I worked my ass off training for the rest of that morning and after a brief lunch, my friends and I all got back to work with another group training session. Amoiraishe had had to leave the game for a phone conference with the heads of the London, Tokyo, and New York Branches and was expecting to be out of the game for a good four or five hours from our perspective. So I worked all of our asses off as I took my Mahair’s words to heart. Even after the training session, I encouraged all of my friends to work hard that afternoon when we split up. If the game was going to end soon then I didn’t want to have any regrets, I was going to give it everything I had and try to make sure that we all went out on a high note. With that in mind, once I had finished a grueling magick lesson with my apprentices that afternoon I went to go speak with Hadrick and Denise in the Glade’s small marketplace. I had an idea that just might help with the Redcaps and they were just the people to help me.

Of course, I didn’t go alone. Lissany, Nishalle, and Daenyss wouldn’t let me out of their collective sight and the minute I entered Hadrick and Yola’s shop with my three shadows in tow we were greeted enthusiastically by the female Dwarf. “Your Highness! You didn’t need to come to pick up the armor for your party, I would have gladly brought it to the Estate. They turned out as nice as the ones I made for you, Nishalle, and your Summer Court friend though. It’s a good thing I gave your party priority though, after that battle with those fish-folk I had a bunch of players asking about that armor of yours.”

“They’re ready?” I asked blinking in surprise once she had finally come up for air. “We’ll gladly take them while we’re here, but I actually almost forgot that they were supposed to be done soon. I came to see Hadrick and Denise about an idea that I had.”

“Yup, they’re ready alright. They should keep your friends plenty safe, so long as they don’t go flying off anything they might be riding at the time,” she replied with a playful wink that had my face hot with a fierce blush. Did everybody know about that? “Haddy! You got a visitor!”

Once I had sat Hadrick and Denise down in Denise’s workshop and explained my idea they both stared at me for a long moment as if they weren’t quite sure that I was playing with a full deck. I just sat patiently though, showing Willow some affection while they considered my request and Hadrick stroked his beard thoughtfully. Suddenly Denise’s doe ears twitched as an amused smile spread across her face. “That’s not a bad idea at all, Your Highness. There is certainly plenty of material to work with, but we’ll need to wear protective equipment and we’re going to need some help. Maybe Ashura and that handsome buck, Lincoln.”

“Lincoln? He’s a Druid isn’t he?” I didn’t really know much about the Beastkin beyond that since I had only really seen him in passing. She was right though, he was a handsome buck, in every sense of the word. He was a tall and muscular man in his early twenties with chiseled features, cocoa-hued skin and eyes, and ebony dreadlocks nearly as intricate as my braids. Like Denise, he was a Beastkin with deer tags, only instead of just the ears and tail he also had an impressive set of antlers that had to make walking through doorways hell with his natural height.

“Yeah,” the Doe Beastkin replied with a slightly dreamy look in her eyes that nearly made me giggle. “He’s got a contract with an earth elemental, so he can shape earth and stone fairly easily. He should be able to help us do what you want.”

“We’ll be needin’ some strong backs too, anyone that ya think ya can spare,” Hadrick said after a moment. “Those Redcaps could attack any time, so if yer wantin’ us to be ready, we’ll need folk who aren’t afraid of a little hard work.”

I nodded slowly. I had after all expected as much. As good as the pair were at what they did, this was a big project and we couldn’t be certain how much time that we had left before the Redcaps attacked. “I’m sure that Jira and Salus will be happy to help you recruit other Fae from the Glade for this project, especially if they know it’s me asking. I’ll contact Tien too, and ask her to see who the village might be able to spare who can help. Let’s get recruiting so I make sure that everyone has proper protective gear before you get started.”

