Bienskurr Mountains, Cruinog

  The last night of the full moon cycle was approaching. Although it wasn't sunset yet, the sun was already dipping below the mountains. A middle-aged man, several elders, some peers, and youth, and children trekked over the barren landscape toward the mountains.

  Professor Snyderman held a child wrapped in the lustrous purple blanket he'd been given. Alas, there was only one such blanket, but his youngest child has had a fever for a long time, and since he was discredited and publicly ostracized, he couldn't afford the medicine he needed. However, the blanket that the stranger had given him soothed the child's pain.

  This was one of the only reasons his family finally agreed to follow him out into the wilderness on a vain hope and prayer. The further they went, the more they panicked as the sky darkened.

  "Don't be afraid. It's just the mountains blocking the sun. It's not night yet," one of the young men soothed a panic stricken woman. This group wasn't only made up of Synderman's family. There were also several research assistants, and his research partner and their families.

  There were some sobs. The children didn't really understand. They just knew that suddenly they had to pack up all their belongings and tromp out into the wilderness and the mountains that elders always claimed to be inhabited by the fair folk that would eat them if they misbehaved.

  Suddenly several people screamed as a figure stepped into their paths. Even the men were taken aback, but calmed down when they saw it was a lone figure. It was just a man in a suit who looked like a colonist. "This is the man I told you about," Snyderman assured everyone.

  "You really exist," a research assistant sighed.

  Snyderman glared. "If you didn't believe me, why did you come?" he asked.

  "It was at least hope," the research assistant said. His elderly mother patted his shoulder.

  "Follow me. There's not that much time before the fog comes. We have to get you to a safe place first," Amadeus said, not bothering with their conversation. He took off his cloak, revealing his true appearance. Some people gasped.

  Snyderman fiddled with his spectacles. "You said you weren't of the Fair Folk," he scolded lightly.

  Amadeus chuckled. "I'm not. You'll understand once we get to where we're going," he said. "Don't worry, there are humans there," he assured him. He led the group through the mountains, toward the valley of the ancestral hall. He'd occasionally help anyone who fell behind.

  By the time he made it back to the valley, he had several children hanging off of him. Wallace and Spencer spotted them coming while patrolling and soon appeared to help them. The humans were a bit shocked at the appearance of two more pointy-eared people who looked and dressed an awful lot like Fair Folk, but claimed not to be.

  A child finally couldn't stand it. She stomped a little foot. "If you aren't Fair Folk, then what are you?" she demanded.

  Amadeus looked at her and gave a gleaming smile. He pointed upwards at the sky. The people looked up. There were two Dragons flying over, a dark blue one and purple one.

  The girl's eyes grew wide, especially when, spotting them, the two Dragons came over and landed near them. Then they changed into more people with pointed ears. The children and some of the adults gave gasps of shock and amazement

  ZsaZsa smiled slightly. "Come on," she beckoned the people.

  Lazarus approached Amadeus and unburdened him from at least one of the tired children. "After Kael Sandstorme made his report, Raven and Eve went to the ancestral hall to speak with their King about the humans. Almost all the Earthborne have gone already. The King says he wants to wait until after the Banshees cross over before going himself. Only a few hunters remain with him. Darius wants you to follow this through to the end. You take them over and settle them," he said.

  Amadeus nodded."As I should," he said with a faint sigh. He didn't regret giving these people a chance. If they acted up, they'd just be sent back to try to survive on their own.

  Snyderman interrupted. "My good sir, it occurs to me that I don't even know your name," he said.

  Amadeus smiled. "My name is Amadeus Darkmyst," he said. "This is my cousin Lazarus Darkfrost. As you see, we're not fae. We're Dragons," he explained.

  Snyderman nodded slightly. "The place we're going. It's where you are from? It's...another planet?"

  Amadeus appreciated Snyderman's intellect and calmness.

  "Yes. Our world is called Emphyralis and many kinds of people live there. We originally came because of the ones you call the Fair Folk, but since we came across you, we decided to pick you up," Amadeus said.

  "We can't save everyone," Lazarus said before anyone suggested that.

  Snyderman shook his head. "Indubitably not. Perhaps we don't all deserve saving," he said with a faraway expression. His wife took his hand and squeezed it. "I sent a few letters to some colleagues. I don't know if that was all right or not?"

  Amadeus shook his head. "I don't know. If we're here and they come, we'll send them over. If we're not," he shook his head.

  Snyderman nodded. "I understand," he said. As they walked and talked, they made it to the ancestral hall. Several hunters watched the group of twenty or so humans with almost greedy eyes.

