The Lore of Poldaran: Chapter 9: The Sorceress' ApprenticeFollow

After school, Nagisa met up with Diane by the statue of the hooded sorceress near the front of the school's central tower. "Let's go by the bookstore on the way home," she told her friend.

"Sounds good," Diane replied. "So, you want to hear more about what I heard about Poldaran?"

"Of course!" Nagisa said. "Any idea why she was here?"

Diane nodded. "Some other students were saying that the Kirin Tor is hiding evidence of an attack on Dalaran last night by black dragons. A few even claimed to see the smoke rising from the forest below, where they were burning the corpses."

"That's troubling," Nagisa said, furrowing her brow. She considered telling Diane what she suspected about Miss Summers, but decided to wait until she had some evidence. Instead, she decided to ask a question down a different line. "But how would she have been able to stand up to them? She's been weakened, and the Kirin Tor even sentenced her to twenty years of wearing a power limiter."

"This is Lady Poldaran we're talking about, Nagisa. We both know that she'll ignore laws when she feels it's necessary."

"No one can take off a power limiter, not from themselves, anyway."

Diane just shrugged. "She'd find a way around it. You never know what she's capable of."

The two walked on, continuing their conversation for several minutes before reaching Nagisa's favorite bookstore. The owner, an elderly tauren of rather immense height, greeted them jovially as they entered. "I've been expecting you," he told Nagisa, pulling a few books from under the shop's counter. On the top was a copy of Fangs in the Forest. "Then again, you're here three or four times a week, so I guess that would be as inevitable as expecting the sun to rise." He laughed, a rich full sound that roared through the room.

"Thank you," Nagisa said. "But what are these other books?"

"Your mother's special orders. I've already added them to your account."

"Awesome," Nagisa replied. "Thank you."

Diane seemed confused. "Account? Does Nagisa really come here that often?"

The tauren roared with laughter again. "If it wasn't for this girl and her mother, I would likely have to go out of business," he said with a smile.

"Really?"

"I'm amazed that the amount of reading I do is considered to be a lot," Nagisa said. "I often feel like I don't have nearly enough time to read everything I want to. I wish I could read as fast as mom does, then I could really get through my weekly reading."

"I'm kinda afraid to ask, but how many books do you read a week?" Diane asked.

"Maybe fifteen or twenty, about half of those are manga."

"And you don't think that you read enough?!"

Nagisa shrugged. "Let's head over to my place. I've got to start reading this Poldaran story as soon as I can."

They decided to cut through a park to get to Nagisa's home, despite Diana's concerns about rumors that cultists and other deviants using the wooded areas of parks as sites for their nefarious activities. Her fears were allayed quickly by the presence of a number of patrolling Violet Guard, always around since this park was the closest one to the Violet Citadel and was often used by members of Kirin Tor and their families.

As they neared a large building, they began to hear what sounded like singing coming from one of the open windows. Nagisa motioned for Diana to stop. "What's wrong?" her friend asked.

Nagisa didn't respond but instead just frowned slightly as she listened to the sad words of the song being sung. After it finished, she finally spoke. "She's remembering Dad," Nagisa said. "Must be having a bad day. Let's give her a minute before heading up."

"Was that your mom?"

"Yes. She always sings that song when she's feeling a bit down."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your father?"

Nagisa had never told anyone about it before, so she was unsure of how to respond. "He died before I was born," was all she said.

"I'm sorry," Diane replied, afraid of having offended her friend.

"Don't be. You didn't say anything wrong. It's just that I have no idea how he died. Mom won't tell me. All I know about him is that he was some kind of great soldier, guard to one of Silvermoon's diplomats in Dalaran. She says it's some kind of prestigious position."

"It is," Diane replied. "Silvermoon's diplomatic guards are considered some of the finest warriors in all of Quel'thalas. The only position a soldier can hope for more prestige is as a personal guard to a member of the royal family."

"You seem to know an awful lot about the High Elves," Nagisa commented.

"My dad was an ambassador back before I was born,” Diane said. "He taught me everything he knew about the other nations."

Nagisa nodded her understanding. "Let's go ahead and head up."

They entered the huge lobby for the building, walking past several armed guards who greeted Nagisa warmly, and took the stairs up several floors until they reached the top, where Nagisa lived. "Hey, I don't see any other doors on this floor," Diane said.

"Oh, there's one on the other end of the hallway for the other apartment," Nagisa replied.

"There are only two residences on this floor?" Diane asked, shocked.

Nagisa nodded. "The whole building's like that," she responded. "You act like that's a strange thing."

"It is," Diane said. "These residences must be huge. And we're so close to the Violet Citadel. I'd bet you could look out your bedroom window and see right into the tower."

Nagisa shook her head. "No, I think you can get a view from mom's studio, but our bedrooms look out over the park." She opened the front door by touching her hand to an enchanted stone. "Mom, I'm home!" she called out as the girls walked into the large sitting room that lay beyond the front door.

"Welcome home, 'isa," a voice called out. A few moments later, Lisa entered the room. She seemed startled by Diane's presence. "Oh dear, what's this? You brought a friend home?"

"This is Diane. I've told you about her," Nagisa replied.

"It's nice to meet you, Diane," the woman said with a smile. "This is the first time Nagisa's brought a friend home since we moved to Dalaran. I think we should celebrate. I insist you stay for dinner."

"I would be delighted, Lady Windbloom," Diane said.

"Excellent!" Lisa exclaimed. "I need to have a few words with my daughter about her school day," she said. "Why don't you go on into the dining room and serve yourself some of the cookies and tea I've set on the table and we’ll be along in a moment. It's through that door, first door on the right."

Nagisa followed her mom to her studio. Inside, the curtains were closed and the room was dark save for a few sconces glowing with the light of a type of magical fungus. A sheet covered a large canvas resting against the far wall, and the door into the closet was closed as always. Nagisa could make out a few shapes in the painting under the sheet. It didn't appear to be something she recognized. "Painting something new? Can I see it?"

"It's not finished yet," Lisa replied. "And we have more serious matters to discuss." She walked over to her daughter and plucked a single hair from the girl's head. "Let's just see how serious this fight of yours was."

The woman poured some water into a basin on her desk and then drew runes around it with a glowing blue ink. As she began chanting the spell, Lisa released the strand of hair into the water, which also began to glow. She then placed a finger from each hand in the bowl, pulled the water out into the air and began shaping it into a sheet floating in the center of the room. As the spell was finished, the water froze solid and began showing the events that had caused Nagisa to get in trouble at school.

After the images faded, Lisa shook her head in disappointment. She snapped her fingers, unfreezing the water and returning it to the basin, before addressing her daughter. "Would you like to explain why you ran back into the room after you had already escaped?"

"She called me a coward," Nagisa said. "And the other thing."

"So you would rather be a fool than a coward, is that it? You could have been seriously hurt, or even killed. I thought you had better judgment than that." The last part stung Nagisa deeply and tears began streaming down her cheeks. "Alright, then. I did not ever want to have to use this punishment, but I need you to understand that there are consequences for your actions." Lisa took one of her unused paintbrushes from her desk and cast a quick spell, enlarging it to the size of a small mop. She then took more of the glowing blue ink and drew a circle on the hardwood floor of the studio. "Hand me your book bag and step into the circle," she told her daughter.

Nagisa did as she was told. Her mother then pulled out the copy of Fangs in the Forest from the bag, as well as several other Poldaran manga Nagisa had tucked away in there. She drew several more circles around the large one Nagisa was in and placed one of the books in each. She then began drawing a complex rune series around each circle. When that was complete, she began chanting the spell, causing the glowing runes to burn more brightly. Nagisa felt her head start swimming and the room became a bit out of focus as the magic worked on her.

After a few moments, the spell was over and the magic ink dissipated. "Go ahead and put away your books," Lisa told her daughter.

Nagisa picked up the first book, but it looked different. "Wait, this is blank." She quickly picked up the next, and then the next. "They're all blank!" she said in horror.

"No, they're not. I've simply cast an adaptive illusion spell on your eyes. It will prevent you from being able to see the contents of any of these books for the next two weeks. Don't try to get around it by purchasing other copies. The spell is on you, so you won't be able to read the other copies either."

"But, Mom..."

"No argument, young lady. As I said, you have to learn that your actions have consequences." Lisa suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of consequences, for jumping over the wall and evading that guard this morning, you won't be going to the Cranius concert next week. The rules are in place for a reason and I will not have you breaking them."

"But I didn't..."

Lisa held up her hand, motioning for Nagisa to stop talking. "I can pluck another hair and verify if you'd like, though if you make me do so and I find that you're lying, I will have to increase your punishment further. Is that something you want?"

Nagisa shook her head, unsure of her ability to speak.

"I thought as much," Lisa said. She hugged her daughter. "I'm sorry for all this, 'isa, but sometimes I have to be strict. Please don't hate me." She wiped a tear from Nagisa's eye. "I'm going to go start dinner. I'll have your friend help me. Take a few moments to regain your composure and then come join us."

After her mother had left, Nagisa thought hard about everything. A part of her really wanted to rage about the punishment, to scream about the unfairness of it all. Ultimately, however, she really wasn't that kind of girl and had to admit that perhaps it had been fair. Not only that, but she wasn't above trying to bargain for the concert and that kind of fit throwing would only cost her later when she tried. She would have to take things in stride for now.

A few deep breaths and she had regained her composure. Indeed, her elegance, if she had anything to say about it. Before she could leave the room, she noticed something on her mother's desk, a sheet of paper bearing her school's crest. Maybe this was how her mother knew of her incidents today? Overcome with curiosity, Nagisa began reading the document.

She was surprised at what she read. It wasn't about her. It was a commission by the Headmistress for a painting by her mother! The letter included a date, place and time of an event that Headmistress Modera wanted painted. With that information, it would be nothing for her mother to scry the event and paint the image.

"Maybe that's what's under the sheet!" Nagisa whispered to herself.

Unable to stop herself, the girl pulled back the sheet. Everything was simply a light penciling in of what would become a full oil painting, but it was clear what it was to be. It was a painting of a young woman playing a violin on Krasus' Landing while lightning struck dragons that surrounded her. Several figures could be seen watching the events from the bushes, but Nagisa was unsure who they were as the penciling was quite rough on that section.

"This couldn't be the event that is rumored to have happened last night, could it?" Nagisa asked herself. She ran back to the desk and double checked the document. Sure enough, it had listed Krasus' Landing as the place, and late last night as the time. "Poldaran was in town last night!" she exclaimed quietly. "I'll have to tell Diane about this later."

Her punishment pushed to the back of her mind by the discovery, Nagisa hurried into the kitchen, only to find the kitchen covered in flour and both her mother and Diane hiding behind a counter. "Quick! Hide!" Lisa said to her daughter.

"What on earth is going on?" Nagisa asked. No sooner had she spoken than a glob of something flew at her from across the kitchen. She dodged quickly and the projectile splattered across the wall behind her. With a quick dive, she was behind the counter with her mother and her friend.

"So, Diane had what seemed like a great idea at the time," Lisa said, beginning the explanation. "She suggested that if we used a water elemental instead of a bowl of water, we'd have to do fewer dishes after dinner."

"As you can see, that hasn't worked out very well," Diane said.

"Yes, as you can see, mixing a water elemental with cake ingredients doesn't yield a floating cake batter and fewer dishes. It apparently instead yields an angry cake elemental!" Lisa pulled a towel around her head to protect her hair from the flying batter. "Cover me, I'm going in!" she ordered. She stood and teleported past the counter to where the elemental was making its stand.

Nagisa threw some nearby kitchen knives to the other side of the elemental, to distract it from her mom's approach. Diane launched a water bolt hoping to dilute the creature. Both attacks served well to distract the creature and Lisa took her opportunity to dive at it. She quickly spoke the words to a spell and the elemental was struck with a powerful fireblast.

Nagisa dove behind the counter again and Diane reacted quickly, creating a shield for herself, blocking the explosion of batter and flour that shot through the room. Lisa, however, was too close. When the flour cleared and the room was once again visible, Nagisa stood to see her mother, covered from head to toe in batter and flour. Lisa licked some of the batter from her finger. "Well, at least it's tasty," she said.

Nagisa laughed in spite of herself. "Mom, a lady should really be more elegant," she said while giggling.
** * **

Yadier was just swamped with paperwork from the investigation into the recent black dragon attack. It had been two days since Poldaran had repelled that attack, but Yadier still had a headache from it. The first cause was the news that she was searching for an apprentice. The second was more subtle.