It took two hours to get everyone for their team recruited and outfitted, but at least half of that time was dedicated to me using my Magic Craft skills to enchant everyone’s clothes and gloves with the proper protective spells for the job. While it was nice to try using that aspect of my magick a little more, and I had developed the enchantment with this in mind, using it over and over again enough times to provide protective gear for everyone involved proved to be extremely tiring. By the time we were finished and it was time to return to the Estate for dinner I could barely stand.

Lissany, Nishalle, and Daenyss were very concerned during our walk home. At one point it looked like my Guardian was going to pick me up and carry me the rest of the way, and then probably straight to my bedroom, but I shook my head. We were in the heart of the Glade and it could hurt morale if the Fae saw their princess being carried like a small child. They would worry, and that would only distract them from important things. So I walked on my own, perhaps a bit slowly, but portraying all of the grace and confidence that I could muster until we were finally back inside the house and seated in the dining room.

Amoiraishe had returned and Tien and Sherriff Shaw were both our guests for dinner, so I immediately suspected that something important was going to be happening. So I was only mildly surprised and a little relieved when just before dinner began Sahnae and Kinara, as the official representatives of the Spring Court and Summer Court, joined Narek in swearing the allegiance of their respective courts to the Autumn Court. Like Narek, they would be staying as official ambassadors to ensure the continued spirit of cooperation and goodwill between the four Courts, at least until the game would have to be shut down. The announcement almost made it seem like the game would keep going for a while longer, but none of us could hold any illusions about that once Moira made an announcement of her own as we ate.

I had been discussing another venture into the city for more supplies once the Redcaps were done with, trying to act as if everything in the game was progressing normally. We were beginning to run short on food and other supplies unless we wanted to be eating Kraken for the next few weeks. Amoiraishe spoke hesitantly, which in itself started the alarm bells going off in my head since I had never seen her be hesitant about anything before. “I… I am truly sorry about this everyone. I had hoped that we could keep you all here for the promised time, but the future is somewhat hazier than it once was and events in the outside world are forcing my hand. Things have become… chaotic and Sasha tells me that she has been fielding calls all morning from government and military officials and she has had to put the New York office under lockdown. They’re not willing to wait and the building is being watched. If we are going to protect our assets and our people there then we will need to move quickly.”

“How quickly?” Narek asked from across the table. The Winter Court Yseil’dhraí wore a concerned expression on his face and every muscle looked tense. We hadn’t really talked all that much since he had claimed to be my in-game father, except while he was teaching me to use my swords, but that was all business. I think that he realized that he had said too much, while I wasn’t really sure how to talk to him. First, he was doing everything that he could to piss me off, then he’s suddenly swearing fealty to me, and then he’s my father. That would be hard enough for most people to figure out, but given that I barely remembered what it was like having a father in real life and the hatred I felt toward my real-world father for abandoning us, I had no clue on how to deal with him. There was also the fact that I was pretty sure that he was still hiding something from both me and Amoiraishe, and I had the feeling that it was something big.

The Queen of the Autumn Court let a small sigh slip from between her lips before replying. “To be safe, we’ll need to start relocating all of our resources to the sanctuary by tomorrow morning New York time, hopefully before the Americans can make their move. That means three game days, at the most, before we have to shut down the servers. I will be announcing it after dinner. Again, I am sorry everyone, I had hoped to give you more time to train and enjoy this time together before leaving this dream to face the pressures of reality.”

I just sat there, completely stunned. I wasn’t the only one either. All of my friends looked like they were in shock, the only exception being Kinara. She, like my Mahair and the other representatives of the other Courts, looked resigned to it and perhaps a bit guilty as well. Narek looked especially guilty as he looked from me to Mahair and back to me again. The rest of the meal was quiet until Narek finally excused himself, followed quickly by Sahnae, Maekin, and finally Amoiraishe. Kinara looked like she wanted to leave too, nearly standing when her father did, but she stayed seated and moved closed to Lissany, gripping the Beastkin’s hand almost desperately in her own.

