The fire burned brightly as three shadowy figures walked into the clearing and joined the small shepherd boy who was already sitting there.  All three were women. The first to enter had a mature, matronly look to her face, and that face seemed to reflect a lifetime of sorrow.  The second was a young woman, hardly more than a girl seemingly, with brown hair, but in her eyes were reflected many more years than her appearance would allow, and a great weight that she bore. Finally, the last, a graceful, lithe redheaded woman joined them, sitting down alongside.

  “Anerra, Are you sure she is up to it? She has a long and difficult path ahead of her” the redheaded woman said.

  “Aeryn, I know it looks grim, but I have confidence in her.  At one time, I had thought that fate had dealt us a cruel blow, leaving us one who is weak to carry the burden of the strongest, but there is great strength there”

 Finally, after a moment, the shepherd boy spoke up. “Anerra, can you be sure, when Aeryn’s soul-twin’s daughter said those things, Wendy didn’t even see the pain that was coursing through her.. she just broke down and ran again, as she has so many times before.”

 “Yes, Yeregar, she ran, but look where she runs to.  The Day of Decision is at hand.  We have seen the day of fire, and the sorrow. The children of Ulura pursued and hounded” At those words, the matronly woman’s face took on a cast of even greater pain.  “But the time has come for the Shepherdess to step forward.  A fire was lit in her by a small orphan girl, and fanned into a blaze in the ruins of a village on the plains.  That fire cannot so easily be put out.  She will come forth and show the steel that is in her, though she may lose a piece of herself in the process”.
 

 Far away, in a large city, where the night not only held the terrors that most children see in their dreams, but real terrors, darker and more vile than the worst imaginations of a fever-ridden dream prowled there, yet there were those who tried to go on despite those things.

  A woman, looking to be in her mid to late 30’s came storming into the small room that had served as an apartment since she and her husband had returned from the nightmare that had engulfed their old home.  “Tomas! Get packed! We are leaving, and going back!” she said, through tear streaked eyes.

  A short, bulky man looked up from the chair where he had been dozing, surprise written in his eyes. “Wendy? But, you’ve been keeping me from going back for days now? What changed your mind??”

 “Never mind, it’s not important, we are leaving!” Wendy snapped.

  Tomas wondered what could have changed her mind so quickly, but he had seen her in this mood before.  He had learned the hard way that pressing her now would do nothing but raise the volume.  Give her time, and he could find out. But in truth, he was thankful anyway, as he hadn’t wanted to stay here to begin with. Sure, it was a nice enough place, with wonders he could never have imagined, but he was worried.  His Mother and little sister were left behind in the castle town of Ravenspeak, and ever since they had fled for their lives, his thoughts could never get away from them.  It didn’t take him long to pack, as he had already packed food and clothing and the like, as a result of his own desire to return.  So, after just a few moments, Wendy scrawled a note that she stuck to the door, and walked over to him.  For the first time, he looked into her eyes, and saw some kind of deep biting pain there, but set that aside and began casting the spell to return to Ravenspeak.  Taking his wife’s hands into his own, they were surrounded by a swirl of light, and then disappeared, leaving the store as it was.

  They reappeared in a very different sort of place. Where the shop had been in a bustling, modern city with all the noises and smells of modern urban life, they found themselves in a small grove just outside of a castle town.  The town appeared to be peaceful, with few lights cutting through the night, just some lights in and around the castle itself and the soldiers of the garrison enjoyed the evening.

  Quickly and silently the pair made its way down into the town, passing into the section of town occupied by the tradesmen.  They walked down a familiar street with tanners and carpenters, coppersmiths and coopers, until they turned a corner.  There, before them stood a blackened ruin.  There had once been a house there, and a smithy behind it.  With a small groan, Wendy went out into the midst of the long since cold ashes and fell to her knees, her silent sobbing wetting the ashes beneath her.

  Tomas walked up to her, and knelt down next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder, unsure of what to say.

