Lo's head hurt. She knew she shouldn't have been drinking, but everyone else had. This had happened before. On her fourteenth birthday, she'd snuck out of the college, and gone in to an inn. She thought she barely had anything and the next morning she had a hangover from hell. She'd done some research and it turned out there was a reason Elves mostly drank water. Some papers suggested that it was why they didn't work well with dwarves, two cultures that when mixed resulted in half of them throwing up, and the other half insulting them for it. Never again she decided.

She could remember certain parts of the night, something about Anders' arm, she said that she'd look at it. She couldn't remember why. Then there was Kira, one touch made Lo fall unconscious. Seb had started a game of cards with the dwarves at the next table. And after that it was all rubbed her temples as she finished her breakfast, a few slices of bread and some was an advantage of taking over Everlight. She quickly put on a loose cotton top and a pair of trouser that half fitted her as well. She went to the library and picked out a small book and started reading. The library was surprisingly extensive, with books on a wide range of subjects. She then headed to the former mistress's quarters. She'd had it converted into a small study, just a place where she could relax. There were several chairs scattered around, along with a desk and a shelf in the corner where she would store any books she would read later. It was already half full.

There was a surprisingly distinct knock at the wall. That was one thing that needed to be added, doors, or at least something more than a curtain.

"Ah," Lo said "I was just wondering when you'd show up."

Anders was leaning on the door, starting to role up his sleeve. "Just a quick warning, it's not some bad acne or anything like that."

"What the hell is that!?" Lo looked at his arm. She knew what his power was, his father turned anything to metal, he turned anything into a blueish crystal. Including his arm it seemed. She wasn't quite sure how deep the layer went, but it looked solid. There was also a jagged line around where it stopped, flowing further up his arm at the veins.

Lo walked towards him and lifted his arm to high level."How does this feel?" Lo asked, trying to chill his arm.

"Nothing. What was it supposed to feel like?"

"Cold, and this." She asked again, this time letting a small jolt of lightning go into his arm.

"Nope, I guess that was meant to be worse than cold?"

"Collapse and cry for an hour or so pain."

"Did you think about asking first, just say, 'hey, any feeling in your arm'. 'No, I can't feel anything'. 'Oh, I'll see what I can do'. 'Why, thank you, you've been very kind'."

"Are you done." Lo huffed. He had a point, she wasn't going to admit it, but he had a point.

"I could go on for a while, but it kinda gets boring." He replied, a large grin on his face.

Lo started to bite her bottom lip. She had no idea what to do, and then what she'd been told at the college came to her. 'If you're dealing with a strange substance, and don't know what to do then...' "I can't do anything right now, but I could take a sample for study."

"Any idea how?"

"A chisel maybe, I'll have the minions get one from Everlight, we'll be going up there soon."

Anders gave a slight nod before starting to leave. "Wait. What happened last night?""How much do you remember?"

"I remember finding you in the tunnels, not much after that.""We came back here, you got changed, we headed back out, you helped Kira get up, blacked out, woke up twenty minutes later, took a sip of wine , and blacked out again. When we came back, we all went to our rooms, but we voted Drake take you to your room to make sure you were okay, to which he replied, 'I'm not her bloody keeper'". He said, trying to do an impression of his friend.

"And you're a soppy drunk. This morning he said something about a pool which I didn't believe. And now I'm wondering why your quarters are larger than the Overlord's?"

"I need more space for, research." Yes that made sense.

"And the pool is for?"

"Swimming." She decided she'd be honest this time, however she received a rather skeptical look. "What? Am I not allowed to relax?"

The camp had set up across from the inn and was beginning to pack up and move out. The woman had managed to walk in without notice. She was elderly, her back was slightly haunched, her skin wrinkled, and supporting herself on a staff that doubled as a one even gave her a glance.

No one notices an old lady, she thought to herself. Not even when they walked into the royal tent, that part disturbed her. She took a seat at a large table, taking out some papers and started to write on them.

Let's see. Where didn't I check. Nordberg, done. Everlight, done. The Mellow Hills, done. This continued for quite some time. She,d been around the kingdom and back again. In the fifteen years she'd been looking, she'd found neither hide nor hair of The Overlord. Then one just sprouted up. She could have been more vigilant in her examinations, but traveling for such a long time makes you stressed.

"I see stealth still isn't your strong suit." Rose chided, slowly standing before turning around. "I see time has aged you horribly, Jonah."

"If you had aged anymore then you would be dust." The king replied, his wife stood to his side and his daughter next to her. There was a tense moment between the two, however it ended when both burst into laughter. She pulled herself upwards and moved towards the rest.

"Ah, Emily, last time I saw you, you were seven. Look at how you've grown. I also assume John has moved past going to the bathroom whenever he wants and uses a chamberpot like the rest of us."

