"Porthios! It's that way! Up the stairs to your left, take the hall straight ahead. Do not take the one to the right. Go Straight and all the way down to the last door on the left." Sha'uri shouted ahead to her minion.

"Got it!"
The male human figure, with dark brown shoulder length hair and matching beard and mustache, strained to acknowledge her with all that luggage he was carrying. Not only were there four suitcases in his grasp, two tucked under arms and one in each hand, but they were heavy laiden with his mistress' things. He muttered something about a Secakian pack rat on his way up.

"I heard that!" Sha'uri admonished, though with a smile.

Porthios' wife, Prestancia, who was in line between the two, thwapped her husband's head with the long pillow she held. She was pregnant again and not about to jeopordize it at this late stage.

"OUch! Okay, Okay! I'm sorry." Porthios grinned and glanced briefly back, to which his wife smacked him with the pillow again. "Hey! What was that one for?"

"For not letting me ahead first." Prestancia answered.

The look of annoyance crossed his features, eyes shifting to the cieling momentarily with the roll of the eyes and the exasperated sigh, so uncharacteristic of the otherwise silent and mysterious ranger looking guy. He backed down the two steps he'd taken and allowed her to go first. In passing him, Prestancia pinched his arm and swiftly ascended the steps. He growled and followed the sleek, dark haired woman in persuit. The two could be heard loudly bounding up the stairs and stampeding down the hall.

"Alright you two! Don't damage the goods!" Sha'uri couldn't help but laugh at them.

When she finally caught up with them in her room, they were on the bed playfully, though gently, wrestling. Her things had been haphazardly set to the side. Sha'uri cleared her throat and gave a firm, "Ahem." to which the two gasped and reverted into their other forms; Prestancia into a black Panther and Porthios into black Labrador/Rotweiler mix. Of course, the two went jumping off the bed and darted out of the room past the taptaptapping foot, folded arms and feigned glare of their mistress. Again, Sha'uri had to laugh.

Setting the heavy box of books down upon the floor, Sha'uri absentmindedly began to whistle while she proceeded to put away her things. It hadn't occured to her yet how lightened her mood had been lately, but it had to her minions on the lawn as they played.

Porthios barked and darted to the left but Prestancia pounced him, having anticipated the move. The two rolled down the small hill, Porthios reverting to his human form with his arms around his wife to protect her from harm. By the time the two came to the bottom of the hill, the two were both in human form. They came to rest and he set his head upon her belly, listening to their children within her womb.

"Will she be alright?", Prestancia asked.

Porthios nodded in answer while gently rubbing the swell of his wife's belly.

"I mean here by herself in this place again."

He lifted his head, confused at first until he realized who 'she' was that was meant. "Oh, you mean our mistress?"

Prestancia nodded.

"I'm sure she will. She needs this. Her smile has been gone for too long."

"She did seem to be smiling again." Prestancia agreed. "But I can't shake the feeling that something is odd here."

"When isn't RhyDin odd?"

"Point." Prestancia sighed gently. "I still don't like the idea of leaving her alone."

Porthios resumed his position listening to Prestancia's belly while his wife stroked his hair. This only lasted for a few minutes until Prestancia's eyes suddenly widened and she thwaped her husband's head for some unseen reason. She swiftly reverted back into her panther self, wiggled out of his grasp and darted off towards the barn with a large canine hot on her trail in pursuit again.

Meanwhile...
Starting with her books, Sha'uri dragged them over to a built in bookshelf along the wall of the adjacent room. She finished filling the second shelf with books and began a third when she noticed a small section of the shelf was cut, as if .. could it be?

"A lever?"

Cleverly set, and almost unnoticeable, was a square inch section towards the back and in the corner. She studdied the thing for several moments and even used magical incantations to try and reveal any wizard marks or traps that may have been set. Nothing. She even took a more mundane route, checking for normal traps. Again, nothing. She was confident that there was nothing there as a trap.

Sha'uri pressed the square but nothing happened. She tried prying it up with her fingernail, but nothing happened. Speaking the words of command to the chime of opening didn't do anything either. Nothing, it seemed, was going to move anything about this strange cut square. It was just a flaw in an otherwise beautifully crafted shelf. Or was it?

She was almost resigned to that fact as no other tricks of the trade came to her. She started to place the books on the shelf at the other end and soon she was about to set the last book upon that strange little cut square. However, something occured to her as her thought flashed to her dear friend Rick Nightstar. It reminded her of things like pressure plates, hidden rooms, and irreversable mistakes. It also convinced her that sOmething could very well be there..

"Aha! You are a lever! Where's Alex when I need him? So much better at engineering than I am. What would my first born do?"

She thought she knew. He would probably put the book there, wiggle it around and see what happened. Could be fun. She held that last book closer to its place but drew it back instead of putting it down. What if's began to course through her thoughts. Then she shook her head.

"I better show this to Bri."

