Part: The Fourth

Catching Up

The rescued royal court were brought to Jaana and hidden from Blackthorn in her house. Dupré had much to reveal to the group, as he had overheard many things during his captivity. He revealed that the Guardian had not been in Pagan because he had left to conquer Krynn. This explained why Soth was so upset. He also told them of a daemon Erethian who was working to make a permanent gate to Pagan. Kianne found this odd since the Erethian she had known had been simply a blind old man, but things were different on the Shadowland. Soth had laid a curse on Erethian at some point.

They also learned that the Guardian spoke directly to Blackthorn using the cube they had seen. And Dupré had heard about Kilmas, and had heard that he was a star mage, but nobody knew what that was.

Dupré also mentioned that the Guardian was in league with the Pagan Lords, who were powerful Elementals. The Pagan Lords and the Guardian were apparently allied because they shared a single goal: to slay the elementalist Kianne.

The Guardian and Mondain were also allied, in a way, although Dupré thought it was the Guardian mostly calling the shots, though he assumed that Mondain had ulterior motives.

Finally, they learned that Mondain wanted the Tome of Stars for some reason, but Dupré did not know why.

Erethian

Lord British and Nystul revived under Jaana's careful ministrations but remained hidden for now. They were able to provide some more information that Dupré had lacked, among them that Erethian could only be harmed by mytheril weapons. Also, Erethian could only be killed permanently by using the Black Sword. But if Arcadion, in the Black Sword, managed to overcome and possess its wielder (that would be Sygil) before Erethian was destroyed, both daemons would be released and all hell would break loose quite literally.

Nystul also revealed that the Tome of Stars could not be read by most people because it was in the language of time. But the Valence Star Mages, of which Andrella was one by blood, should be able to cast time spells and read the tome. Unfortunately, Andrella could also only see blank pages. She would need to learn how to read it, but the only one who could tell her that was Kilmas, Xavier's son. Also, Nystul warned that casting time spells would instantly age the user by a number of years, which was their cost of use.

Nystul: “If Arcadion is freed, we go to plan B.” Ayla: “What is plan B?” Kianne: “We all die.”

Eventually, the group left them in Jaana's care and went to defeat Erethian. They found him deep in the lost lands, and battled him successfully. With Erethian now trapped in a gem of entrapment, the group used the hammer they had obtained from Mondain's lair to destroy the blackrock that Erethian had gathered thus far.

Sygil tried to destroy the gem of entrapment as Nystul had explained to them, but though he was able to fight off Arcadion's attempts at possessing him, he was unable to successfully destroy the gem. They decided to try again later.

Blackthorn Banished

Nystul brought surprising news, that he had spoken to the Time Lord through the hourglass that they had given him in hopes that he could enchant it. The Time Lord had not spoken to him for long, for he said if he used the hourglass for more than about five minutes, Mondain would be able to track him down, and currently the Time Lord was avoiding that. So the Time Lord told them to only contact him for five minutes once a week. Since Nystul had already used up the five minutes for the current week, the others would have to wait until the next.

Nystul also created another gem of entrapment for them to use on Blackthorn. It was the only form of banishment they could think of that Blackthorn would not be able to return from.

So they gave the gem to Lord British, insisting that he be the one to banish Blackthorn. They took him into the throne room and Lord British trapped Blackthorn into the gem, which was then hidden carefully away.

With Blackthorn gone, Lord British was able to take the throne that rightfully belonged to him. There was a celebration to commemorate the event, and Lord British named Andrella a High Knight and gave Kianne the ankh amulet that Michael had once worn.

The Time Lord

When the next week came, Kianne used the hourglass to contact the Time Lord. Their discussion was short, as they knew it was going to be, but the Time Lord gave them the identity number of Kilmas, saying his location could be determined using the telescope and something known as the “twin moon theorem.”

They went to Gorjez to ask him about this. He was familiar with the theorem but told them that they would need to upgrade the telescope.

He also told him there was a comet in the sky that excited him, though he didn't seem to think anything unusual of it. Yet when Kianne looked at it through the telescope, she saw it as a red comet. Everyone else saw it flashing between red and white, and Gorjez insisted it was completely white. It perplexed them.