"He certainly has." Audery said, letting out a smile."And you, defended any keeps lately.""Not yet, but with what is happening."

"What is happening?" Rose asked, a look of concern on her face.

"You don't know?" Emily replied.

"Know what? I saw the camp and decided to check on you."

"The Overlord has returned." Baleon froze up. "On a light topic, might I ask where the princess-to-be is, Lo's her name, isn't it?"

There was a moment of awkward silence between them."She is most likely preparing to attack another city." Emily burst out. "What, we were going to have to tell her at some point." She responded as her mother gave her a venomous glance.

"By the Gods, I leave for five minutes and this happens."

"It's not as bad as it sounds." Audery protested.

"So, a man with an instinctive command of an army that is highly ferocious, has teamed up with an extremely powerful."

"Likely the strongest of this generation." Emily interrupted.

"Thank you, so, a man with an instinctive command of an army that is highly ferocious, has teamed up with the strongest mage in the known world, who cannot die of old age. Well this is brilliant. So, how did this happen."

Baleon gave a sigh before heading to a chair next to Rose. Emily tried to stay, but was quickly ushered out by her mother."So, how did this start?" Rose inquired tapping a boney finger on the table.

"It started better than I had hoped. They liked each other. The boy was rather nervous around her. As was I."

"I hope for a different reason."A nod began the reply.

"The paladins said she was powerful, that much was certain. Two weeks later though, myself and my son were poisoned. I'm not sure what it was but it made us angry than we should have been. Her and John had a fight about Tristen and my son tried to kill him." The king stated flatly. "I send her to the wasteland. John went after her, with a few others, but the Overlord, got to her first."

"And how do you feel about this?"

"I don't know. I didn't really know her. Angry." He replied, looking down

"Ashamed?"

That made him look back up. "Why would I be ashamed?"

"You sent the person your son was beginning to love away, and quite frankly I haven't heard you say her name yet."

"Yes, but the elves did join us. That's what really matters." He offered.

"I've been alive for eighty two years. In the past sixteen years I've seen all sides of the continent, and I can tell you with a certainty. Family is what matters. My son died during the war, and the only thing I regret is that I didn't know him better." Rose's tone had taken on a hint of anger, talking down to him despite being a foot shorter and at least thirty older.

"Did I ever thank you?" Jonah asked, sounding like a small child.

"No, I don't believe you did."

"Then I do. I know it must have difficult for you."

"Your welcome."

"If it came down to it, I don't think I'd have been able to do the same."

"I hope it doesn't come to that. No parent should have to aid in their child's death. And with that, I'm heading to the inn, my legs aren't what they used to be."Rose finished, wrapping up her papers and pulling herself upwards.

When she went outside she craned her neck upwards, a slight crack echoing from her movement.

"Your sister sent told me to give you a message." Emily whispered.

"I did not know she was alive." Rose replied. "Now stop whispering. It looks suspicious. Come, we should go see my other agent."

"I thought you'd be shocked."

"No, she always had a way of wriggling her way in and out of things."

"Not anymore. The elves found her dead. Apparently she'd been creating an army to fight the Red Dawn. Cultists had been gathering weapons and storing them in the lantern district."

"The whore district dear, we call it the whore district." Rose corrected.

"Velvet had been trying to stop them."

"Surprising, she normally slept her way out of problems."

"Anyway, her granddaughter came to me and took me to her."

"And the message?" Rose asked.

"The girl is the key. To what she didn't know."They had come to a small tent located near the edge of the camp. It was exactly like the others, a dirty brown cloth being held up by sticks and cloth.

Rose pushed the fabric door aside. "Khalenhad, any news."

Fourteen hours ago...

"I'm not her bloody keeper." Drake repeated. One arm holding Lo upright as she giggled. "Seriously, half a glass and you're like this."

"I'm sorry, I'll try to drink more before getting like this."

"No." He replied, stepping on the platform before it went off. "You're never getting drunk again. Not if I'm made to look after you."

After half a minute of silence, the platform clicked into place and he ended up half dragging her."Let's go swimming." Lo announced.

"We're underground, were would we go, is that a pool? Why do you have a, you know what, I'm not going to ask."

"Come on." She laughed, pulling at his arm.

"No, you are going to sleep." He said slowly, pronouncing each word to make it as clear as possible. She started to look sad, making a face like a sad dog. "No. You, are going, to go, to bed. Why do I feel like your bloody father?"

All sadness disappeared and Lo started giggling again. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"If it lets me get away faster, than yes."

"My father was the last Overlord, and I'm the current one." She giggled. "The man you thinks leading us, he's actually one of you. Goodnight." She ended, giving him a slight peck on the cheek before dashing off.

A/N Yay, new chapter out, and it took less than three months. Ty for reading and feel free to write a review.