I stared at Saphirre's eyes. Deep blue and harsh as she stared back, her gaze unmoving. My eyes started tearing up a little at the pain her nails were inflicting on my arm.

"Let go" I said quietly.

"You. You're the one" she whispered almost silent. The others couldn't hear her.

"W-What?" I questioned.

"You're not fooling me" she hissed.

I swallowed and tried to pull my arm away but she held on.

"Saphirre. Let go of Irene." Hunter said.

"Saph. Saphirre, please, will you let go of her? She didn't do anything." Jena said when Saphirre didn't respond to Hunter.

Saphirre blinked and stood up straight, loosening her grip on my arm as she looked to Jena. I pulled away and took a good three large steps back.

"Huh? What happened?"

"You tell us" Rose said. "You were summoning a casting spell when Irene approached. She saw that she shouldn't disturb you and tried to back up, but then you just, snapped."

"I-I did? Sorry, the fatigue and the shadow's essence must've made my senses take over. I apologize if I did any harm or frightened you ."
I hid my arm and shook my head.

"You did nothing. You and Jena have been working on stop. You should go rest, Saphirre. It's best that you just relax."

She hesitantly nodded. She hesitated.

"Yes, I suppose you are right. As much as I hate to admit it, I should rest. Gain my energy back."
I smiled and nodded to her as she left, her robes flowing with her movements.

"What was that about?" Jena asked.

"Nothing" I answered.

"Okay. Whatever you say." She said, her voice fading out.

"Jena. You should go get some rest too. You two have been working tirelessly."

"Oh, I couldn't. Not while Saphirre is out."
I frowned.

"Well then, when she gets back, you two should switch off. You know, do a rotation so that you can both get some rest and work to find the shadow."

"Good suggestion Irene." Rose commented.
"And I suggest you and Saphirre at least consider it Jena. You two have put your heart and soul into this."

"Trust me, we will. Now, Hunter, could you and Irene maybe leave? I'm going to try to continue where Saphirre left off. I don't want to be distracted."

"Of course Jena." Hunter agreed.
"Come on Irene, let's get going."
I nodded.

"Good luck Jena." I called, even though I was scared that she might find out it's me.
She smiled then turned to work, Rose by her side.

I closed the door quietly behind us and turned to face hunter who was looking at my arm.

"She hurt you. Didn't she."

"What? No, she didn't."
He lifted my arm so that we could both see where my skin had been pierced from the sheer pressure of her nails on my arm.

"It's fine Hunter. It's nothing."
He sighed.

"What is it with you and getting caught up in things? First you find the blacksmiths daughter, then the festival, then the shadow attack, and now this. In the course of just over three weeks. Things weren't like this until you came. Why are you so special?"
I shrugged.

"I don't know. There is nothing special about me. Not that I have yet to notice in the 21 years I've been alive"
And I wasn't lying. I was just your typical shadow. These 21 years of my life had not shown any difference between me and any other shadow I've ran into.

Hunter must've sensed my change in mood, because he gave me a hug then spoke to me gently.
"Here Irene. I have today off, let's just go back home, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure." I said, my head still ducked.
Hunter put his hand under my chin and lifted my head.

"Hey, smile. Not everything that has happened since you've come here is bad. And they were probably planning to attack us soon anyways. And what I said, doesn't mean you aren't special to the others or I. I simply meant why were they still you."
The corners of my mouth made the ghost of a grin.

"I know. Let's just go home."

"Agreed"

The next day I woke up and sighed. Today was the last day. I had spent the rest of yesterday, and even some of the night, looking for Iris. Greg had checked over my research and to my relief, had been able to mark off everything I had found.

Wolfbane had 24 hours. Then it would be reduced to ashes. Whet we had seen was only a fraction of Riquin's forces. My door opened and I looked up to see Rose surprisingly.

"Hey Irene. Hunter wanted me to check up on you seeing as he is with his sister right now. She is heart broken over the death of Jeffory, poor thing. Anyways, how are you?"

"I'm fine" I said standing up. It was then I realized I still had the necklace on. It was tucked under my shirt. I just hoped she wouldn't catch on.

"That's good I guess. But I came here to ask you about what happened between you and Sapphirre. Hunter would've been glad to do it but he has guard shift today. Honestly, I feel sorry for him. He has so much on his hands, really. Jena couldn't do it seeing as she is still tracking. Samphirre is passed out right now so...."

"What happened? what do you mean?"

"Like, why did she snap at you? And what did she tell you? The rest of us were unable to hear her."

"Oh. Well, I imagine that the reason she snapped at me was the dark magic of the shadow trail had. Sometimes dark magic traces can make people do things they wouldn't normally do. That's why dark magic is banned."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. What did she say to you though?"

I felt a knot of guilt build in my stomach.

"w-what she said? I don't know. I could understand her. It all sounded like gibberish. Some ancient spell maybe or something that she had been chanting before she gained control again?"

"Maybe. Ill ask Jena and Saphirre about it later." She paused.

"I believe I have some time before my next shift. Want to train or something? Hunter and Celeste have mentioned your progress in training. Care to?"

"Sure." I shrugged. "Why not. A little training never did any harm.

