The fox looked at the sky, worried. He wondered when Cybelline would come back, there was so much he needed to tell her.

When Cybelline came back, she looked around, "Where's Miri."

"I put the little one in the coffin with her parents. They're safe, as long as they're in there." Red reassured her, his eyes not leaving the girl's face.

Cybelline rushed to the coffin. Four little boys stood solemnly there, looking at the three in the two crystal crypts.

Isthan nudged Ryion, "Is that really Cybelline? Do you believe it?" This new person was nothing like their Cybelline.

Cybelline ruffled Isthan's hair, "I save your life two days ago." Isthan's eyes widened and then he threw himself at her for a fierce hug. The other boys did as well.

Ceric sniffed at Cybelline's clothes, "Yep. That's her alright." The boys looked at him and Berin smiled drily, "Trust Ceric. He's got a nose that's sharper than a wolf's"

Cybelline stood up and looked at the Fox, "Can you teach me how to heal?"

The fox shook his head, "No. I can't. You are too powerful."

"Come again?" Cybelline blinked.

"If you want them to live, then you can't just use the Source on them." Red looked at Cybelline as if she was crazy, "That's the Source. It's an active volcano of magic, it's meant to be used to fuel entire countries of fae and folk. If you used it on just one person..." He looked at her, "Take a look at the outside, what do you see?"

Cybelline looked up and said, "Show me the outside world."

The sky turned opaque and a scene played out before them like a movie. Mountains had turned to piles of rubble, it looked as if the land had experienced a major earthquake.

"Magic has consequences." The fox said softly, "Queen Titania grappled with the Source for years, until the Six First Blood Lords presented her with six stones to help her control her powers. She fashioned it into a crown and used it to reign in her magic."

"Where's the crown now?" Cybelline asked

Red shook his head, "I don't know. The last I heard, Titania had given the stones back to the Six First Blood lords."

Cybelline sighed, "You know, this stuff should come with an instruction manual."

"I can provide instruction." The fox said proudly. Cybelline raised an eyebrow and the fox's tail went down sheepishly.

She lowered her hand and the golden ball of magic appeared, "So if I gave you some of my power, would you be able to heal them?"

The fox backed away and shook his head, "I wouldn't be able to handle it. I'm strong, but I'm not sure I can even touch the Source without disintegrating. I saw what you did out there, you don't have control. We need to find you Titania's Crown."

Red looked around and sighed, "If I knew that that this day would come, I would've asked Queen Titania what to do." He looked at his paws mournfully.

"That's alright. You're trying your best." Cybelline reassured him, finding a lost crown could take years, in the meantime, she need another way.

Cybelline thought for a moment, she looked at Berin, "In the bag I gave you, how many green healing gems are there?

This was the bag of things she'd taken from the Capital, the night where she had entered the strange tower.

Berin came forward and gave Cybelline the bag. Cybelline thought for a moment and then emptied the contents onto the ground.

Out came a small mountain of gold, several gowns, books, but no green stones.

Cybelline sighed, "That's what I thought. I'll see if I can go outside and find a healer."

"No. you can't leave." Red said quickly, "The source was hidden in the ring, when you leave you're taking it with you. Without any proper control and training, how fast do you think it'll be revealed to the world? You might be powerful, but have you consider the destruction you could cause? Besides, how are you sure that whatever killed Titana won't come after you?"

Cybelline took a deep breath and counted to ten. Losing her temper was counterproductive. Rather, something caught her eyes as she looked again through the pile of stolen goods.

She found the stack of 9 books, the perfectly stacked 9 books. She looked at them, remembering their strangeness. She looked at Red, "Can you tell if there's magic on something?"

Red nodded haughtily, "I am of royal familiar bloodline, there's not much that my nose can't smell out."

Cybelline picked up the stack of books, "What do you think of these?"

Red came over and sniffed the books, "They don't seem to be anything. Just ordinary books."

Cybelline studied the books in her hand, "...Right." She opened one of the books and found nothing in the pages. Why were these books so important to that spirit in the tower?

Berin came over, "Where did you get these?"

"In the Mage's Tower." Cybelline answered as she opened them, "I was told to burn them." Did these books really have nothing to do with magic?

She looked around, "Don't follow me, I'm going to try something." Everything magical that's happened to her so far, happened when she was injured.