Batlin

Lord British gave the group permission to take whatever they wanted from Blackthorn's castle. They found staves of teleportation, potions of invulnerability, and other powerful magic things.

Also, Andrella decided to build a new regiment of the Valence Knights to reclaim the honor of her father. She earned a small, unused island and named it Valence Isle, and began to build her keep there.

Dupré mentioned that Batlin was alive on this version of Britannia, and didn't seem to have done anything wrong here. In fact, he was a druid of relatively high standing. Still, when he offered to buy Blackthorn's castle, Kianne was hesitant to trust that Batlin was completely on the level here, and Lord British decided to trust her instincts.

But Kianne wanted to find out for sure just what this Batlin was like, so she and Andrella traveled to Yew to search for him. They found him in Empath Abbey.

This Batlin appeared very polite and pleasant, and he showed no sign of recognition when he saw Kianne, so she doubted he was the same Batlin as from her universe. Still, when questioned, Batlin said he was forming what he called The Following. Kianne felt her heart sink, for that was just a little close to home. (On her Britannia, he had formed The Fellowship to secretly follow the Guardian.)

Still, without proof, they could do nothing to stop Batlin. Kianne wondered if she would have to join this Following as she had with the Fellowship just to learn what they were up to. Batlin spoke much of the elements as if he worshiped them, surprising her. He either did not know that Kianne herself was an elementalist, or he chose to keep his knowledge to himself, because he spoke as if she knew nothing of the elements. But then, the way he spoke of the elements was much different than Kianne was used to.

Andrella was turned off by Batlin immediately, but he smiled at her animosity and returned her cutting words with kindness...further infuriating her. Still, he had done nothing wrong but offend her, so she could do nothing against him.

The way he was talking, Batlin was speaking about elementals, like the Elemental Lords of Pagan. But he would not confirm Kianne's suspicions and maddeningly spoke in circles.

Batlin closed by telling them that if they wished to join the Following, they would need only give up something of value: the items that Lord British had awarded them. Kianne's ankh, and Andrella's shield of Valor.

Saitor

Gathering materials for the telescope, Andrella and Kianne visited the Order of the Silver Serpents, at Serpent's Hold, headed by a man named Lord Saitor. Saitor turned out to be a somewhat rude and offensive man but he did not appear to be evil.

They returned to Gorjez with the silver and other items, only to find that Gorjez finally realized the comet was in fact red and this bothered him, though he couldn't explain why.

Gorjez hurried off to get things started with the upgrades, promising to be finished within a week.

Shifted Stones

Andrella and Kianne went to Lord British to report what they had learned about Batlin. As they were discussing the possible connection between the Elemental Lords of Pagan, Lord British was able to provide the names of the Pagan Lords, for what it was worth.

Then Nystul unveiled his discovery. He said the Virtues could be channeled through Kianne's bow if she invoked them, but first, the Stones would have to be shifted by a time mage. Andrella accidentally shifted one, the Stone of Compassion, but she lost five years of her life doing it, so Kianne refused to let her shift the rest.

Invoking the Virtues using her bow would also have cost Ki years off her life, but her immortality prevented this from affecting her.

Kianne discovered that by channeling the powers of Compassion through her bow, she could fire arrows which would heal targets instead of harm them. She could also heal herself by the mere act of the channeling.

The Comet

The week passed, and Andrella and Kianne returned to the telescope to see if it had been upgraded. They found Gorjez enraptured with the comet. He claimed it was changing colors, not just red and white, but other colors as well. When they asked him about the upgrades, he gasped and realized he'd forgotten all about them. Gorjez ran off, promising to get right on it.

The Following

Kianne had made her choice to join the Following. She knew she had to get to the bottom of it quickly.

So she went to Batlin with Andrella accompanying her. She'd hoped it would be simple, but even after removing her ankh, she was told by Batlin that she would need to bring three others into the Following as well, before she would be allowed to join.

Shamino politely refused, but promised to try to find out anything about Batlin that he could, such as trying to find a connection between him and Hook. Dupré agreed to do it to help Kianne out, though he laughed and reminded her he had no clue of anything about the elements. Andrella finally decided to join as well, although she hadn't intended to at first. Finally, they asked Sami to be the third person, though Kianne hated having to do it.

