Mara regains her senses, aware she is in the Shadow Realm. She wanders and eventually finds a structure which turns out to be the empty manor house of long-lost House Valmyrri. She hears whimpers, goes to investigate, and finds a young halfling hiding under the bed, terrified; it urges her to hide. A horrific monster appears, its head swathed in bandages and its broken hands carrying a lantern and disturbing bells; it hauls off the halfling, while Mara, terrified, does nothing. A tapping at the window reveals a crow, who shapeshifts into the long-dead Fulcairn ancestor, Catriona Fulcairn. She explains she entered the Shadow Realm long ago to attempt to magically seal a rift which threatened to leak the Shadow Realm into the mortal plane; without the lost land magic in the bloodline of the youngest Valmyrri from so long ago, she was required to physically enter the Shadow Realm to do so. Catriona urges Mara to ward it from the other side. