STARFALL CASTLE, SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE BATTLE King Hector and his council men were sitted at a square table arranged under a large round canopy at one of the open grass fields behind the Castle. The table was covered in lot of food, fruits, meat and wine, and the four men dined Taichen struggled to eat as he had many bandages wrapped on his face which made it difficult to open his mouth and chew, Shiro sat opposite to him and ate quietly, his wounds were minimal compared to Taichen's. King Gupta wore his traditional tunic robes and numerous beads, he didn't follow his brethren to the battle as he was the only council man who wasn't a sorcerer. Gerald stood beside Hector's seat like a bodyguard, he wore a short sleeved suit which exposed the bandages on his arms "To another victorious battle" Hector said as he raised a glass of wine to toast, the others did the same, they clanged their cups together above the table and sipped, then went on with their meals "How are your leg

ONE HOUR AGO; Alora entered her father's chambers, she saw him lying on his King's bed with the sheets over his body, his wife Elia Skolgard sat on the bed next to him, Bjorn and their younger brother Thorin stood by as well, a doctor wearing a very long robe mixed concoctions by the bedside table, the room was silent as a crypt, except for the sounds of the doctor's equipment. She went closer to get a better view of his face, her body went cold when she did, his skin was turning purple and black cracks grew on it, quickly spreading all over his body, it was very obvious that this was no normal disease "What happened to him?, when did this happen?!!" Alora asked anxiously "It was just last night" Bjorn said, "Father said he felt a sharp pain in his head, it turned out to be his instincts warning him of something, he walked around the palace and I followed him until we met a random guard stationed at the guest towers" "What about the guard?" Alora asked "It was no ordinary

Alora stood still at the entrance of the castle, she watched Valkori briefly before turning her attention to Miranda, her eyes seething with rage, the girls walked up the stairs to meet her "Why are you here?" Valkori inquired, Alora didn't answer her, she kept on staring at Miranda who had lowered her head in fear "Did you read the letter I sent you?" Alora asked coldly, Miranda twisted her fingers nervously "Yes, sister..." "Then what is she doing outside?!!" Alora barked, Valkori was perplexed as she watched the both of them "What's going on?..." she asked "I'm sorry Alora...it was just a brief visit, and I brought guards with us-" "I told you that under no circumstances must any of you leave the keep until I get back, and you just blatantly disobeyed?!!!" "Alora, what are you?-" "SHUT UP!!" Alora commanded, Valkori shivered, she had never seen the Principal so annoyed before "Get inside..." she told Miranda, "I'll deal with you later" Miranda went past her

Graymont calmly walked out of the hectic venue which was almost completely deserted by now, he tucked his pistol in his suit belt and covered it with his cloak, then slipped into the streets and blended in with the crowd, he kept walking until his instincts began to tick; someone was stalking him. It was a common occurrence after all but he wasn't in the mood for this today. He stopped and looked around, everything seemed normal, this road he had taken saw fewer pedestrians and the street lamps were dimmer, he glanced to his left and right then calmly walked into a dark alley Valkori hid behind a rooftop, she raised her head slightly to peek and saw him walk into a suspiciously dark street "This is how he disappears huh?... that's why Miranda could never finish the map..." She jumped over the street to the next building, unlike Miranda she was very confident that she could defend herself if she needed to, she raised the hood on her blue cloak to cover her head as she carefully

Valkori woke up inside of Graymont's dark and cavernous home, a few beams of the morning sunlight pierced through crevices and cracks on the door, she stood up from the pile of clothes she had slept on and rubbed her eyes, the place was completely silent except for the muffled sound of the river flowing under the bridge outside "Graymont?..." she called, nobody answered, she heard a horse's neigh outside and gasped "Dahlia!!" she ran out of the room and saw Dahlia standing at the entrance which was covered in moss and weeds, her cloth bag still on its back, the horse neighed and stomped it's feet excitedly and she hugged it tightly, she was happy to see her pet but also trying to make it silent, she didn't want to draw any attention from people crossing the bridge above "Where did he go?..." she looked to both directions for Graymont then saw him rowing a canoe towards them, she smiled at him and he returned the gesture, she quickly changed her expression as she realized how aw