She walked as far from the group as possible, towards the barrier made by the fog. Sitting down, she opened each book, one by one until they were laid out in a semi circle

Taking out a knife, she pricked her finger and dripped a few drops of blood onto the books.

For a second, nothing happened. Cybelline looked back at the group and shook her head. Red had said that these were just ordinary books, perhaps the thing in the tower had just been toying with her.

Cybelline, a woman who was usually right about a lot of things, was proven wrong, once again. She reached out, about to close up the books when the writing started to appear.

Words written in strange, foreign scripts in blood red started to pour onto the pages as if an invisible author was furiously scribbling all the words in the world onto the pages.

Cybelline watched in disbelief as the little wound went from a small trickle to a steady stream, that floated towards the books. Then, as if the book had not had enough, four small wounds appeared on her other fingers. Blood began to pour out of her hand in earnest.

Cybelline cursed, whatever happened, she would not bring up her magic. It was too risky, with it being such an unstable factor.

Red and the boys saw the strange image in front of them and ran towards Cybelline.

"Don't!" She cried and held up her free hand, she smiled at the boys reassuringly as blood drained out of her face, "I'll be fine."

She then glared at the fox, whose ears flattened against his head, she scoffed at him, "Ordinary books my ass." Wait until she got out of this, she was going to make a pillow out of him.

The fog that had created a border around the tiny parcel of land, rushed toward and began circling her. It was a thick, dense thing that had never moved since the Source had made it its home now began to stir. Using Cybelline as it's center, it all began to gather around her until a tower of fog had encased the girl and the books.

----------------

Alinor

A young man with striking green eyes and a face sculpted by the gods sat on a black throne, looking down at the people sniveling in front of him.

"My lord, the royal family." Jacen bowed to him. He and Lord Evans stood by Lord Killian's side as they looked at sniveling thin man in the front of the group.

Behind him, a large group of scantily clad women and a few children sat, their eyes wide with horror and disbelief at their predicament. For these were the concubine of the disgraced king, they had lived in the lap of luxury until now.

The King, whose entire body shook, looked up at the man with the merciless eyes. "I am ready to offer anything you wish, please spare my life, great Lord Killian."

Killian looked at the women and children, who had noticeably stiffened at the king's words.

"What of your family, Ravitan, former King of Alinor?" Lord Evans asked quietly.

Ravitan looked back wildly, his eyes lit with a sudden thought. He looked up at Lord Evans, "I have heard of a rumor that my lord Killian is most partial to green eyed beauties, is he not? I heard that he searches the world far and wide for a green-eyed siren."

With a lung he grabbed his daughter. She yelped as her father's hand clenched around her delicate limb, leaving a trail of red marks as he dragged her forward. In the tussle, her cap tumbled to the ground, and out spilled a barrage of chestnut brown hair.

"My daughter has eyes of a true goddess. She would be certainly to my lord's taste!" His attempts at selling his daughter was vulgar and clumsy. He shook her like a rag doll, "She's a sweet thing, only fourteen. In a few years she'll be a great concubine for my lord. If you don't want her, she could fetch a high price as a slave."

Lord Killian, whose countenance had not thawed, leaned forward slightly. When the girl's face was revealed, the little glimmer of hope that he had seemed to die instantly. Those were eyes of green, but they weren't the right color. He knew he was wrong to hope, how could someone like her suffer a fool of father like Ravitan?

The look of boredom returned to his face.

Lord Evans and Killian exchanged a glance, Lord Evans looked down at the man, "And what's her price?"

Ravitan, seeing there was an opportunity for freedom, "Give me some money and a safe passage. The people you could do as you wish. They are no longer mine to deal with."

The girl's face was pale with shame and then looking at the men who sat where her family had sat, for generations, turned red with rage. She looked at the man whom she had to call father.

This man was a drunkard who did nothing but sleep with everything that had legs. He had abandoned her mother after she was born.

He had told her that she was a female and therefore useless, she would never be good enough in his eyes.

She, a true princess of the realm, was made to bow to the wishes of his mistresses and bastards. And now she would be his bargain chip to save his life, not that of his countrymen or children.

This would not do.

She yanked her arm out of her father's grasp, stood up, grabbed Lord Evan's sword. The men made no move to stop her as she did so. What harm could a little girl do with a heavy sword? They did not notice the skill in which she handled the weapon.

They thought that she would bring it to her own neck and end her life, afterall, how else could she erase the shame her father has brought?

She turned and thrust the sword with all her might into the neck of her father, the king of Alinor.

