Snippet #1315734

Alessa leaned against the wall.
The entire rebel rescue had caught her off-guard, she hadn't expected them to get inside so quickly. But she had been watching as the prince seemed to search for something. What could he want? What could possibly be in the dungeons that he desired? What could he need?
Saraf seemed focused on helping the prince so she had left with the other prisoners. He would assume that was where she had gone and hopefully would not worry, she didn't want to cause him torment. But as the prisoners made their way out, she held back, hiding in a small alcove in the corridor while she thought about what to do. Lanmo knew she was Asela, but she believed everything she needed to defeat her father was here in the castle so although she could not continue to give information from inside, neither could she afford to leave the castle altogether. She needed some answers before she planned her next move so, moving into the most shadowed part of the alcove, she clutched the onyx pendant around her neck.
"Shadus plaus darkos walkus..."
And then she was enveloped in shadow, any who looked into the alcove would see nothing of her, no trace of her being there at all.

Alessa had travelled to the dark plains. The realm of shadow. All was black around her, and yet everything was clear. And as she waited, sure enough, the shape of a man appeared before her. All clad in black with long black hair, pure white skin and obsidian black eyes was Noir the Darkling, her guardian and guide to the plains.
"Well Alessa, it is certainly pleasant to see you again after all this time. Although from the look on your face we take it this is not a social call." He said softly, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I have questions that need answers, urgently."
"As always, we shall do our best to answer. Please, go ahead."
"Prince Morpeth is in the castle, he seems to be searching for something. Do you know what and where it is?"
"The only thing we can tell for certain is that the artifact is of great power, and that they were looking in the wrong place. Not long after your father came to power, many magical objects were moved within the palace. However, we are able to track this particular one down to it's new location."
"Can you take me and the rebels there?"
"Only you and one other none-shadow creature."
"I see." Alessa hesitated a moment. "One more thing, what do you know about Shade's and their masters? The shade that my father has summoned mentioned something about protecting his master's bloodline."
"We would think you could guess that Alessa, although shadow magic and necromancy are different they both use blood magic. As long as either you or your brother are alive, Lanmo lives and serves whomever is alive. After your father's death, one of you will be able to claim his service for your own." He frowned, staring at Alessa suspiciously. "We hope you're being careful Alessa, we do care about you and let's face it, you have a habit of attracting trouble."
"I assure you Noir, I will not be your concern for much longer."
"No riddles please Alessa, that is our job."
Alessa smiled.
"Goodbye."

As she returned to the normal world, Alessa knew what she had to do.
"I can only hope that someday you can forgive me Saraf." She said softly, before touching her pendant once more.
"Shadus Saraf traveus..."
Using the shadows, she travelled to where Saraf, Rancom and the Prince were, timing it so she appeared behind Saraf whilst he had stopped.
"Saraf! Forgive me for sneaking up on you but I had to find you all. The artifact you seek, the shadows know of it. I can take you to it safely." She said earnestly, her voice filled with genuine sincerity and eagerness to help. Surely the prince would realise the significance of this information, they may not get another chance to find the artifact, whatever it was. Alessa couldn't help but wonder what was so important but anyway, as long as she got them to it that was what mattered.