Death is not the end, when life ends the Prism of a being disappears, yet after its departure, a vestige of its presence remains. While it is still impossible to use this link to restore a prism in its entirety, it is possible to partially restore it, to make it an echo of what it had been when alive.

The header of The Power of Necromancy, How Death is Only the Beginning, Magister Austradimius.

Leila jumped up, putting more power from her weave into her legs. She landed on the bark of a tree, stamping her feet violently to make a hole that would keep her horizontal, she didn't forget to weave the hardness of her boot, so it wouldn't tear again. Letting her leg serve to keep her tense, she released the arrow she had summoned from Dune Fallen. No need to expend energy to make it more deadly, the arrows she was using would be enough for the men who had attacked them.

Her arrow hit its target in the head, killing the Eldar instantly. Below, Aurora wove a bolt of lightning, this time their enemies had no time to avoid it, one, took the bolt in the chest making him fly away, dead, the shock made the Eldar next to the dead man fall, having received part of the electric charge, he collapsed unable to move.

Leila tore herself from the tree and landed rolling on the forest floor to avoid the arrows that touch down at her previous location, she wove a spike of acceleration unleashing are knife directly into the eye of the Eldar who was approaching quietly behind Aurora. Her reserves were beginning to run low, she felt her prism stretching. They had been fighting for almost fifteen minutes, yet they were nearing the end, with the help of Imoran and his shadow allies, they were finishing the ambush.

Aurora had her hair blowing in the wind, weaving a sharp wind she sent it at the last group of enemies causing them to fall and cut deeply. Imoran fell from the sky impaling the last of their attackers still standing on the top of his head.

- Tie them up, finish off those too badly wounded.

The shadow-cloaked Eldar complied.

Leila nonchalantly approached her latest kill, put her foot on his chest and retrieved her dagger, wiping the blood and bits of brains on the dead man's shirt. She sheathed her weapon.

Keeping Dune Fallen in her hand she approached Aurora who had not moved since the end of the battle. As she went to ask her what was wrong Aurora knelt and vomited.

Leila frowned before pulling her friend's hair back so it wouldn't fall into the remains of the breakfast they had eaten on the way to the forest in the morning. She tucked Dune Fallen into the case on her back before circling Aurora's back.

- There, there, it's all right, it's over.

Dazed Aurora did not respond. Leila helped her to her feet before pulling a cloth from her pocket and wiping the remains of vomit from Aurora's chin. This brought Aurora out of her daze and with a start, she took the cloth to finish cleaning herself.

Leila looked at her friend with concern, before looking at Imoran approaching.

- Is everything good for you?

Leila glared at him.

- How long have you been following us?

Imoran shrugged, answering Leila's unstated question instead.

- It's a good thing we did, considering what just happened.

Aurora intervened.

- Who are they?

Imoran glanced at their prisoners, before answering.

- We'll find out.

- No, I'm not talking about them, who are the ones covered in shadow? I can't figure out what kind of weave they use. Do you think they can teach me?

Leila looked at her friend in relief. As for Imoran, he froze, not answering. Leila was sure she saw some of the shadows freeze too, though it was hard to tell. In any case, they were speeding up what they were doing.

Imoran coughed.

- I think the best thing is to take you back to the palace

The Eldar hissed and three Teriathe emerged from the shadows of the forest, some of them licking their blood-covered lips. Leila glanced towards the forest wondering how many more enemies she had missed.

- I haven't succeeded in my hunt yet.

Imoran replied gently, obviously having noticed how angry Leila was.

- With the noise, we've made it's unlikely there's any prey left in the area. You'd have to go deeper into the forest, which means not returning until dark.

Leila frowned and crossed her arms in disappointment. The Teriathe approached and Leila climbed onto one of them, sighing in disappointment. The second Teriathe had to headbutt Aurora, causing her to stumble, she absentmindedly decided to climb on his back, her attention still focused on the Eldar hidden by the shadows.

As they rode back towards the city with Imoran, Leila watched Aurora weave differently with her hands, mumbling too low for her to hear what she was saying. Imoran watched with concern as Aurora experimented.

As they approached the gates of Tuanon, the shadows of the forest had stretched. Leila hadn't realised it was so late, even though the canopy darkened the forest well before sunset it was late enough that Leila began to feel hungry. Knowing that they hadn't eaten at noon Leila was anxious to get home and have a good meal. Aurora's experiences with Dune Fallen had taken most of the day away from them, the ambush following hadn't Leila had time to enjoy a good hunt. She loved her friend, but there was no way she was going to bring her back with her when she went hunting in the future.

