before you understand?"

"You can say that as many times as you want, but I can see you're not. But if you really want to play hero, at least drink that medicine, it's for..."

"I know what that is and I don't want it," the sorceress refused and went to the door.

"But... I know it tastes terrible, but you need..."

"No, I don't need anything like that. It's enough they forced me to drink it when I was half unconscious, but I won't willingly drink that again. I don't need it."

"Shien..." Canta looked helpless. "If you really feel alright, you should visit general Tirins, he was really upset, when you were unconscious and there was no one to send the Asmodian reinforcements back, because Hypnou should return tomorrow..."

"Alright, I'll go there. Anything else I should know?"

"Nothing much, we're making repairs, the aetheric field around the fortress is almost full again. But I'm afraid it won't be useful, they found their way through it without even warning us. Oh, lord Kaisinel is here. I don't know for how long, but he arrived this morning. And Shade stopped here yesterday, he asked about you..."

"Shade? Is he alright?" the sorceress asked without thinking.

"Ah," Canta got visibly puzzled. "Yes. He's fine. Go see general Tirins," she said and quickly left the infirmary. Shien wanted to run after her, but any quick movement caused her head to spin and her vision to blur again.

Several people came in and out of general Tirins's office during the time she was told to wait, until more urgent matters were dealth with. After an attack like the one two days ago, rebuilding the defences was much more important than yelling at someone who was barely able to stand. She told Canta she was alright, but sudden movements still caused her little nausea. And the headache didin't seem to go away. She needed to recover quickly and take her training much more seriously, the result of her fight with those Balaur was very dissapointing for her. The spells she cast before collapsing were not that powerful, she was supposed to last longer.

"General Tirins expects you now," the guard at the door told her. She entered the room she already knew well, after all she has been summoned here several times before. This time, general wasn't the only person there.

"Uh... lord Kaisinel, general," she slowly bowed. She still couldn't make any quicker movements, if she didn't want to risk losing balance.

"What is your duty here?" the general asked coldly.

"Create portals to Danuar Spire and..."

"Precisely, create portals. That is the only reason why are you here. I don't want to hear any of your excuses for abandoning that duty. I've had enough of your defiance and spite. This is the last warning. One more time you abandon your duty again or disobey an order and you'll go to jail for long enough for even you to understand what does it mean being at war. Understood?"

For several seconds she stared at him in shock.

"I sent the messenger to the Spire exactly as you ordered," she said through gritted teeth.

"And who sent the reinforcements back after you had to show off? No, miss, you're not going to talk your way out of it now. You heard the warning. Now get back to your bed and stay there until the clerics deem you fit."

"But I'm al..."

"That's an order."

"As you wish, general," she retorted and turned around to leave.

"One portal and two spells," lord Kaisinel said disdainfully when she was about to open the door. "I expected a lot more from Lumiel's protégé."

Shien froze. He was right, she should have been able to do more. But his tone was the last straw.

"You're the first person ever to call me like that, my lord," she said with voice colder than Beluslan winter. "If I were anything close to a protégé, I wouldn't be left to rot in a place like this."

Then she quickly left before any of the two leaders could react. On the hallway, far enough from the general's office, she had to stop, lean against a wall and take a several deep breaths. It wasn't fair. She did what she was ordered to and after that she only wanted to help. But no matter how unfair it was, she couldn't do a thing about it. She got new order and even though she didn't want to admit it, return to bed was exactly what her body needed. Slowly she walked to her room. The general didn't specify which bed she's supposed to go back to and she hated the infirmary. And she needed to rest, not an intense care, her own bed would do. When she reached her room, she found Canta sitting at a table, trying to fuse her harp with magic stones to enhance its ability to channel aether.

"Ah, Shien," she songweaver looked at her with surprise. "Are you alright? What did the general say?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Shien fell to her bed. "And he said I should rest until the clerics let me do something else."

"Good," Canta nodded and returned her attention to the harp.

The sorceress rolled on her bed and for a while she stared at the ceiling. Something was strange in the aether, no, it was the atmosphere in the room.

"Canta," she sat. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing, everything is fine," the Elyos replied without looking at her. Then the stone she was currently working with cracked and turned to dust. "Dammit."