 “Tomas… this place, it’s the first real home I’ve ever had.  Every where else, I felt like I was just a burden,  imposing on them… or just totally alone.  But here, for the first time, I felt like I belonged.  People accepted me, not condemning me for the type of person I am.  I wanted to come back, I want to belong somewhere”

 Before Tomas could say anything, a harsh voice rang out from behind.  “Yer not welcome here.  We don’t want the Dukes guardsmen to come back.  Get up, and get out of here before you bring more misery”  As Tomas and Wendy looked up, they saw the cooper standing behind them.  Wendy couldn’t hide the shock on her face.  They had considered the cooper and his wife friends, had them over for dinner, and been to their place. Wendy had even tried to teach them how to play pinochle, with somewhat humorous results.  Now though, this “friend” was saying they weren’t wanted?

  “Now, I be tellin you to ta get to a gittin! “

  “Now, what a second Erhardt… have you heard anything about my family?” Tomas asked, a note of desperation in his voice”

 “Oh, now you worry about them, after you turn traitor huh?”

 “Traitor!!” Tomas said barely controlling his voice, for fear of waking the neighbors.

 “Yes, you know, betraying the kingdom, supporting a coup, all the things you did…  Your dear family is paying the price for your treachery I’m sure. They were dragged off to be “guests” of the Duke not long after they burnt you out.  We were lucky to save our own shop I’ll tell you.   They suspect anyone who ever had dealings with you… your neighbors, your customers, they even asked what little town you came from! Now git! Before I call the guards myself”

  Wordlessly, Wendy and Tomas looked at one another, their eyes both sharing the same concern, for the town where they had met.  Without discussion they hurried back out of town and got back out of sight.  Again taking hands, they were carried off in a swirl of color to a small town on the bank of a river.

 Arriving there, they found their worst fears confirmed and more.  The town was gone.  Burnt to the ground, as if it had been washed away in great waves of flame.  The smithy where Tomas and Wendy had worked side by side to prepare for the Red Mage, the inn where they would share a quiet drink, the house of the village chieftain all burnt.  All the people gone.  The men and women who had made this a vibrant place, the children who had followed Wendy around as some sort of hero.

 “Was it all for nothing?” Wendy asked, as she stared at a black iron dagger, the light of the moon barely reflecting off of its face.  “Why is this happening? What did we do Tomas?”

  Wordlessly, Tomas took her in his arms, his own face mirroring the confusion on his wife’s face.  Treason?  They had done no such thing, all they wanted was a quiet life, no more.  Yet, everyone who had crossed paths with them had been paying a terrible price, and Tomas didn’t understand it.  But, he knew what he had to do.
 
 “Wendy, lets go pay the Duke a visit…”

  Later that evening, they stood outside the gates of the castle.  Wendy had used her powers to cloak them, so that while they could see and hear, no light or sound escaped, so no one could tell they were there in the shadows.  Patiently, they waited until at one moment the guards were discussing something with a deliveryman in a wagon and slipped into the castle.

  Quickly, and methodically, they searched the castle, bottom to top, relying on Tomas’ memories of the place from the years that he served in the castle garrison.  Finally, they reached one room, where a quick search revealed that Tomas’ mother and sister had surely been there, as his mother’s cloak lay crumpled on some straw, clearly used as a pillow.  However, there were no signs of where they might be there.  In growing desperation, they continued working upwards, towards the main hall, but no more sign of the prisoners.

  “Wendy, we’ll have to do it the other way.  If we have the Duke, he’ll be forced to give them up”.

  With a silent, but seemingly nervous nod, Wendy agreed and they snuck into the main hall.  However, they did not find the scene they had expected.   They had hoped to catch the Duke unawares, paying attention to some other pursuit.  Instead, they found the hall ringed with soldiers, and a great curtain drawn across the back of the hall.

 “Well, well.  You really didn’t think that you could go sneaking around my house like that did you?    I’m not quite sure why my allies are so intent on seeing you either dead or captured, but if that is the only price for their help, it’s one that I’m more than willing to pay.”  The Duke said from his throne.