  Lazarus sent them sharp looks. "Enough," he warned them. The hunters looked away. "Go with the first group. I'll watch over the second group," he told Amadeus.

  "Good idea," he agreed. "I'll take them on to Silvermoon and settle them in Crowley House first," he said. At least Crowley House was also full of off-world humans.

  Lazarus nodded. "I'll inform the Grand Duchess and the young lady and lord," he said.

  Amadeus led the humans into the ancestral hall. The humans were uneasy under the gazes of the few remaining hunters, so they clumped together.

  As they stepped in, they met Delia and Alistair along with three priests in black and midnight blue robes that shimmered with stars. Markings identified two acolytes, and a Priest. All three were Spirits Seers. The two Acolytes were still youths, not even in their Changing Age yet. The Priest was also very young, only just past his own Changing Age. He had pale skin with an olive undertone, silver eyes, and shaggy black hair with a silver streak.

  They nodded at each other passing. Amadeus, Lazarus, ZsaZsa continued to the Bridge with the humans, while Spencer and Wallace followed Delia and Alistair in guiding their guests to the cavern where the Banshees rested.

  --(Tapas break)--

  The Silvermoons watched as the guards escorted the Priests up. The Acolytes were underage so they had to be carried in the claws of the guards, but the older priest turned into an Onyx Dragon, that was more of a gunmetal color with a slight metallic sheen rather than a true black. Still, the membranes of his wings and the base of his scales were black, proclaiming him to indeed be an Onyx Dragon. He even had the lethal, lithe body shape of an Onyx Dragon.

  When he landed, he transformed back into his humanoid form. He bowed. "Priest Wray Darkdream greets the Grand Duchess, Lady Britiana, and Lord Darius." The two Acolytes bowed to them and intoned a greeting without introducing themselves.

  Chrystianna couldn't say she knew everyone in Silvermoon and the members of every temple in Silvermoon, but she'd recognize important figures. A junior Priest in the Order of Seers wasn't too high, but he also wasn't too low. "You're not from Silvermoon's Temple," she said probingly.

  Wray shook his head. "No, your Grace. I had business in Silvermoon. I happened to be at the Temple when the guards came to ask for help. When I heard the details, I decided to come personally," he explained.

  Chrystianna acknowledged his explanation and led them into the cave. She called for Maeve from outside the tent.

  Maeve stepped out. She greeted the Grand Duchess softly. She was a bit in awe of the woman. She didn't give a second thought to their so-called Earthborne King, but Chrystianna gave her a sense of deep respect. It was a strange feeling.

  Chrystianna introduced the two parties. "Priest Darkdream will escort your group to Silvermoon's Temple of Elaides where you'll be welcome to stay until you decide on your permanent plans," she explained to Maeve.

  Maeve was looking at the young man. "Ay. I can feel it. I can't explain it, but I can feel the aura around these people. They know death as the Banshees know death," she said reverently.

  Wray smiled slightly. "We can't predict death. We can only do our best for those who have already passed," he said.

  Maeve stared at him. "Yet, you walk with them. Even a Banshee can't do that," she said.

  Wray's lips twitched. He lowered his head humbly. "I've only Guided once. I can't believe you sensed that. That's really amazing," he said with a slight smile.

  Maeve dismissed this. "Banshees have a knack for sensing death after all," she said wryly.

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  Britiana had wandered over by this point. "I'll be dark soon. Do you want to leave tonight or tomorrow?" she asked them.

  Maeve straightened her shoulders. "The ancestral hall is protected. We'll leave tonight now that we have a guide. There's no reason to linger here," she declared.

  "Very well. When we return to Emphyralis, I'll come and visit you and see how you're settling in," Britiana said with a smile. Maeve returned her smile.

  "We'll be returning with the Banshees, my lady," Adora Silvermyst announced with her husband. They gave her deep bows. "Thank you for everything," she said.

  Britiana didn't dismiss their thanks. She accepted it and assured them it was her duty.

  Soon, the banshees and the Spirit Seers left the cavern.

  Just before dark, Lazarus and ZsaZsa returned to the cavern. "The last of the Earthborne followed the Banshees," Lazarus reported.

  Britiana looked curiously at ZsaZsa. "Why did you stay and not return with Raven?" she asked.

  "I want to help watch over you during the prayer. And I want to observe," she admitted.

  "Oh? Why is that?"

  "I may have to pray to Emosyne when I get back. To find the Voidheart Gem," she answered.

  The three Silvermoons and Lazarus were surprised. ZsaZsa then explained that Delaney wanted to teach her to use the Shadow Dimension to travel but she couldn't break the space-time-plane barrier.