"Did something happen?" Shien was tired, but Canta was obviously upset and she wanted to solve it as soon as possible.

"No. Nothing. Nothing happened."

"So something should happen and didn't?"

"You know, Shien," Canta looked at her again, blinking to suppress tears. "I thought we were friends. That's all."

"Uh," that answer surprised her a lot. "And... why did you change your mind?"

"Friends are supposed to trust each other."

"Okay?"

"Why don't you trust me? Why didn't you tell me you're dating Shade? I-I know he was flirting with you since the day you two met, but you looked like you were upset about it and I was afraid... I know why you hate the Elyos and..."

"Wait, Canta, stop. Please," Shien took a deep breath. "Yes, he was annoying. But he saved me when the Balaur attacked and... kind of... talked with me when I couldn't walk away... and then, in Pandaemonium, he helped me when I did something really stupid, so we talked a bit more and..." she sighed, "he's nice and I guess I like him, but I've never considered it as dating."

"Shien," Canta frowned. "You're either blind or not telling me the entire truth. When he was here yesterday, he came only because he wanted to see you. And the way how he looked at you... And when I told you about him, you asked: is he alright, not: what did he want, as everyone else would. Now I probably sound like I want to know everything, but that's not true, you have your secrets and that's fine, but... you're both my friends and... you talk with me every day... I thought you would have tell me if you had someone... especially if it's..."

"Alright. Sorry. I probably would have told you, if it became more serious..."

"Yesterday it looked quite serious to me," Canta smirked.

"Shush," Shien blushed. "And don't pry for details for there are none. Now I have to listen to general's orders and take a nap."

~ x ~

His plans were slowly faltering. After his queen was kidnapped, the morale of his armies lowered by little every day. He needed something to keep them loyal, some success over the daevas, but since they allied against him, they showed much more effective resistance than before. And they were hiding his queen in the heavily guarded Reian capital, even his special forces couldn't get her. The only time she left the city, the stealth unit patrolling in Sarpan was massacred. The only thing he managed to achieve since he captured Sillus fortress, was to ensure Tiamat won't get her hands on Hyperion. But neither could he. The only key to the ancient weapon was his queen, which he couldn't get back. He even considered to make personal appearance in Kamar, but then he got that letter. Simple letter written with the blood of his soldiers and sealed with ice: Leave the girl for now, she's not ready. Just the fact that person knew about his plans was more than disturbing.

~ x ~

The days in Kamar were boring. Kahrun wasn't an idiot, so he changed the guards who were accompanying her every few days, replaced by vigilant ones who weren't tired with the monotonous sameness of her schedule. Chellia crawled out from her bed, washed her face, changed her clothes and ate some of the leftovers form her dinner. It was a pie made of light phyllo pastry filled with several types of fruits that grew in Sarpan, she really liked it, so she asked the servant to not take it away yesterday. She slowly emptied the plate, Ouzo was watching her all the time and quietly mewling. She only patted the creature's head, from the experience she already knew it's really bad idea trying to feed a wind spirits with any solid food.

"Alright, let's go," she checked her training gear and reached to the spirit. It let her to lift it and contentedly purred in her arms. She left her room and headed for the gunslingers' training ground. Kahrun decided she'll learn at least basics of their fighting style, since she had this talent for handling any ide-based devices. And as she already learnt, lady Lumiel's research allowed to combine ide with aether in those guns. They were far from the level of the genuine Danuar artifacts, but still very useful.

"Hello, Young Lady," a male voice sounded behind her when she walked through the halls of Kahrun's palace. "I believe you're a bit ahead, the library is scheduled for the afternoon."

"Oh, I wondered when you show up," she replied without interest. "This way leads to the training grounds too, it's boring to always take just one."

"Haha, true," her guard laughed. "But I hope it's less boring than sitting next to window and staring outside at falling snow."

"What?" she turned around to look at him. He had silver straight unkempt hair, grey eyes and impish smirk. He was dressed in black leathers and had one sword and at least three daggers with him. He looked familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. "Who are you?"

"I'm Shade, your new bodyguard."

"Shade? You're the guy from Inggison, the one who left me to the Balaur?" she remembered.