Rob was the first one of us to speak, voicing what we were all thinking. “Well, this fucking sucks.” He sighed as his panther-like ears twitched in agitation. “I finally get used to having a tail and the game is going to end.”

“Tell me about it,” Salem spat bitterly. She looked by far the most depressed of us all. “I finally got over my body dysphoria, I made real friends, and I was learning magick. Now I’m gonna be stuck in that wheelchair again, all alone. I’ll never be able to run through the forest and feel the earth between my toes again.” She started crying then and I got up to comfort her, but Daenyss beat me to it, wrapping the Moss Maiden up in her arms and holding her tight as she sobbed.

“You won’t be alone, none of us will. Not ever again. We’re friends,” the Nymph said, barely loud enough for the rest of us to hear. “When I came here I had no memory, and I was afraid of being rejected because of things I couldn’t even remember doing. Mistress and her friend helped me, they even welcomed me when they had every reason not to. I’m a bit scared of going back to the real world, but I won’t abandon any of you there, because I know that you won’t abandon me either.”

My heart swelled with pride in my Attendant. Of us all, she had possibly the most to lose. She had no family, no memories and I was very worried about how she would adjust to real life and Dennis’s male body with only her memories of living here as a Nymph to work from. She didn’t think of herself though, that wasn’t who she was, she thought of others first and was probably one of the most loyal people I had ever met, and that was saying something since I had Lissany as my Guardian. Finally, I nodded slowly. “Daenyss is right, we’ve got each other. I’m scared to go back too, I’ve gotten so used to being Taelya, and for the first time ever I like who I am. Going back to being Caleb scares me, what if I’m so used to being Taelya that I can’t take being who I was. I know that I’m not the only one in that boat, though. No matter what we all have to deal with when the game is over, we’ll do it together, because that’s what real friends do. I’m not going to let any of you down.”

Rei took a deep breath beside me and nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to miss being whatever I feel like at the time, but we just need to manage until all of this blows over and the game can be released, right?”

“Yeah, we’ll be able to keep you all updated on the release date and what’s happening with Apocalypse Dawn once we’re back to work,” Venika promised.

“If we get back to work,” Nishalle muttered darkly. “I’m worried about what’s happening out there. If things are bad enough that Moira and the other heads are planning on moving everything offsite to be safe it could be a while before we’re back. We may even have to relocate.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Venika replied with a sigh. “I’d hate to have to have Danielle start at a new school in the middle of the year.”

Lissany snorted derisively. “Yeah, because I’m just so popular at my current school, Mom. The only thing keeping me from getting the crap kicked out of me every day is that teachers watch me like a hawk. It’s not even like they care about me, except for how the bad press and potential lawsuit would make them look if the tranny freak got beat half to death on school grounds.”

Kinara was looking at Lissany in sudden concern, and so was everyone else, including me. “Please, don’t talk about yourself that way, you’re not a freak, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I… I wouldn’t ask just anyone to be my soulmate.”

Lissany looked down at the table clenching her fists tightly. “I’m just repeating what most the other kids are saying, some of the teachers too when they don’t think I’m around. So what if I get shoved around a lot, called nasty names, and have to change for gym in the handicapped washroom, I’m never going to let them break me.”

Venika looked like she was about ready to cry and then asked her daughter in a near-whisper, “Why didn’t you tell me it was that bad?”

“I didn’t want you to worry about me, Mom,” The jaguar Beastkin said with a sad shake of her head. “But it’s why I was looking forward to playing AD so much. I could finally feel like myself and be seen as the girl I am inside instead of some sort of freak. I love this game… here I’m important, I have friends, and I’m not scared of when some kid is eventually going to go too far. As Lissany I’m strong and I can protect myself, and I can protect all of you too.”

