It had been just over a day since the shadow-king, it at least that's what the people had been calling him, had left us with his cryptic message. The setting of the town had changed a lot. Physically it was the same, but the townspeople didn't give off the out-going vibe they used to.

The guards were on edge and the witches in town, Jena and some girl named Saphirre, were exhausted but still spent every minute casting tracking spells and uncovering spells in attempt to find the shadow, with no luck. They had found out that the shadow-lord was still in town, but no clues as to who it was.

People hid in their houses. If you walked the whole town, you would only see one or two civilians besides the guards who were in constant patrol. The last night, Hunter had come home stressed. I had agreed with him that we should stall my training until this whole ordeal was over.

I was out of the house often, walking around. I hadn't told anyone, but I had been looking for a shadow. The only thing shadow-related was a small bit of my essence at the infirmary where I had been kept. Other than that, even I had no leads on the shadow lord.

Deciding that I had nothing, I decided to sit at home and read the book I had gotten from the librarian.

There was information on common practices that shadows do, most of which I hadn't ever heard of. There was information on how shadows lived and functioned as a society, including information on shadow-lords.
Shadow-lords where the equivalent of Kings.

"There are four current Shadow forces.
The Kudos, Talsors, Critilies, and the Rudiceles.
The Talsors are the most powerful but are
they are at the brink of war with the Rudiceles who were allied with the Kudos."

I was guessing that the war had already started and had been won, considering how old this book seemed.

"The Critlies were neutral about the upcoming war and were the only shadow-clan who had been recognized by human kingdoms as allies.
There is one more clan, the Jekons. Shadow-lord Ryquin of the Talsors had ordered a massacre.
But princess Iris, who was well known for her stunning unnaturally colored eyes as well as her skill in combat for being so young and was 5 at the time, had miraculously escaped the massacre along with quite a few members. Some have joined other clans, others wait in hiding for their leader to rise back to power."

So, there had been a war between the Jekons and the Talsors had been about 15 years ago judging on the age of the book and the information given.

Which means that Iris would be becoming of age soon. No wonder that the Shadow lord of the Talsors, Ryquin, had wanted her. But why would she be in Wolfbane?

Nevertheless, I needed to tell Hunter. I shoved the book under the sheets, making sure it was hidden from view before darting out of the house. I barreled down the streets, looking for Hunter, Rose, or even Celeste. I found myself lucky enough to run into Jena on my way, nearly tumbling into her.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Slow down Irene! What's going on?"

"Wh-where is- where is Hunter?" I asked breathlessly.

"Hunter? I believe that he is in the crown meeting? Why?"

A meeting? Well darn. I had no way to tell whether this information would be useful or not. Ether way, I thanked Jena, not answering her question, before making my way to the building where Hunter and the others should've been holding their meeting.

After pacing for some few minutes, I finally gathered a little courage and decided to go ahead and try to give them the information I had learned. I took a breath and knocked on the door.

I was greeted by Adam who opened the door. He was clearly suppressed to see me. I didn't even give him a chance to ask what was going on before blurting,

"I know who Ryquin is looking for"

"Ryquin? Who are you-"

"The Shadow lord-Ryquin-he wants-he wants-"

"Woah, woah, slow down. Irene, right? Come in and explain. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

I hesitantly stepped inside where Adam showed me to. Hunter shifted in his seat and the other two , Maria and I guess Greg, turned to look at me. Adam pulled up another chair and sat down before turning to me and beckoning me to sit. So I did, and the moment I sat down, Marie spoke. She was quiet, but spoke strong and clearly.

"Who is she?" Was all she asked.

"This, Marie, is Irene. You and Greg have yet to actually meet her, but she is a new member of Wilfbane."

"Ahh, I remember you. You're the girl that the Shadow-lord wanted to talk to. I was wondering why I hadn't recognized you. Well, nice to meet you Irene, I am Marie and this is Greg. Now tell me, Adam, why did you let her in?"

"I believe she has information that we will find useful." Was all he said. He nodded to me, signaling me to go ahead and reveal what I knew. So I sat up straight, swallowed, and began to explain.

"I was-" I paused.
Shoot. I couldn't tell them I had the book! What could I tell them?

"I was thinking back over what had happened over the past few days. I remembered that the one night, when I had had the run-in with the Shadow, as Hunter can back up, he had mentioned some things. He had said how Lord Ryquin was looking for a girl by the name of Iris. He mentioned this while telling me that I was getting in the way and I needed to be killed. "
There was a pit in my stomach of guilt and worry as I continued.

"I did some quick research on Iris and found that she is a princess.  I think I figured out what is going on.
Lord Ryquin, or the ShadowLord, is looking for Iris. Since I discovered his scout, they needed me dead so I didn't spoil their plans. But when I got away, they weren't going to risk it and decided to go ahead and declare war, keeping their scouts and soldiers around so that if she try to escape, they will catch her. And if she doesn't, their alternative will be to destroy Wolfbane to find her."
I waited silently, unable to look any of them in the eye, so I just looked at the wall behind Marie.