With that, she set the book back into the box and left to go find the new found Head Master of the place, calling his name as she went along.

"Briari? Hello? I got something I need to show you!"

Sha'uri darted down the hall and remembered the most obvious of places he should be. The office. Rolling her eyes at herself, she proceeded with an about face and made her way running towards his office. She passed the Aide as she went by, though came to an abrupt stop and caught the woman's attention.

"Hello again. Is he in there?" Sha'uri asked, pointing towards the door that was down the hall.

"Yes, Ma'am. Go right on in."

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, I don't know how much cleaning items we have, but I will be cleaning a lot in the temple and the forge area tomorrow. Would you please check on supplies for me today?"

"Of course, I would be happy to. Will you require help? I could hire a cleaning crew for you." The aide offered.


"That's actually a good idea. Yes, Let's just hire a crew to come in and clean up the other buildings. I'll take care of temple and forge, but the rest does need done, too."

"I'll have them report to you since you will be out there. Provided, I can get a group that big for tomorrow. "

"Oh, you're right. It would take at least thrice the normal crew for all that. Well, if they can come some time this week, that would be great. Whenever you can get them here is fine. Even if it is just one crew for the week, that will work too. Just have them report to me and I'll be happy to handle it from there."

"Thank you, M'Lady. I will do as you've asked." The aide smiled and continued on her way.

Sha'uri knocked softly at the door but was too excited to wait for an answer. It's not like he wouldn't be descent or anything. It was his office. So in she went and was about to blurt out her findings except his non reaction to the entrance caused her to pause. He was just standing there, staring out the window. Something was odd again.

"Bri?" she softly called. There was no reaction.

She moved round to his side, the floor boards creaked lightly under her weight. And still, there was no reaction to her presence. Not even when she waived a hand before his eyes. Were those tears misting in their depths? She had to look. She saw into them, his eyes that only saw something of his past. She felt it, sensed it and was almost to the point of seeing it too. The well marked by a gravestone nearby came into her minds eye view.....

Suddenly, Briarius turned so pale, even gray, as he stumbled back. Sha'uri was quick to swing his chair around so he wouldn't stumble into it but fall to sit there. He still seemed unaware of her there by his side.

"I was too weak to save her..."


In no way did she want to startle him at this point. Slowly she knelt down, easing her presence in as she placed one hand on the back of his chair and the other hand slipped ever so slowly and carfully to hold his hand gently. She waited, her lips not far from his ear, and waited for him to realize she was there. Then she spoke gently to him, softy as if a whisper.

"I need you here, Bri. I have something I need to show you. In my room. You must come. Now. Are you all right to do this?"

"I think it might be some kind of lever on the bookshelf in my room."

She helped him to stand and escorted him to her room while she explained what she found.

"I've tried to look for magicks or mechanical traps and the like, but nothing reveals it. Maybe it's just a defect, but I doubt it. It looks way to purposeful. It might have a pressure plate, though I don't trust my ability to detect it. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Anyway, thought you should see this. Are there any secret passageways here that you know of?"

Upon entering her room, she pointed out the strange cut square and picked up the book from the box, the one she had been going to place there. It was entitled: The Art of Dreams into Reality- Magical Augmentations for Interior Design.

"So, what do you think? Do you wanna place the book or should I clear the shelf and run for my life?"

Smile!

"Ravensheart? I thought it seemed familiar. Maybe it needs something of a magical nature. Here, try putting this on it."

She hands him the book, wondering what could happen, if anything. It was worth a try.

"This book contains magical incantations. Maybe it'll trigger something?"

Her heart sank a bit as nothing seemed to happen with the wieght of the book placed upon the square. She really had been wanting something to happen there. She just stared at the place, listening to Bri leave her room when the grinding noise of gears shifted the contenance upon her visage from disappointment to shock as she watched the bookcase shift inward and to the side, revealing the stone stairway leading down below.

"Bri..." it was just a whisper. "Bri... I was right. There IS something here!"

Swiftly she turned and moved to her door. She was about to open it when the thought occured to her that it just might close the stairway if she opened the door.

"Bri!!! Don't Move! " she yelled, loudly, hoping he wasn't too far down the hallway just yet. "Bri! Come back! You opened the stairway! When you shut the door, the bookcase opened to a stairway! Just don't open the door. Do Not Open the Door. I'm going to shift to the ethereal and come get you so we can both be ethereal and move through the door without opening it up. Okay?"

She waited to hear him respond before she would shift into the ethereal place and walk through the wall to come and get him.

Sha'uri also woke up with the biggest headache she's ever had in her life..... and how did she get in bed? How did all the books get put away?

"By all that's in the Nine Hells..." she exasperated as she sat up, trying to remember what had happened.

Something was definitely wrong. Last thing she could remember was finding a switch and Bri opened up a stairway leading down, though he didn't realize it. She was going to go ethereal, trying not to trigger the secret door shut, and bring him back to show him....... she was waiting for his answer. Yes, she distinctly remembered waiting for his answer ........