Finally, they took the same route as the day before, Leila could see Jonah in the distance, pacing up and down the stairs leading to the palace, his weapon in hand, ignoring the two guards at the door. When he noticed them he stopped, standing still and looking in their direction. He stood still until they walked up the entire avenue to the palace. Leila could feel the intensity of his gaze as they approached their destination, clearly not wanting to wait any longer, he began to descend the steps of the palace four by four. Approaching at high speed, weaving in his muscles he stopped as he slid past them.

Jonah glanced at them, looking for wounds, noticed the traces of blood on their leather armour and his face darkened. Leila had ended their relationship a while ago, but as she looked at his dark face, she remembered how no matter how much emotion he let show on his face, he managed to stay beautiful. She had seen him cry when his grandparents died and even then he had managed to exude a manly charm. Nevertheless, when he grabbed her left foot and looked at it with concern she had to stop herself from kicking him. And when she glared at him and he gave her a relieved smile she wished she hadn't. Unfortunately, he had already turned to Aurora.

- Is everything alright Aurora?

Aurora jumped out of the world she where was, and when she saw Jonah, she leaned towards him and said.

- Jonah! You'll never guess what I saw, there were men with us, they used a strange weave that made them hard to detect!

She added in a whisper that was not a whisper.

- I think they were using a weave that directly affects the mind, how else could it confuse my perception of what they were doing?

Jonah patted her foot before answering.

- I'd be happy to discuss this with you, but in the meantime, how about we get down from here and let poor Teriathe go back into the forest.

The Teriathe in question roared in agreement before giving his rider a reproachful look. Leila, for her part, had already dismounted and unharnessed her mount. Like yesterday, servants approached to take her riding gear. Aurora quickly dismounted before awkwardly patting her mount in apology, her cheeks flushed.

- Why were you waiting for us? Leila asked.

The smile that had appeared on his face fell away, his face sagging with displeasure as he glanced angrily at Imoran. Imoran had ignored them and gone off in the direction of the palace, probably to report to Zarune.

- You were attacked too?

- Also?

- Yes, Mat came back covered in blood and wounded, he wouldn't say anything, but I have my suspicions. Zarune used us as bait to lure those enemies.

- Hmm. It was a good idea.

- What? What do you mean?

Leila looked at him patiently.

- If you want to catch your prey, sometimes a good bait is better than hunting blind.

Jonah looked at her shocked and indignant.

- We are not a bait to be used, like animals!

Leila shrugged her shoulders in indifference.

- If you're hunting particularly dangerous prey, it's better to do it on your terms, that way you don't run the risks that such a hunt entails. You don't go after a tiger by wandering randomly through its territory, you lure it where you want it to be. I'm sure Zarune used the best solution she could for our safety.

Jonah shook his head in dismay. Realizing that he didn't going get to the bottom of this with her, he resumed.

- Let's go into the apartment and get you changed, and we'll check you for injuries.

Leila gave him an irritated look before taking Aurora's hand, who was watching looking up at the sky again, as she moved her hands, and headed for their flat. Glancing at Jonah who was following them she added.

- If you think I'm going to let Aurora or I to be checked out without clothes on by you, you're wrong.

She didn't see Jonah roll his eyes, but she knew him well enough to know his reaction.

- What? What? Aurora interjected.

- Nothing.

When she arrived in the common room Mat sat in an armchair with his legs resting on a coffee table and a book in his hands, giving her an indifferent look. She did the same. She pushed Aurora into her room with orders to go and change, ignoring Mustapha's questions, which Jonah took care of answering, and did the same.

Once relaxed in her bath, she grabbed her boot and checked if she had done her weaving properly. Finding no rips, she threw back her boot with satisfaction, but her sock was not so lucky. She sighed in frustration. She would have to go into town to find a new pair, several just in case.

Soon after she went to the common room where she found a chair in the corner of the room where she could reflect on what she had done wrong in her fight today and what she could do better. Aurora was in the middle of a discussion with Jonah, and he was listening dutifully, having put away the stupid sword launcher he was carrying around. Mat was still in his chair and Mustapha was looking at a game board with frustration. Marie must still be in her room because she was nowhere in sight.