  "You're welcome to observe. If you need any help when the time comes, let us know," Chrystianna declared. ZsaZsa bowed and thanked her.

  As the sun went down, the little delegation started to have dinner, then they watched as the fog rolled in for the final time until the next full moon. They remained vigilant watching the shadows.

  Chrystianna's first contact with this fog left her expression dark and worried. "This fog. It shouldn't be so strong. It must be controlled by at least an upper fifth-tier being," she said.

  The Crowleys were infinitely close to being fifth-tier mages. Chrystianna herself was barely fourth-tier. There were large gaps even within tiers. A lower grade mage in the same tier often has an almost insurmountable gap with an upper grade mage in the same tier. Though tiers are often used concerning mages, it's more accurate to ascribe them to beings. Though they worship the Dragon Gods as their creators, they understand that they are beings of sixth-tier and higher. Fifth tier beings are still mortal. Sixth tier beings are no longer mortal and often cannot exist in the same plane as lower tier beings.

  The Upper and Mortal Realms of Terranthea were such an example. Perhaps the denizens started out as high fifth-tier beings, but as their powers grew, the more they destabilized and threatened the Mortal Realm and had to seal themselves away.

  "What kind of being? From everything we've learned from Raven, the Earthborne were probably the most powerful beings on this planet, and that was only upper third-tier," Britiana said.

  Chrystianna shook her head. "If the mature Dragons hadn't died, perhaps we could find out without having to pray to the Sisters," she said.

  Time passed and there were no disturbances in the fog that they could see. Perhaps, without prey, the things that use the fog to hunt weren't drawn over. The only thing was that the fog seemed to sense them and would occasionally crash at the mountain they were camped on like waves. It would roil forward, only to dissipate and start over again. It was very unnerving to watch, but no one felt comfortable enough to not watch over it.

  They had to know if they needed to evacuate to the sky.

  They, even the psionic Silver Dragon, and the Bronze Dragons with ESP, nearly jumped out of their skins when Delaney suddenly appeared out of darkness inside the cave and shouted. "It's bad!"

  --

  Icestorme, Emphyralis

  While it was dark on Cruinog, it was daylight in Thale. Morganna had spent the night before mobilizing the Frost Guard. Shortly before the second fog on Cruinog, she received Dahlia's report from a Drake. After reading everything, and going over the included evidence, she was livid. Such foolishness spread in Thale because of simple greed?

  She scoffed and almost tossed the entire report across her office. After she calmed down she summoned her son, and had him read the report. They made plans. During the night, she mobilized the Frostguard to arrest the Platinum Dragons involved, while Marius seized the rest with the Icestorme Guard Corps.

  They move quickly, locking down criminals and all the evidence they need. As the dawn broke, she publicized this event. It was a happy accident that the storm that was stirred up by the events covered the silent movement of troops from the other continents coming into Icestorme. Everyone was focused on talking about the arrested politicians and their schemes to stir up trouble in Parliament to hide a bill they planned to kill.

  "I said, why would we even care about the witchborne here in Thale? If anyone could come, wouldn't that be good?" someone said at a local restaurant to their friends.

  "Well, at least we're now connected to Silvermoon. As for the witchborn or whoever? Let them live here! Who cares," agreed a friend.

  "All this hullabaloo because some greedy merchants didn't want to lower the prices of imported goods!" another person scoffed.

  Yes, the bill in discussion was to lower the price of imported goods in Thale. Because some merchants had channels to get things from the other continents, they often set the prices exorbitantly high, especially if they were considered necessities.

  So, while ministers in Thale's Parliament were debating the witchborn, the bill was quietly killed by a group of politicians who took bribes or had their own business interests.

  Someone sneered. "All that commotion, now we have the Bridges. These things will no longer be hard to get soon. They did all that for nothing and now they'll either be imprisoned or pay fines until they're as poor as the rest of us," they said, causing all their companions to laugh with a sense of schadenfreude.

  Now as daylight neared on Cruinog on the third night of the fog and night neared in Thale, Morganna sat in her office again, with Marius and the High Justice of Icestorme. They were discussing the next steps in this. "Schedule their trials soon. Keep making a lot of noise," she instructed the High Justice.

  Elowyn Icesharde was a cold woman with white hair braided in a crown around her head. She was tall, dark, and had icy blue eyes. "Yes, my lady. It will take some time to process them, but the trials can be loud and public. With the evidence against them, they shouldn't even dream of getting off without bleeding a little," she sneered. An arbiter shouldn't already have an opinion, but she wouldn't be personally overseeing any of the trials, so she didn't mind speaking her mind. It wouldn't be her who judged them.