"But I didn't. Did I? Or he didn't ... or ... what the hell."

She cringed in pain as her hand went to her forehead and she fought off the wave of nausea. For the first time in a few years, she thought of Galen and the terrible way he left her at the alter. No one deserved what he had caused to happen to her. No one deserved that at all.

Literally shaking her head, as if to shake the scene from her mind, she stood carefully and slowly ... and then paused as the door was thrown open. There stood Porthios in human form with Prestancia in his arms passed out cold.

"Mistress! What in blazes is going on around here? We suddenly sensed some devilry around you ... and then we passed out in the barn. I awoke to the setting sun when it had barely been noon high. I can't get her awake." He quickly moved to the bed and laid his wife down there.

Sha'uri was quick to react to her minion's needs, realizing now that something wrong DID happen. It wasn't just some nightmare. Something Evil was presented here ... something very old and equally vial. She didn't want to worry them and so she quickly examined Prestancia.

"I'm not sure, though I think she will be all right. I had a ... nightmare ... I think."

"Prestancia was right. You shouldn't have come back here. You thought of him, didn't you." Porthios knew the familiar patterns of his Mistress' mind.

Sha'uri nodded.
"He means nothing and he has no power over me, not even here. He never did. I'll be all right, Porthios. And so will Prestancia. She should be awake by the morning. I'm going to send you both back to the Citadel. You'll be protected there. If she doesn't awake by morning, then contact me immediately. You know how."

Porthios nodded and picked up his wife.

"Take the other route back. I feel it isn't safe to use magic here ... ironically ... here in a place that's supposed to teach magic. I wonder what else is in store for this place. Anyway, take the other way. You know where it is."

"I do." With that, Porthios left the room and quickly removed himself and his wife off of the property ........into the shadows......... to return to Exodii.


A heavy sigh escaped her. She moved round the room and took stock of every detail in every nook and cranny. All her things were put away and the odd formation in the bookshelf was gone, as if it had never even existed.

"STrange. Too strange ... and I'll take on the damn Nine Hells to get an answer. As if that would be any different to anything else here in RhyDin...." Sarcasm dripped thickly in her voice as she made her way to Bri's office once again.

Knock .... Knock .... Knock ....

De ja vous ... It almost felt like before when she came through his office door, except this time she was much more quiet and the door was already slightly open. She swung it further until the door gently touched the doorstop. Then she stood in the opened doorway.

Ravensheart ... he said something about the castle. Wasn't there a connection? Maybe that's what she felt mixed in all that turmoil upon her waking: a connection with Ravensheart. She would have to ask him as her mother's memories were strange. But did he remember?

"Bri?" a slight pause, "Bri... are you all right? There's something wrong with what I showed you."

She momentarily ignored the pain though clutched to the symbol as if to draw, or give, strength.

"When you shut the door, the bookcase shifted and revealed a stairway leading down, like one from Ravensheart and.... something happened .... and ... now it's all gone. Bri, what ... what happened... to ... to R....?"

She left the question hang, and leaned up against the door frame as if to support her weight.

"Didn't you hear me call you as you as left my room? I was screaming ... for you."

The medallion glowed more intensely, wrapping the light round her hand while her eyes ignited with sapphire flames. The two lights began to pulse with their own beat until after a moment the two seemed to combine and pulse as one.... A towering fortress of psionic energy edged out and shielded Sha'uri's mind from the diabolical attack.

An audible sigh of relief seemed to signal the returning color in her face. She shifted to stand on her own and moved to stand next to Bri. Her visage seemed unreadible.

"You should question that.... carefully. Was it really destroyed ... completely? Who or what would want to keep it from you? You have some very powerful friends, Briari. Equally so, you have enemies."

She leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "One of them just came knocking on my brain. However, I'm sure they are beginning to get the idea ... that you dO have powerful friends. I don't just merely walk a path shown to me by Correllon, as most priests of the faith do; I walk yet another path with him."

She could feel it now and knew that sometimes things had to run their course... like worms, parasites and the like, though these were none of those, exactly. There were several things she was sensing and now was not the time to confront them. The last thing she wanted to happen was any harm to Bri.

It was out of the kindness and love of her heart that she pulled a medallion on a platinum chain out of her pocket and placed it in his hand. The medallion was made of several metals depicting the Woodshadow oak leaf Crest, a gift from her mother. Sharalis had made it herself while she was head of Woodshadow Castle. Several protective blessings to ward off and destroy evil, hedge out and prevent mind possessions and cast a protective force from all elements. It also allowed movement and concealment within the shadows. The magic still held strong upon it for the power seeped through on many levels... even the weave of shadows drawn from the throne of bones in Woodshadow Castle... wherever it existed now.

"Mom would want you to have this. Please wear this ... if only for her. And if that's not enough, then I don't what is. I just know I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

With that, she kissed his cheek and left the room.