Rose and I headed to the training fields. They were completely empty. Any guards off duty were resting and any trainees were being tested to see whether or not they were going to be sent into war if needed. Rose pulled out her sword. I grabbed a grabbed a sword from the weapon rack then took my stance, facing Rose.

"3.2.1!"

Later after Rose and I had decided to take a rest, Rose 2 wins and I 1, we lay in the grass, relaxed. It reminded me of the day I had training with Celeste. Except, I was less exhausted now.

"so, what do you think will happen to Wolfbane?" I asked.

"I don't know. We're not the biggest city in Orlan, but we have a pretty decent sized army. Not to mention our alliance members. I don't think Wolfbane will be destroyed by this war if that's what you want to know. We may get some damage but we shouldn't have to many problems."

"Well this is the last place I expected you two to be. And what is it with you and laying in the grass Irene?" Hunter asked from somewhere out of my view.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just a grass-aholic or something" I laughed throwing my hands up."

I sat up as Rose rose to her feet.

"Hey Hunter. What's up?"

The smile on his face faded.

"Hunter? What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"I can't tell you here. Also I'm not the one to tell you two, I'm just to come get ya'll. Marie. After a Crown meeting summoned Irene. you, Jena, Celeste, and I"

"Why?" I questioned worryingly.

"As I said, I cant tell you here. Follow me."

I cast a glance at Rose before following Hunter to where ever he was taking us. We walked for quite some minutes till we arrived at a building. I instantly recognized it as where the Crown held their meeting. Hunter led us inside and upstairs, surprisingly to me. There was one desk at which Marie sat. There was a map on the wall behind her, a compass on her desk, as well as many pens and pencils. Adam, Celeste and Greg all stood around. Marie broke off the discussion she had been having with Greg and addressed us.

"Ahh, Hunter. I see you have gathered the last two!"

"As you asked me to." He said simply.

"Very well. Stand around, there is much to discuss."

Greg seemed worried as he backed into the corner. Adam stood next to the desk, Celeste stood no more than one foot from Hunter, a grin plastered on her face. I scoffed and leaned against the wall, Rose sitting on the edge of the desk, a posture that Marie laughed at.

"So, now that we are all here, besides Jena of course who is preparing, we need to talk about our alliance members"

"Oh alliance members? Isn't this something you should discuss in a crown meeting?"
Rose question.

"We've done exactly that. Then I was told to go get you two." Hunter responded.

"Yes. We are quite worried about our allies in Vale. We sent out a bird to them the day we were threatened by the Shadow-lord Ryqin. We haven't gotten a word back yet. We have few ways of communicating with Lord Caspian and have no ways as to knowing the movements and situation of Vale. We have grown worried. We have decided to send out a group of a few of our people to go to Vale and see what is troubling them. Hunter has already offered to go. We needed someone of the crown to go, but Adam has place of Head of the ShadowHunters as well. Greg is necessary for any trades or confrontations we might have with our alliance members. I with the title of Lord of Wolfbane need to stay behind to deal with Shadow-lord Ryquin. Jena is going due to her experience in magic, incase you need as much. Celeste, I suggested you seeing as you know how to navigate well and are talented in you field. Rose, we were wanting to send you for you skill in battle. And Irene, seeing as all your friends are going and that you know the outside world around Wolfbane well based on what Hunter and Adam old me of you, Adam suggested we sent you as well. Does anyone here have a problem with this?" Marie finished.

It was a lot to take in. And they expected me to be responsible for navigation? I guess I could do it. I had been all around Oran in the past years of my life.

"Of course I'll go!" Celeste said as she took a step closer to Hunter.

"Count me in. Anything that may affect the outcome of what may happen to Wolfbane after the war needs to be looked in to. I am honored that you have decided to send me on this quest." Rose answered.

"Irene?" Marie questioned. I was hesitant.

"Y-yeah. I'll go. I'm not sure how useful I can be, but if you would like me to go, I will."

"Well then! you should all get to getting ready! You will leave later tomorrow if not today. Meet Greg here and he will guide you all to the back entrance of Wolfbane." Greg nodded.

"Back entrance?" I asked.

"Yes. There is a back entrance for times like these, or if we need to evacuate Wolfbane. We would use it for that but seeing as we are surrounded by shadows....we cant exactly move the civilians unnoted by scouts. We cant risk the well-being of our people" Adam answered.

"Well then. If we have such short time, we should go to start preparing." Celeste interrupted.

"Yes, yes, you're correct. Good luck to you all in advance!" Marie chirped.

The four of us going on the trip left the building and returned to our respected places to pack. I didn't have much but it was all I needed. Hunter packed his things as well as some extra supplies from a storage place in town. That night we met at the crown building. Jena had her potions and magic items in her small satchel, Rose had a few spare weapons and Celeste was ready to go, nothing more than a pack for her things. I offered to carry the supplies but Hunter insisted that he dealt with it.

"You all ready to go?" Greg asked. We all nodded. "Good. Now follow me."

we followed him through a secret passage and a long hallway. After a few minutes of walking we made our way to the end of the tunnel where we could see into the forest.

"There. That is you exit. You all be safe now. Find out what's going down in Vale then came back here whenever possible and safe, got it?"

"Yes. We got it." Hunter said. And with that we entered the darkened forest, unaware of what or who we might face to complete our quest.