"Yes," his expression became serious within an instant. "And the one who brought you back from them."

"Oh... Thanks..." she turned away and continued in her walk. "And you're right, Kamar is boring, but Sillus was worse."

They covered the rest of their way in silence. Shade and the spirit then watched Chellia during her training, for a beginner she was doing good. Which, as she found out later, everyone expected. Being the only child of two Empyrean lords wasn't easy.

"Your schedule looks really boring," Shade said when he accompanied her back to her chambers.

"Yeah, but Kahrun is paranoid and doesn't let me do anything else. Which is why you're here, by the way. But it's weird, why would someone like you do just a bodyguard?"

"Hah, that adventure in Sillus left me quite in a bad shape. The clerics deemed me fit just a week ago, even though I was fine long before that. I thought I'd eat myself from boredom."

"You were recovering for... four months?" Chellia was shocked.

"Yeah, that's what overdosing with cenna-lyms does to a body," Shade shrugged. "But it could be worse, I could've Vanish."

"Do you regret it?" she asked with a slightly sad voice.

"Regret what?"

"Bringing me back. If you returned just yourself, they wouldn't notice you."

"Nah, I'm fine again, I stole a great weapon from the Balaur from right under their noses, I helped lady Triniel to stay sane, she was quite obsessed with finding you, and I met the prettiest woman in the world, whom I'm gonna marry, so I have nothing to regret."

"Oh," she looked at him with undisguised surprise. "Would you be interested in taking another weapon from them?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Uhm..." Chellia looked around. They almost reached her door. "Come inside," she invited him. Shade raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't comment. Then he sat into an offered armchair and waited for Chellia so start speaking. For a few moments she just sat there with the spirit in her lap, biting her lip.

"Something in Tiamat's possession," she finally said. "We have to act quickly, while her attention is still focused on Beritra and his failed revival of Apsu."

"That sounds interesting, indeed, where can I volunteer for it?"

"Here," Chellia frowned. "Kahrun doesn't know and he wouldn't allow it, he's too scared, but my contact gave me very useful information."

"Wait, missy, you want me to go against orders of my allies' supreme commander, just because your contact gave you useful information?" Shade gave her a suspicious look.

"No, I… I can do it myself, I just need someone to get me into Tiamat's Stronghold. And you've been in Sillus when Beritra was there, so I'm sure you can get me where I need. Just get me inside and I'll take care of the rest."

"You will need more than this to convince me, girl. For a start, what is the weapon and why do you want it?"

"Lady Siel's relics, an ancient artifact that can manipulate time to an extent. That's why Tiamat is nearly invincible. And I want to just steal it from her, not to use it. It's really dangerous weapon, if Asmodians, Elyos or even Reians got hold of it, they would started fighting again over who will have it. That's why I have to do it in secret."

"Let's assume I believe you about your intentions and information," Shade said. "Tell me then, how do you expect to take those relics from Tiamat? If it's such powerful weapon, I doubt she'll leave it out of sight."

"I... my contact will help. I just need to... get there... and..."

"This mysterious contact again? Who is it?"

"I can't tell you. Not now."

"In that case I can't help you," he got up and headed to the door.

"Wait, please, it's really important."

"I believe you, but I don't know you enough to trust your judgement. Even if you're sincere, the person behind all this information, that you couldn't have gotten by yourself, might have tricked you. No, missy, I don't want to betray this alliance by returning you to the Balaur."

"It's an Empyrean lord!" she blurted out. "I can't say the name, but if you want, bring a serum or circle of truth. This Empyrean lord wants to take it from Tiamat in secret so the others won't fight over it," she added silently. And he has some plans of his own, I know, but Tiamat is greater danger than him. We need his help. I just have to be careful.

"Was it order for you to get it?"

"No," she shook her head. "We just... talked. It was... a suggestion."

"Ah, a suggestion from an Empyrean lord," he grimaced. "Alright. I'll help you. I don't like it, but seems like I have no other choice. Give me few days to prepare necessary stuff."

