"A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Olaes caesi! Mi'm olaes caesi!" Over here! She's over here!

The voices were muted at best' wet, somehow. It was dark. Humid. There was a strange metallic taste in her mouth. Old death. Opening her eyes groggily, a young elfess attempted to shift her leaden body, only to discover she was pinned just below the ribs by something massive and heavy. In vain, she searched her thoughts for a levitation spell, but a numbing concussion seemed to have knocked all coherent alchemy right out of her brain. It was getting darker, and somehow she knew that this observation had little to do with the amount of light wherever she was.

Where was she" It was dank and moldy-smelling. A tomb' But there was also a steady stream of trickling water nearby. A cavern of some sort. Come to think of it, the weight atop her felt like rock. Had there been a collapse" What had caused it'

Slowly, coasting on the waves of a violent headache, clarity began to dribble in. There had been a detonation. Mar"Tak Thyr. A trap had been sprung inside one of the catacombs her unit was investigating as a response to information received about possible illegal darke arte manipulation in Silvanesti territory. The blast had likely been ignited remotely, but the aftershock caused a cave-in. Catching sight of the tripwire at the last minute, the officer had done her best to project a shield to take the brunt of the rubble. Or at least, that was the last thing she could remember.

Searing fresh air filled her lungs, and artificial, green-tinged light cut into her line of sight after the scraping sound of rocks being shifted sounded above her. The green was shrouded in red, and her eyelids were sticky—hard to keep up. A far-off whimpering of something huge and baritone reverberated off the walls around her while her body grew impeccably light. Still, as figures shuffled around her, straining against the weight of that boulder, she became more and more aware that she was paralyzed from the waist down. At long last, a face she couldn't place but a uniform she recognized was very close; the elf was courteous enough to wipe the blood obscuring her vision with his sleeve.

"Thes. Colonel" Can you hear me" Can you get up?"

The elfess opened her mouth to speak, but hadn't the strength to form a word.

"How is she?" a strangely familiar voice asked nearby.

"She's in bad shape, Sir. But I think I can help her. If the beast had brought us an hour later, there wouldn't have been anything I could have done."

A sour, revolting liquid was poured into her mouth, and it was all she could do not to gag.

"Drink up, Colonel. You know the drill."

Some part of her prayed to Paladine for the strength to whap the underling upside the head for his smart mouth. Meanwhile, the officer merely obeyed and swallowed every last drop of the nauseating concoction, vaguely aware of a pins-and-needles feeling in her toes that was spreading rapidly through her feet and up her legs. When at last the numbness receded in her abdomen, replaced with a throbbing, unrelenting pain, the elfess groaned.

"I'll be damned, Shade. If you ever scare us like that again, I will have Kahmah pull rank on you."

"Good luck," she hissed weakly. Was that her voice" "He likes me more than he likes you, Baeleth."

The underling very carefully made to wind his arm underneath the officer and pull her up gently.

"That's all right, Ia. I've got this," Baeleth said firmly. Languid, strong arms replaced the cautious ones and heaved the officer all at once to her feet. It was then that she got a better look at the underling. He was a tiny little thing— but then again, all Silvanesti healers were. His eyes had the look of a fledgling, though; skittish as a hare in a lion's den. He stood at attention, clicked his booted heels together, and saluted Baeleth and his groggy companion.

"Sir, yes Sir. Colonel Cyredghymn: Can you walk?" he asked warily, that medical training kicking in long enough to stall his flighty demeanor. Before Sivanna could open her mouth with a smart remark, Baeleth spoke for her.

"She can walk, Ia. You're dismissed." The elfess's head lolled indignantly to the side just in time to catch a glimpse of her elven kin's snarky grin. He would never let her forget this for as long as he lived.

Meticulously, the raven-haired Silvanesti stepped lightly over the broken rubble toward the mouth of the cavern, where the light was no better. It didn't matter, anyway. The mage had enchanted a staff strapped to his back to emit the eerie, alien light Sivanna had noticed earlier. She would have been more impressed if he could perform the spell without the use of a magic-imbued apparatus. She could. But then again, she was also slung across the slender elf's shoulders, and her military strides were nothing more than pathetic shuffles. Oh yes. He would never let her forget this.

"Before you say anything—" she began hoarsely, trekking along with the help of her peer.

"Save it, Shade," he interrupted. "It wasn't your fault. Tyrae turned out to be the informant. He tripped it from a distance. Your unit didn't even know what was coming. And the powers that be didn't have a damn clue, either."

Sivanna sighed, grateful for the way the humid air buffered her gravelly voice.

"I had a feeling?" she admitted, shaking her head. "More and more are turning to the dark artes. It's beginning to become a problem."

"It wouldn't be a problem if they didn't use the power against Silvanost," Baeleth rebutted angrily. "But you make a deal with the devil, you do Her dirty work."

As they walked in silence, the clamor of an adjacent camp being set up became more and more prominent. If they just got there, then?"

