She climbed the stairs to the study. It was empty. Odd, she thought. She could still feel him. Slowly she made her way to the roof. There he stood. His hands were on the ledge, and he was looking toward the glade. He turned when he heard her.

"It is odd to find you up here"

"Why do you say that Shadow walker?"

She shrugged.

"Soon it won't matter if the silvans... your kind... see me about."

"Why is that?" She questioned.

He dismissed the question with a waved hand. "All in time Sunveil. All in time."

"Of course." She replied, forcing the sarcasm to remain underlying.

"Now..."

The door down stairs creaked open. As Myra turned to watch the stairs, Khellenduras waved his hand and disappeared. Reijo appeared.

"Mmm. I hear sounds." He looked around the roof.

Myra frowned darkly at him.

"So half blood... where his this lich of yours?" His voice was almost taunting in its reference to her heritage.

Myra glared at him, and as she said "Why do you care?", Khellenduras materialized from the shadows.

Reijo jumped and took a step back. Khell fixed him with his crimson eyes.."What are you doing in my tower." It was obviously a statement.

Reijo looked him over, quickly regaining his composure. "You left the door open. However I think I should depart, for I am overmatched. Farewell half blood."

Khellenduras watched him descend the stairs, and turned his gaze on Myra. "Who was he?"

"A pest. Half drow..." Myra really didn't know how to explain Reijo any better than that.

Khellenduras nodded, dismissing Reijo from his thoughts. Regaining his previous train of thought, he continued, "Ah yes. Tell me. Have you heard of or seen this eight foot "monster" that now threatens the Glade?"

Myra made a face at him. "I have. I heard he spoke with you."

"Your thoughts on this "being"?

"I do not care for him. He boasts of his powers and does not follow through with his threats. And he tried to bully me." She shrugged slightly, stating it all with a matter-of-fact tone. Amaruak had indeed tried to... perhaps impress?... her with some story of killing children earlier, before the Fara. Her manner was becoming more and more relaxed and confident when 'visiting' the lich.

He nodded once and smiled slightly. "Yes, I did meet with him. I returned the fae, alive, to the Glade. This "Amaruak" has no place here. As you stated, he "bullies"."

Myra nodded.

"He is far from a "monster"..." He paused and looked at Myra.

Myra kept her expression neutral, listening.

"One might place him on the same pedestal as yourself... Dae'vanir..."

She frowned at him. She didn't want to imagine herself any sort of equal to that beast.

"However, he is much more brash. Ignorant... His fingers clutched at his spellbook. "and annoying."

Myra could not cover her amused smirk. But his next statement replaced her amusement with surprise.

"He is an elf, Myra."

"Oh?"

He turned, pointed to the Glade. "He is the same as all the forest children... your kin."

She frowned again.

"He is an alchemist. His horrifying "appearance" is attributed to a suit... As is his strength, from what I can gather." He locked his crimson pinpoints on her. "Do not underestimate him, however. Even without the suit, he can be dangerous. I believe he has at least a limited understanding of necromancy..."

"I make it a point not to underestimate others."

He gave her a cold, dead smile. A mockery of any true emotion. "Good. For the time however, Amaruak should not be a problem. However, he does not know of your... allegiance... to me."

"How... interesting." She was not amused.

"So I give you the information on his suit as a precautionary measure..."

She nodded slightly.

"He is violent and unpredictable. Walk carefully when around him."

"One might almost think you were concerned I might goad him into hurting me..." Myra mocked him.

He smiled a grey-grin at her. "Don't flatter yourself Shadow walker."

"I'd never dream of it."

He turned back to face the Glade. The wind fluttered his cape lightly behind him. "Myra. Have you gathered any informtation on Corellon as of yet...?" He didn't seem to really care any more.

"Strongbow has been avoiding me." She left it at that.

He nodded. "Good. The further Strongbow is from me, the better. As for the bit of knowledge you gave me on defeating a god... Surely you know Corellon is much too powerful for one such as myself to even wound."

"Uma. I know. I never suggested you slaying Corellon."

He nodded knowingly.

"Perhaps... Trenton though..." She choose her words carefully.

He laughed. A hideous sound. "Myra, my dear... Trenton is far from being a deity. A fiend perhaps. A deity he is not..."

Quietly, she said "He is closer than you."

His eyes flared with anger, but she pressed on.

"A simple fact. He is one step ahead. And... if you were to..." She shrugged slightly. "It would put you one step ahead... That is all." She returned a smile at him, just as cold and lifeless as his own.

His anger faded, seemingly quelled by her explanation. "If Trenton decides to show himself... he will be dealt with."

"He is returning. I can almost feel it." She decided it best to speak sparsely of Mord'sythe, and her information on him, so she kept her answers short.

He paused. Then asked softly, curiously. "You surely do not still possess a link to him?"

She shook her head. "But... I can almost feel..." She shrugged it off, agitated. "Though I had a thought." She looked at her arms. "His blood is in me." She frowned, saying nothing more.

His eyes dimmed for a long moment before he spoke again. "We have to work quickly then, Sunveil. Patience is a trait I hold high. I can outwait... merely overexist many oppositions. Trenton however..."

She nodded slightly.

He seemed to shrink, an air of urgency about him.