~ x ~

She was late. Too late for Kahrun's patience to bear. He knew her schedule and planned the meeting accordingly, but the Young Lady, as everyone called her, didn't bother to show up. It was supposed to be just a casual meeting to talk about her progress and her involvement in Kamar life, she has been behaving well since she returned from that adventure, she had no reason to fear him. It was also possible she just forgot or something serious got in her way. He called a guard.

"Find Chellia and bring her here," he ordered. The soldier bowed and left.

After half an hour, when Kahrun tried to do something useful, captain of the palace guard entered with an apologetic face.

"Commander Kahrun," he bowed. "I'm truly sorry, commander, but we cannot find the Young Lady within the palace or garden. I dispatched soldiers to look for her in the city and nearby surroundings, but they were unsuccessful so far."

Kahrun stopped in the middle of movement.

"Send Kutos here. Now," he ordered coldly, but the captain could swear his eyes were burning with fire.

~ x ~

"Phew, was all of this really necessary?" Chellia sat on a stone and took off her golden-locks wig. Then she opened a bag she carried and let the wind spirit finally out. "I mean, I understand the wig and make-up, but why do I have to wear this," she poined at her one of the ribbons on her dress, "and why did Ouzo have to be locked in there? Aw, poor spirit, don't worry, it's over."

"Are you really that stupid or are you just trying to keep conversation running?" Shade shook his head, when he washed off his own make-up. "Asmodian one-eyed girl with knives, gun and a spirit. How many like that do you think there are in Kamar?"

"Oh, good point. You're right, Kahrun is paranoid, not stupid."

"We'd still better move, someone might have recognised you anyway."

"Alright, I'll just take this off," Chellia frowned as she struggled with the ribbons. It was loose dress, so she could wear her normal clothing underneath it without causing suspicion, so she only needed to don her armor. If only there weren't so many ribbons. "How do we get in?"

"Hopefully as I did the last time, through sewers. Can you hide in the shadows?"

"Sort of, I learnt the basics, I guess."

"Show me. After you change. You girls always take so long with clothes."

"Haha, not funny. Next time you'll be wearing this," she finally gave up and tore the gown apart. It wasn't expensive and she wasn't fan of this fashion, so she didn't even feel bad about it. Putting on her leather armor and her weapons was piece of cake. Then she concentrated on blending into shadows.

"Hm, not bad... for a beginner," Shade frowned. "But it should do. The guards weren't too observant the last time."

"Okay, let's go," she tucked the disguise items under a rock and patted Ouzo's head.

They were already out of sight from Rancora fortress, on the bottom of a swamp-like canyon that lead directly to the Stronghold. At this point it was impossible to get lost, the only problem were the guards. Shade remembered the way well and almost nothing has changed, even the Balaur alertness stayed the same, and they were able to sneak into the interior of the huge complex. Once they were inside, Shade gave Chellia lead, but she had no idea where to go. After few moments of quiet arguing Shade sighed and led her through the shadows of the least used halls to where he thought Tiamat's quarters would be. They were lucky to find them without too much wandering. Suddenly Chellia spurted from their hidingand ran to a great round room which was empty except for huge gold throne-like structure at the other side. And person standing in front of it.

"Hello, Tiamat," Chellia said and slowed down her walking pace. "Is that chair comfortable?"

The Dragon lady twitched and quickly turned around.

"And who are you to think you can talk to me like your equal?" she snorted. "Some wannabe hero?"

"Maybe you've heard of me already," Chellia smiled "Maybe you haven't. Does it matter?" she studied her opponent. Tiamat wore dark red robe which was in contrast to her long blond hair. Her neck and hands glittered with various jewelry, some magical, some just very expensive. And one very special. A small marble in her cleavage radiated aether. Aether hurts Balaur. And Tiamat was wearing a jewel composed of it. Siel's relics.

He said he'll have means to watch. That he'll be able to teleport here once the relics are removed from her...

"And do you have a reason to disturb me or are you hoping for quick death?"

"Maybe one, maybe other. But it won't be me, who will die today," she made her most innocent expression and with lightning reflexes she pointed gun at Tiamat and without aiming she started shooting. The Dragon lady was surprised, when the initial burst hit her. Even more surprised when she find out it actually hurt her. It caused just bruises, but that was enough to hurt her pride.

"You insolent little worm!" she shouted and begun changing her form.