Kilmas

The upgrades on the telescope were finished finally. There was some confusion over the identity number, however. It was a strange number and Gorjez wasn't quite sure whether parts of it were meant to be variables or values, and Kianne and Andrella had no way of knowing.

So Gorjez calculated for one possibility, and said that had to be wrong, because it would lead to Lord Soth. They discarded that possibility and asked Gorjez to try a different combination. This one led to Jarred. Finally, the third and final possibility seemed to lead to Kilmas, though Gorjez said that he was so old now that he'd have to be dead.

Then a wind came up and blew his papers around. Although they retrieved most of them, the three sets of coordinates had gotten mixed up. Now Gorjez didn't know which ones were for whom, and his notes had been blown away, so he could no longer recalculate the numbers.

Kianne and Andrella left, dejected, and tried to ask the Time Lord, but he would not or could not give them a direct answer either.

That left them to try to guess at the correct coordinates.

Using logic, Kianne eliminated one set of coordinates, then picked one of the remaining two, and the two of them went to the Yew Crypts where she would do the summoning.

Kianne stood in the middle of the circle and concentrated on the coordinates she'd uncovered. When the moongate opened, an old man ran through and immediately disappeared down the hall. The two chased him and discovered that he was in fact Kilmas. He was supposed to be younger than Andrella, but he looked as old as Iolo.

Kilmas may have had the form of an old man, but he talked like a child. He said his spell age was something around 247 (he'd lost count), but that his true age was 11.

Kilmas said that Hawkwind (who was the Time Lord) had told him to find Andrella and the Avatar. But he didn't know why. He trusted Hawkwind and seemed to look up to him; the Time Lord had apparently rescued him from Xavier, and perhaps had even mentored him a bit. Kianne found herself wondering what that had been like.

Kilmas had been forced by his father to cast time spells, since Xavier hadn't wanted to spend years off his own life. But Kilmas had finally broken away, realizing that the Guardian and Mondain and such weren't right.

Kilmas also knew about the Tome of Stars. He said that it contained star spells and time spells. Evidently time spells were essentially more powerful star spells. Kilmas used Minax's staff on the Tome of Stars and was able to reveal one spell, saying more could come in time.

Finally, Kilmas let them borrow his magic carpet; Kianne hadn't seen that since her time on her own Britannia.

Arcadion

Andrella and Kianne had not seen Sygil and Navien in weeks and began to worry. They had visited their houses several times but never found anyone around. Still worried, they decided to check again, and had to bring Kilmas with them because they didn't want to leave him by himself.

Inside Sygil's house, they found the Black Sword sitting there by itself, unattended. Arcadion gloated that he had sent Sygil and Navien to another dimension, though he wouldn't reveal which one. Kilmas wanted to pick up the blade but Andrella and Kianne stopped him. They left Arcadion laughing alone in Sygil's house.

Babysitting

Kilmas proved to be both an asset and a burden. He was brash and rude, but he could read the Tome of Stars. He said that it had actually been written by lots of Avatars, not just Michael. Apparently, even Kianne's own adventures were being recorded there, though she did not know it.

At the Time Lord's suggestion, Kianne and Andrella began to teach Kilmas of the Virtues. It would prove to be a very long road, as Kilmas did not understand them at all to begin with, but slowly, he began to start to comprehend.

Andrella also started training him in swordsmanship. At first, the training exercises started out as a way of punishing him when he misbehaved, but as time went by, he later discovered he really did want to learn how to use a sword, so he began to appreciate the lessons instead of dread them.

Joining the Following

In the meantime, Kianne and her friends joined the Following, though it became clear sooner rather than later that Batlin was milking the opportunity for all it was worth. He devised "tests" for them which were nothing more than ways of getting him to do things for him, such as secure a meeting hall in Trinsic that he had been unable to obtain. Nevertheless, grudgingly, they were forced to go along, only hoping it would pan out in the end.

The Black Sword

Kianne knew she couldn't leave the Black Sword forever. Besides which, there was the matter of Erethian, who had not yet been destroyed. They needed to use the Black Sword to shatter the gem of entrapment holding Erethian. That would destroy both daemons—the one in the gem, and the one in the sword. Or so Nystul had said.

Finally she decided to pick up the sword herself. After all, she had held the Black Sword before, although it was not quite the same. She was finding the Arcadion here to be far more evil and treacherous than the one on her own Britannia. Andrella went with her as a measure of protection.