"As I stated. We must work quickly. I have a new task for you Shadow walker. Do you know where the ruins are to the south of here? Many of my kind gather there. I want you to slay them. Take any trinkets they have. Jewelry, globes... anything. And destroy them. Utterly. Do this with every lich you slay. Do you understand?"

"I understand. Could I know.. why I am doing this?"

He smirked. "You know me well enough... I gained my current state through scheming. Backstabbing. Destroying those who would stand in my way."

Myra decided to try her luck. The worst he could do was end her existance, and that perhaps might be a favor to the elfmaid. "Uma, and perhaps I tire of being a tool. Perhaps... I'd like... A little more."

His eyes burned brighter, waiting. She looked at him with an air of challenge.

"I simply tire of being your tool. And the elves' tool. I want... something more substantial."

He smiled to himself. "Myra, if anything... I am YOUR tool. I shaped you from a formless mass. Do you remember how you reacted when we first met?"

"I do."

"You cried at my mere presence." She remembered all too well their first meetings. And it was steeled by those memories that she pursued her current course of action.

Amaruak appeared at the top of the stairs. Noting his bad timing, and with a nod from Khell, he turned and left.

Myra smirked at Khellenduras. "And you've got him trained so well already."

"Of course I do." He smiled almost 'charmingly' at Myra. "You, however... You are a masterpiece of self determination. You've grown... You've changed."

She tilted her head a bit. "If I had not... I'd have fallen into madness by now." And Myra realize for the first time, the truth behind those words. Or was she indeed already mad? She stood on the rooftop of a fiend, bantering with a lich lord.

He nodded once. The pleased smile remained.

"It has been a hard road." The sadness was not absent from her voice, but she forced herself to stand there, almost proudly, as thoughts of her last talk with Glorfindle assaulted her mind. '....even if it means eliminating you...' he had said. Khellenduras' voice interupted her thoughts.

"You've mastered yourself Sunveil. And I am truely impressed." He nodded once, looking her over. "Truely impressed. I will hear your proposal if you have one, however..."

"I've nothing in particular, except to know in better detail, what it is I am doing. Aside from being your brute arm."

He nodded once. "You deserve that at least. You understand my goal. To that I have no doubt. Now ask and I shall answer."

"Why am I destroying these...'trinkets'?"

He went about explaining what she already knew would be the answer. He was having her seek out and destroy other liches' phylacteries. "Do you understand now?"

She nodded. "I do." She glanced at his gloved hand where he wore his ring, with an air of challenge. "And do you insist on keeping yours with you?"

He was silent, knowing full well she knew what lay beneath his glove. "This is not my original body, Sunveil. I call myself a lich for lack of a better term. There are no words to describe what I am, save "body thief". Therefore, phylacteries function different for myself."

She nodded and he left his answer at that. She looked thoughtful.

"Why did you attack Glorfindle?"

He smirked. "How soon you forget my promise to you."

"Yet you promised not to hurt those I love. Though I imagine... by default it is those I love who can hurt me the most."

He nodded at her very true statement. "I promised not to kill them. And I promised to protect you."

Emotions warred on her face, and he interupted her thoughts yet again...

"I shaped you into what you are today. A strong willed soul. I answered your inquiries. If the word can apply to one such as myself... if it could apply..." He emphasized "could". "I might even say I trust you."

"That is almost a foreign concept to me any more." She smiled slightly.

He laughed softly. A disturbing sound. "You understand how I exist then. And how all my kind exist." He looked to Myra, his eyes glowing bright.

"If the others find word of my plan, they will conspire against me. And I would not put it above Mord'sythe, once he returns, to seek their aid. Time is short." He motioned southward. "Do what you will. For however many you can take safely. When you tire, leave. And do not..." He raised his voice. "DO NOT mention my name. Is that understood?"

"Why?"

He raised his voice again. "Is that understood?!"

Myra couldn't help but look amused. "I'd understand better if I knew why." She knew she was pushing it.

His eyes burned brightly, and he stepped forward as he spoke, but he did give into her impetuous questionging. "They will know you were sent by me. They think I am truely resting. If mention of my name arises, they will become suspicious. They will seek me out, through you... And I doubt they will be as patient with you as I. Now go."

She turned and made her way down the stairs. She passed the beast, Amaruak on her way back to the Silver Arrow. "It is a shame that some of us can fall to such depths." she said in passing.

Arriving back at the Arrow, she saw the half elven boy, Gawayn still lingering about. She smiled, but that smile was quickly replaced by a distressed frown when she thought back to the last half elven child that had been here - Rayne. After some time... she and the others discovered the child knew silent speak! A set of hand gestures used by the drow in times of need for silence. He was apparently a former... songbird to Amaruak. The child would sing for him, and when the child could no longer sing... Amaruak had removed his voice box. There were scars around the child's neck. Myra warned him away from possible dangers in the Glade, including Khellenduras.

Myra was surprised to see the child recognize the name. He told Myra and Myriad that Amaruak had plans for Khellenduras, though the child did not know what they were. And seemingly the beast had simply released the boy here in the Glade. Myra knew her presence could be a danger to the boy. Either in making him a 'target' or by putting him under the realm of Khellenduras' "protection". She simply didn't want him involved. And so she excused herself, hoping Sinjun and the others there would do well by the child.