Chellia reloaded her gun with a new power crystal and aimed again, but the shapeshifting process has astounded her. She has seen Beritra becoming dragon before, but her mind wasn't quite her own back then and all impressions and feelings from that time were shrouded in haze. But this time what she watched was magnificent. How could she even hope to defeat something... someone so powerful? She shook her head to suppress doubts. She wasn't here to defeat her. She only needed to part her from the relics and distract her for long enough for Israphel to arrive. And survive all of that.

Tiamat inhaled and threw fire at her. Chellia leaped through shadows towards the dragon and jumped on her back, while hoping it was too insane to be expected. Tiamat roared. Chellia climbed the dragon's neck, her claws were slightly scratching the scales, as she tried to hold on while searching for the aether of the relics. She hoped they didn't transform with other Tiamat's jewels and clothes, but they didn't belong to her after all. Tiamat ran around the room, shaking and twisting her body to get the intruder off, she almost succeeded, but sudden gust of wind held Chellia at the place.

"Ouzo?" she whispered in surprise and looked around, but the creature was not anywhere to be seen. She could only feel the wind cushion around her. She smiled and climbed on. The aether marble was near, she could feel it. She reached her hand to the front side of Tiamat's neck, trying to grab the relics, but the dragon's body shook again. Chellia lost balance and not even Ouzo's effort could hold her in one place. As she was falling, tips of her claws caught the marble and tore it off the chain holding it. Before she could unfurl her wings and glide safely to the ground, Tiamat's wing hit her and sped up her fall. The relics left her grip, as her body slammed to the gound.

"So this is what you're after?!" the Dragon lady screamed and thrusted another fiery breath at her. Chellia was still shaken from the fall and couldn't react in time. As in slow motion she watched the mass of fire getting closer and closer to her. Suddenly the wind spirit appeared in front of her, inhaled and changed its shape into a wall, shielding her from the flames. Screeching sound echoed in all the stronghold. When Tiamat was out of breath and the fire disappeared, so did the shield.

"Ouzo," Chellia whispered and tears rolled down from her right eye. She stared in horror at the place where her faithful spirit was just a moment ago. Someone grabbed her arm.

"Call that Lord of yours, or we're dead," Shade pulled her to her feet. He had dagger in one hand and bruises and cuts all over his armor and body. "I dealt with some guards, but more are on their way here."

"But... Ouzo..." she sobbed.

"And we'll join it, if that help doesn't arrive now!"

"I... can't... he said he'll watch... and come when he can..."

"Fine, let's get out of here, then," he dragged her to the exit, but she shook his hand off.

"No! The relics, they're somewhere..." she looked around the floor, until she saw the small little marble. She ran towards it, but after few steps she heard Shade screaming in agony. She turned around to see him engulfed in flames, which quickly consumed his body. The heat was too intense for her to even come close. In fifteen seconds that seemed like eternity, nothing but ashes and molten weapons remained from him. No body, no bones, no aether...

"Shade..." Chellia sobbed and fell to her knees. This was far worse than the worst scenarios she imagined. She focused her sight on the Balaur responsible for such powerful spell. He held a staff pulsating with heat and instead of armor he wore dark robes.

"What took you so long, Tahabata?" Tiamat asked with really irritated tone. "And how did they get here?"

"My apologies, lady Tiamat," he bowed. "Do you wish me to question this one, or shall I execute her too?"

Before the Dragon lady could answer, an exit portal appeared above the glowing marble and hooded man in black robes entered the fray. He bent and picked up the relics.

"Israphel!" Tiamat shouted, but he ignored her.

"How kind of you to free these from Tiamat for me," he nodded at Chellia. "You have done very well and you deserve my thanks. I'll return you this favour and send your regards to your parents for you," he smiled and summoned another portal.

"No..." the mention of her parents woke her up from the shock. "No!" Chellia's despair gave her strength and she jumped through Israphel's portal just before it closed.

~ x ~

Two hours have passed and Kahrun's soldiers still haven't found any clue that would lead to Chellia. No one have seen a girl of her description. The only thing that gave him a small glimpse of hope was a note that the teleporter sent into Rancora fortress a girl, who didn't match Chellia's description at all, but had a patch across her left eye. If she wanted to get out of the city, she would either have to use disguise or bribe someone. On his way to the teleporter, Kahrun was almost ambushed by lord Kaisinel, who ran at him and caught him by his collar.