Kianne picked up the Black Sword and managed to shatter the gem, but the battle was immense and it cost her greatly. Though the gem was shattered, Kianne fell unconscious and slept in a coma for nine days.

Recovery

When Kianne awoke, she found herself in Lord British's castle under the kind care of Jaana. There were flowers and get-well letters spread all around her room. Her friends had been worried sick over her.

Kianne wondered privately if she had in fact died, coming back to life nine days later thanks to her immortal status.

Kianne recovered gradually, taking it easy at first. Luckily there was peace on Britannia for the time being; Mondain and the Guardian had not yet made any obvious moves. The training of Kilmas in both swordsmanship and the Virtues continued.

The Serpent King

Goarla reported to them one day that the serpent king, who had replaced Shalilissta, was wanting to speak with them. But they did not have a way to his lair. So they visited the telescope, discovering that Gorjez was still wrapped up in the comet. They managed to get the coordinates they needed, however.

When they arrived at Shalilissta's lair, they did encounter the serpent king as promised. He dismissed Kianne almost immediately, however, when he saw the burned hand that had resulted from her ordeal with the Black Sword. He also accused the Avatar of being the one who was bringing doom onto the planet, by bringing the anger of the elements, and he said Batlin was fooling them, though he would not explain.

The king, Omarssainiasis, demanded to be given the Black Sword and Blackthorn, who had brought Soth onto the serpents.

Andrella, who was speaking in Kianne's place since Ki had been refused an audience, agreed to his terms as long as Omarssainiasis promised to never release Blackthorn or Arcadian from their respective prisons. (The Black Sword was cracked, rendering Arcadion powerless, but his gem in the sword was still intact.)

The Unforgiven

Word reached Kianne and Andrella about some creature called the “Unforgiven” in the tunnels of Buccaneer's Den. Since Nystul had warned them that he'd detected a blackrock cube moving around somewhere on that island, they decided to check it out.

Along the way, the two also discovered objects called “Materia” that could store the power of the elements. They weren't sure yet how to utilize them, however.

What they found was Gratagmalem, who had been cursed to wander the tunnels under Buccaneer's Den as the one unforgiven for siding with Minax. But it was more than that. Gratagmalem claimed that the Avatar, the singer of the elements, was going to bring evil to the world in the form of a comet. He said Draxinusom did not believe him and had sentenced him to die.

Andrella and Kianne discovered he was getting his information from Batlin, and had no doubt that Batlin was lying to him to turn him against them.

After a time, they were able to convince Gratagmalem that he had been lied to. Gratagmalem mentioned that Batlin had promised to turn the people against the Avatar. It wasn't a huge surprise, because Batlin had already criticized the Virtues and claimed that his elemental worship was a far better substitute.

Gratagmalem took out the blackrock cube and revealed that he thought he Guardian was benevolent, just as the Guardian had tried to convince his followers in the Fellowship.

In the end, Gratagmalem decided that dying was his only path and he fought Andrella to the death. She did not mean to kill him but he practically impaled himself on her blade.

Saddened, Kianne and Andrella carried Gratagmalem to Draxinusom so that he could be buried among his people. Draxinusom was sad about what had happened, but was slow to forgive Gratagmalem. Although he did not believe the Avatar was bringing the comet, he nevertheless admitted being confused when Kianne and Andrella supposedly condoned what he called the “daemon masses.”

When the asked about that, he said that Niltab was using them to access people's souls. Kianne was so shocked that it was only later she realized what results when one spells that word backwards...

Draxinusom finally forgave Gratagmalem when he discovered that Andrella and Kianne had already done so, for, he said, if the Avatar and High Knight had offered him their forgiveness, then the gargoyles ought to as well.

Before they parted, Draxinusom explained what he knew about the daemons. They were allied with Minax and ruled by Niltab. They possessed bodies of mortals, such as druids. The twin elven moonblades of Trammel and Felucca, named after the moons, sealed the daemon's true forms and powers, thus forcing them to take on human form.

The Daemons

Since the elves knew more about the daemons, Kianne and Andrella headed to Dawn next. They learned that the elves had once fought the daemons long ago, losing many of their number and even suffering some traitors who switched sides to join the daemons. They were unable to prevail over the daemons so they locked them away.