By now Kinara had her arms wrapped around Lissany protectively. She was concerned, but there was something else there in her eyes as well, she was torn. I was about ready to ask her what she and the other ambassadors from the other servers were keeping from us when Pete spoke up and sent a wry smile across the table toward Lissany. “You’re not just strong because you’re avatar is strong Lissany. You’ve got that strength inside you too. You are the most bad-ass and courageous person I’ve ever met and when you take a look around this table, that’s saying something. You stepped between Taelya and bullets before you could even be sure if your armor could take it and stood against massive monsters thinking of our safety instead of yours. Even in a game, there’s not a lot of people who would do that selflessly for someone else. Sure your avatar is strong, but your best qualities; that courage, inner strength, and loyalty… that’s all you.”

“Pete has a good point, Lissany,” Grell quickly agreed. “I can’t imagine how hard a time Pete and I would be having in this game if we hadn’t joined up with you, Taelya, and the others. A lot of times it hasn’t been special skills or weapons that saved our asses, but you throwing yourself headlong into danger so we would have the time to use those skills and weapons. Like my buddy just said, you’re a badass no matter what body you’re wearing.”

“Still, I’ll look into getting you into a more accepting school, if we can’t find one then we’ll look into homeschooling. I just want you to be happy, baby,” Venika said as she hugged her daughter as best she could with her tiny Sprite form.

Sherriff Shaw and Tien had been quiet up until this point, merely nodding where appropriate. Tien finally spoke though, shaking her head sadly. “I was really getting into this, being a Druid and using magick is so cool and I actually like running my trading post. I never thought I’d say something like that after growing up helping with my parents’ store. Maybe I should choose business or economics as my major when I get back to school.”

“I think we all need to keep our options open when we leave here,” Becky said with a frown. “There’s something more going on here than just trouble with the Board of Directors or the US government putting pressure on the New York Branch. Since I’m the GM I can talk with the techs on the outside and they’ve confirmed those issues, but they’re not talking to me about anything else that’s happening outside the game. I’ve asked about all sorts of little things, but I’m getting nothing from them, just the business updates and a notice a few hours ago that we’ll be shutting down all of the servers at 3 a.m. local time on December 31st. Red Dawn is going to be the final event of the game, whether we kill all of those Redcaps or not.”

Hearing Becky of all people voicing the same concerns that had been floating around in my head for some time now hit me almost like a physical blow. Just what was going on here? I quickly turned to Lark’s boyfriend/bodyguard. “Rob, you were the last of us to enter the game, what’s going on out there?”

Rob looked thoughtful for a moment, but then shrugged and sighed. “I don’t really pay attention to the news much, it’s too damn depressing and even if I did, I was so busy going around town with Robyn’s double trying to be seen and keep the newshounds off her scent. And let me tell you, that wasn’t easy with most of the city blacked out for almost two days. I had to conserve my cell phone’s battery so I couldn’t do much online. The newspaper headlines looked about normal. Y’know, stuff on the blackout, murders, fires, that viral outbreak down in the States. It was pretty much the usual fare for the front page, the worst news they can find.”

“Kinara,” I pressed my apprentice, hoping that she could tell us something. She was keeping something secret, but I couldn’t be sure what it was and how it affected us, even if I did have my suspicions. “Can you tell us if you saw anything strange or unusual before coming here from London to join us?”

“No,” she said shaking her head with a guilty expression, “there was nothing unusual, to me. I wish that I had more that I could tell you.”

I sighed. She was double-talking, just like Amoiraishe, and I was getting tired of it. The last person I expected to get that from was Kinara. The girl idolized me and I knew that if she was keeping quiet about something then she probably had a good reason for it. Tien regarded her suspiciously though, pressing her. “What aren’t you telling us?”

“It’s just… umm… company business,” she said swallowing in sudden fear. “I was told when I was sent here that I couldn’t tell anyone. I am oath-bound.”

“If she’s promised not to tell, then there’s no way we can get her to spill that info, even if it did somehow apply to us,” I told Tien candidly. “She’s Fae, and Fae always try to keep their promises, it’s why magical oaths exist. Just look at Daenyss, hers is there for all to see and she can’t break it as long as she remains Daenyss. And if it’s company-related, then there’s probably NDA’s and stuff that she has to consider too.”