  "Besides, they have highly paid solicitors who can keep things stirred up for a while to come. Don't worry, my lady," she added flippantly.

  Morganna gave a soft laugh. "Thank you, Elowyn. You'll be working late for a while," she said.

  Elowyn shook her head. "It's good to be busy, it's a sign of change," she said. "Oshango knows we need change," she muttered. She wasn't in on the knowledge of the operation to break the Siege, but just the existence of the Silvermoon Bridge signified that it wouldn't be far off.

  After discussing a while more, Morganna eventually dismissed her. When the two of them were left, she looked at her son. "How are preparations coming?" she asked.

  "Everyone is almost assembled. Now we just need a direction to attack and provoke a clash so that the hostile races back down," he answered.

  Morganna nodded. "Well, this will keep the mastermind from thinking we know anything about them. Maybe they'll make a mistake somewhere," she said hopefully.

  Marius agreed. Soon she dismissed him and went about her own business. She didn't know when they'd find out who was behind it, but she was confident that the Siege would end soon. Even if there was no decisive battle, just the presence of the other battalions present on Thale should signal to the hostile races they couldn't be as bold as they had been. Thale would finally be free again.

  --

  Bienskurr Mountains, Cruinog

  The Silvermoon delegation got control of their startled emotion and quickly helped Delaney find a place to rest. It was obvious that instead of using the bridges, she came straight from Terranthea to Cruinog. It hadn't been long since her last trip through the Shadow Dimension, and she already traveled again. It was really draining.

  "What's bad? What did you find out?" Britiana asked after some of the color came back to the other woman's face.

  Delaney brought out a stack of papers. "The Wild Hunt. The Ghost Riders. Ragnorok," she said.

  Confused expressions met her words. "What's Ragnorok?" Britiana asked.

  "From what I can gather, it means something like 'the fall of the gods' but from what I've been able to piece together, it's more like 'God Fall'. I also found it in some ancient Galli myths. They call it Tetim De. It's basically the end of the world. It's not because the gods in the Upper Realm die. It's because the world dies. First comes the Wild Hunt and Ghost Riders. They ravage the lands, looking for souls to devour. Then the Wild Gods devour the world," she explained.

  "I can't get any more details than this. It took me a long time to even find anything related to the Fiáin De. In the Ragnorok myth, the gods do die and then the world, but it's by the hands of a 'nameless god'. It could be related to the Wild Gods," she said. pulling out the relevant documents and images.

  "There are a few more myths in obscure cultures with similar world ending plots, and sometimes there's a precursor and sometimes there's not."

  Britiana patted her shoulder. "You worked hard. Thank you for this. If it's some kind of sixth or seventh tier being, it might be why there are reverberations through time and space," she said in a quiet voice.

  Chrystianna's eyes turned red and she took a shaky breath. "Hopefully the Sisters help us figure out what's going on," she said.

  The reason she wanted answers was not because she was trying to save Cruinog. It seemed to be late for that without a massive effort. She needed to know to be on guard against similar dangers for Emphyralis.

  Britiana led Delaney to rest while they continued to watch the fog. Dawn soon approached, evaporating the fog as if it never existed once more. Quiet settled in the valley.

  "It's time," Chrystianna announced after she could no longer sense the lingering presence of the fog.

  Darius and Britiana nodded.

  "What's going on?" Delaney asked.

  "They're going to pray to the Sisters for guidance," ZsaZsa answered. Delaney merely nodded and asked no more.

  The three Silver Dragons sat down in the small circle. Chrystianna pulled out a few items imbued with the moonlight of the three moons of Emphyralis and let them shine through the cavern as they floated above them. "I'll be the future. Britiana will be the past. Darius will be the present," she said.

  "Ready," the twins answered. The others kept an appropriate distance, their faces reverent.

  The three of them closed their eyes, voices entwined. "Iah, Una, Ara. Sisters of Moon, Singers of Fate. Here us now, we call for your songs,"

  Britiana: "Una, Singer of What Was, I am the Past. Bless me with your song."

  Darius: "Iah, Singer of What Is I am the Present. Bless me with your song."

  Chrystianna: "Ara, Singer of What Will Be. I am the Future. Bless me with your Song."

  Again, their voices mixed. "Singers of Fate, Sing to us of Cruinog."

  The strange cadence of the invocation was rhythmic and reverent. They continued to chant, and as they chanted, there was an almost tangible field around them that no one could cross for fear of disrupting the ritual. They continued to call to the Singers of Fate and this invocation lasted for a week.

  --