Ravitan gasped, the gurgle of blood choking off his scream as he stared at his young progeny. She looked at him coldly as life began to flee his body.

"Goodbye, father."

Death and silence followed suite, as a girl of barely fourteen calmly ripped off a piece of her father's damask cape, cleaned the blood and held the sword out to Lord Evan, "My thanks for your sword."

The man took it silently as the girl looked up to Lord Killian.

"I have solved your problem." She said proudly, though she wore shackles around her ankles, she was every inch a queen.

"And what problem was that." Lord Evans said, they watched the little girl with renewed interest.

"You came here because my father refused to give you the great Caverns of the Dwarves and the Sword of the Undying. You could not kill him, because his uncle is the king of Londaros, your main rival kingdom." The girl began, her eyes judging the men astutely, "I've given you his head, and I will give you what you've asked for, if you promise that you will not enslave my people."

"That was when your father was on the throne." Lord Evans said cooly, "We could easily find these things for ourselves. Your kingdom is lost."

The princess nodded sadly, "I know. But I'm not asking for my kingdom or the throne." She looked at the expressionless Killian, "Give my people a way out, that's all."

"Perhaps I can help." A voice that was sweet and light proceeded to dance through the room. She appeared as if by magic, her face masked by a pure white veil. Her robes of of silk and ermine, and she seemed to float on air itself.

Killian stood and came down the dais. "Aunt, what brings you to this part of the world?"

She lifted a veil and revealed a face that seemed to be unmarked by time. She looked to be about the late twenties, her blond hair tied into an intricate crown braid. She raised a hand as an attendant supported her gently on once side. Everyone wore white and silver livery, giving them an ethereal look. They looked to her as if she was their center, their sun.

She smiled at Killian as an aunt would do at a young, adopted nephew, "Lord Killian, am I not welcomed?"

Killian gave her a genuine smile, one that only a few in the world have seen, "Of course not, you are welcomed anywhere in the world. No one could say no to you."

Someone from the captured kingdom gasped, "It's the lady of light! The Living Goddess on earth!" They all bowed to her, some praying that she could speak for them. For she was, afterall, the goddess of mercy and all good things. They all worshiped her, as did every human in every country. She was their hope.

The Lady of Light looked at the mess that the dead king had made and shook her head. With a wave of her hand, he turned into a blazing hot fire. Instantly, there was nothing left of the man except a dark mark on the floor.

She smiled at the Princess. "What is your name, child?"

The princess of Alinor curtised respectfully to the Lady of Light, "Osirana, gracious lady."

"You killed a man who has wronged you." the Lady of Light stated it as a fact, "You did well, my child." Osirana bowed her head.

The Lady of Light turned to Killian, "Lord Killian, will you let this go, on my behalf? Your country is big enough as it is. They are not a threat, even if their king was a little stupid."

Killian smiled wryly, "I can't refuse the Lady whom I owe a debt of life to. On your behalf only." And this was true. For had anyone else asked Killian, he would have walked away and did what he wished.

"Consider it paid that in full, my child." The Lady of Light smiled, "Thank you. For every human life is precious. We must not waste our efforts on killing our own."

Killian looked at Osirana, "From today forward, you will be Queen of Alinor. We will take the Caverns and the Sword of the Undying. For the next hundred years, Alinor will pay tribute to Dycathion as a vassal state."

Osirana smiled bitterly, for this was the best outcome. She nodded, "So be it." She looked at her subjects, "Come, we must prepare a feast for our Dycathion friends and allies."

Many of the mistresses and sons of the dead wanted to open their mouth to argue, they were so use to stepping on the little bitch, how could she be their mistress now?

Seeing the look in their eyes, Osirana smiled at Lord Evans, "My Lord, may I borrow your sword and some men?"

"What for, my lady?" Lord Evans asked.

Queen Osirana smiled, "There's been rats in my house for too long."

The courtesans shuddered as they left.

Lord Killian turned to the Lady of Light in the empty room, "Now, aunt. What are you here for? It's been so long since you've left Sonis."

The Lady of Light smiled at her adopted nephew, "I have sensed a great disturbance in Dycation and came to investigate. Hearing that you were here, I wanted to invite you along."

As they were speaking a messenger in white flew into the room. He bowed down, "My lord and lady, something happened in the capital of Dycation. The mage tower has been shaking nonstop. The King invites both of your to come quickly."