Poldaran had an annoying habit of hiding information in the most random things she said, which meant that Yadier had spent the last two days losing sleep trying to puzzle out the meaning of what she had said about "season fairies". It could be nothing more than nonsense, but until he had some kind of meaning for it, he could not just ignore it, for fear that it could turn out to be important.

He had read every tome he could find with information about magical creatures. While he did find a few pieces of information about fairies, there was nothing about them controlling the weather. It was maddening.

A sudden urgent knock at his office door pulled Yadier away from his studies. "Come in," he said.

Yadier's assistant, a bookish sort of man of about twenty, entered the room, looking thoroughly disheveled. He rushed across the room and handed Yadier a scroll. "Wizard Yadier, the Arcane Vault has been burglarized."

"What?!" Yadier was completely taken aback. This was unthinkably close to impossible. The Arcane Vault was located within the Violet Tower itself, and protected by the most powerful wards in the world. Entry into it required at least three registered members of the Kirin Tor, two if one was a member of the Six. "Have any investigative teams arrived on the scene yet?"

"Yes, Wizard Yadier. That scroll contains a preliminary report of what was taken, as well as a suggested means of entry."

As Yadier read the list, he began to become irritated. "This is just a list of random curiosities and a few assorted valuable reagents. 'Raptor Fossils, Pyrium-Laced Crystalline Vial, Highborne Soul Mirror', none of these are worth the effort...oh." The last item on the list brought him to a halt. "Spellbook of Necromancer-Sorceress Poldaran the Lichborn." He sat silently for a moment, taking it all in. "Do we have any evidence of how this break in was committed?"

"As the preliminary report suggests, it appears someone used the Curator's Override to bypass all of the wards. They then destroyed the override crystals to remove any record of their entrance. Our investigator suggests that someone bribed one of the current curators. He's already requested that they be brought in for questioning, pending your approval since they're members of the Kirin Tor."

"Do it. Have the investigator come brief me when he's ready to question them so I can sit in on the interrogation."

"At once, Wizard Yadier." The assistant turned to leave, then suddenly stopped. "Oh, and regarding the other matter you've had me looking into. I've been unable to find anything at all regarding any type of weather controlling fairies. I think it might be a wild goose chase."

"I'm not so sure. There has to be a hidden meaning there. Now I'm sure of it. Just what that meaning is, however, is beyond me."

"As you say, Wizard Yadier. I shall go attend to my duties."

** * **

Nagisa awoke to the smell of waffles once again. She did not smell pumpkin, so likely her mother had used the blueberries from the pantry instead. The girl decided not to worry too much about where her mother had gotten more flour after the previous night's mess. Waffles were waffles, and it was better not to worry about the small stuff.

After a quick breakfast with her mother, she got dressed and fixed her hair before heading for the door. As usual, her mother was waiting by the door with a piece of buttered toast, letting Nagisa know that she was running late again.

Considering her recent punishments, the girl decided to just accept being late. She hurried, but did not rush, carefully avoiding getting sweaty. Better to be late and elegant than on time and not, to the girl's mind.

It turned out not to be a concern, as her first teacher for the day was also late, so Nagisa beat her there by several minutes. The instructor looked disheveled and kept muttering something about flying squirrels before leaving the room and declaring a free period. Nagisa took that time to talk to Diane about what she had discovered. The other girl became excited by the news and the two spent the rest of the day discussing Poldaran in every spare minute they had during shared classes.

When school ended, Diane had to stay for her poetry club, so Nagisa headed to the book store alone, since she had to find something else to read after being grounded from the Poldaran stories.

She was surprised to see a familiar face at the store. He looked completely lost in a search. "Wizard Yadier?" she asked.

"Oh, hello. Nagisa Windbloom, isn't it?"

Nagisa nodded. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Sort of," he said. "You see, I have a friend who likes to hide messages in things she says. I've been searching for the meaning of something she said last time I saw her, but I just can't find any references to what she was talking about."

"Maybe I could help?"

He thought about it for a moment. "I really shouldn't. No, you know what? Forget that. I'll take any help you can give."

"Alright then," Nagisa said. "What did your friend say? And is there any context I can use to help narrow it down?"

"She had just pulled out a violin and said that it was given to her by some kind of, what did she call them? Season fairies, that's it. She said that they control the weather with their music and gave her the violin in exchange for her warm feelings and friendship."

"That sounds really familiar," Nagisa said. "Oh!" she gasped before walking purposefully down one of the aisles towards a familiar section of the store.

"Wait, manga?" Yadier asked. He slapped his head in sudden realization. "Of course it would be! I already knew she reads these things. I should have put the pieces together sooner."

"This is the only one I know of that's about season fairies," Nagisa said, handing Yadier one of the books. "It's one of my favorites, so I should be able to answer any questions about it you have."

He thumbed through it for a moment. "Yeah, this is definitely not my kind of thing. What's the motivation of this main character here?"

"The main character? Not interested in what's motivating the fairies?"

"I think the main character is where we should start. My friend sees herself as the main character in some kind of story, so I think she'd be more likely to have left a message that relates to the story's main character."

"Well, she's a girl, maybe about my age, who is working hard to save up enough money to buy back her dead mother's piano. She eventually becomes befriended by these fairies, since she's one of a very few who can see them and helps them find what it is they're looking for through her friendship and warm feelings."

"So she's trying to get back something that should belong to her?" Nagisa nodded. Yadier swore. "Of course! She was telling me outright that she'd be robbing that vault." He swore again.

"Who robbed what vault?"

"Wait, did I say that out loud? Um, don't worry about it. In fact, I'd like to ask that you keep this a secret. Knowledge of the event hasn't been made public yet and I'd rather keep a lid on it for now."

Nagisa shrugged. "Okay then, since I don't have the faintest clue of what you're talking about."

"I need to get going," he said. "Apparently I have work to do. Thanks for the help." With that, he rushed from the store, book still in hand.

"Go ahead and put his book on our tab," Nagisa told the shopkeeper. "He seems to be having a rough day. You can take it off there when he remembers he has it and comes in to pay for it later."

The shopkeeper nodded. "Any idea what you'll be getting today?"

"There's a series I've been meaning to read. Mind if I sit up on the roof for a bit and read after I find the first couple volumes?"

"Not at all. The chair is there as usual, just be sure to check for spiders before you sit down."

"Believe me, I'll be checking. Don't want a repeat of last time. You think that guy I hit with the book will ever be able to see straight again?"

The tauren shrugged and Nagisa grabbed a few books before heading up to the roof. Once there, she did a thorough check of the chair for more spiders and reminded herself to tell the owner about the squeaky board next to the door. Satisfied, she opened one of the books and began reading.

She had not been there long when she heard a door open up on a nearby roof and two people talking. "Look, it's not that I don't care about you," a woman said. "I just don't think we're right for each other. You come from a prestigious family and have a duty to continue on your line, and I just can't..." The woman trailed off.

"I don't care about that, Az," a man responded. Based on the sound of his voice, Nagisa suspected he was a blood elf. "To hell with my family. I just want to be with you."

"Please don't make this harder than it has to be, Viridiel," the woman responded. "I have to do what is right, and as much as it hurts, what's right is to walk away now, before it becomes even more difficult."

The pain in their voices was too much for Nagisa. Tears began to stream down her cheeks and her body began to shake. She was able to keep from sobbing, but the shaking knocked one of her books from her lap. It landed with a loud thud.

"Who goes there?!" the man called out. Nagisa stilled her shaking and silently stood from the chair, trying to sneak to the door and hurry inside undetected. Unfortunately, the squeaky board had other ideas and let out a loud creak as Nagisa walked over it. "Found you!" the man shouted before leaping from the building he was on to the slightly lower roof where Nagisa was trying to make her escape. "I'll teach you to listen in on private conversations!"

In a flash, a pair of blades was in his hands. Nagisa couldn't believe what was happening. "Wait a minute, I wasn't intentionally..."

"Shut up, you little brat!" he shouted as he swung at her. Nagisa dodged with a roll past him that took her to the edge of the roof, right next to the short wall that prevented anyone from falling off the roof accidentally. Her ears told her that he was quickly approaching from behind, so she prayed that she was at a spot near one of the building's awnings and jumped from the roof of the four story building.

She wasn't in luck. She was going to miss the nearest awning by several feet. Acting quickly, she grabbed for the first window sill she passed and used it to push herself towards the awning.

She hit awkwardly and bounced to the ground below, managing to execute a roll to prevent injury. "You won't get away that easily!" the man called out from above her before leaping over the edge towards another awning.

Nagisa knew that this street, located behind the building she had been in, wasn’t busy enough and her only hope lay in making it to the front. Since the man would be falling nearer to the cross street than her, she had to chance the nearby alley. With a burst of speed, she took off running down the alley.

As she neared the end of the alley, she heard a loud crash behind her. She turned to see an extremely dangerous looking woman in full plate armor standing a few feet behind her. "Wait!" the woman called out, but Nagisa had already continued her dash for safety.

The street was so crowded that she ran into a woman, sending both of them crashing to the ground. "'isa?" the woman asked.

Nagisa was shocked to see her mother was the woman she had just crashed into. "Mom?"

"What's wrong, dear? You're white as a ghost." Nagisa did not have to answer as the terrifying looking woman and the blade wielding man emerged from the alley at a jog, still chasing the girl. "I see." Lisa's face became serious and her brow furled in anger. "I'll handle this, 'isa. Go home, I'll be there shortly."

"But I didn't even tell you..."

"It doesn't matter, 'isa. Just do as I say and go home. We'll talk later and you can tell me all about it."

** * **

Yadier could not believe he had rushed from the store with that book still in hand. Sure, it had been a revelation, but it wasn't like he hadn't expected it. And more than that, it seemed too simple. Poldaran might have hidden that meaning, but he suspected it was more likely there was something deeper hidden there, something the girl had skimmed over in her summary.

There was no helping it. He was going to have to actually read the story. This meant that rather than returning the book, he was going to have to purchase it, and probably every book in the series. "Dammit, Poldaran," he muttered under his breath.

About a block away from his destination, he saw that girl he had spoken to earlier dash out of an alleyway and barrel into some blond woman. They seemed to know each other and after a brief exchange the girl ran off.

The appearance of Azmaria and Viridiel Suntreader from the alleyway took him by surprise. Viridiel's face was contorted with rage and Azmaria was in full armor. What was scarier was that Viridiel had his blades in hand. Something was afoot. Had the girl done something to antagonize them?

A crowd was beginning to form as the blond woman placed herself between the two and the fleeing girl. Yadier could not quite make out what she said to them, but it was clear that whatever it was had stopped them cold. He had to know what was going on, especially when it was something that looked so prone to inciting violence. If it came to that, he would have to act quickly. He tapped a gem on his belt, signaling for all members of the city's security forces within a three block radius to converge on his location.

He followed that up by activating another spell within a gem, allowing him to focus his hearing upon any targets within his line of sight. Viridiel was speaking. "...eavesdropping? You would do well to teach some manners to that ill-bred daughter of yours."

The woman responded with a laugh. "Ill-bred? You amuse me." She walked around Azmaria, sizing up the armored woman. "So this is what a hero looks like? And these are the actions of a hero? Terrorizing some poor girl because she accidentally hears? I would have expected better."

Azmaria's head drooped in shame. The woman's words had clearly struck true. Yadier found himself impressed. The woman regarded Viridiel for a moment.

"And you. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. One does not tend to expect rationality and civility from a man who had a hand in his own brother's murder."

Yadier choked on his own saliva from the shock of hearing that. He could not believe she would have suggested that. Everyone knew that Viridiel's younger brother, along with the man's betrothed and several of their friends, had been the victim of bandits that had stolen into Dalaran. That event, nearly sixteen years prior, had been the catalyst of a serious increase in Dalaran's security, including the creation of the office Yadier now held, funded in part by a large grant from the betrothed's grieving father.

Through a fit of coughing, he could see rage contorting the face of the elf. "You go too far," Viridiel said, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his swords with rage.

"Do I?" the woman said, egging the man on. She leaned in close and whispered to him. Yadier was certain only he and Viridiel heard what she said. "Yes, strike at me," she said. "Show them your temper, the temper that would lead a man to kill his own brother. The best part is that your blow will never land. We're surrounded by a dozen members of the city's guard. More than that, it would be folly to strike at a Knight of Dalaran in such a fashion. You would only invoke the wrath of she who watches over us."

Viridiel's face betrayed surprise at that statement. Yadier was unsure of what she meant by that. Apparently there was more going on than he knew. This would bear further investigation, as he needed to know as much about the goings on of the city as he could in order to protect the citizens.

Viridiel seemed unable to reply. The woman calmly turned and began to walk away, but suddenly stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "It seems you only have one option remaining. I'll await the arrival of your second."