Lord Erimani further explained that the elven seal must be weakening, for Batlin was not in fact simply a possessed human, but rather he was Niltab born into a human body. Yet his power would be linked to his soul stone, which was sealed in Hythloth. Erimani also revealed that Niltab had a daemon stronger than himself to guard him, and his name was Abraham. Abraham was slightly different; unlike Niltab, Abraham could only be destroyed by killing the body of the one he was possessing. Additionally, a daemon soul could only be destroyed using a moonblade.

Eventually Erimani and his wife Anniosha bestowed the twin moonblades on Andrella and Kianne, giving Kianne the Light blade, Trammel, and giving Andrella the Dark blade, Felucca. The moonblades had special properties, but they also bore restrictions. They could not be transported through magical means, except the natural moongates, and they also could not be pulled through a Bag of Holding. All of this together would effectively make the Orb of the Moon useless.

Erimani also revealed that the daemons make use of elemental powers, which rather made sense considering Batlin's teachings. But he also confirmed that the daemons were allied with the elves' enemies, the Pagan Lords.

Finally, Erimani explained to them how to use the Materia on their weapons to free the elements trapped within.

Andrella and Kianne left then using the natural moongate entrance to Dawn. They went to Sami as soon as the sun was high enough in the sky and warned her to stay away from the Following.

They also asked her if she'd noticed anyone hanging out with Batlin a lot. After a moment she mentioned a druid named Maharba. There was some confusion over how to pronounce his name, so it was a short while before someone thought to try writing down Abraham's name backward. Once they did, they realized who they were searching for.

The Comet

Finally, the two stopped at the telescope. Ever since hearing about the comet from the gargoyles, Kianne had wanted to see it again. She asked Gorjez to show it to her.

Gorjez had been distracted from his fascination in the comet by a druid, which only indicated further that there was something fishy about it. He had to recalibrate the telescope to point back at it, and when he did, he realized the comet had changed colors and now appeared to be heading straight toward Britannia. It was just an optical illusion, he assured them, but Kianne and Andrella weren't so sure.

When Kianne looked through the lens, she saw a comet shifting in the four colors of the primary elements. The view of the comet seemed to engulf her until she abruptly passed out, losing consciousness for a few seconds. Andrella probably feared she was relapsing into the coma, but Kianne assured everyone she was fine, and they left Gorjez to his constellations and returned to the Shadow Keep.

Destiny

Back at the keep, Kilmas insisted on contacting the Time Lord because he claimed he had read his destiny in the Tome of Stars and didn't like it. But the Time Lord was maddeningly indirect, only saying that the future was set into stone. He went so far as to say that the path must change. Not could, not should, but must. Kianne and Andrella began to wonder what future it was that Kilmas had seen.

Shrine Hopping

Kianne and Andrella needed to visit all of the shrines, both aboveground and belowground, with the moonblades before they could be used to defeat the daemons. They brought Kilmas with them. He had already visited some of the shrines and learned some of the Virtues but had never tried meditating.

At first, Kilmas was simply rejected by the shrines, making him bitter. But Kianne and Andrella did their best to explain things to him. Eventually he was able to truly meditate, although each time he did, for some reason, he would lose consciousness. It wasn't until later that they all realized that, somehow, through the ordeal he was becoming younger. His hair was regaining its color and his face looked more like that of a young man.

Insanity

During this time, Kianne and Andrella had a long discussion with Lord British and their other allies about the situation: about Batlin, Maharba, the strange mute lady Vevilia who was usually with Maharba and no one could figure out, and the comet. Lord British said that Erimani had told him that the invoked Virtues would be the key to the daemon's defeat, but Andrella did not have enough years on her life to shift all of the moonstones.

Then Lord British brought in a possibility. The Gem of Immortality made its bearer immortal, which was precisely why both Mondain and Xavier sought the gem. If Andrella were to wear it, she could shift the stones without losing any years off her life. However, the cost could be disastrous, for the power of the gem notoriously caused its bearer to go insane.

Later, the Time Lord warned them that if they put the gem together, Nystul's barriers that were protecting Britannia from people gating in would temporarily falter. This would not be enough to let in someone like the Guardian or Mondain, but it would allow Jarred and his Valence Knights to arrive. Thus, Kianne and Andrella had much to consider.

