Speaking of her mother, she did not know why she permitted Rafael and the Barnlings to witness her reunion. However, by sharing something so intimate, there was less tension now in their little group. They still had their secrets—Cassandra especially—, but not trying to conceal something so fundamental as the fact that she was an Elf made things much easier. She could once again tell stories, the myths and legends of her people, as she had done before they came across Rafael. The Barnlings sorely missed it and even Rafael seemed to enjoy the stories, though he tried to act as an aloof and distant listener.

Rafael, for his part, was less persistent with his questions and had almost entirely given up on lying about himself as bait to get information out of Cassandra or the Barnlings. He was smitten like any flighty young man at the sight of a pretty face, but beyond that, he also had a ravening sense of curiosity. It formed the larger part of the motivation for his claimed profession of treasure hunter. He was drawn to the unknown and the more you tried to keep something from him, the more eagerly he would pursue it.

Although he did not seem to realize it himself, he had a measure of Elven blood and that instinctively attracted him to her. Even when diluted, Elven blood calls to Elven blood. It was part of what drew him to her attention in the first place and part of the reason she continued to let him follow along on her journey.

She was not so certain she would allow him to follow through on his vow to see her journey to its end. He had no idea what that would mean and she had no intention of telling him, not now at least. The plan had gone awry and it may yet all be for naught. She had to press on, though. Even the slimmest chance of victory was worth casting everything aside. She regretted that Seth might never understand, but this was as much for his good as anything.

They were once again passing along the northern edge of the South Pendragon Forest, or the Goblin's Forest as it was formerly known. Even with the Goblins having been driven to point of extinction, she could not draw anywhere near the forest without it making her skin crawl. According to legend, her grandmother fell prey to the Goblins of the forest while heavy with child. Human woodcutters found her as she was dying and cut the child from her belly in a bid to save at least one life. That child was her mother. The woodcutters, knowing nothing of Elves, took her mother and grandmother for gods or demigods and so her infant mother was presented to the temple of Apollo in the High City.

When Cassandra left the tree palace of El-Simil in search of her mother, she nearly met with the same fate as her grandmother, only there would not have been a child to succeed her. Pursued by the vicious Red Caps, she was saved by a young Seth and pledged herself to him ever since. While she was thankful to the forest for the opportunity to meet Seth, she could never forget her fear and desperation that day and any time she was near the forest, she would relive that nightmare over and over again.

Rafael stopped dead in his tracks, holding out one hand to get the others to stop while reaching for his knife with the other.

She barely finished the question when a hulking creature burst out of the treeline and charged straight for them. He was closing the distance surprisingly fast for as large as he was. How did she not notice him? She should have heard him coming, sensed his presence, felt the burning of his animalistic fury well before he was almost upon them. Was she truly so distracted?

There was no time to worry about that now. She had to do what she could to drive off the creature. Using her walking stick as a focus, she quickly channeled energy through it, causing the tip to erupt in a brilliant flash of light. The creature—which Cassandra now realized was the larger and more vicious breed of Goblin known as the Orc—held up an arm to shield its eyes from the light. Rafael threw one of his knives into that arm, which only served to make it angry.

It swung wildly with its monstrous club bristling with jagged spikes of metal, stone and bone fragments. Somehow, Tammy was able to overcome her fear at the sight of the Orc and loosed an arrow. The little arrow stuck in the Orc's stomach, but it did not seem to penetrate past the layers crude leather armor.

Cassandra would have to do more. She reached out and tried to take hold of the Orc's mind, but there was nothing there. It was as if it did not exist at all. Anything with life had a presence that could be sensed if you were attuned to it. Any creature with a mind could be grasped, at least by someone with her level of ability, but it was like trying to take hold of the empty air.

It was then that she realized the Orc was immune to the touch of the mind. No wonder she did not sense it coming. Such a creature was too dangerous to live. Though it was perilous for her to exert too much of her power, it was a lesser evil compared to letting an immune run loose. She could not draw on the full power of the sun because some clouds were interfering, but all that meant was that it would only take longer for her to summon the energy she needed.

She could not be hasty. She needed to be certain that she killed the Orc in a single blow. But as she was gathering energy, the Orc drew a throwing axe with its free hand and threw it at her.

She may have been able to redirect enough energy to deflect the axe and perhaps not. She would not begrudge Rafael for trying to save her, but her concentration was broken and the energy she had drawn into herself was quickly slipping away.

Rather than swing its club, the Orc threw another axe. Rafael tried to deflect it with his knife, not quite cleanly, though, as he cried out in pain. An opening, however brief, was all the Orc needed. It charged at Rafael, hoisting up its club to bring it down with all the creature's terrible strength.

There was no time to gather more energy. She took what she had and lashed out at the Orc with a beam of light. The beam struck the Orc, knocked it over, but did little more damage than searing a hole in its armor. It knew Cassandra was the greater threat and turned to her as it got back on its feet. Before it could charge again, though, an arrow struck it in the back of the shoulder. It was not one of Tammy's arrows. It was a full-length arrow of greater craftsmanship, striking with much more force that anything the Barnling and her little shortbow were capable of.