"Well, thank you Irene for this insightful information." Marie said.

"So, let's break this down. Hunter, can you support her and her claim about what went on between her and the Shadow?"

"Yes. Celeste, Rose, Oliver and I all found her wounded from a clash with a shadow."
Hunters eyes flickers over to me but quickly went back to Greg.

"Ok then. I will go ahead and double check your research on this 'Iris' and Ryquin. If the research you have done is correct, then that is indeed what is going on. I believe that was the last topic we needed to discuss. Marie?"

"Yes, that is all. Unless anyone has anything else to say, this meeting is over. And Irene, nice meeting you. Thanks for the information. We could use someone like you. I look forward to getting to know you more. But that will have to wait till after this possible war is dealt with."
I nodded and smiled.

"I look forward to getting to know you too Lord Marie."

"Heh, just Marie is fine"
And with that and a grin, she stood up and left. Greg followed closely and eyed me before leaving with Marie. I stood up as Hunter and Adam did. We walked out of the building.
After a quick chat with Adam and Hunter, we went our separate ways.

"Well, aren't you just little miss helpful" Hunter teased as we walked home.

"Well, I mean, I just so much has happened since I've gotten here. And when I started to think about I just, remembered and th-"
I slurred.
Hunter laughed at my constant streaming of words.

"I was just teasing. I'm sorry, but I can't help but laugh at your face while you tried to explain."
I huffed out a small laugh. The rest of our walk home was relatively silent. But I did start with one more conversation.

"What are you going to do? About the possible war? And Iris, will you turn her in?"
He hesitated.

"Well, we are sending out our messengers to our allies. As for Iris. Well that is to complicated to answer for sure. We would probably talk to her about her situation. See what we can do to help her as long as it doesn't put the citizens of Wolfbane in any direct danger."

I nodded grimly. Maybe Iris and I could escape together. I mean, I had left out the fact that princess Iris was a shadow. But Greg was double checking my research so that cloud be problematic. As I thought about this, my head started aching. It was a piercing pain and felt like someone had stabbed me in the head. I stopped and doubled over, my hands on my head.

"Irene? Irene?! Are you okay?! What's wrong!?" Hunter asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I started gagging. I felt the food coming up in my throat. I cried at the acidity as I swallowed it back down, not wanting a replay of last time after the festival. After a few seconds of gasping for air, the pain receded and I was no longer gagging. I regained my posture. I was a bit shaken, but I would function.

"Irene? Are you okay?" Hunter asked again.

"Y-yeah. I'm just feeling a little ill, that's all."

"Can you walk okay? I can carry you if you want."
At his words my cheeks heated up.

"W-what? You don't need to do that. I can walk on my own!" I insisted.

"Hmmmm. Ok, whatever you say. Let's just get home shall we?"

I nodded. I knew what was happening. My body was demanding blood the whole way home, but I wasn't going to lose control. Not this time. When we got back to the house, Hunter went nearly straight to bed. And I couldn't blame him. This whole process was turning and stressful on anyone involved.

And poor Jena and Saphirre. They must be completely drained by now. How had Iris not been found yet? Despite the stressful thoughts that ran through my head, I managed to fall into a restless sleep.

The next morning I awoke late in the day. It was sunny, but not a single bird made a noise. Not even the cicadas played their songs. I slowly got up and walked out to the main room. The door to Hunter's room was partly open, telling me that he was up and already out and about.

I decided to go find Jena or Rose. So I grabbed something to drink and headed outside. As I walked around, I managed to find Rose, but she seemed in a rush.

"Hey, Rose!"
She turned towards me.

"Oh, hey Irene"
She seemed nervous.

"What's the rush?"

"Oh, well, Jason came by and told me that Jena and Saphirre found something by the infirmary as to leads of who we're looking for. I'm making my way over there right now, care to join?"

"Sure"
I said without a second thought. Maybe I could sense who the shadow was if I could follow the trail to them. I followed Rose as we high-tailed it towards the infirmary. As we entered, I could see Jena, Hunter, and whom I guess was Saphirre with her blue hair, were all gathered in the center of the room.

"What's up Jena? Came here as soon as I got word."

"Oh Rose! Saphirre and I decided as a desperate attempt to check the infirmary, and we actually found something! There is a small but recent amount of shadows' essence here. Saphirre is trying to find a trail, as she is more experienced, but she has had little luck so far. But based on what we found, this shadow is still in the town."

I silently approached Saphirre, careful not to disturb her as her arms trembled in the air as she summoned a tracking spell. She was facing a medical bed, eyes closed. As I looked around, I realized it was the bed I had been in. They didn't find anything. They're on to me.

While I was nocked out, some of my essence must've gotten released. This was bad. Really bad. Could I throw them off. As I tried to back away, Saphirre's eyes snapped open and she grabbed my arm. She started straight into my eyes. I swallowed as the other turned towards us. Saphirre opened her mouth to speak.