“Maybe we should ask the one who’s hiding behind a glamour then? You got here the same day as Kinara didn’t you Lark?” Tien stated more than asked as Lark’s eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t think I’d notice that every time you’re around wearing a glamour?”

“Tien, please,” I said, giving her a serious look. “I’ve seen under Lark’s glamour and I know why she wears it. She’s not our enemy, she’s one of us. She arrived shortly before Kinara and the other ambassadors and she was pressed for time to arrive in-game before them so she didn’t have time for the whole avatar design process.”

Lark sighed and removed her pendant, dropping her glamour and revealing the pop-star Robyn Reyes and both Becky and Tien gasped in surprise. “This is who I really am, and I wanted to escape the fans for a bit. I barely had time to choose my name and skills to get here before the ambassadors, I was surprised when they didn’t arrive until a few hours later, but Moira also asked me to keep myself looking like I do in real-life. I’ve known her since I left my parents, we’ve been working on some environmental conservation projects together and she thought it would be good publicity if I could reveal myself at the end of the cross-server tournament and maybe give a little concert to show my support. So when five spots opened up she kept one available for me and Rob and there were a couple of movie stars she was trying to get to join as well, but they had schedule conflicts.”

Robyn paused, letting out a sigh before adding, “I was really enjoying having friends who weren’t after me for my money or fame, and just being able to be myself, but I’m a celebrity. I can totally have an entourage if I want one once we return to the real world. I’ll warn you all though, it could end up being a media circus. Damn, I’m going to miss this glamour.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Tien hastily apologized to both Kinara and Lark, the latter of whom was putting her pendant back on. “It’s just this as supposed to be a game and now it looks like there’s a whole lot more going on here. I kinda freaked out a bit, and I apologize for that.”

“We all know how you feel,” Rei said with a sigh.

“We do,” I agreed. “I have so many questions going through my mind, and have since I started the game really, but we’re going to start getting some answers soon.” As luck would have it, that was when we all got a pop-up notice.

The game clock changed to a countdown, ticking down the seconds from 78 hours, 23 minutes, and 19 seconds. And I thought sadly, “It won’t be long now. We might as well get the most of the time we have left because I’ll have my answers soon, and whether we go back to our old lives or something weird really is going on here, things will never be the same again.”

The next morning I once again put everything I could into my training, developing and learning new spells, and pushed myself and my party hard during our group training session that day. We split into our two groups and did some patrolling and hunting in the southern woods, our two teams communicating through the Wind Whisper spell. I had taken the time during the previous day’s magick lesson to ensure that Salem, Kinara, and Venika were all properly proficient with the spell, but we also had a pair of the cell phones that Grell and Ashura had modified, mine and another that Grell himself was holding on to for the other team. The Wind Whisper spell might be good for sending quick messages, but the phones were a lot easier and less taxing where actual two-way communication might be needed.

Currently, our group training session had been extended as we searched for any signs of Sonja and Níala’s party. They hadn’t reported in with Tien on schedule earlier in the morning and were still missing. We had grabbed some provisions so we could eat our lunches on the go and then we split up in search of them. I had sent Venika’s team to a high hill that gave a good view of both the surrounding forest and village to do some scouting and to look for anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, my team was searching for the missing players. First, we headed to the party’s last-known location and from there I used my Trail of Light spell to lead us to them, or rather what was left of them.

I probably could have just used Nature’s Call to search the entire forest for them at once, but using that ability on a large scale like that was exhausting and with other search parties in the forest it would just make it harder to pinpoint them specifically so it was just easier, and less draining, to first use a more basic spell. After all, we never knew when we might have to fight a powerful monster or group of monsters, especially without any safe zones. For that same reason, I was especially glad that each member of our party, with the exceptions of Lissany and Venika, was now equipped with a set of the Lindwyrm-hide armor from Yola. Each of us could summon it should we need it and Mahair had even enchanted Rei’s to change shape and size with her that morning.