"Where is she?" the Seraphim lord of Illusions was furious. The guards saw their commander in danger and readied their weapons, but Kahrun stopped them with a calm gesture. "The spirit I sent to protect her has just died. What happened to her?"

"Dammit, that stupid girl! What the hell is she thinking?!" Kahrun snapped and pushed Kaisinel's hands away. "Lord Kaisinel, we're looking for her already. Can you tell us anything more?"

"I was in Sanctum, when my connection to the spirit disappeared. I know it died somewhere here, in Balaurea. Take me to her room, if I can find something personal that belongs to her, I can prepare a ritual to search for her wherever she is and summon her. I will need assistance of few other spiritmasters and sorcerers."

"You'll have them, lord Kaisinel. Anything you need to get her back, you'll have it," Kahrun nodded and ordered one guard to escort the Empyrean lord to Chellia's chambers.

~ x ~

She fell from the portal onto a hard floor, even though it looked like a soft cloud somewhere between the worlds. Israphel ignored her and walked towards a circle drawn on the ground, filled with a triangle and other ornaments. A thin pole stood in each corner of the triangle and emitted dim blue light. The Empyrean lord of Space put the glowing marble into the center od the circle and stepped aside.

"What do you want with the relics?" Chellia stood up and asked him.

"I thought you would have guessed by now," he gave her a complacent look. "But maybe you're too young to anticipate this. But you have helped me to get here, so you'll deserve some explanation. Have you ever thought of restoring Atreia to its former glory? What if you could bring Aion back? Well, with my control of space and these relics' power over time, I can do that. I can take us back at the beginning, when everything was perfect. Of course the new Atreia will need a leader..."

"And that leader is supposed to be you?" she asked while slowly walking towards him, his words still echoing in her mind. Power over time. She could use the relics to set things right. Not to change the whole history as Israphel planned, she needed only one little change.

"It is my chance to redeem myself. I will lead Atreia into a golden age and steer everyone onto the right path."

"Your path..." she drew her pistol and swiftly shot at him. He didn't expect such reaction from her and reacted too late, she was already inside of the circle, holding the glowing marble and whispering: "Lady Siel, please, I know everything I've done was wrong, but I want to set it right. Please, help me. Take me back to the day when I was conceived."

The relics started shining and within an instant both, Chellia and Israphel were surrounded by bright light.

Do not throw away the gift of life you were given, Chellia. She heard gentle voice in her mind. You were born with Aion's blessing, do not reject it.

"What? Lady Siel? Blessing? But... it's against the law..."

There was never a law that would forbid two people from love. I am truly sorry I did not find out before I died and became part of Time itself.

"Find out?"

Observe for yourself.

A ghostly scene appeared in front of her, two people were walking in a garden, man and woman. She recognised him as Israphel, though he didn't have the hood. The woman was beautiful. Her long light golden hair fluttered in a breeze and matched perfectly with her beige robe. She had a serene smile and a sincere grey eyes. A small marble glittered in her cleavage. There was no doubt this one was Siel.

"Why do you still reject me, Siel?" Israphel was clearly upset. "I have already proven several times that I love you. Do you love someone else?"

"I see you as a dear friend, Israphel," Siel replied sadly. "I wish to devote my life to Aion and Atreia and its people. Not one person. Please, understand this. I do not hate you or love someone else. I do not wish to develop any feelings that would get in the way of my service to Atreia."

The scene vanished and another one appeared. Israphel was standing in front of other Empyrean lords except Siel, and was having a speech: "Aion wishes us to devote all our lives to him and Atreia. Therefore any affections or love or relationships between the Empyrean lords are forbidden."

"What... does all of this means?" Chellia was confused.

Israphel was overwhelmed with his emotions when I rejected his feelings and tried to force my resolve upon everyone. Aion has never forbidden anyone to love another person, humans, daevas or Empyrean lords. Both you and your brother have been born with his blessings.

"Brother? I have a brother? Who... is he?"

