Ebony Mist -Original

Part XVIII: The Ride

What? An update? Yeah, I haven't forgotten about this story! I've had the first paragraph written for a long time! Sorry. The summer got hectic! But things are calming down. Hopefully there will be more updates! Though nothing too special happened here, the next part should prove interesting!

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Alaura awoke again in her bed with a meal ready for her. She took her time dressing and eating before leaving the room. Her heart was heavy as she silently made her way down to the room of canvases to pick out a large canvas. She called for Xi to help her bring it to the front of the mansion. Wordlessly she got to work vigorously painting.

Looking at the cold, dark mansion front for the hours it took to paint did nothing to lift her spirits. She had not yet finished when she put her paintbrushes away, having become weary of the task.

Xi, who had been sitting and watching nearby, tilted his head quizzically. "Is something the matter, princess?"

Alaura looked up from the chest of supplies, and towards the spires of the mansion. Light white clouds floated lazily overhead, the horrible storm from before whisked away from the wind. "I don't know. Maybe it's this place, the dark and dreariness of it is affecting me," she replied dully. "That and I can't take my mind off of yesterday's events."

"You mean your brother coming for you?" Xi inquired, causing Alaura to nod, closing her eyes with a sigh.

"I've never seen him act in such a manner. It was like some strange force was driving him, like something had hold of his mind. I especially think this because of how he changed so much with my voice. But something would drive him to travel all the way here by himself?" She wondered.

"But he wasn't by himself," Xi corrected, causing Alaura to face him. "There was another there, hidden just outside the gates. They had their presence masked by a spell so even the master didn't realize, but such masking spells do not effect me. They fled as soon as you used your voice magic," Xi explained. "I sniffed out the area after things had settled down. It smelt the same as the storm that had come."

Alaura paled at his words, taking a step back. "Are you saying that whoever sent the storm, also sent my brother?"

Xi just stared back at her, unblinking and statuesque, with a strange glint in his violet eyes. He stood suddenly and vanished before her, causing Alaura a cry of surprise. "Xi! You can't just leave like that! Does the master know what you know? Get back here you demon cat!" she cried, looking around frantically for signs of the invisible demon. "If you haven't already, you need to tell the master!"

"Need to tell me what?" came the familiar deep voice from behind Alaura. She jumped at the voice and turned to face the dark druid.

"M-master," she said in a mousy voice, but didn't step away from his towering dark form's sudden appearance. "Xi! He just told me something you should know. About the storm and my brother yesterday..."

The druid raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as his face remained stoic, waiting for her to continue. "Xi said that Drewland had not been alone, that another was with him but hiding their presence with magic. He said they had the same smell as the storm that had come."

She watched the druid as she spoke, looking for a reaction, though all she could see was his gaze wandering off to the distance, unfocused in thought. "Yes, Xi had already informed me of this. Whoever it was came upon the same ship that brought Prince Drewland here. They had moored on the southern shore and walked to the keep, leaving the way they came. No normal being knows the island's location, so it is my guess that whoever this person is that came with Drewland was the one who brought him here."