** * **


Edited, Jul 22nd 2011 12:34am by Poldaran

Nagisa and Diane returned home to find a letter from Lisa for them, explaining that she was unlikely to return until late that evening due to the duel preparations. "Well, that's no good," Nagisa said to Diane after reading the note. "I was hoping to have her look at my shoulder."

"Any idea what made Lady Azmaria attack you like that?" Diane asked.

"I suspect that she thinks that I'm hiding some kind of talent with swords and that if she can just catch me off guard, I'll reveal my true talent or something."

"Well, are you?"

"Don't be silly. Why would you think that?"

"It's just that you're so incredibly agile and graceful. You seem like the kind of person who would have incredible skill with a blade,” Diane replied. "Not to mention how you fearlessly charged at Samantha."

"Oh, that. When we were living in the woods, we would go to a nearby elven village a few times a week to check on the arrival of our new books. I was the only child my age in the area, so I would play with some of the adults and older children. Tumbling and tree climbing were some of the favorite games of the elven children, and I had to learn fast to keep up, so I did. And of course, being children, there were always fights, so I learned a little of that too."

"I guess that makes sense," Diane said, satisfied at the explanation. "So, since your mom isn't home, should I make you a cold compress for your shoulder?"

'That should at least help with the pain a bit," Nagisa responded.

"Okay then. I'll go get a towel and conjure up a bit of ice while you take off your shirt."

"Take off my shirt?!" Nagisa said, her eyes going wide.

"Wouldn't want to get your shirt wet, would we? Besides, we should at least see if you're going to bruise."

"Oh, okay," Nagisa said as Diane headed into the kitchen. Nagisa began unbuttoning her shirt, feeling a bit self-conscious. After removing it, she had a seat on the ottoman in front of her mother's favorite chair, since it would be the best place for Diane to sit while applying the compress.

She didn't notice Diane enter the room. "Well, well," Diane said admiringly. "Your half elven lineage may have slowed the growth of your magic, but it seems like other things are developing quite nicely."

"DIANE?!" Nagisa said, mortified, while covering her chest with her arms.

"I'm just teasing," her friend replied as she sat down behind Nagisa. "This is going to be a bit cold," she said as she placed the towel on Nagisa's left shoulder. Nagisa shivered at the touch. "Also, it looks like you're going to have a rather large bruise. May want to skip next week's swimming lessons if it isn't healed by then. I'm sure all the boys in our class will be heartbroken if you do, though."

"Well, they'll just have to be heartbroken," Nagisa said. "I'm not sure I wanted to prance around in swim clothes in front of them anyway."

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen that bracelet before," Diane said, thankfully changing the subject.

"I tend to hide it by covering it with long sleeves," Nagisa said. "It's a reminder of things I don't like to think about."

"Then why wear it?"

"I have to," Nagisa said. She sighed, realizing she would have to share the story. "I got really sick when the Sunwell was defiled. Mom says that I almost died."

"So what does the bracelet have to do with that?"

"It's a medical device,” Nagisa said. "That red gem takes in the magic around me and feeds it into my body in a low but steady dose, supplying my body with the magic it desperately craves and preventing me from becoming Wretched."

"But the Sunwell has been rekindled. Shouldn't the bracelet be unnecessary now?"

"You would think so, but it turns out I've become addicted to the particular form of magic this thing produces. Removing it would make me sick as well. Mom's had several other gems added to it to help wean me off the magic, but I still have years of wearing it ahead of me."

"There are over a dozen gems on that thing. You don't think it has other abilities, do you?"

"I think my mom would have told me if it did," Nagisa said abruptly. "Anyway, my shoulder's pain has stopped, so I'm going to put my shirt back on."

"Aww," Diane said. "But here I was thinking it would be more fun if I just took mine off as well."

Nagisa was relieved to change the subject. "Well you'll just have to deal with it. Now let's go see what mom left us for dinner."

** * **
If anyone had told Yadier this morning that his evening would be spent hiding in a bush, covered in cold mud and twigs and leaves, he would have called them crazy. Nevertheless, that is precisely where he found himself.

After the note had arrived from the Windbloom girl with that information about the statues she had managed to dig up for him, he felt that he had no choice but to watch this duel himself, rather than send someone else to do so for him.

It all kept coming back to these so called Knights of Dalaran. The statues, Poldaran's return to Dalaran, even this duel had links to these Knights, somehow. Lisa Windbloom had called herself a Knight, which meant that she and Samantha Kirin were his best leads for more information about this organization. Poldaran was also a potential lead, but he knew he would not get much information from her.

Especially after his discussion with Dalar Dawnweaver that morning. He had originally called in Dalar to discuss just how Poldaran had gotten ahold of his Curator Override sequence for the Arcane Vault. He had been shocked, to say the least, when the man flat out admitted he had given it to her because she had asked. He then went on to explain that he'd felt there was no danger in her having it since he had retired as curator over fifteen years ago and his sequence had been deactivated, meaning there was no way that she could have used it to get into the Vault.

Yadier suspected that she had perhaps used another means of entry and had somehow used the override from inside the Vault to escape. He had his assistant looking into that possibility.

That had not been the only reason he had called in Dalar that morning. Dalar was also the man who had developed the power limiter spell and gems that were used to seal Poldaran's magic. If anyone would know how she could break out of them, he would. Yadier wanted to know what she would attempt.

The man had assured him that there was little chance of breaking free from the limiter. From the outside, only one of those who had sealed her powers could remove the lock. And while the design could be overwhelmed by the one who had been bound, it would take far more magical power than any one human mage could muster.

When Yadier asked if the use of any artifacts would allow for the needed burst, Dalar had said pretty emphatically that it would require something that would be able to resonate in sync with the flow of a person's natural magic and he had only known of one type of artifact that could do that.

The weapons of the Knights of Dalaran might be capable of doing so, but it would take one that had bonded to her. Not only that, but it could not be done by forging a similar weapon, like had been done for Azmaria. The weapon had to be bonded to her family for generations before it would reach the required levels of synchronization required to be viable in helping to break the chains of the power limiter.

This meant that Yadier needed more information, both on these Knights of Dalaran and on Poldaran’s role with them. If she had ties to them beyond her role as their protector, he needed to find out what it was.

And thus, he found himself cold and covered in mud, hiding in a bush about forty yards away from the site of the duel between a self proclaimed Knight and a member of one of Silvermoon's noble houses.

The choice of mud over illusion magic was not a choice he would have liked to have made, but he really didn't feel he had any options. With Azmaria listed as the second for one of the duelists, he could not risk that she would be able to see the magic of his illusion and blow his cover. The idea was to avoid detection completely, so he arrived more than an hour early, levitated into position to avoid leaving any tracks and suffered through the cold.

His early arrival paid off. One of the duelists, Lady Windbloom, arrived about ten minutes after he did. She went around and wrote in a number of spellforms in a perimeter around the duel site, bolstering them with incantations. Yadier could only catch part of the incantation when she was closest to him, roughly fifteen yards away, but he thought it sounded like some sort of illusion spell.

She finished and left around fifteen minutes before the duel, all trace of her work hidden from view. Yadier did not dare leave his hiding place to go inspect the spellforms, as the Dalaran Security officer he'd designated to officiate the duel would be arriving any moment.

The official arrived first, followed shortly by Viridiel Suntreader and Azmaria. After the time of the duel passed, Lady Windbloom was nowhere in sight. "Just as I thought. She chickened out. This was a waste of time."

Yadier noticed the glyph nearest to him flare to life briefly and the air near it shimmered for a moment before the effect faded. No one else seemed to notice it. He picked up a pebble and, with as little motion as possible, threw it over the glyph. The pebble disappeared, suggesting to him that the glyphs had covered the entire area with a giant illusion. Those within could not see past it, and no one outside would be able to see them.

So, despite the fact that they were less than a mile from Dalaran near the Crystalsong Forest, no one from the city would be able to see them. To Yadier's mind, this did not bode well. What was even worse was that Azmaria did not seem to notice the effect, which meant she could not see the magic. This suggested that the spell was of the adaptive illusion variety, a type of spell suggested capable of fooling even those who could see magic. As far as Yadier knew, however, no one had been successful in actually casting one, though there were rumors that one apprentice had been close fifteen years ago. To see one on this scale was impressive.

With a flash, the two figures appeared in the field. "I apologize for my tardiness," Lady Windbloom said. "But my second decided that he had better things to do, so I had to arrange for another." She indicated the nearly eight foot tall figure beside her. His entire form was obscured by a black hooded cloak. "His Highness has agreed to stand beside me for this."

His highness? Yadier could not think of a single prince one might be able to convince to come to something as simple as a duel, especially not one like this. "Let's get this over with," Viridiel said with a sneer.

"Come now," Lady Windbloom replied. "Surely we can be civilized about this. I will gladly apologize for what I've said if you would only agree to talk with me."

"The time for talking is over!" Viridiel snapped.

"That's where you're wrong," Lady Windbloom said with a sigh. "However, it appears that you're too blind to see that the time for talking has just begun." She turned to her second. "Your highness, if you'd be so kind as to facilitate discussion?"

"Of course, my dear." He reached his bandage covered arm out and snapped his fingers. Yadier immediately recognized both the look and the voice. Lady Windbloom's second was Nexus-Prince Haramad!

Reaction was instantaneous. Seemingly from nowhere, dozens of ethereals began appearing around the clearing. They struck quickly, and even Azmaria had no time to react before one struck her with some kind of rod, sending lightning coursing through her body and knocking her unconscious. The Dalaran Security officer officiating the event was knocked out in a similar fashion.

Viridiel was hit with a lesser blast before several of the ethereals restrained and disarmed him. "Make the restraints as uncomfortable as you can. This man will suffer a bit for the scare he gave my daughter."

"So this is the honor of a Knight of Dalaran," Viridiel said. He spat in anger. "Was this trap your plan from the beginning?"

"Oh hush," Lisa replied. "I'm only restraining you because you made it necessary. I taunted you into a duel to get you somewhere more or less private so someone could have a talk with you. If you had behaved yourself and let me talk to you for a moment, this unpleasantness could have been avoided."

"It seems I have no choice. So talk."

Lisa shook her head. "I am only here to arrange the meeting. The one who wishes to speak with you will be here momentarily."

A portal opened and a figure stepped through it. Yadier gasped when he recognized the man's face. "So you do mean to kill me!" Viridiel said. "I know well your hatred for my family, how you blame us for your daughter's death!"

Dalar Dawnweaver turned to Lisa. "You did not explain to him what was going on?"

"He irritated me."

Dalar laughed. "Release him from the chains. I wish only to talk and the distrust they foster is counterproductive." The ethereals unbound Viridiel. He leapt to his feet. "Calm yourself, young master Suntreader. I wish only to show you the truth of what happened the night your brother and my daughter died. Will you agree to watch?"

"How is it that you came upon your supposed truth?"

"All will be made clear after you watch."

An image appeared before them, created with illusion magic. It appeared to be from the perspective of a young woman out with an elven man and four of their friends. Yadier watched as a dozen men surrounded the six young people. Most of the men appeared to be human bandits, though three of them had a more refined look to them. They were elven, and dressed as was customary of nobility. There was no sound to accompany the illusion, so Yadier could not tell what they had said, but it was clear by the brutal events that transpired that none had been meant to survive the encounter.

Two of the young men died in the initial assault, and one of the girls was severely wounded. The remaining man, an elf that looked a lot like Viridiel, though his hair was red, unlike Viridiel's blond stood in opposition to the attackers, trying to protect the women. Suddenly sound erupted from the illusion. "I do not care what Father says. You will not harm my betrothed!" The elven man attacked, striking at his foes with his short sword. He managed to slay four of the bandits before one of the other elves stabbed him from behind with his spear. He crumpled to the ground and a woman wailed in anguish.

"A pity," the elven murderer said. "Lord Suntreader said we might have to kill him if he resisted. But such is the price we have to pay to preserve the honor of House Suntreader. We will not allow this mongrel to be born." He turned to the bandits. "You may take the other girl and do with her as you please. We will deal with the young harlot that seeks to bring shame upon our lord's house."

The other woman screamed in terror as the bandits dragged her off. Yadier did not wish to think about what they would do to her. The elves surrounded the woman whose perspective told the tale. Within a moment, several blades were thrust forth and she collapsed to the ground.

"She will not last. Let us leave here before someone sees us," the leading elf said. In a flash, they teleported away.

The woman lay upon the ground, life draining away from her. She noticed that the other woman who had been stabbed was also still alive and seemed to make the choice to act. Weakly she drew runes upon the ground and spoke the words to a communication spell. "Alison," she said. "Help..."