Do you have to ask, my dear?

"Stop! That's enough!" Israphel's voice suddenly echoed the space. "Siel, you have died! You can't be here now!"

Israphel, all this is Aion's will. We can be together again.

The light intensified.

"No! Siel, don't... NO!"

When the light disappeared, Chellia was kneeling in the ornamental circle, clutching small, now aetherless, marble in her hand and around her there was no trace of Israphel or anyone else. She looked around to find something that would resemble an exit, when she felt familiar touch of mind. Kaisinel was looking for her. She was too tired, too confused, too sad to resist him. Could he get her back? The space around her twisted and she appeared in her room. Kaisinel was standing in front of her and around her were three more people who looked like mages. Kahrun, two guards and one of the palace clerics stood next to the door. Once the aether in the room calmed down, the cleric came to her to examine her state. She was alright, except some bruises and cuts. And fatigue. Once the cleric confirmed there was no imminent danger for Chellia's health, Kahrun dismissed everyone. Kaisinel decided to stay, he wanted the same answers as Kahrun.

"Start talking," the Reian leader told her and she shivered, when she looked into his eyes. If she thought he was angry before, now he was furious. And his silent rage was more terrifying than if he started shouting.

She sat on her bed and told them everything from the moment she went to see Lephar. Her voice was quiet but steady and even though she knew Kahrun will be even more angry, she admitted she hold important information from him, about Lephar's identity and the relics. When she get to the point of convincing Shade to go with her, her voice wavered and with description of Shade's death she already fully cried.

"You idiot!" Kahrun let out his anger when she finished. "What the hell were you thinking? That you can just walk to Tiamat's Stronghold and take her most valuable treasure? That's... completely beyond stupid! If you... What do you think would happen if Tiamat killed you or captured you? And making such idiotic deal with Lephar? Are you insane?"

"I'm... I'm sorry..." she sobbed.

"Tell that to Shade's family. That he died because you're such selfish spoiled brat," Kahrun spat.

"I will... I will do that... he... he said something about woman he wanted to marry... I will need to find her too... I never wanted anyone to die. Not him, not Ouzo."

"I've heard enough," Kaisinel decided to leave. "I'll send word to your father about how well you behave as a guest to our most important allies. What happens to you now is in the hands of commander Kahrun."

"Wait!" Chellia stopped him. "Please... wait."

"I don't want to listen to any of your excuses for such childish behaviour."

"No, please. It's not about me. Please, lord Kaisinel, if you... if you look into someone's mind, can you tell the difference between imagination and memory for certain?"

"Of course."

"Then, plsease... look..." it scared her, but she knew it's the only way how to get the proof, so she took a deep breath and continued: "Look into my mind and... confirm what you saw. I don't care what will happen to me, just tell them, they did nothing wrong."

"They?"

"My... my parents. Please, there's something important lady Siel told me and I need you to confirm if it was real or if I was halucinating. I-it shouldn't be hard to find, it happened right before you summoned me back. Please."

"Fine, then," Kaisinel came to her and put his hand on her forehead. "Are you ready?"

"Mhm," she shlightly nodded.

The Lord of Illusions closed his eyes and cast a spell. After few minutes he withdrew his hand and looked at her with a shocked expression.

"A brother? Who is it?"

"I... I don't know. No one has ever told me. But that's not why I asked you! I need you to confirm what lady Siel said before that. Is it true? Is the law fake?"

"It appears so," he frowned. "I'll tell Nezekan. And you should start thinking about your behaviour before you severely disgrace him. Commander Kahrun, I'll leave her in your care now."

"Thank you for your assistance, lord Kaisinel," Kahrun replied a bit stiffly, but Kaisinel didn't notice the change and left. Then he turned to Chellia: "Apparently ordering you to stay in your chambers is not enough to keep you from reckless actions. Now tell me what should I do with you? I can't put you into prison, because that would cause unnecessary diplomatic conflicts with both, Elyos and Asmodians. I can't order you to stay here, because you won't listen. I can't..."

"I will stay here," she said silently and hugged her knees. "I will stay here, until you tell me to leave. I don't want anyone else to die."

"And how am I supposed to believe you? Do you think your word has any value after what you've done?"

