David West was awakened in his assigned rooms at the Temple by a loud commotion in the hallway. Heading out to investigate, he saw people racing along, clearly excited about something. The few people who would pause long enough to say anything had even less idea what was going on than he did but quickly a rge group had assembled in the main hall of the Temple. There he heard that Del’Arian had returned. He gathered that she had been one of the other four sent out when Thellissandra came to his world.

  Two Magisters and a badly wounded young woman stood on a stage at one end of the chamber. When one of the Magisters yelled “QUIET!” the sound reverberated through the room.

  As soon as the crowd quieted down, the woman stood shakily with the help of one Magister “I have not only seen Elgarin; I have engaged him in battle. He had an elemental spirit with him that almost destroyed my leg. We must organize a team and go back immediately!”

  At his elbow, David heard “Ha! Knew you were a fraud, Baby Mage.”

  “This is not the time, Dalrinjian,” he hissed back, without turning.

  “Oh, it is, though," the apprentice taunted him. "You tricked my woman into ciming she had seen him. I bet you have never even touched her and just want to embarrass me “

  David turned back to him: “We did encounter something tied to Elgarin and possibly the man himself, or maybe an agent posing as him. And there would be far easier, not to mention more entertaining, ways to embarrass you than that, so please, shelve the attitude for a few minutes.”

  Dalrinjian looked as if he wanted to say more but felt the logic behind these words and accepted them - at least for the moment. He gave David an angry nod.

  David then tried to hear the chatter in the room:

  “Four of five are back and three cim sightings”

  “Sending Celeora’s sister was probably a mistake.”

  “If he did not recognize Ryleen’s daughter, why should he recognize Celeora’s sister?”

  “Can they all have seen him?”

  “If Elgarin truly is a World Walker, maybe. No one alive knows what they can do.”

  With some reluctance, David turned to the only person nearby that he knew: “Dalrinjian, do you know much about Celeora?”

  “Just that she was briefly married to a Grand Magister before she disappeared and was presumed dead, and that she has a sister. Why?”

  David frowned before replying: “I just heard someone talking about her. Not sure what is going on.”

  David suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Sandra at his side. “Something is very wrong,” she said. He merely nodded in reply.

  Then the Magister on the stage called out: “We will organize a party of ten to go back to the world our wounded sister fled from, but we will not send anyone out until we have heard from Malcarra, the one warrior sent out who has not checked in.”

  A voice called out: “Maybe Elgarin recognized her, she looked a lot like her older sister!”

  Murmurings began again in the crowd as the Magister waved for order.

  Then suddenly a voice cut through the noise. “He did not, but her sister did!” The voice was raspy and hollow sounding but clearly feminine.

  “Look! There!” Someone cried out

  “No, there!”

  Suddenly hundreds of swords appeared in the hands of as many Battle Sisters as a figure strode out of one of the passages leading into the hall. She was tall and thin; despite her skin being unnaturally pale and an eerie amber radiance emanating from her eyes, she was a very beautiful woman - at least until she opened her mouth to reveal that it was full of razor-sharp teeth, with pronounced canines. “And now she has joined with us and the King of the Dead,” it announced. Another creature, more savage looking, but definitely reted to her, stood at her side. Cries of “Celeora!” and “Malcarra!” cut through the crowd, as did screams from near the other entrances where fighting had already broken out. The confusion at the edges of the room captured the attention of most in the room, but David did not look away from the stage and he was one of the first who saw a fsh of green light and then, standing between the two Magisters, pushing the wounded sister to the ground, was a rge man in white. His head was bald except for a single braid over his left ear.

  Several voices spoke his name: “Elgarin!”

  “You fools should have known better than to try and corner a World Walker!” he announced, his voice echoing even over the sounds of combat.

  David and Sandra began pushing through the chaotic crowd towards the stage when suddenly Elgarin’s gaze passed over them and then suddenly swung back, a mix of shock and amusement in his expression, as a cruel smile appeared on his thin lips: “David West! I wondered where you had gone to!”

  His eyes fshed a deep emerald shade before he spoke again, and David felt an odd chill run through his body: “well, no matter, unless you know a World Walker or can force a Prismatic Gate you will not be leaving here. Assuming you even survive my allies. But I have pressing matters elsewhere and do not have the time to stay and gloat!”

  David had called up a ball of fme and hurled it at Elgarin, just as a green radiance engulfed the man. The fmes erupted where he had been, but all that was there now were two terrified Magisters, a dead Battle Sister and the echoes of his ughter.