The image faded. "I do not understand," Viridiel said. "Those men used to serve my father. How did you come upon this information?"

"These images were shown by my daughter to someone close to her. The girl, Alison, that she called for, managed to arrive in time to hold my daughter in her arms before she died. It was Alison who showed them to me."

"Can she be trusted?"

Dalar nodded. "More than perhaps anyone else in this world. And the story was corroborated by the girl who survived."

"Someone survived?"

"Yes. She was placed in hiding for fear that your father's men would return. I asked her to testify against the men who attacked them, but her parents would not allow it. As such, when I brought my case before the Kirin Tor, it was dismissed without a full hearing."

Viridiel's head seemed to be spinning. "I don't understand. Why show this to me?"

"I have decided to finally make my move against those who slew my daughter and your brother, but it seems that those three men have gone into hiding. I was hoping that if you knew the truth that you would consent to aid me in finding them."

"I do not know the extent of my father's involvement, but their role is pretty clear. They slew my brother. You will have my aid."

"Excellent. As soon as I have the location of all three men, we will strike. Will your men be ready, your highness?" The last was addressed to Nexus-Prince Haramad.

"You have certainly paid us enough to be ready. Will you contact us through the usual channels?"

"Lisa or Poldaran will bring you my letters as usual."

"Poldaran is involved as well?" Viridiel said, sounding as shocked as Yadier felt.

"Yes. Her involvement is the only reason I feel confident that we can find justice for my daughter. On that note, when you come across more information, do not attempt to contact me directly. Pass the information through Poldaran. We do not want anyone to know that we've been speaking. Further, avoid contacting Lisa. After your duel, too much contact may be noticed. Contacting Poldaran, however, would not be unusual, since you are courting her sister."

"I understand."

"Good, now I will take my leave. Lisa will attend to the matter of those who are currently unconscious and answer any further questions you might have." With that, Dalar teleported away.

"How did you become involved in this?" Viridiel asked Lisa.

She shrugged. "I have my reasons, and I am sorry that I cannot share them with you at this time."

"I can respect that. How do you plan to deal with those two over there?" He indicated the unconscious Dalaran Security officer and death knight.

"I am going to change the officer’s memories. He will recall that we dueled and I had a spell go wide, knocking him unconscious. At that point, I conceded the duel and sent my second for aid while we discussed our differences and came to an amicable resolution. For the record, you were winning the duel but I was holding my own, in case he asks."

"That's fine. What about Azmaria?"

"I'll leave dealing with her up to you. When we wake her, I will need you to convince her to play along for the officer. I will be altering her memory slightly, though. A part of his Highness' agreement to aid us comes with the stipulation that we hide the involvement of the Consortium in this affair, so she'll recall only my second being late, nothing more than that."

"What about me? Do I need to swear to keep his involvement a secret?"

"No, unfortunately I need to change your memory as well. Your recollection will only be changed to remove memory of him and his men. You will know that I've changed it, and that I'm hiding the identity of people who aided me, but you will not recall who they are." She placed her hand on his shoulder, a gesture of reassurance.

"I understand. When will you knock me out?"

Lisa smiled. "I already have." Viridiel collapsed and was caught by one of the ethereals. "Prepare the spellforms for the memory charms. I have another matter to attend to."

"What is this?" Nexus-Prince Haramad asked. She whispered something to him that Yadier could not make out. "That is impossible. My men have done a thorough sweep of the area. If someone is there, we would know it."

"Yet I still sense a presence." Lisa replied. Yadier's mind raced. Had he been discovered? He braced himself and prepared to teleport away, but decided that it could be nothing more than a hunch. He decided to stay still until he was certain he had been found.

Lisa pulled out a small dagger and ran it across the palm of her left hand. She then began drawing the bloodied dagger across the dirt, inscribing runes upon the ground. Yadier could not believe it. Use of one's own blood as a spell reagent was extremely dangerous. Even warlocks used it only in well documented and practiced spells because of the dangers involved. Yet the girl seemed to be using it in a freeform spell, some magic of her own concoction that Yadier did not recognize. Even Poldaran was not so reckless.

She began to chant a spell. The runes began to glow softly and more of her blood began to float through the air in tiny streams. Her voice was soft, so Yadier struggled to hear it. He had to know what she was chanting in order to know whether it was time to escape.

While her words weren't discernible, the rhythm was. It seemed so familiar to Yadier, yet he could not quite place where he had heard that rhythm before. He struggled to listen harder, knowing he was only a single syllable away from recognizing the spell.

Too late did he realize the danger. Only as his body began to stand on its own did he recognize the effects of the hypnosis spell. The blood was only meant to alarm, not an actual component in the spell. By struggling to listen in, believing he could counter it if only he knew what it was, he had given it power over him. This form of strange near-mind control preyed most powerfully on the experienced, those who preferred to understand before acting, and it had ensnared another victim. He stood fully and took a step closer to the glowing light.

Lisa was upon him in an instant. "Found you!" she said, striking him with a powerful stun spell. He collapsed to the floor. She drew back the leaves obscuring his face and suddenly began laughing.

"What is it?" Nexus-Prince Haramad asked.

"So this is the aid my daughter has enlisted because she was worried about my duel." As Yadier began to lose consciousness, he heard her continue. "Prepare another spellform. Since he has decided to meddle, he will aid in reassuring Nagisa that everything is fine."

And then everything went black.

** * **

Nagisa hurried out the door, early once again. Since the duel had been last night, she wanted to find out from Wizard Yadier what had happened, since the story her mother told seemed too convenient.

When she arrived at his office, the receptionist greeted her with a smile. "Go on in. He suspected that you might stop by this morning."

Nagisa entered the office and greeted the wizard. "So, I take it that you're curious about the outcome of the duel?" he said.

"Mom told me that she lost due to an accident, but it just seems too convenient to me."

"Truly. Here, read this." He handed her a stack of papers. "This is the official report by my officer."

"This matches pretty well with what she told me. That they fought and she was holding her own, but then one of her stun spells went wide and hit the officer officiating the duel, at which point she forfeited and sent her second for aid. I take it that this isn't the whole truth?"

"The only part in this that is true is that my officer was knocked out. Everything else is a lie."

"That's disappointing. I was hoping that mom truly was a good fighter and had been holding her own in a duel with an experienced demon hunter."

"The truth may be more impressive than fiction." She gave him a curious look. "After reading your note on the Knights yesterday, I became even more curious about the matter. As your mother had mentioned to Lord Suntreader that she was a Knight when she was baiting him for a duel, I decided that I would watch the match personally, rather than sending another officer as I had promised. As such, I was hidden nearby when they met."

"So, what happened?"

"When she and her second arrived, your mother asked Viridiel to talk with her before the match, but he was still too angry to hear it. So she and her second struck. In the blink of an eye, she had knocked out Azmaria and bound Viridiel with chains of ice while her second had knocked out my officer."

"She knocked out Lady Azmaria?!" Nagisa was definitely startled by that news. That woman had devilishly fast reflexes, and was incredibly strong. If Nagisa's mom had been able to bring her down, it was more than simply amazing to the girl.

Yadier nodded. "Azmaria didn't have any time to react. It was all done in a single motion. Most amazing thing I've seen in a while. Then they went and shocked me even further. Turns out her second was Dalar Dawnweaver." Nagisa was visibly startled by this. "Exactly. I got the feeling that this entire thing was his idea in the first place, and that your mother was only helping set up the meeting."

Realization dawned on Nagisa. "But if that's true, then this may have something to do with Dalar's daughter."

"I suspected as much, as well. The continuation of the meeting seemed to confirm it. He showed Viridiel images recorded on a crystal. Claimed they were his daughter's last memories. He displayed them large enough that I could see them. They were suitably horrible."

"Did they confirm the rumors? Did Lord Suntreader's family murder his brother and Archwizard Dawnweaver's daughter?"

"Viridiel's reaction seemed to indicate that they had. I was unable to hear further conversation once they began to whisper. After speaking, your mother and Dalar implanted false memories in my officer, thus creating the official story, then woke Azmaria and then the officer. I got the sense that your mother's part in this was done, so I don't think you have to worry further."

"That's good, but it only leaves me with further questions. Most pressingly, how did my mother get involved with helping Archwizard Dawnweaver?"

Yadier seemed to be considering something. "I suspect that there is a connection there. You remember everything we've been researching about the Knights of Dalaran?" Nagisa nodded. "I've managed to confirm that Dalar is, or perhaps was, a Knight of Dalaran. If your mother is indeed a Knight as well, then perhaps he turned to her because he felt he could trust a fellow Knight."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Of course it does. A little too likely, in my opinion. I do have other suspicions, but I don't want to bring them up until I have had more time to look into and confirm them."

"Then I shall ask you about them another time. Thank you for your help, Wizard Yadier."

"No problem," he replied. "It's the least I can do as repayment for all your help." Nagisa curtsied and began to leave. "Wait. I have one more question. The name Alison doesn't mean anything to you, does it?"

"I can't say that it does. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

** * **

The following week had been trying for Nagisa. Lady Azmaria had been relentless. Her surprise attacks were fierce as always, but now she was even trying them outside of class. Most of the other students viewed the attacks with mirth, but it seemed that Samantha was more intrigued than amused.

And that worried Nagisa more than anything. Samantha still seemed aloof, but Nagisa was certain that the girl's eyes were on her whenever she was not looking. Something, or perhaps someone, had inspired her to share all of that information. Whatever it was also seemed to leave the girl intrigued further.

Diane became withdrawn, almost melancholy, as the week went on. It was clear that she missed her family, and Nagisa's mother had tried to cheer her up, but the effort brought only marginal success. Nagisa had tried to brighten Diane's mood but it did not budge, even for talk of the upcoming school festival in a few weeks. Mention of the several date requests for the festival they had each gotten only seemed to upset Diane further.

And then there was the visit she had with Wizard Yadier. On Friday, she received a note asking her to stop by his office. She found time after school and stopped by, unsure of the reason for the summons. He seemed stressed out to a level she was not expecting. Apparently a prominent elven businessman in Dalaran had disappeared in the night, taken from his bed without even waking his wife, who had been sleeping beside him.

While troubling, Nagisa could not see the reason this had anything to do with her. Yadier had explained that the missing man had been in the employ of the Suntreader family during the Dawnweaver incident, hinting at a possible connection to the conspiracy Lisa Windbloom was involved in. Further supporting that connection was the fact that several other former retainers for the family had been murdered that same night, despite being spread out across the world, in several different cities. Each corpse was found with a message written in blood. "A time comes for each man when he must pay his evil's price."

Yadier had asked Nagisa to keep an eye on her mother, to prevent her from further involving herself in this vendetta. If evidence was found linking Lisa Windbloom to the crimes, he would not be able to help her, though he did promise to keep what he had seen to himself as a favor to Nagisa, since she had helped him on other investigations.

So it was that on that Sunday evening, Nagisa was quite glad for the impending end to the week. Only a few hours before bedtime, she found herself playing some card games with her mother and Diane.

"You've activated my trap card!" Lisa shouted in an overly melodramatic voice. "Commence the popcorn rain!" Suddenly, she began flinging popcorn at both the girls.

"Mom!" Nagisa said, trying not to laugh. "A lady should be more elegant!"

"Oh, in that case..." Lisa snapped her fingers and was now in an elaborate lavender colored ball gown. "Better?" She then continued flinging popcorn around the room.

Nagisa could not contain her laughter any longer. "Mom!" Even Diane had begun to laugh.

"What? You would have preferred that I turn the popcorn to diamonds?" Another snap of her fingers and she was once again in her more comfortable clothing. "So, Diane, have I ever told you the story of how Nagisa got her name?"

"OH heavens, no!" Nagisa protested. "Anything but that."

"I could pull out the portraits of you from when you were a baby."

"On second thought, go with the story."

Lisa smiled beatifically. "I knew you'd see it my way, 'isa. So, Diane, interested in hearing that story?"

"Sure," Diane said, her mood visibly brightened.

"Alright, well you have to first understand that 'isa's father died when I was pregnant. So I was forced to hire someone to take care of me during the later stages. This became especially important as I was bedridden for almost six weeks before she was born."

"Wow, that must have been really boring," Diane said.

"You have no idea," Lisa replied. "As I understand it, I became a bit insufferable after a week or two. So the woman I hired decided that I needed something to relieve my boredom. She contacted a bookstore in Dalaran and had them deliver a number of books to me. I'm told it took six deliverymen two trips to carry the boxes over."

"That's a lot of books," Diane commented.

