After starting the game, Lucan appeared back in the trial set by the guardian.

He was running through the forest of the beast lands. There were no signs of civilization in this realm where beasts, plants and animals reigned supreme. The world was overgrown but not completely devoid of humanoid creature. From time to time, the most accomplished hunters would venture in, but few would ever return.

Lucan had split his experience gain with Adrestia. They each took half and were both rising in level.

At first Lucan thought he would have to spends a great deal of time to search for the exit of each realm but luckily, or rather design, was on his side. As long as he kept moving forward he would eventually reach the next realm.

He had already traveled through the many sections of the elemental plane and their bordering regions. He traversed through the nine hells, and passed through the astral realm. One by one, he and Adrestia fought their way forward, moving through the realms.

On numerous occasions they were overwhelmed and had to retreat. Not dying was of the utmost importance.

Two days ago, Lucan had left Valhalla and entered the beast lands. If things went well he should be able to escape this overgrown realm sometime today.

Lucan felt the familiar tickle of danger sense. His scepter transformed into a short sword and he slashed out, cutting off the vines of a man eating plant that was attempting to surprise him.

Adrestia dove forward and scratched and clawed at the base stem of the plant while Lucan fired several shadow bolts.

Stuck in one location while fighting against two mobile combatants, the man eating plant had no choice but to die.

Without receiving a breath of rest, A large spider, taller than Lucan, dropped from the treetops.

The spider sent out a jet of webs and entangled the small shadow drake, making her drop to the forest floor.

A beam of soulfire slowed the spiders charge towards the drake. By the time it arrived, Adrestia had freed herself. The spider met a geyser of purple hellfire. Its body was roasting as Lucan unleashed an explosion and then used a dagger to sever its head from its abdomen. The corpse twitched and rolled over with its legs curling up.

Lucan scooped the tired drake up and ran forward. A dozen more spiders dropped down and gave chase.

The warlock fired shadow bolts over his shoulder but didn't turn back. Up ahead he could see the rift leading to a new realm. He didn't let up and jumped through it, knowing that the spiders wouldn't follow.

Lucan's ear immediately felt pain. Howling winds blew past, taking away his hearing. He found himself on a large rock. Tunnels and passages led deeper into the rock. He ran forward but lost his sense of balance, gravity didn't seem to work the same here. He was running on the base of the tunnel, but then a minute latter it felt as if he was running on the ceiling, looking at several creatures below him who were alerted by his presence.

A demon and his minions leapt from the ground, with a flip in mid-air they landed on the ceiling.

The demon, a furry, horned creature just a foot taller than Lucan charged at him with its four arms delivering a rapid set of punches. The slime covered followers lunged at Adrestia to tie her down.

Lucan used shadow form to slip past the four-armed demon and summoned his shadow beast. The beast, Adrestia and Lucan each took one of the slime creatures and tried to finish it quickly while a phantom fighter used telekinetic slam to keep the large demon busy.

After winning the fight, Lucan was already exhausted, but he still had a long way to go. He pulled out the guardian's amulet to find out where he was. The realm was called pandemonium. He had never heard of it before.

Still unable to hear, the shadow drake caught his attention and motioned for him to look behind. Lucan saw a small heard of centaurs heading there way.

Lucan, Adrestia, and the shadow beast ran deeper into the massive rock that made up this realm. Death wasn't an option, the only way to succeed was to keep moving forward.

***

Super rushed into the command room finding Silent at the command table.

"It is bad." He said to her. "The Plague Baron's forces have left Eclipse and are moving in our direction. When will Lucan be back?"

"Sigh, I don't know."

"If he doesn't come back soon, he may not have a territory when he returns."

"We are not helpless without him. Get me constant updates on their approach every hour. Do what he has entrusted you to do and I will handle the rest." She snapped at him.

Super started to communicate with his network to ensure up to date reports.

Silent contacted Lisel and Hellfire through the coven chat function. They responded immediately.

[Silent Night: The Plague Baron is marching towards our fortress. We will have no choice but to engage him.]

[Hellfire: I can move up my plans, I am ready to attack now.]

[Lisel Farwest: I will inform the Queen of Shadows.]

[Hellfire: Will you be able to win?]

[Silent Night: It won't be easy, but defeat isn't an option.]

[Hellfire: I don't have the manpower, or else I would send people to assist you.]

[Silent Night: It's fine, just make sure he can't receive support from the other Hands.]

[Lisel Farwest: The Queen of Shadows will move up her attack plans. And if you need help, I can recommend someone. He is one of my acolytes, but due to personal reasons he needs a decent bit of gold. If you can pay, he will help.]

[Silent Night: If he can be trusted, I will appreciate the help.]

[Lisel Farwest: Okay, I will send him your way. He should arrive in a few days. His name is MILOCARA.]

[Silent Night: Good.]

After alerting the others, she exited out of the coven's chat function and accessed Lucan's quest function. Before he left he hadn't given her permission to alter the quest he set but accessing it was good enough. She skimmed through the list of people who had delivered information and activated the follow up quests to cause disruption.

A single name stood out from the rest. One particular acolyte had done triple the work compared to anybody else and had yet to meet with failure. Thankfully, this acolyte was signed on by her. She activated a telepathic connection with him.

'Miss Night. I believe this is the first time you have ever reached out to me first. What do I owe the pleasure to?"

'You have done well with the quest Lord Quilldrake has issued. I am sure you know, the Plague Baron is on the move. I don't have the ability to directly create a quest but I have something I would like you to do. I can make a pact to guarantee you will be rewarded for your effort.'

'Oh, I am listening. Consider Tyrannical Kyp at your service."

"Here is what I would like you to do…' Silent said while communicating her plan to him.

After Silent disconnected the telepathic communication she found commander Gear and had him increase security inside the fortress and castle. The last thing she needed was to be attacked from outside and inside simultaneously.

She walked into the castle and found Aniketos.

"Mistress what can I do for you?" The dragon asked respectfully.

"War is coming. Are you prepared to serve your lord in the defense of his territory?"

"Always." The dragon said, straightening his posture and giving off a regal impression.

"Good, I will be relying on you. I don't know if Lucan will return in time. We must not lose his territory while he is away. I know he left you in charge of many reserves. If it comes to it, hold nothing back. We must be here to welcome him when he returns."

"I understand Mistress, I won't let him down."

Silent nodded and went to go check in with Major General Santine. She spent most of the day ensuring everyone was ready for what was to come. She meet with the Goblin Crushers, Alasan Swift, and many others. When the villagers of Shadowsweep heard that danger was coming, there wasn't a soul who wasn't willing to help out.

Oar, Lucan's steward began to follow Silent around to help her with the tasks that were piling up faster than she could finish them. She finished her day with a trip to Vertshadow to stock up on supplies they might need during the conflict. It never hurt to be over prepared. She felt a little guilty for taking so much gold from the vault without talking to Lucan but he left her in charge of everything so it had to be done. And besides, as husband and wife, what belonged to him, belonged to her.