They had been lucky, Leila realised, if their assailant hadn't scared off a black-headed warbler they would have been taken by surprise. Unless it was Imoran and his shadowy friends that did it to warn them. Leila would have to ask Imoran.

While she was thinking about this, Zarune entered their common room. Leila saw Jonah stand up slowly, his face impassive as it always was when he was lecturing someone. Too bad for him but she had something else to do with her friend, so Leila stood up and waved.

- Zarune how do you keep your socks from tearing when you do a concentrated weave leg raise?

Zarune raised an eyebrow.

- Didn't I already tell you how to keep your boots from tearing?

Leila replied in annoyance.

- I did, my boots were protected but not my sock.

- Ah, I bet it's because you made two unlinked weaves, one for augmentation and one for protection. It has to be a single weave for there to be a link, the sum of the parts have greater effects than two weaves side by side, it will be harder to set up but once you master it the effect will be much more powerful.

As Leila pondered this information, Aurora rose with enthusiasm.

- Of course! Zarune that means that if I create a single weave of light, one to bend the light and the other to reverse it that I could create an illusion capable of hiding me?

Zarune looked at Aurora in amusement.

- I can't deny or confirm anything, if I speak I'll get the incessant complaints of the Dark Path and they can be incredibly annoying if they want to.

Disappointed Aurora sat down.

- Here.

Zarune sent a dagger without looking at him, which Mat caught. A perfect throw.

- We've been invited to the meal by the ruling family, only the most influential members of the city will be attending, only about twenty participants, unlike yesterday.

She looked at them critically.

- Dress in the clothes provided, don't embarrass yourself.

She was dressed in a beautiful purple dress, her eyes lightly made up to highlight her eyes and her silver hair. A different dress and make-up from yesterday. Where did she find all her things? Their travel bag hadn't been big enough to carry such a wardrobe.

And before Jonah could even open his mouth, she was gone.

- Great party, I love parties. She heard Mustapha say as he left for his room.

Jonah looked thoughtfully at the door, before heading towards Marie's room. Probably to convince her to come. Leila as well as Aurora and Mat went to change as well.

Soon after they were close, Aurora complained to Leila that she had no make-up to wear. Leila told her to ask Zarune to lend her some, or better still, they could go to town together tomorrow to buy some. She still had socks to buy, and by the time she had mastered a multi-thread weave, it was likely that she would lose several pairs of socks. There were still several days to go here, if she left the next day for a day of relaxation, shopping and a bit of training, the day after she could hunt, alone of course. Maybe with Zarune if she wasn't busy.

Jonah hadn't managed to convince Marie to come out of her room, so it was only five humans who accompanied Imoen, the Eldar with the hair of fire who was a future officer of the Eldar, unlike a servant of the Shard family like yesterday. The latter, once she had accompanied them, left.

When Leila and her companions arrived, the Eldar of the Eclat family stood up from the large table where their dinner would be served. They were spread out evenly, and when asked about Mary's absence, Jonah told them that she was not feeling well and had preferred to rest in her room. Only the two seats at the end of the table, presumably intended for the princess and the head of the house, were empty, in addition to the chair reserved for Mary.

Leila found herself seated next to a distant-looking Eldar with old eyes and an Eldar with bright blond hair.

- We meet again," said the Eldar with the bright blond hair, bowing.

Noticing Leila's frown of incomprehension, he replied impassively.

- Tearune of the House of Shards.

Leila, still unable to tell who it was, nodded in agreement and pretended to recognize him.

Before he could strike up a conversation, the double doors at the back of the closed room opened. Zarune and Issus entered, Zarune with detachment, Issus with a slightly faded look.

As Zarune sat down, Issus stood.

- My friends, it is an honour to see you all gathered here tonight, and to our distinguished guests, it is with sorrow that I must inform you that we will not be able to enjoy the company of our guests any longer. A ship of the Eclats family has offered to provide transport to Tera. As the departure is scheduled for tomorrow morning, I propose that you enjoy our company one last time this evening.

After these last words, Issus clapped his hands twice, and an assembly of servants arrived with dishes in hand.

Leila licked her lips in anticipation. She was hungry. Focusing on the scent that reached her nose she ignored the sounds of the stranger to her right, at least the distant-eyed Eldar to her left had the decency to concentrate on her meal.