"You can't," she shook her head. "But I know you want to. It's you, right? The brother lady Siel talked about is you. That's why you were always so kind to me and why you refused the elder's proposal to marry me, right?"

Kahrun remained silent for almost a minute.

"Yes, it's me," he sighed. "And if you would do just one thing for me, keep this secret from everyone else."

"Okay."

~ x ~

"Hm, yes, you have to relax," Canta said while she was watching her friend standing in the middle of small meadow near Kaisinel's Beacon and practicing spells.

"What?" Shien truned around in surprise. "Canta! How long are you here? And why?"

"Long enough to see what your problem is," she replied seriously.

"I know what my problem is, I can't manage the aether I have at my disposal properly. Since that unison my spells are broken."

"No, no, no, Shien," Canta shook her head and smiled. "Nothing's broken, they're just confused, as you are. I can see you have a perfect control over the aether. I wish I could control it like you do! You're just putting it into a wrong place. You put power in your spells, but at the same time you put the same, maybe more, power into restraining them."

"That's nonsense, who would restrain their own spells?"

"Someone who is worried of them getting out of control and hurting others, perhaps?"

"I'm not restraining my own spells, that's stupid," the sorceress turned away. "Please, leave."

"Oh, come on, Shien, I'm not that close to be accidentally hit and I won't laugh at you and, you know, I'm learning a bit from watching you, so I'm not going anywhere."

"Fine, whatever..."

"Hey, who's that?" Canta looked at young black-haired Asmodian girl with a patch over her left eye and a Reian soldier in a half-plate armour who were walking towards them.

"Hello," the girl said and looked at Canta. "Are you songweaver Canta?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Are you familiar with an assassin named Shade?"

"Yes, he's my friend, did something happen to him?"

"He... he mentioned some woman he's going to marry, I'm looking for her, but no one seems to know her. I'm starting to doubt she even exists."

"What? Marry?" Canta turned to her friend. "Really, Shien? Is it this serious?"

"No, of course not!" the sorceress blushed. "W-we don't know each other that well. What do you need of me? Is Shade in trouble?"

"I'm... I'm sorry, miss Shien," the girl's voice has shaken a bit. "Shade was killed during a mission. H-he Vanished."

"What? No, you're kidding, right? Shade can't be dead, he's really good, he..." Canta's eyes filled with tears.

"I-I'm sorry, I couldn't..."

"Who killed him?" Shien asked with clenched fists and gritted teeth.

"Miss, if you're thinking about revenge..."

"Who. Killed. Him?"

"Tiamat's general Tahabata."

"Shien?" Canta sobbed.

"Thank you for informing me," the sorceress said and walked away towards one of the waterfalls. There she gathered aether and with a shriek full of pain she unleashed a giant fireball and vaporised the waterfall. The whole meadow covered in mist. "Why," she send another, a bit smaller blast of fire at the watter from the stream that ran forward to replace the vanished waterfall. "Did you," another blast to keep the water from hitting the lake. "Have to," one more, "die..."

Suddenly Canta emerged from the mist and hugged her.

"Please, Shien, stop it," she cried.

"Leave me alone, Canta!"

"No! I won't leave you alone to just let you hurt yourself!" she had to raise her voice, as the waterfall returned to the surrounding sounds.

"Idon't care about that and it's none of your business! Leave me!" the sorceress was hysteric.

"Shien, please, I just lost a dear friend, I don't want to lose another! Please stop this."

"I... the last time he was here, I thought we could get really close," Shien hugged her friend too. "Why? Why did he had to die?"

~ x ~

Tiamat was furiously pacing back and forth in her throne room still damaged from the battle and the outbursts of her anger over the last week. That bastard Israphel sent those daevas to distract her, so he could steal her most powerful weapon. And her most powerful general failed so miserably in getting rid of them. The only thing that kept her from destroying everything were the news of Israphel's death. And a revenge plan for those daevas that was slowly hatching in her mind. She sent for another of her generals, one that hasn't been in jail right now.

"Prepare the Dredgions, we're going to take some upgrades," she ordered.

"As you wish, lady Tiamat," general Terath bowed and left the room to obey the order as quickly as possible.