"I know, right? Well, anyway, since my nurse did not know what kind of books I would enjoy, she had them send a varied assortment. There were all kinds of books, from histories to fables, biographies to trashy romance novels. I read through most of those fairly quickly, but the last box contained a surprise, something I had never seen before."

She snapped her fingers again and a book appeared in her hand. Diane recognized what it was immediately. "A manga?"

"Yes, precisely. In those days, they were nearly impossible to reproduce without manual magical duplication. As such, they were very rare and quite expensive. For what this volume cost back then, I could have purchased four novels. But I started reading it, and immediately I was hooked. I had my nurse order several complete series from the bookstore and they sent them right away."

"That must have cost a fortune."

"It probably did," Lisa said with a laugh. "I wasn't too worried about the cost back then, however. Anyway, I was reading this particular series when 'isa was born," she said, handing the book to Diane. "As you can see, the main character is a red haired girl named Nagisa, so when 'isa was born and seemed to be a redhead, I named her after the character." She mused for a moment. "Probably for the best. If she had been born blond, there's a good chance I would have named her Buttercup."

Nagisa had never heard that part before. She was mortified. "Mom!"

"Oh come now, 'isa. It wouldn't have been that bad. After all, I could have named you after your great great grandmother Lilywillow."

"Mom, you have to be making that up."

"Hand to the Light," Lisa said. She seemed about to say something more, but stopped and stared at Diane. Nagisa turned to look and saw Diane with the book held open, her face burning bright red. "Oh dear," Lisa said, suddenly realizing.

"Are those two girls...?" Diane said, trailing off.

Lisa walked over and peered over Diane's shoulder. "Why yes, it seems they are. Sorry about that. I completely forgot that this happened in this volume."

"I'll take the whole set!" Diane said, still blushing profusely.

"I'm not so sure I should -," Lisa said, a sudden knock at the door interrupting her. "I wonder who it could be at this hour." She walked over to the door and opened it. A beautiful night elven woman stood before them. "Can I help you?"

"Doctor Windbloom?" the woman asked. She seemed upset. Lisa nodded. "Good. My name is Xelsia. I've come here on behalf of the Cenarion Circle. We're in desperate need of some surgeons to tend to an emergency on Mount Hyjal."

"Surgeons?" Lisa asked. "The Cenarion Circle is the largest organization of healers in all of Azeroth. What need could you have for surgeons? Unless...please tell me that you don't mean what I think you do."

Xelsia nodded. "It seems that the Twilight Cult has secured a supply of saronite grenades. The saronite shrapnel has made it impossible for us to use healing magic to deal with the wounds. We need surgeons to remove the shrapnel without killing our comrades so we can heal them properly."

"Why recruit private surgeons? Would not the Alliance and the Horde be able to supply what you need?"

"Our emissaries have already received tentative pledges of aid from the Silvermoon and Stormwind, but our need is more urgent than what they can provide. We only learned that the Twilight Cult had these weapons when a group of them managed to infiltrate our base and lob a few into groups of our people. Those who did not die immediately have been put into a state of deep hibernation to prolong their chances until surgeons can arrive, but we suspect that they will die before the Alliance and Horde aid arrives."

"So what you need is immediate, but temporary assistance? A type of stopgap measure until your permanent solution arrives?"

"Yes. A few surgeons could save the lives of those already wounded and prevent as many deaths as possible until our pledged aid arrives. It would only be for a few days. A week at most."

Lisa walked over to a nearby table and touched a small red gem. The image of a draenei appeared before her. "Onnis, are you still at the clinic?"

"I am, Lisa. What's wrong?"

"It seems I'm going to be going on a little trip. I need you to pack two bags of surgical supplies for me. Bandages will likely be less necessary than other supplies, so don't waste too much room in the bags on those. I will explain further when I get there."

"It shall be prepared for you," the draenei responded. The image disappeared.

"Nagisa, Diane, you two are going to be here by yourselves for a few days. While I'm gone, I want you two to come home before dark. There are enough groceries to last four more days. If it looks like I will be gone longer, I will contact the local market and have them deliver more to you. Do not go out alone if you can help it. Walk to and from school together. If you have any problems, you can contact me using the red gem here on the table. I'll ask Tiffany Cartier, the woman who lives down the hall, to check in on you two from time to time. Any questions?"

Nagisa only had one. "Is it going to be safe where you're going?"

"Well, I assume that they've stepped up patrols to ensure that there is not a repeat of the recent incident," Lisa said, looking at the druid. Xelsia nodded. "Then, while there will be some danger, it will be minimal. I won't be going anywhere near the front lines, so exhaustion will likely be my only real worry." She disappeared down the hallway and returned a moment later in traveling clothes. "So, does that satisfy you?"

Nagisa nodded. "I think so. Please be careful."

Lisa hugged her daughter, then hugged Diane as well. "You girls be safe and I'll see you in a few days." Then she and the druid disappeared down the hall.

Nagisa and Diane sat in silence for a bit before Diane finally broke the silence. "Hey, Nagisa, what did that druid say her name was again?"

"I think she said it was Xelsia..." Nagisa trailed off as realization hit. "You don't think that was THE Xelsia, do you?"

"It might have been. One of Lady Poldaran's companions may have just been in your home and neither of us realized it until she was gone."

"Do you think mom would be too upset if I contacted her just to ask her to get an autograph for me?"

"I'd bet she's already thought of that and will want to surprise you."

"You're probably right," Nagisa said. "We wouldn't want to spoil that surprise, I suppose."

"Indeed," Diane agreed. She then held up the book that was still in her hand from earlier. "You wouldn't happen to know where your mom keeps the rest of the volumes of this series, would you?" she asked, blushing again.

Nagisa laughed in spite of herself. "Sure. Let's go get them for you."

** * **




Edited, Jul 22nd 2011 12:53am by Poldaran

Nagisa awoke in her own bed. The lantern light outside told her that it was after nightfall. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked herself.

"Almost seven hours," Diane replied from the darkness. Nagisa reached over to her magical lantern and touched it to turn it on, revealing Diane sitting in a chair across the room. It appeared that she had been crying. "Nagisa, I..." Diane seemed to be unable to finish saying whatever she had begun.

For some reason, Nagisa could not find her rage again. "Lady Poldaran mentioned that there might be more to the story than I knew. Tell me, Diane. Tell me why you helped them."

"I- I would like to say that I had no choice, but now I know that to be a lie. Even when I didn't like my choices, that doesn't mean I didn't have any. The truth is that they have my parents." Nagisa gasped. "They told me that they'd kill my parents if I didn't tell them everything I could about my classmates and perform a specific task on the day they attacked."

"What about your brother?"

"He's one of them now," Diane replied softly. "I'm so sorry for what I did. Please understand that I never wanted you to get caught up in this." She once again began crying.

Nagisa sighed. "Listen, Diane, you made mistakes, but I can't really say that I would have done anything different had I been in your situation. I can hardly blame you for making mistakes because you were afraid. Friends?"

Diane threw herself into Nagisa's open arms and continued crying until she managed to drift into sleep. Nagisa tucked her friend into bed walked into the kitchen. She was surprised to see Miss Summers there. "Miss Summers, what are you doing here?"

"Hello, Nagisa. Poldaran asked me to watch over the two of you until she returned."

"Lady Poldaran's going to be coming here?"

"Yes. She said she was going to see what she could do about rescuing your friend's parents."

"Thank the Light," Nagisa said. She suddenly realized something. "You know, with how I acted towards Diane after Lady Poldaran arrived, I think everyone will know what she did. What will happen to her?"

"I wouldn't worry about it. Poldaran said she altered the memories of most of the witnesses. They won't even remember that part. Don't worry; they'll remember you fighting the dragon, though their recollection will likely be different than yours."

"What do you mean?"

"As I understand it, certain details will be different. They'll think you took a sword from one of the cultists, for one. For another, they'll remember you slaying the dragon, but it won't be quite as spectacular as it really was. Pold called it an 'Unbelievable Details' memory spell. It suggests to the person that things could not have been quite as amazing as they remember them and suggests to the mind a more plausible alternative. It doesn't work on someone when they have previous knowledge of what you're trying to hide, but it costs little magic to cast, so it's often used on large groups."

"I guess that makes sense. Mom's always been adamant that I hide certain things, so I guess this is part of that."

"Sounds right. Anyway, I was thinking of making some mushroom soup. Want some?"

Nagisa shook her head. "No thanks. I think I'm just gonna go sit on the balcony and think for a while."

The night sky was clear and the moon was nearly full, lighting up the magical city. The view was breathtaking from the balcony and Nagisa often came out here to think. The beauty and solitude made it easy to drift deep into thought, paying no heed to the surrounding world.

It was in this state that Nagisa found herself when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Not having heard the balcony door open, she was thoroughly startled and nearly jumped out of her own skin.

"Calm yourself, little knight. I mean you no harm."

Nagisa recognized that voice. "Lady Poldaran!" she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

Nagisa's hero walked over to the railing and looked out over the city. "I just returned from Mount Hyjal. We managed to locate your friend's parents. I'm afraid that it's not entirely good news."

"What happened?"

"Well, I did manage to get them away from their captors, but much of the damage had been done to the mother. Her mind was nearly shattered by what they had done to her. She could take months to fully recover, even with regular treatments, both alchemical and magical."

"What about Diane's father?"

"We were lucky with him. It seems that they only tortured him and had not begun to attempt to turn him magically. I believe he'll be fine, given a bit of time."

"Thank goodness."

Nagisa couldn't see Poldaran's face because of the scarf, but it was apparent by the worry in her brow that the woman was troubled. "Listen, I'm sorry for today," Poldaran said. "I should never have taken a trip out of town, for any reason. I thought I could do some good in the fight against the cultists and I left all of you Knights unguarded. My foolishness put you all in danger and you were forced to pick up the slack. For that, I'm so, so very sorry." Nagisa could see that the woman was fighting back tears.

"You couldn't have known," Nagisa said.

"That's no excuse," Poldaran replied. "Just thinking about what might have happened... I don't think I could live with myself if you had been hurt. That's why I have this for you." She drew a small gem out of her pocket and affixed it to a silver chain before handing it to Nagisa.

Nagisa inspected the gem closely. It was almost as if the gem were clear glass filled with two liquids, one inky black and the other a milky white. It even seemed to glow softly in the moonlight. "What is this?"

"It's a very special necklace. In addition to the adaptive illusion spell that will hide its true nature from everyone but you and me, the chain is ensorcelled to prevent anyone but you from being able to remove it. So once you put it on, no one will be able to take it off of you. More than that, the gem is special. No matter where it is, I will always be able to locate it. And more than that, when things look their darkest, you can use it to speak to me. You'll only need to speak the magic words and I'll be able to hear you."

"What are the magic words?"

"That is not dead which can eternal lie," Poldaran replied. "Just say those words and I will hear you. Now, I must be off. Soon, Yadier will arrive to escort you and Diane to your mother's clinic, where her parents and your mother await."

Poldaran disappeared over the edge of the balcony while Nagisa put on the pendant. The girl glanced over the edge, but nothing was there, so she had to assume that a portal just below the balcony's edge had been the woman's escape route. She shook her head and went to wake Diane.

As predicted by Poldaran, Yadier arrived a few minutes later and escorted them to Lisa's clinic. They were greeted by a dwarven woman Yadier introduced as Envinyata. Once again today Nagisa found herself in the presence of a person she had read much about. If it wasn't for the exhaustion of the day's events, Nagisa had a feeling she would be acting like a star struck fangirl. As it was, she was pretty numb to everything.

"Oh, you're finally here!" Lisa said, peeking out from the other room. "Give me just a few moments to clean up and then you all can come on back."

When they were called back, Nagisa saw Diane's father covered in fresh stitches and her mother resting on a bed beside him while a night elf woman tended to her with druidic magic. She suspected that the presence of Lady Envinyata meant that this woman was Lady Sharlot. She was starting to suspect that her life had turned into some form of Poldaran story, but she had to dismiss that, since it only meant that things would likely get worse.

Nagisa wanted nothing more than to rush into her mother's arms and be protected from the world around her, but Lisa was covered in blood from operating most of the day. Instead, she followed her mother into the clinic's back office, hoping to talk.

"Busy day, huh?" Lisa asked once the two were alone. "How are you holding up?"

Nagisa shook her head. "I don't know. It hasn't really sunk in yet. I mean, I know I killed all those people, but it doesn't feel real."

"Try not to think of it like that. Sure, you killed people, but more importantly, you saved people." The woman sighed. "This is why I don't like those Poldaran manga you're always reading. They tell you all about the glory of the fighting but never mention the other side, which you're experiencing now."

"Have you ever had to kill anyone?"

