Chapter Sixty-Four: A Reunion of a Da'ark Nature

 Rory Affaron retired to his battlefield tent and as he passed his guards, he complimented them. "It was a good day," he said. "You have both done well."

 They stood straighter, gripped their long spears tighter, and drew back the tent flaps for him to pass through. They would make sure he was undisturbed for the rest of the night. He sat in the padded field chair and stared into the tent ceiling and the network of poles and ropes.

 "Have you been waiting long?" Rory asked.

 "Not long," a voice returned. A cloaked figure stepped out of the open portal. "It has been a week since I have heard from mother."

 Rory eased up straight in his chair. "That is not unusual, for her. I have not heard from her either."

 "Taalor'Rakshah is dead,"

 "So, he has outlived his usefulness," Rory murmured. "I am surprised she let him live this long."

 The cloaked figure pushed back the hood of his cloak and sat in the field chair across from Rory, "Makes one wonder who is next?"

 Rory scoffed lightly, "You have your mother's acerbic sense of humor, Kaderyn. What news do you have for me?"

 "I thought you might have news for me," Kaderyn said. He studied the man across from him, "The Sith are still hiding in the Dumah forest. My daemons are waiting to engage your army and, Mother is suspiciously silent." 

 "Something troubling you?" Rory asked.

 Kaderyn smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. "Have you forgotten the family I belong to?"

 Rory chuckled softly. "No, I have not forgotten. Colleen has moved freely between here and Arwyn for decades, she's probably there now. If anything, Colleen is curious – nothing more."

 "Seems unusual for Mother to be homesick on the brink of battle," Kaderyn said. "Unless someone or something has drawn her to Arwyn."

 Rory frowned. "There is nothing in Arwyn that is so important to draw Colleen back there."

 "Not even to control her granddaughter? The Daj Sultana?" Kaderyn asked.

 "Do not be ridiculous!" Rory rumbled. "That is only a fantastic tale told around the campfire."

 "Is it?" Kaderyn responded. "Even the Emperor of Ne'Media is drawn to the girl."

 Rory heaved a weary sigh. "What I saw of the woman at the Winterborne trial was nothing more than a girl afraid and uncertain of her gifts. Yes, there is a certain attractiveness, all the Dannan women have a certain allure. The Ne'Median Emperor no doubt is drawn to that."

 Kaderyn frowned. He did not respond to Rory's comment. Something was not right in his mind regarding his mother's absence. Something had drawn her to Arwyn at a critical time – why? 

 "If you are concerned," Rory said. He rose to examine the bottles of wine sitting on the edge of his field desk. "Why not go see for yourself? Or send one of your shades to poke around the arch and see what your mother is up to?"

 When Rory did not hear a response he looked over his shoulder and found himself alone in the tent. Kaderyn had stepped into the portal and disappeared. He smiled, Kaderyn was preoccupied with what Colleen and Fury were engaged in – good! With Colleen and her reckless son out of the way, he could continue with his plans of conquest.

At the Arch in Nu'Ada

 Kaderyn arrived at a point of entry that placed him near the stone arch. There was no sign of life anywhere around the stones or the roadways. Kaderyn cast his Da'ark energies out and sensed Colleen's passage into Arwyn. He also came in contact with something that gave him pause.

 "Make yourself known!" Kaderyn ordered. The errant shadow ribbons that still clung to the magic Colleen had spun to cloak her escort guard lingered listlessly. "Where has your Da'ark Witch gone?"

 "Into the land of Arwyn," answered the shadow that continued to keep the other shadows bound to it.

 "Why? Kaderyn demanded.

 "The Shai'Alomar," the shade answered.

 "The dagger is in Arwyn?" Kaderyn questioned and he extended his control over the swirling ribbons of shadow and darkness. The pain and agony that splattered around the area alerted those who served as scouts for Nicodemus Fury. Immediately those beings fled in search of their master. "How can that be? You are lying!"

 "No!" wailed the column of swimming shadows. "It is true, the Da'ark Witch has gone to bring it back and the Daj Sultana is with her!"

 Kaderyn released the hold he had over the shadows and all dispersed except for one. It was tethered to the spot Colleen had placed it. "Show me what transpired here!" Kaderyn demanded.

 The shade was only too happy to heed the command. It would be released from its enslavement the moment Kaderyn had finished wringing the last remnant of what had happened, and the first light of dawn arrived! It began to pull from the forest all the shadows together to form a misty reenactment of what had transpired only hours ago. Kaderyn watched. Then he flung out his powers and froze the scene. He walked up to where the figures of the young woman and a figure he did not immediately recognize. "Who is this?" Kaderyn demanded.

 "Nicodemus Fury," came the whispered answer. "Son of Starfire and Lord of the Crimson Palace."

 Kaderyn turned a hateful glare on the shade, "Impossible, Fury is an old man! Older even than my sire or mother!"

 "For those with the blood of the Ancient Ones, time passes slowly." The shade answered. "Not unlike your Emperor of Ne'Media."

 Kaderyn looked once again at the misty images of the woman and Fury, and he smiled. "Mother thinks to have the dagger all for herself, does she?"

 "The Dannan's granddaughter has the power to move metal." The shade replied. "She will comply to save those she loves in Arwyn and here in this world."

 Kaderyn felt intense anger begin to fester deep in the core of his body. "So, she thinks to sit on the throne with the power of the Shai'Alomar." He flung out a hand toward the shade and twisted the column of shadows to open a portal. "Go and take word to my daemon commander. Bring my guard here. Mother will need a welcoming party when she returns from Arwyn!"