Simeon walked confidently in the dark amid an escort of vigilant Dark-Fey, Chendrelle perched carefully upon his right shoulder. She had said little since they left for Ignall�s Grounding, occasionally asking about the pain in his legs, but mostly just sighing lightly in his ear.

�Why won�t they allow me to free your queen?� he asked.

Chendrelle stared into the distance ahead of them, the moonlight shining upon her face as she spoke. �Some do not believe you can defeat the Deth �Hrlasz that guards her,� she said quietly. �The others do not want you too, I suspect.�

�What is this Deth �Hrlasz you speak of? Is it a Fey creature such as them?� he asked, pointing to the scorpion-like Dark-Fey that flanked them on either side.

�No,� she answered absently. �It is a creature that exists between the veils of life and death. An abomination that is forced by powerful magic to serve the will of its master.�

�Like the dead that walk in the dark�� Simeon said.

�Far worse, Simeon Kane. The dead you speak of exist in a state of un-death; beings that should be dead, but are forced to life by wretched powers. They feed upon the flesh of the living. The Deth �Hrlasz, however, exist in a state of un-life; living beings that are forced into death by benevolent powers. They feed upon the Qelltalis of the living and are the greatest blasphemy of any kind.�

�Where are they taking us?� he asked pointedly. �What is this Ignall�s Grounding they speak of?�

�Long ago, many passings after Khorus� imprisonment, a man called Ignall came into the forest bearing an axe with the most vile of enchantments upon it. In the service of the god whose symbol he bore, he brought war upon the wood. Those Fey-Born who came into contact with his axe were stricken with unbearable pain; the stronger the Fey, the greater the pain it caused,� Chendrelle said. �Many of our Sisters fell to him before he was defeated. When that came to pass, his axe was nowhere to be found. We searched the wood from border to border, but it was never recovered.�

�The symbol he bore; what did it look like?� Simeon asked.

�Three triangular drops of black rain,� she told him. �Is this god powerful in your lands?�

Simeon shook his head. �His followers brought great wars to the nations of my ancestors,� he said ruefully. �They were driven to extinction long ago. Though some say a handful survive in the darkest reaches of the world.�

Chendrelle nodded in understanding and continued. �As punishment, he was taken to a glade close to Khorrus� location and transformed into a tree, his Qelltalis gradually seeping into the soil of the forest, slowing its deterioration. He was the first to be interred there and all believed his punishment was just. But as we began to understand the vitality his Qelltalis provided, it became easier to do the same to others. Some Fey began to lure men to our forest solely for this reason. In the time that followed, the glade came to be known as Ignall�s Grounding.�

�And this is what they intend for us?� Simeon fumed. �What of your oath to me? Does it mean nothing now?�

�It means everything to me still, Simeon Kane. I beg your forgiveness� as I, too, shall be interred with you,� Chendrelle wept.

Simeon noticed his surroundings moving past him faster than they should possibly be able to. �How do we move so swiftly?� he asked, changing the subject.

�We don�t,� Chendrelle replied. �Our surroundings do��

Simeon shot Chendrelle a what-the-heck-does-that-mean look, watching the woods around him blur into the distance.

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