As we followed the glittering path of light along the ground Daenyss, Kinara, and I were looking for any tracks or signs of anything dangerous as well, with me making use of my new tracking skill. I probably could have just used my skill point I had spent from my level-up for a sword-wielding skill of some sort to avoid my fa…. Narek, but I had realized that I needed to be practical. I was already learning to use swords from someone who had proven themselves to be lethally efficient with them, even if it was the hard way, and I felt that both teams in our party should have a competent tracker. I had found the tracks of our missing party heading west toward the ocean, but they had been moving at a slow and even pace and there was no sign of any trouble in the area.

I wasn’t the only one on my team who seemed to have a bad feeling about this search either. While the three of us were following the trail and keeping our eyes open for any clues Nishalle and Lissany flanked us to either side, keeping their senses peeled for any signs of danger from the forest around us. Rei had changed into a Sprite form and was getting a view from above us, both to warn us of anything approaching and to look for anything that seemed amiss from the air. Still, none of us had found anything out of place yet and the forest was deathly quiet as if holding its breath in anticipation for something to happen.

With all of that tension in the air, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong and I was hoping that Venika’s team was having better luck than us since lookout hill would help give them the lay of the land. Lookout hill was really more of a small mountain, a high peak near the coastline to the northwest of our current location that gave a good view of the surrounding area. From its summit, one could see far out over the ocean to the west the thick rainforests in all directions, the village of Haven, and on a clear day, a person with good eyesight could even see the city, or what was left of it, to the southeast.

As we followed the glittering path, the flickering lights became brighter, showing that we were nearing our quarry. Rei had come back from another aerial reconnaissance and had returned to her normal Kitsune form to conserve her energy. We were far further to the southwest than I was comfortable with, far too close to wherever the Redcaps might be hiding out. We could all feel the wrongness in the forest, like some sort of cancer in the natural flow of mana. The wisps could feel it too, Willow had fled to within the confines of my hood to hide, fear and anxiety coming off her in waves as she made piteous mewling sounds, and Kimmie had done the same with Kinara, hiding not just in her hood but in her hair as well. The brighter the starlit path became, the worse that the feeling of dread grew.

I was becoming so tense that when the cellphone began to vibrate in one of my ammo pouches I had to quickly slap a hand over my mouth to muffle my shriek of surprise. After a moment of letting my breathing and heart rate slow a bit, I fished the cell out of the pouch and answered the call in a hushed tone, “Taelya here.”

“Heya, Taelya. It’s me, Grell. You’re not going to like this, but we’re at lookout hill and Venika found tracks here,” the Atlantean of our party said grimly.

“What kind of tracks?” I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear it, since I already had a bad feeling about what the answer would be, that stomach-churning feeling of wrongness was all too familiar. I needed the confirmation though.

“Boot prints,” he offered with a sigh. “Venika thinks five of them from the looks of it. They’re several hours old and the prints and depth are a good match for those of the Redcaps that killed Salem’s old party. Venika seems pretty sure that they were here doing what we’re doing, getting the lay of the land, then they went back the way they came.”

“A scouting party,” I spat. “They’ll be heading back to report to their clan about the village, there’s no way they could have missed seeing it from that vantage point. Once they get back to the rest of their clan with that info we can expect a full assault on the village within the next day or two. Grell, tell Venika that we’re going to need you to join us ASAP, I have a pretty good idea of what happened to our missing party. Oh, and call the other search parties and let them know that they need to get home to strengthen the defenses for the village and the magicks keeping the Glade hidden and secure.”

“You got it Tae,” he responded before I ended the call.