Lisa nodded. "It’s not something I like to talk about. That's why I took up surgery. I can help those I care about without being forced to kill." A light knock sounded on the door. "Come in," Lisa called out.

The druid Xelsia walked in. She looked at Nagisa, then at Lisa, then back to Nagisa, her eyes growing wide. "Um, Lady Windbloom," she said. "I was told to - um, well, the Cenarion Circle wants to thank you for your efforts these last few days. A great number of people would have died had it not been for your aid."

"It was the least I could do," Lisa replied. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Um, n-n-no. That'll be all. I should really get going." Xelsia fled the room.

Lisa laughed softly. "What was that about?" Nagisa asked. "She seemed terrified."

"She's been like that ever since she went with Poldaran to go rescue Diane's parents. I understand that things got a little out of hand." Lisa shrugged. "Now come on. Let me get changed and let's get out of here. There's nothing more I can do here and I'd bet we're both exhausted. I better get to sleep if I'm going to wake up early enough to make waffles for breakfast. After all, if I wake up too late, we'll have to eat them for lunch, and waffles really are more of a breakfast food."

Her mother's sudden relaxed attitude startled Nagisa, but she found herself comforted by the promise of things returning to normal that came from that simple shift in tone of voice.

Besides, there were soon to be waffles to be had. She really couldn't continue being upset considering that.

** * **

"Just explain to me what you were thinking! What in the name of the Light possessed you to carry on like that in front of those kids? I have here complaint letters from a couple dozen sets of parents furious about what you subjected their children to." Yadier was angrier than he had been in a long time and he certainly showed it. "And what the hell is up with that damn scarf?!"

Poldaran, the target of his anger, laughed. "It's simply, Yad. I'm trying to start a trend. Soon, everyone will be wearing them. It'll be the 'in' thing this fall."

"I'm glad you think this is funny," Yadier said. "I'm through helping you. If they decided to bring you up on charges, I won't intervene."

Modera cleared her throat. The other two looked at the headmistress where she was seated behind her desk. "Poldaran, listen, I know that killing those men was necessary. We get that. But the way you did it... well, I can't blame those parents for being upset."

"It wasn't that bad," Poldaran replied.

"I saw the pile of spines," Yadier said flatly.

"Okay, so maybe it was that bad. But you have to understand, I had no choice. After what those men did, they had to die horribly. And you know what, if I traumatized those kids, then fine. If that means that they'll wait until they're older to consider joining in this war, then all the better. If it means that even one kid that might have joined the Twilight Cult decides against it because they've seen what I'll do to them if they do, then it was worth traumatizing that many kids. Even ten times that many would be worth the price."

"Look, Pold, I know you're upset about having to kill that boy, that Colin Moore. But you can't justify what you did by that."

"I don't need to justify anything," Poldaran said. "I stand by what I did and I tell you now that I'd do it again. After hearing what those men said to that girl, I'd kill them in the same way, or even a more brutal fashion, if I ran across the same situation. To hell with the consequences."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'what those men said to that girl'? That wasn't in any of the letters or reports."

Poldaran glared at him. "Funny how someone threatening to rape a teenage girl is a bit of a problem for me."

Yadier paused a moment. It was indeed an issue for Poldaran, and had he known that to be the reason, this conversation likely would have gone completely differently. She wasn't the only one with issues relating to that particular incident in her past. "Look, Pold, I'm sorry. Perhaps we should have gotten all the facts."

She sighed. "I know I overreacted," she said. "But dammit, even if I bring my own issues with me to the battlefield, I still think I was justified in this."

"After hearing more of the story, I can't say that I disagree with you. But you need to be a bit more mindful of your audience. Your public approval walks on a razor's edge. An incident like this could threaten to return us to the recent manhunt. Right now people view you as a monster, but you're our monster. Don't jeopardize that."

Modera nodded in agreement. "I understand your motivation, but that won't stick with these angry parents. If I don't do something, they're threatening to pull their kids from the academy. I can't risk that, so I'm hereby banning you from this campus barring states of emergency."

"I can live with that. Go ahead and put it in writing, make it official," Poldaran said. "Anything else before I leave?"

"There is one thing," Yadier said. "About that body I found the other day, the man who looked like he'd been partially eaten by those horrible carrion worms you conjure. I know his death was related to the murder of the Dawnweaver girl and her friends, but I can't figure out why exactly you've gotten involved. Care to comment?"

"Once you've figured out all the major players in that, my involvement will make complete sense to you. Don't take too long, or you'll miss the endgame."

With a single word, she invoked a teleportation stone and was gone.

** * **

The academy was shut down for several days while the mess was cleaned up, but by the next week, classes were back in session, even if the reduced number of instructors meant that classrooms had to be consolidated. Even the Violet Guard personnel stationed in the school to act as security were pitching in and taking on a class here or there.

Nagisa had spent much of her short vacation helping out at her mother's clinic. While she couldn't perform any medical duties, she could staff the clinic's desk and free up the nurse who usually did so to help out with the increased number of patients caused by most of the city's healers tiring themselves out working on victims of the academy attack.

While she tried to spend the rest of her days off reading and generally relaxing, she was not given that option. Samantha had stopped by her home to tutor her on more advanced magical subjects, curriculum that she said all Knights of Dalaran had to study.

It seemed that Samantha remembered events exactly as they occurred. Nagisa suspected that she had some of that prior knowledge Lady Pasiran had mentioned, meaning that the memory charm would not have worked on her. Either that or Lady Poldaran simply had not bothered to cast it on her.

Despite the steps taken to hide the exact truth of Nagisa's fight with the black dragon from everyone, the girl returned to school a hero. It seemed that everyone knew how she had fought to save them, even if they didn't know the full story. Instead of generally ignoring her when not outright glaring at her, students greeted her with smiles. Those who had been there even stopped her to thank her. She couldn't help but feel self conscious all the while and wished things would go back to normal, more or less.

Normal would also have meant the return of Diane, who had chosen to take a bit more time off to help out her father while he recovered from his wounds. He had been tortured with implements made of blackened shadowsteel, a vile metal that had left his wounds unable to be healed through magical means. That meant he would have to make the long, painful recovery over months instead of minutes. He would also have scars once the recovery was over.

Not everyone was happy with Nagisa, however. One woman in particular seemed quite angry when the girl entered her class. "Why would you hide your training from me for so long?" Azmaria demanded, speaking to Nagisa privately in her office. "What was there to gain by hiding it instead of training it? What could possess you to do that?"

"My entire time at this school," Nagisa began, "I've had one friend. Only one. I'm someone who can't cast even the simplest of spells among a student body of hundreds who can weave magic of varying natures. I've been called 'No-Spells' my entire time here, and that's one of the better ones. It's obvious that most people don't think I belong here. Until today, I don't think a single girl beyond Diane has ever been kind to me. Sure, I guess Samantha as well, though I think she doe so out of a sense of duty."

"I don't see what this has to do with my question."

"I'll get there in a moment. I also have talents as a dancer, a singer and some minor skill as a musician. Half the reason Headmistress Modera keeps me around is because I can use these to showcase the school's non-magical studies programs for her donation drives. If I were viewed by my fellow students as anything other than an outcast, these talents would likely be viewed as good, things to be lauded. Instead, the girls in school only see me receiving attention that I don't deserve."

"I'm still not seeing where this is going."

Nagisa ignored her. "The boys, on the other hand, seem to have taken a liking to me because of these talents. Not a day goes by that I don't find a random love letter in my locker. My lack of magical talent adds to this, because they also see me as helpless, in need of protecting. For some reason this speaks to them. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like that kind of attention. But at least when they're fawning over me, they don’t hate me. So I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that."

"I think I understand. You were afraid that showing strength might make more of your fellow students hate you?"

"More or less."

"While I disagree with your conclusion, I can't really fault your reasons. But now, the cat's out of the bag. I trust you'll be participating in my class from now on?" Nagisa nodded. "Good. My sister also suggested that I train you and some of the other You-Know-Whats privately after school. Are you interested?"

"I am," Nagisa replied. "It could even be fun."

** * **

Yadier was completely exasperated by it all. He just could not figure out how Poldaran intended to bypass the ban on her getting an apprentice, what exactly her role was with the recent killings and what exactly she meant to tell him through that damnable manga. He thought he'd had it, but now he had a feeling he had been wrong. It needed to all tie together somehow, and it just was not doing so.

And how did Lisa Windbloom and her daughter fit into all of this? He knew that there had to be a connection, but he just could not find it. Pasiran's report confirmed the link, but did nothing to explain it.

It was like someone was weaving a tapestry, but all he could see were the individual threads. There was no way to step back and see how they were all coming together.

To make things worse, it seemed that Samantha Kirin was getting involved as well. Considering that Marcus Kirin's death was considered by Poldaran as one of her greatest failures, Samantha's role in this made little sense to him. It was maddening.

Unless he managed to stumble upon another clue, there was little he could do. He had tried interrogating several acquaintances of Poldaran's in order to see what she had revealed to them, but none of them knew anything, though Xelsia certainly seemed to be hiding something.

He had the druid tailed in hopes of finding out something, put a watch on the apprentice registration office and had everyone keep an especially close eye on Dalar Dawnweaver and Viridiel Suntreader, just to be safe.

At least he wasn't the only one Poldaran had pissed off. The previous day, he had received a visit from a certain dragon in gnome form he was acquainted with. She had demanded that he contact Poldaran, but he was just as unsure how to get her to respond as she was. Apparently Poldaran was up to something that even the Keepers weren't exactly happy with, and they had been unable to reach her. Thinking back on that meeting made him laugh.

"Screw it," Yadier said. "I'm going to invite some friends over, go to the cheese shop and enjoy an evening for once." He grabbed his hat and began heading out of the office. "Contact me only if something big happens," he told his assistant. "At this point, I'd rather not be disturbed."

"Of course, Wizard Yadier. Have a good evening."

** * **
The ice cream shop was uncrowded, unusual for an evening when school was in session. Nagisa figured that it was because not every student had returned to class and that those who had were required to return straight home when classes ended. The generally bustling streets were definitely lighter on traffic than usual.

"I can't believe how much skill you've gained," Samantha said to Nagisa. "In the three sessions we've had, you've gone from just barely keeping up with Lady Azmaria to holding your own. I didn't think anyone could do that. At least not that quickly."

"It's more of a relearning what I'd been taught," Nagisa said. "I haven't practiced that hard since coming to Dalaran, so I had become rusty. I think all these sparring sessions are shaking all of that rust off."

"It's too bad that you both have to use practice swords. I think it would be amazing to see you two fight with your real weapons."

Nagisa shook her head. "You know I can't summon it unless I'm in extreme danger."

"That's too bad, really. I'd have an easier time identifying which weapon that is if I could see it up close and study it a bit more."

Nagisa had asked Samantha if the weapon would give them clues as to her true identity. "Have you at least been able to narrow it down?"

Samantha nodded. "Lady Poldaran wouldn't tell me anything, so I was forced to go through my father's old notes from his days as a knight. He knew a lot more than the Council of Tirisfal likely wanted him to know. We have four weapons unaccounted for. Well, five if you count the pair Disillusion and Aspiration, but this is definitely not that one. We can eliminate one further as it is an axe, not a sword. That leaves us with three main possibilities and a potential rumor to consider."

"Which weapons are those?"

"First is Chrysaor, a blade wielded by the family Artegal. The last wielder died during the Siege of Dalaran, though it is possible his sister, who went missing during that battle, survived."

"For some reason, that doesn't sound right."

"I thought so as well. There's also the sword Durandal, wielded by the Roland family. That family's last heir went missing over a century ago, believed to be due to friction with a rival family. His statue is missing the image of the weapon, so no way to look at it and compare it to yours."

"That sounds like a possibility."

"Definitely more likely than the other. However, I suspect that the third weapon is our best candidate. Wizard Yadier seems to think so as well."

"You spoke with Wizard Yadier?"

"Not precisely. I managed to convince his assistant to let me into his office, and sadly, all it took was a little flirting. Anyway, while I was in there, I read over his notes regarding you and your mother. It seems he thinks that there's a good possibility that you're both Dawnweavers."

"Wait, Dawnweaver? Isn't their weapon a staff?"

"It is, but it's a special one. The first Dawnweaver was a master of dozens of weapon types, so his weapon was given the ability to change into any weapon he required. So it's possible that's what you're wielding."

"You know, being a Dawnweaver would certainly explain a few things I haven't been able to figure out, like how Dalar Dawnweaver knew me."

Samantha nodded. "I remember seeing mention of that in the notes. And more than that, it fits considering what we know about Lisa Dawnweaver."

"Wait, LISA Dawnweaver?"