Invoked Virtues

Seeking answers, the two visited Dawn. At first they were brushed off coldly by Erimani, who apparently had changed his mind about helping them. But when they showed him the shifted Stone of Compassion, and how Kianne could invoke it into her bow, he realized all hope might not be lost. For he had thought the immortal Avatar would be an elf, as no other would have enough years to spend invoking the Virtues.

Once all of the Virtues were invoked, Erimani explained, they would gain great power, power enough to defeat the daemons, even Abraham. The Avatar Michael had tried to do it, had even studied time magic extensively, but his life was too short.

Channeling the invoked Virtues into the bow would save Kianne even if she was no longer immortal. This would allow her to destroy the Gem of Immortality as soon as Andrella was finished invoking the Virtues, thus saving her from possible insanity.

Leaving the Following

Before executing their plan, Andrella and Kianne discussed it with Lord British and Nystul. Nystul warned that the destruction of the Gem of Immortality would likely wipe out magic on the entire planet for a temporary span of time. However, Lord British decided even that consequence would be worth it if it meant defeating the daemons and the other evils stacking up against them.

When they returned to the Shadow Keep, they were startled to encounter Batlin and Maharba standing just outside. Kianne took the opportunity to politely explain that she had done some “soul searching” and would not be in the Following any longer. Batlin smiled and seemed pleasant enough, so it was difficult to tell how he was taking the news.

Now that the word was out, Kianne and Andrella visited some towns, advocating the Virtues to the people, trying to undo any damage they had done by joining the Following. To a large degree, their efforts seemed to help. One example was with Caton, Lord British's head guard. He had been convinced by Batlin of the Following's teachings because of a promise of being reunited with his love, a guard who had been killed by the Guardian. Ki and Andrella were unable to completely change his mind, but they did warn him of Batlin, and Caton agreed to trust their judgement.

Materia

While preparing for their task of invoking the stones, Kianne decided to try using the Materia on a weapon as Erimani had said. She took out a Fire Materia and attempted to use it, but instead of being absorbed into her weapon, the stone itself shifted colors, now blazing brightly. She blinked, having no idea what she had just done, and attempted to use the newly transformed Materia. This engulfed her in momentary flames which then faded but left her feeling warm, as if she was attuned to Fire.

They eventually discovered that while Andrella and anyone else could use the Materia as Erimani had described, if Kianne used one, she actually shifted the stone, altering it slightly. Using a shifted stone would result in the user himself absorbing the elemental energies, which gave him the ability to use the element on his weapon as often as he liked. (Using Materia normally on a weapon would eventually wear off.) However, only one shifted stone could be active at a time; trying to use another would replace the first.

Also, using a Materia would leave behind a hollow or empty Materia. They discovered after a while that they could use the hollow Materia to remove a previous elemental enchantment from either their weapons or themselves, although the elemental would be lost.

Core of Immortality

Finally, the preparations were complete and the day had come. Andrella's most skilled blacksmith had used the hammer to break the golden rocks and obtain the shards of the Gem of Immortality. Andrella's own knights, as well as Lord British's guards, were stationed in strategic points around Britannia to intercept anyone who invaded through the fault in the barrier. Andrella and Kianne carefully transported them to Blackthorn's Felucca chamber, as they figured doing it here would ensure they were not interrupted. They did not want the Gem of Immortality to be stolen before they could destroy it.

Safely walled within the chamber, Andrella put the shards together and they melted into the gem. She fastened a chain to it so that it formed a necklace, and put it on.

Immediately an earthquake rocked the room, startling everyone. When the quake subsided, Andrella hurriedly shifted the remaining seven stones, and, worried, Kianne tried to gate them out with the Orb of the Moons. But it seemed none of the magic aside from Andrella's time magic was working; the shifted moonstones were also not functioning, and Ki could not invoke them.

They were trapped for some time in the chamber until Lord British used his own orb (that Kianne had long ago returned to him) to open a gate there for them. When Kianne and Andrella emerged they learned that Jarred and his knights had come to the Lyceaum and captured Kilmas and Sami, who had been with Kilmas.