Rei frowned as I put the phone back in its place. “That didn’t sound like they found something, well at least not something good. You’re wearing your determined, frowny face too, so I just know that this is going to be…” She didn’t finish that sentence as her head swung around, the fur on her tails bristling and her ears twitching seconds before an ear-shattering shriek and a blast of freezing air bombarded us, leaving us covering our sensitive ears and shivering as Willow began to freak out inside my hood and tried to hide within my braids.

“What in the hell was that?” Nishalle snapped, still wincing from the sound as she looked around for any signs of danger.

“Níala?” Rei half-whispered as she stared at empty space, her bright red fox ears and tails now as white as snow.

“Sounded like a Banshee from that wail and the blast of cold air. We’re being warned away,” I muttered while trying to shake off the ringing in my ears and extract my Wisp from behind my head to try to calm her. Only then did I process the changes in my lover’s color scheme and her hushed inquiry. I followed her gaze, but I couldn’t see anything.

It was several long moments before a hazy form began to appear. At first, it was hard to make out but gradually it coalesced into a translucent and very familiar Fae. “You need to go, the Redcaps killed everyone when we stumbled upon their camp. I managed to get away and hide and was going to tell the village, but Sonja had the phone and it was still on her body. So I started hoofing it for Haven and ran right into their returning scouting party. They’re still there, not far away, and probably soaking their caps with my blood. Go, before they notice you,” Níala’s shade cautioned in barely more than a whisper. “Get Her Highness to safety.”

“I don’t like leaving you here,” I told her with a grimace, the others nodding in agreement.

“We’re already dead! Go! You’ll see the others when they respawn tomorrow,” she insisted.

“The others?” Daenyss asked with a slightly confused expression, beating me to it by a hair’s breadth.

“It’s my penance for choosing to become a Banshee and warn you away.” the spirit replied, refusing to look any of us in the eyes. “I was given a choice, to move on to the waiting room or to warn you. Now I’m trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. I can’t move on to the afterlife, hell, the waiting room, or whatever you want to call it.”

Lissany was the first of us to realize the implications of that and her eyes went wide. “Wait, if you can’t go to the waiting room then you can’t fill out the paperwork for an auto-respawn. You’ll be stuck like this.”

“It doesn’t matter, go and make sure to keep anyone else away,” she insisted. “You… must… go now. It’s getting hard for me to make those of you without the Sight hear and see me.”

Níala’s image began to fade and we were all left looking at empty space. All of us but one. I could sort of sense her there like I had with Gwenaralyn the Dryad, and there was a slight drop in temperature. Rei was still looking determinedly at the empty air though and talking too. “How long ago did you die? Well then that still gives us around four hours for me to resurrect and heal you, we just need to get to your body… I don’t care how impossible it is! And you know damn well that Taelya wouldn’t either or you wouldn’t have tried to shoo us away so fast and pull the disappearing act!” She would have been shouting if she wasn’t making a concentrated effort not to let her voice carry farther than our small group.

“Níala,” I stated firmly and in my best royal command voice. I may not have been able to see or hear her, but I was pretty damn sure that that didn’t go both ways. “You are Fae, and I like to think that you’re a friend too. So if there’s a choice between leaving you like that or saving you, then there is no choice. We’re getting your body back and nothing is going to stop us.”

“You bet my fluffy red tails, we are!” Rei agreed vehemently.

“Ummm…. Rei…” Kinara interrupted with a small cough, “You… might want to look behind you.”

The Kitsune turned her head as directed by the pink-haired Yseil'dhraí and gaped at her now snow-white pair of tails. “They’re white! When the hell did that happen?!”

“So are your ears,” Nishalle pointed out casually.” It happened right about when that horrid shrieking started.”

“That’s totes not important right now, the clock is ticking, so we need you to get Níala to tell us where her body is.” Lissany’s normally cute kitty nose wrinkled as she frowned.

“Liss is right, we have work to do and not a lot of time to do it in,” I agreed before turning my gaze upon Rei once more. “So please, my love, find out what you can while I try to come up with a plan.”