  “Where are my mother and sister you murderous swine!!” Tomas roared

  The Duke rose from his chair with a cold smirk on his face.  He was a tall man, near 6 foot tall with a cold expression on his face.  With a quick gesture of his hand, he ordered that the curtain be drawn back.  As the curtain was drawn back, Tomas’ mother and sister were revealed. They were tied up, gags in their mouths.  It was evident that they had been ill used, as puffy blotchy marks covered their faces.  Alongside each of them stood a soldier, spear in hand, ready to take their life at a moments notice. A fair shimmer in front of the group told that there were other defenses, a magical barrier to keep people away.

  With a cold fury Wendy began to draw within her self.  Barrier or no, she was going to bust in there and take back the prisoners.  Wendy had never been close to her own mother, but in the short time she had known Tomas’ family, she had come to see her mother in law as the mother she had never had.  But, before she could lash out and break the barrier, she got a strange sensation in the back of her mind.  Something was coming. She didn’t know what, but could feel that it was a deep, dark menace.  Looking out the window, she saw dark shapes outlined against the moonlit night.  Focusing her senses to bring in all the light she could, she made out dragons, not one, like had destroyed her home, but 3 of them, led by one who reflected the silver moonlight off of his golden scales.

  Somehow, deep down Wendy knew that her life would never be the same from this moment. Some great sense of fate hung over her, as she looked out the window and saw the approaching dragons in the distance.  She stretched forth her hand and a fireball began to form in it.  She pointed her hand at the magical barrier, as if ready to blast it apart, but at the last moment fired the fireball through the roof of the castle. Grabbing Tomas, she used all of her power to take off and fly into the night.

  Tomas, not understanding what was going on, looked back as they flew off through the hole in the ceiling, and saw the guards remove the life from his mother and sister.

  A few moments later they landed just outside the city.  Wendy looked back, seeing the dragons rise in anger from the castle,  flying, searching for them.  Still though, she had done all that she could, and collapsed in exhaustion and grief, knowing what her actions had cost.  “Tomas… we have to to..” she croaked, barely able to breathe.

  Tomas looked up, barely able to control the tears in his eyes, and saw the menacing shapes coming.  Somehow, he was able to focus enough to return them to the shop far away.

 They returned, and for a long time nothing was said.  Devastation was written in Wendy’s eyes, but something more in Tomas’.  Anger.  “How could you?? How could you destroy my family like that?”

  “I didn’t have a choice, we had to leave, or we would all have been dead. They were already gone!” Wendy sobbed.

 “No! I won’t believe that, you just gave up my family to them! You killed my family!” Tomas roared, and raised the back of his hand.. but thought better of it. and instead just glared at her.  The rest of the evening was spent quietly, but when bedtime came, Wendy went to the tiny cot that they had shared, and buried her face in the pillow, drenching it with silent sobs.  However, Tomas did not join her, and instead walked out the door into the night.

  As the night wore on, Wendy, exhausted and alone finally managed to slip into a fitful, miserable sleep.  As she slept, the 4 figures appeared around her, all of them with looks of intense sorrow on their face.

  “She did it.  If she had chosen ill this night, all would have been lost” Anerra said in a sad voice, as her ghostly hand stroked the head of the mage she had been with for so long.

 “It cost her so much” Aeryn said sadly.

 “And, will continue to cost her more.  We can see what is to come now.  Every time in her life she will see a hint of happiness, it will turn to ashes.  She will face this again.  Is there nothing we can do for her?” Ulura asked, her own long sorrow echoing through the dark room.

  “Some must pay the price in sorrow that others can live free.  It is her fate.  Yet, she will have some happy times to sustain her.  She who will never had children of her own, will have one who will be as a daughter.” Yeregar said.

 “Yet, Wendy’s future is clouded even now.  In the steel she has shown tonight, she will play her part in rebuilding our world.   Through the Ninth, and the Children of Ulura, their steel will harden the Lord of the Dracosi, for he will not be able to face his burden alone.  But for Wendy, when that day comes, her fate is hidden even now.” Anerra said solemnly.  With that, Aeryn, Ulura and Yeregar left, leaving Anerra with Wendy through the fitful night.