"I know, right? She was an exceptional artist. She was also very talented at illusion magic, so much so that during her apprenticeship she revolutionized that particular craft, creating a new type of illusion spell that is still a very closely guarded secret, known only to a few mages."

Nagisa had heard of such a spell. "Adaptive illusions?"

"That's the one. And finally, when she was a journeyman, she injured an opponent in a practice duel. She was so upset by that event that she swore off fighting. However, she wanted to be able to remain near her beloved when he had to fight, so she hired a famous surgeon to train her so she could at least be as close as the medical tent."

Nagisa couldn't believe it. It was too close of a match. Everything was so incredibly spot on. "But then, how did she survive? I thought she died fifteen years ago."

"Wizard Yadier's notes suggest that he suspects the possibility that the pregnant Lisa Dawnweaver was able to get aid from a priestess she knew. With this woman's aid, she may have lived, allowing her to fake her own death using her great skill at illusion magic. Now, I agree that this is definitely sounding like the most likely answer, but I would be remiss if I didn't inform you that my research turned up one other possibility."

"What's that?" Nagisa asked as she finished the last of her sundae.

"There's a rumor that the smith created one final weapon, not on the record. He feared what might happen if his weapons managed to take control of their wielders, since each weapon has at its core the soul of a demon. Because of that, he forged that final weapon in secret with the aid of the Wisdom of the Tirisfal. Once completed, he imbued it with his own soul so that should any of the other blades revolt, at least the side of Light might have this one weapon on their side."

"What happened to it?"

"The Wisdom took the blade and secretly gave it to one he deemed worthy of its burden. The Knight and his family were charged with keeping the blade secret so that no forces of darkness could ever have the first strike against them. Only the Wisdom and the family ever knew the identity of the thirteenth Knight."

Nagisa laughed, in spite of herself. "Now I'm not sure which I’d rather it be. I mean, the Dawnweaver thing is kinda cool and it would be nice knowing more about my family's history, but this thirteenth Knight business is incredibly awesome sounding."

"You're right about that. I don't know which I'd rather have either, were I in your-" She suddenly went silent, then leaned in and whispered, "I think we're being watched."

"What do you mean?" Nagisa whispered back.

"I just realized that the man standing across the street has been there since we came in, and the cake vendor isn't the woman normally there. I've seen the same man walk by the window three times, as if he's just walking around the block over and over. Plus, I think the man at the table over in the corner might be listening to us. Crap, we've been whispering for far too long. Sorry about this, just play along." Samantha leaned in closer and kissed Nagisa deeply, startling the other girl.

The combination of the danger and suddenness of the kiss made Nagisa's heart skip a beat. She felt her face get warm and realized she was likely blushing deeply, though she could see nothing as her eyes had closed. The other girl's lips were soft and Nagisa found herself returning the kiss. A moment later, Samantha backed away.

"Sorry about that, sweetie," Samantha said at a normal tone of voice. "I know we don't do that kind of thing in public, but I just couldn't help myself." She leaned in again and whispered softly into Nagisa's ear, "Get up and storm out of here like you're mad at me for kissing you in public. I'll follow you apologizing. If we're being followed then, I'll tell you to run. If that happens, you head straight for Trias' Cheese Shop near the Sunreaver's Sanctuary. It's a front for Stormwind Intelligence. Tell the proprietor that Sir Roland sent you to ask about gouda. It's a signal he'll recognize and will help you until someone we can trust can come for you. I'll go a different direction so we can divide the pursuit. Now go."

"Your words won't work on me anymore!" Nagisa said, perhaps a little too loud. "You know what'll happen if my mom finds out! I told you that if you did that again that we were through!" She got up and stormed out of the ice cream parlor. Samantha got up and followed after her. As she stomped past the shop's window, Nagisa glanced inside and noticed that the man in the corner had gotten up as well.

"Walk faster," Samantha whispered. The guy across the street is on the move as well." The girls quickened their pace. "And there's the vendor. Time to run. Go right, I'll go left. Good luck."

Nagisa bolted down an alley to her right. Someone was waiting for her and tried to grab her, but she retaliated with a swift kick to the man's knee. She heard a sickening crunch but didn't stick around to verify that the man's knee had been shattered.

Once out of the alley, she turned down the road towards the cheese shop. A quick glance behind told her that all three men that were initially chasing the girls had followed Nagisa. She was fine with that, since she knew that meant Samantha would have an easier time escaping and getting help.

The men were fast, but Nagisa was faster. A combination of fear and determination drove her on, even when she thought her legs would give out from exhaustion, she sprinted on.

As luck would have it, the cheese shop was still open. She thanked the Light for small miracles and dashed inside, startling the young woman working the counter. "Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"I...need...to speak with Mister Trias," Nagisa gasped. "Sir Roland...gouda..."

The woman's eyes went wide and she called out for the shop's owner. He came scrambling down the stairs. "Young Miss Windbloom? What brings you here?"

Nagisa did not have time to wonder how he knew who she was. The door opened and several small orbs flew through it. The proprietor tackled her away from them, but it was too late. She heard several loud bangs and then everything went black.

** * **

Viridiel Suntreader knocked lightly upon the door to his father's study. "Come in," said the voice on the other end. He opened the door to see his father seated at a large desk, an incredibly large book in front of him. The man seemed surprised to see him. "Viridiel, what are you doing here?"

Viridiel tried to hide his anger, though was mostly unsuccessful. "I've come to ask you about the death of my brother."

"What are you talking about, Viridiel. You already know what happened to him."

Another figure emerged from the door behind Viridiel. "You're right, he does," the hooded woman with the scarf over her face said softly.

"Guards!" Lord Suntreader called out, instantly realizing who the woman was.

"You'll find that they've all decided to take a little nap," Poldaran said. There's no one here to aid you. Now answer your son. He already knows what happened. You just need to explain why."

"Look Viridiel, I don't know what she's told you, but she's lying. I had nothing to do with what happened."

"Cut the crap, father. I was there when she reanimated Zander's head. She ordered him to answer my questions and spoke no other words during the interrogation. The time for lies is over. Now tell me the truth or I will be forced to ask her to repeat the procedure on you."

The man attempted to stand, but Poldaran bound him to the chair with a burst of gravitational magic learned from Kael'thas Sunstrider. "The truth is that this was your brother's own damn fault. He brought his death down on his own head. If he had simply done as I ordered and given the girl the herbs to make her miscarry before breaking it off with her, they would both be alive today. But he had to be a fool. He had to insist that they continue their course. She would have given birth to a monster, a perversion of our pure Suntreader bloodline."

"And so you killed him? You killed my brother, the woman who would have been my sister and my unborn niece, your own granddaughter? You killed three others to hide your crime? Surprised? Yes, three. One of the girls lived. I'm told that to this day the poor woman still has nightmares of what your men did to her? All because of some fool headed notion that our bloodline must remain pure? What do you think Vys would think of this if she found out?"

"Viridiel, you must never tell your sister of this. She can never know!"

Poldaran held out a gem and the image of Dalar Dawnweaver appeared. "Why is that, Suntreader?" Dalar asked. "Why can your daughter never know what you did to my daughter? Why can she not know that her father chose his pride over her brother's happiness, yes, over even allowing her brother to live? My daughter knew your evil. She witnessed it firsthand. My wife knew it as well. She died out of grief at what your evil did to my daughter. So tell me, why should your daughter be left out of the loop?"

The man at the desk attempted to stammer out a response, but Viridiel cut him off. "I tire of this. Let it be ended. Each breath this pitiful wretch takes is an affront to my brother's memory."

"Yes," Dalar agreed. "We have drawn this out long enough. Poldaran, end it."

The woman shook her head. "I am not done with him yet. Your vengeance will have to wait a moment longer." She approached the desk and drew a small dagger. With a flick of the wrist, she drew it across her left hand. The trickle of blood began to float and whirl in numerous patterns before the captured man as Poldaran hummed softly. The man was entranced by the cadence of her song and the movement of the blood. He seemed to be resisting whatever it was she was doing to him, so she released another stream of blood that played through the air with the first and began to sing aloud. "The sun that blooms in hell, darkness that's fallen in paradise...when you're faced with hope and despair, tell me, which one runs deeper?"

The man's shoulder's slumped, his will broken. "What are you doing?" Viridiel asked softly.

Poldaran hushed him with a gesture. "Lord Suntreader. Please take a pen and parchment from your desk and write what I say." The man pulled out the implements and dipped the pen in ink. "'Too long have I lived with my sins. Too long have I suffered with the knowledge that it was my fault that my son lies dead. I chose pride over my own family and in so doing have hurt so many others. I can no longer live with what I have done. It was I that ended the lives of my former servants and it is by my hand that I end my own. Once again I act as a coward as I attempt to pay the price of my evil. I hope only that my family can one day forgive me and that the families of those that I harmed will one day know peace.'" Poldaran looked over the note. "Good, now sign it." The man, compelled, did as she asked.

She drew a vial of some substance from her robe and began coating a second dagger with it. "What's that?" Viridiel asked.

"It's a salve used to cauterize vicious wounds by field surgeons. It's enchanted to burn extremely hot upon contact with blood. One blow of this dagger to the heart and it'll be over in an instant."

"What?" Dalar asked, outraged. "We agreed that he would suffer for his crimes. This death will be over too quickly. He has to suffer like Lisa did!"

"No," Poldaran said.

"Don't you dare defy me! If you do this, you'll never get what you wanted from me. Break our deal now and I'll break my end as well!"

"I thought you might," Poldaran replied. "That's why I took it from you before coming out here, as a precaution. The one in your vault is a replica."

"No! Don't do this!" he begged. "Alison would have wanted him to suffer for what he did to Lisa."

"How little you knew her, then," Poldaran replied. "She would not have wanted vengeance, nor more suffering. Simply justice. And she shall have it. This man will die and everyone will know his crimes. So shall he pay evil's price. Now be silent or I will sever the link and you will miss the end." She handed the anointed dagger to the elven man under her control. "Now drive this into your heart. It will all be over in an instant."

Lord Suntreader seemed to struggle for a moment, so Poldaran helped him bury the dagger within his chest. With a flash, it was over. Very little blood trickled from the now cauterized wound as he slumped within his seat.

"It is done," Poldaran said, severing the link and causing the image of Dalar Dawnweaver to disappear. She then cast a spell of illusion to make herself appear as an elven woman before removing her hood and scarf. "Come now, Viridiel, let us leave this place," she said.

"What's with the disguise?"

"Portal and teleportation spells leave traces that can be detected, so we're going to need to walk to a busier section of Silvermoon with no connection to your father before escaping. Now let's leave quickly, before any of those guards wake up."

As they walked from the mansion, he asked, "What do we do when the guards remember you putting them to sleep?"

"They won't. They'll remember it being done by your father. I'm much more thorough than you give me credit for. Let's head through this park. We'll look like nothing more than a couple on a stroll, and it's fairly dark in there, so less chance someone will recognize you." As they left the bright light of the streetlamps behind, lower pathway lighting became the only source of illumination. "So, anything else you'd like to ask, oh asker of questions?"

"Well, there's one thing that's been bugging me ever since I found out you were helping find out the truth of this. Why did you decide to help? I mean, at first I thought it was because Knights of Dalaran were involved, but after your argument with Dalar, I'm not so sure."

Poldaran sighed softly, as though she had known this question was coming. "Have I ever told you that I met your brother once?"

That question startled him. "What? When?"

"I was young and it was a short time before he was killed. He was very kind to me and seemed to make Big Sis happy."

"Big Sis?"

"Lisa Dawnweaver," Poldaran whispered. "She and my mother were very close. She used to visit all the time. My mom didn't want me calling her by her first name and suggested that I call her 'Aunt Lisa', but Big Sis thought that made her sound old, so that's when she decided I call her 'Big Sis' instead. Anyway, I met your brother when they came to tell my mother that they were engaged... and expecting a child." She was tearing up just remembering it.

Several things clicked at once for Viridiel and he had a flash of realization. "Poldaran, just who is Lisa Windbloom?"

"That's a bit more complicated than I... hold on just a second." She pulled a gem from her robe and pressed it lightly to her ear. "Wait, Samantha, you're going to have to slow down. What do you mean they got her? Her who? Start from the beginning. Okay, so you and Nagisa were having some ice cream and you realized you were being watched. Then men chased you? Nagisa made it to the cheese shop but was taken from there? How about you, are you safe? With Azmaria? Good. Stay there. They won't dare attack Azmaria's place. I'll be back in Dalaran momentarily and will go after Nagisa. No, trust me. I'll be able to find her. Just stay put. I'll come for you after I've gotten her. Just stay with my sister and you'll be okay." She put away the gem.