"How did you find me?" Sivanna asked bluntly, voicing her thoughts aloud.

Baeleth paused, paying no mind to the wince the elfess hissed as he gave her arm a tug to redistribute her weight.

"Your summon found us" Come to think of it' How were you able to call for him in that state" You couldn't even open your damn eyes, and you still harnessed enough arcane to send Cerberus for help?"

The female officer halted her steps and frowned at Baeleth, studying his angular visage carefully for any signs of dishonesty. Finding none, Sivanna balked.

"I didn't send him," she stated flatly. Her elven kin looked at her evenly a long time before his brows raised in pleasant surprise.

"He apparated all on his own?"" he suggested incredulously. "That's some summon you've got there, Shade. That he would risk his entire Existence in that Leap to secure your safety."

Sivanna would have scoffed, but the idea wasn't farfetched. In fact, it hadn't been the first time her trustworthy Cerberus had braved the mortal realm without escort when her life had been in jeopardy. Actually, it hadn't been the fifth time. Instead, the elfess merely twitched a smile. Baeleth prattled on as they resumed their walk.

"I wonder if he does that for all the summoners he serves?" he mused aloud thoughtfully. He blinked as Sivanna shook her head. "How do you know?"

"He told me," she replied matter-of-factly. Baeleth stumbled to a stunned halt and stared at the elfess in his tow a long while.

"You" you're Enlightened of him!" Shade" that's" that's the strongest connection a mage can make with their summon. No one— not even General Kahmah can Exchange with Anima"! How"!" When"!?" he sputtered. Sivanna chuckled, gritting her teeth as her ribs ached.

"I've known Cerberus as long as I can remember. He's just always been there. We've always looked out for each other, even before Wayreth. We take care of each other. And I care about him. I worry about him."

Baeleth arched a brow, but offered a meager smile. "He sounds more like a friend than a summon."

"He is," Sivanna affirmed. "He is my best friend."

—-

"My best friend?"

The words cracked; echoed into the unforgiving nothingness of the Abyss, only reminding a certain cleric just how alone she really was in this place. Somehow, in a shapeless, formless environment, Sivanna's feet had found purchase on invisible ground. She was on her knees, shoulders trembling as she hugged a long, thin sheet of charred parchment to her chest.

Her intent that day had been a rescue mission. Ever since the climactic fight with Arivain, her faithful Cerberus had been sealed in the Abyss. Unfortunately, despite centuries of research by the Silvanesti, the fact remained that only way to unseal a summon was still to travel to the place of confinement and tear the seal off by hand. The longer a summon remained incapacitated, however, the more its Existence was put at risk. After all, the basis of a seal's power resided in its ability to sap a summon's strength. The time to survive in captivity was more or less proportional to its capability.

She thought she had more time.

After enduring the yearlong trek toward the place of confinement, Sivanna only found her faithful companion's remains.

She thought she had more time.

"I'm sorry, Cerberus," she whispered hoarsely, clutching that cursed seal to her person as if it were cleric's-best-friend himself. "I'm so sorry." A sinking feeling dragged her stomach past the soles of her feet when she realized that she would not be heard— not in any dimension. Cleric's-best-friend was gone forever because she hesitated. Because she had spent too long in wary construction of her strength before venturing to the Abyss again. Because she was afraid.

"God"! I'm sorry"!" she shrieked, hiccupping in hysterical, unstoppable sobs. Over self-loathing at her weakness or loss, she wasn't sure. Just then, a form materialized behind her, and Sivanna knew it immediately by the sound of rustling robes.

"Someone call for me??" Nuitari's insidious voice asked, not bothering to hide his amusement. His form glided to the cleric; hovered over her shoulder to have a closer look at what she held.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Shame, isn't it, what She did??"

Sivanna's head snapped up. ?" She??"

The god of the Invisible Moon blinked with poorly feigned surprise. "Why, yes. Shortened his lifespan, She did. Made him more vulnerable to the seal. Although you can't blame Her too much, can you? You left him all alone here. Unprotected. Tsk, tsk, Sivanna. What kind of a cleric does that to her summon?"

She grit her teeth and averted her gaze. At that point, the self-loathing was painfully clear. Fresh, angry tears welled in her eyes. Nuitari, sensing her redirection, abandoned his sadistic torture and changed tracks.

?" But! She did help, General." He paused, empty black eyes swallowing the cleric's form in his heartless gaze. "Now when will the deed be done?" he pressed.

Dejectedly, Sivanna let the seal slip from her fingers. Once it hit the intangible floor beneath them, it ignited into flames. There went the last of him. The first summon she ever knew, and one of the best friends she ever had. She would never see him again. Choking back another sob, the cleric rose unsteadily to her feet. Nuitari smiled that pale, sinister smile he was so fond of as she bowed reverently before him, turned on her heel, and made back the way she came.

"Soon, my lord," she said flatly. "I swear it.?