The Blue Mage

Shamino had been watching Maharba while hidden, and he told the story to the others. After the earthquake, Jarred, whom Batlin and Maharba called D'raj (and only one of two, at that), came to Maharba. He said he had been sent by VayViktus since he couldn't contact them; Maharba complained that the Avatar had destroyed all the blackrock. Jarred told him that since they couldn't speed the “core” because of Andrella and Kilmas's presence on the Shadowland (star mages cannot be affected by time spells unless they cast them themselves), the daemons would need to speed the generator instead.

Maharba, apparently not liking this idea, protested that the “blue mage” would feel it. Kianne interjected that the term “blue mage” had been used on a totally different planet, so how did these daemons know it? The only answer anyone could surmise was that the Guardian knew a lot about her and apparently had passed on that knowledge.

Shamino continued that Jarred had then left Maharba, who had proceeded to Empath Abbey, where he'd stepped through a dark portal and was gone.

Shortly after this Kianne began experiencing spikes of pain and weakness at periodic intervals. They could find no reason for them and could only guess that it was the “generator” that had been mentioned. But Kianne failed to see why Maharba was worried about this if all it did was impair her.

Invoking Virtues

Before leaving to rescue Kilmas and Sami, Andrella and Ki tested the shifted Stones of Virtue, knowing they would need their power to take on the daemons. The list of their effects is as follows:

• Compassion - Heals target.
• Valor - Increases one's strength and durability dramatically.
• Sacrifice - Enough Light power to raise someone.
• Justice - Sends target to Yew Jail.
• Honesty - Increases one's agility and dexterity.
• Honor - Gives one light, as with In Lor.
• Spirituality - Boosts one's magical capabilities.
• Humility - Gives one a magic reflection shield, as with In Jux Sanct.

The enchantments were found to last for a long while. The downside was that using any enchantment on any person would age that person. This drawback did not affect Kianne, who was immortal, or Andrella, for she was a star mage.

The Rescue

Jarred offered an ultimatum to Kianne and Andrella: come to the Yew Passage or Kilmas and Sami would be killed. They went and attacked Jarred and his knights, finally prevailing with the help of the Virtue enchantments. Andrella herself took down Jarred, though Jarred warned that with his death all that they had accomplished was releasing his rage.

With Sami and Kilmas freed, the group took extra precautions to make sure they were kept better protected.

Gem of Entrapment

While Kianne and Andrella were speaking with Kilmas, trying to figure out how Xavier had tracked Kilmas to the Lyceaum, Lord British's guard Caton arrived and asked to speak with Andrella in private. Kilmas went to his room in the keep while Caton sent Kianne to Lord British's castle to talk to Nystul.

Kianne found Nystul asleep but woke him, thinking that if the mage wanted to speak to her about something, it must be important. But Nystul didn't seem to know why she had been told to come. He complained that Caton had kept him up all night making a gem of entrapment for them. Then he went back to sleep.

Returning to the keep, Kianne found Caton dressed in Jarred's golden armor chasing down Kilmas. But it wasn't Caton, it was Jarred possessing Caton's body. There was no opportunity to feel remorse. Ki fought to protect Kilmas, but she could not defeat Jarred by herself, so with no other recourse, she used the Stone of Justice to send him to Yew Jail. She knew Jarred would most likely be able to escape from the jail, but it was the only thing she could think of to buy herself some time.

Ki discovered that Caton had imprisoned Andrella in the gem of entrapment, then gone after Kilmas. Realizing that only Nystul would know how to undo the enchantment, she took Kilmas and the gem to Lord British's castle.

Awoken from his slumber once again, Nystul claimed the task was impossible. But as a star mage, Kilmas possessed the power to do it, just not the knowledge. Together Nystul and Kilmas were able to use reagents gathered by Kianne to release Andrella.

Shrine Quests

Since they needed to finish visiting the shrines before they could go into Shame, where the Daemon Seal was found, Andrella and Kianne continued with their quests. Kilmas accompanied them to the aboveground shrines. By the time they finished with all of those shrines, Kilmas looked to be in his teens, not the elderly man that he had appeared before.

The underground shrines they completed without Kilmas, concerned for his safety. While they were doing the shrine in Shame they also explored, looking for the entrance to the Daemon Seal, but found nothing but a suspicious building with no entrances.

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