In the span of a single breath, another arrow sank into the Orc's shoulder so close to the first arrow that the two were nearly touching. The Orc did not tarry to meet the new attacker, but instead made a break for cover within the treeline, taking a third arrow to the leg as he fled.

Cassandra traced the path of the arrow back to its source and saw a ranger emerge from the forest. It was no human ranger, though, but an Elf of the Forest Tribe. It was a most unexpected sight. No one from El-Simil left their forest to the south, but Cassandra had heard stories of an exile ranging in the Goblin's Forest, though she had never met him before.

She realized that Rafael had suffered some injury, but now was not the time to split hairs. She glanced over to him to ensure he was not hurt too badly and then turned her attention back to their rescuer.

Cassandra gave a slight bow and said, "I am Kalina, called Cassandra by the humans."

Cassandra frowned at this, but thought better than to meet insult with insult with the man who saved their lives.

Galenas was taken aback by the news.

Cassandra placed her hand over her heart. Even after having helped her mother find her rest, the pain of her loss was not gone entirely and speaking of it again so soon was more difficult than she would have imagined.

Galenas' gripped his bow so tightly you could hear him squeezing it.

"I tried to return to El-Simil after her death, but the Council rebuked me for mixing our blood with the humans and so I was banished to my dying day, cursed to never be received into El-Naia's embrace."

Cassandra had heard the stories that the Goblins were coming back in force to threaten the people living along the edges of the woods, but if this Ghúl was counted as a chieftain and had any great following, it was not likely that he would strike out alone as he did. Or would he?

Galenas looked over to Rafael and the Barnlings and told her, "You should tend to your companion."

Cassandra nodded.

Galenas shook his head.

Galenas raised his bow as a form of salute, then turned and left them for the forest, seeming to pick up the Orc's blood trail. When Cassandra returned to Rafael, he was sitting in the grass holding his injured left hand.

Rafael pulled off his glove to reveal the small gash between his thumb and index finger, where the Orc's throwing axe grazed him. Cassandra's hand hovered over his, glowing slightly as she channeled energy from herself to him. The wound closed and soon it was as if he had never been cut in the first place.

The Barnlings were huddled up close, watching with rapt attention. While looking so closely, Sammy noticed something of interest.

Rafael held up his newly healed hand, which was missing the pinky finger.

Tammy chimed in, "Me too, me too!"

Like two children, they clutched his hand, oohing and aahing over the curiosity of the tiny stump. Cassandra could sense that Rafael did not mind too much, but the two Barnlings needed to know the limits of polite behavior.

She pulled their hands away, much to the twins' disappointment, but as she was doing so, her own hand brushed against Rafael's stump of a finger. It was entirely unintentional and would have gone unnoticed had Cassandra not been suddenly assailed by a violent rush of images. Her body froze as the psychic backlash swept over her.

Rafael had not been born that way. No, the finger had been cut off, and although he did not remember it, his body had never forgotten. She saw white snow streaked with blood, charred corpses, the light fading out of a woman's eyes, a flashing knife, and man with many wounds lying on the ground. The wounded man reached out with his left hand, bleeding from a severed finger, the same as Rafael. When the hand made contact, the man's feelings crossed over. His pain, his sadness... But there was something else... A part of the man's spirit died in that very moment. In its place swirled a dark, freezing vortex. All emotion withered away, leaving one thing and one thing only: revenge. No, it was more than revenge, something deeper, more profound. Judgment.

She knew this feeling. She had felt it before, years ago. The scattered pieces of Rafael's hidden past finally came together. She saw it all, understood it all. Her Elven reserve could not save her from the resonance of her sympathic powers. She felt the unbearable loss as keenly as if it were her own.

While her body remained frozen in place, tears streamed down her cheeks. Her companions could not help but notice.

She could not hear Sammy's voice or feel Tammy tugging at her tunic. She was beyond the reach of the conscious world. Her mind had been overwhelmed, paralyzed. She was being dragged into the vortex and she could do nothing to resist. It would take her all the way to the Abyss, and she would be lost forever.

The world came rushing back as suddenly as it had been swept away. Rafael was holding her by the shoulders and shaking her.

She knew what had just happened, but she could not believe it. It was impossible. How could he have possibly been able to bring her back? Then she remembered. Elven blood ran in his veins. The power sleeping within him was just strong enough to save her.

Cassandra was still disoriented from the experience, but quickly struggled to regain her composure. Wiping away her tears, she simply said, "Nothing, nothing at all."

Rafael did not let her go.

She could not look him in the eyes. "Not here," she muttered, "not now. Ask me another time." She turned to face him. "Please..."

There rare display of vulnerability was enough for Rafael back off.

The treasure hunter shooed away the two Barnlings to give Cassandra some space while she got back in sorts. Though he could not be called pure-hearted, there was some nobility to him. He could be much more than he was. Perhaps that was part of the reason why she did not drive him away.

As she reflected on what she saw of Rafael's past, she found herself believing more and more that Fate may have brought them together after all. The threads were coming together and the tapestry was beginning to take shape. The only question that remained was what influence she had on tapestry. Could she play the part of the weaver or was she just another thread?