Viridiel could see fire in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

Poldaran's voice dripped with rage. "Someone's about to have a very bad day. You'll need to find someone else to get you back to Dalaran, as I'm going to need to take a slightly indirect route to avoid tipping off whomever did this to my return. We'll speak again later." And then she was gone.

** * **

Nagisa awoke to the sound of a man's voice. "Time to get up, little girl," he said. "I'm impatient to get my hands on that special treasure you carry." His voice was sinister and just the way he said it terrified Nagisa. She pretended to remain asleep in order to attempt to assess her situation.

Through a barely open eye, she could see that the room was well lit; its walls painted some dull off white color. As far as she could tell without moving her head, there was only the one man in the room with her, but she was bound, so attacking him with surprise would not likely be a choice until she could loosen her bindings.

The man began talking to himself. "To think that Rapture was hidden with this girl. Dalar Dawnweaver, you've made a grave mistake giving it to your granddaughter when she's unable to command her magic. It was ripe for the taking. We'll finally have it once she wakes up."

Nagisa heard a sickening crunch and heard another voice speak. "You're wrong," a woman whispered, her voice muffled as though her mouth was covered. "She's not Dalar's granddaughter and she doesn't carry Rapture. But more importantly, you'll never get the weapon she's carrying because you're dying. Oh, come now, don't give me that look. I've simply severed your cervical spine. I even coated the blade with an anesthetic, so you likely barely even felt that. Oh, sure, I know, you're asphyxiating as we speak. I'm sure that's all kinds of unpleasant. Well, let that be a lesson to you. No one kidnaps my apprentice. Hear me? No one." Nagisa then heard the sound of someone collapsing to the ground. "Come now, little knight, you can open your eyes. The bad man won't bother you any more."

Nagisa opened her eyes to see a familiar figure clad in a black robe and white scarf. "Lady Poldaran?"

"The one and only," Poldaran replied. "Are you okay?"

"Still a little groggy from whatever they used to knock me out, but I think I'm none the worse for wear." With a little magic, Poldaran removed her bonds. "How did you find me?"

"I told you that as long as you wear that pendant, I will always be able to find you. Now, can you stand?" Nagisa nodded. "Good, then we should get moving as quickly as possible. They'll likely come check on him."

"Okay," Nagisa said, standing. She found herself a bit wobbly and would have fallen over had Poldaran not caught her. "What you said, about me being your apprentice, is it true?" she asked, unsure of herself.

"Of course," Poldaran said. "That's been the plan since before you were born."

"But how can I be your apprentice if I can't even cast a single spell?"

"Oh, right, that." She leaned Nagisa against a wall and took the girl's arm. "Avalon, accessing command override," she said, her tone commanding.

Nagisa heard a voice in her mind. "Acknowledged. Authorization verified. What can I do for you, commander?"

"I hereby authorize removal of Seventh Level Spirit Conduit Seal, slow release."

"Acknowledged," the voice said in Nagisa's mind. "Level seven seal to slowly unbind, complete removal estimated at approximately two hours. Levels one through six will remain intact."

"Good. Return to standby mode."

Nagisa felt a sudden rush, almost like a fog was lifting from her mind. "What's going on?"

"Due to extreme circumstances, your gift is incredibly volatile. It was deemed necessary to completely seal it off until the time was right for me to begin your training. Removing the uppermost seal leaves you with the level of magic of a rank apprentice. In time, I will remove others."

"I don't understand, Lady Poldaran."

"Now isn't the time for a full explanation. Now let's hurry out of here. Incidentally, should something happen and you get caught again, do not draw your blade until two hours have passed. Without your magic, you will be unable to fight off any of these foes and it's your sword they're after."

The two began quietly walking through a hall. "Who are these people?" Nagisa whispered.

"Servants of the Legion. They believe that since the weapons of the Knights hold demons at their cores, the blades can be made to serve the Legion."

"Is it true?"

"I do not believe so, at least not in your case."

"In my case?"

"The weapon you carry doesn't have a demon at its core. It's powered by something else." Not powered by a demon? But that only left one possibility that Nagisa knew of. It had to be the weapon bearing the smith's soul, which made her the thirteenth Knight!

She had to admit that she was somewhat disappointed by the fact that this meant that she likely wasn't a Dawnweaver, which meant that she still didn't know the truth about her mother.

They came to a large room filled with crates. It appeared that they were within some kind of warehouse. Since all of those were shielded against teleportation magic, that explained why they had to sneak out of the building. "Alright," Poldaran said. "There’s a large open area in the center of the warehouse. We're going to need to pass by it to get to the other side. Be ready to run when we reach there, as it's the place we're most likely to be spotted."

They reached the clearing and Poldaran gave the signal to run, but they didn't make it far. Out of the darkness behind them came a flash. Poldaran turned to see what it was just in time to be impaled by a huge flying spear. It tore through her chest and pinned her to large stack of crates. She looked in disbelief and her body went limp. Nagisa screamed in horror.

"That's what you get," a voice said from the shadowed hallway they had come from. "To think that you could kill one such as me with a simple knife wound." As he entered the light, Nagisa saw that this man was no man, but a dread Nathrezim! "We are immortal." Nagisa attempted to make a break for it. "Grab the girl."

Several figures appeared from the shadows, demons of numerous types. One, a succubus, struck Nagisa's leg with a whip, sending the girl tumbling to the ground. Tears filled the girl's eyes, for she could not believe the horror that had unfolded.

"To think that not only have I captured one of the fabled Knights, but have killed the mighty Poldaran! Today we shall know great rewards from our master!" The other demons cheered.

Nagisa crawled into a corner and cowered. There had to be a way out of this, but she could not see it. She tried to think, but she could only remember the moment Lady Poldaran had given her the pendant. She had said that when things looked their darkest, she could use the pendant to speak to her. What were the magic words again? "That is not dead which can eternal lie," Nagisa whispered in desperation, clutching the pendant tightly.

"Look at the mighty Knight cowering!" the demon said. "Try what you might. No one will come to your aid. You might as well just turn your sword over to us now and save yourself the torture."

Nagisa's hands began to shake. "That is not dead which can eternal lie. That is not dead which can eternal lie." The whispers became louder until she was almost shouting. "That is not dead which can eternal lie!" The gem in her hand began to glow brightly as the inky black and milky white liquids began to swirl violently. Then she suddenly heard a gasp for air. She looked over and saw the spear holding Lady Poldaran rust away to nothingness.

Blue fire burned in the eyes of sorceress as she glared at the demon. "And with strange aeons, even death may die." Her skin had taken on the pallor of death and her hair had lost its sheen. She walked slowly towards the unbelieving demon, each step leaving ethereal blue flame behind.

"This is impossible!" the Nathrezim said.

"Oh, it's quite possible," Poldaran replied. "You've been a bad little demon, and it's high time you got a spanking.'

"No! Stay back!"

Poldaran pulled off the scarf and tossed it aside, allowing her evil smile to be seen by all. She then held out her right hand. "Rapture, materialize. Scythe form."

** * **

Upon making a list of all his friends so he could decide who to invite over, Yadier realized he did not have many friends that were men. He found it somewhat strange that so many were ladies. Not that he was complaining, but he figured he should find more guys to hang out with.

He ended up inviting over a few of the women he knew. Since all were trained magic users with years of study, he looked forward to some excellent intellectual conversation.

When he went to set the wine in his sitting room, he found a massive mess awaiting him. "Oh, that's right, the elemental," he said, shaking his head. With no time to clean up, they would just have to hang out in his study, which was usually fairly clean. The sound of the door chimes caught his attention. "On my way," he called out.

When he opened the door, Modera greeted him, a rather large covered platter in hand. "I whipped up some finger foods," she explained.

"They smell delicious," Yadier replied. "Since it turns out my sitting room is uninhabitable at the moment, follow me to my study."

When they walked into the study, a rather large projection of the portrait Yadier had been studying occupied the majority of their initial field of view. "Any luck figuring out who that last girl is?" Modera asked, already somewhat familiar with Yadier's research.

"Nah," he replied. "I think I'm about ready to wash my hands of this mess. I don't think I care about whatever it is Poldaran has planned anymore."

Modera laughed. "I can't say that I blame you. I'm tired of carrying this thing around, myself." She pulled a small bell from one of her robe pockets and placed it on his large crystalsong wood desk.

"What's that?"

"That's Poldaran's watch bell. Every mage given a power limiter has a bell tuned to their gift. When they remove their limiter, the bell rings and glows, alerting us to the event. We figured that she would find a way to remove the earrings by disabling the spell pretty quickly, but would only actually do so if she was faced with a dire need to have as much power as she could access, so we'd have a warning when something big went down. That's the main reason I suggested she be limited in the first place."

Yadier raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I'm amazed at your motivation, though I do have to question the potential results."

"Why's that?"

"Well, unless he was lying, and he very well could be, Dalar tells me that the only way to remove the limiter without the authorization of a member of the Six is to overload them from within. He estimates that she'd have to be at least twenty percent more powerful than her maximum strength to do so."

"Since she'd need the power to come from within, then it's impossible?"

"Not entirely. Dalar suggested that if she could find a way to form a complete bond with one of the weapons used by the Knights, then it would give her the boost she'd need, though she would also need to be at full strength to begin with, which all accounts suggest will take at least ten years for all the damage to her soul to heal."

"Since those weapons only bond to members of the family line they've chosen, that makes it pretty well impossible."

"Yeah, pretty much." He looked around the room and realized there wouldn't be enough seating. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get some chairs from my sitting room. There should be a couple that weren't destroyed." As he approached the sitting room, the door chimes rang again, so he detoured to the front door.

"Hello, Yadi," Sindara greeted him. "Pasiran said to tell you that she was going to stop by Bythia and Jeriix's places and bring them on by as well."

"Oh, excellent," he said, glad that there would be a couple more guests. "Then I really need to get more chairs. You remember where my study is?"

"I do," she replied, "though I'm gonna stop by your kitchen for a few more glasses. Can't go drinking this out of wine glasses," she said, producing a very expensive bottle of scotch.

He levitated three chairs from the sitting room to the study, figuring he could go back for more if he needed them. He set them in with the others already in the room, forming a fairly large circle. He then woke up his arcane construct and sent it to the kitchen for some plates.

He pulled off the cover to Modera's platter and grabbed what looked to be a mini quiche and tossed it in his mouth. From the doorway, he heard a gasp. "By the Light, Yadi, where did you get that?!" Sindara asked.

Mouth still full, Yadier looked over at the warlock and followed her gaze, which was firmly fixed on the projection of the portrait. Upon that glance, he noticed something he hadn't before. He looked back at the warlock again and suddenly began to choke. It just wasn't possible. How had he not noticed it before?

The woman, Alison, looked exactly like Sindara, down to the raven hair. He managed to swallow the food and stop the coughing fit. "Sin, tell me, who is that woman?"

"That's my mom," she said. "And the woman next to her is Aunt Lisa. It's amazing how much Poldaran looks like her."

She was right. Save for the color of their hair, this woman could be Poldaran's twin. "This is important. When you say 'Aunt', what do you mean?"

"She's mom's younger sister."

Gears began turning in Yadier's mind. It was all beginning to make sense. She had said that when he figured out all the major players, he'd understand her involvement. She hadn't been kidding. It was all coming together. He knew why she was involved and how she would get the extra power to remove the limiter, though not how she intended to heal the damage to her soul. But seeing this, he knew there had to be a way. "Modera, tell me, what will happen if she manages to overpower and destroy the limiter?"

"It's never happened before, so we can't say for certain, though I suspect the ringing would be much louder than normal."

"We'll find out soon enough, I suspect." The door chime rang again, multiple times, then the door opened and Yadier's assistant rushed in. "I'm sorry to barge in," the young man said, "but you told me to alert you immediately if Poldaran of Wintermoon managed to get an apprentice contract approved." He handed Yadier an envelope. "You're going to want to read this."

Yadier quickly skimmed to the portion that explained the reason for the exemption. Upon reading it, he dropped the file and began laughing. That was the final piece of the puzzle. He finally understood. He walked over to his desk and drew out the issue of the manga he'd been lead to. "The girl had the answer all the time," he said, still laughing. "But I missed the obvious. The main story is about the girl and the fairy, not the piano. I should have instead asked her if she enjoys waffles!"

The others exchanged worried glances as Yadier continued to laugh. Suddenly the bell on the desk exploded, sending fragments of porcelain everywhere. Yadier howled with more laughter and through the closed windows all could hear the sound of every bell in Dalaran ringing.

** * **


Edited, Jul 22nd 2011 1:10am by Poldaran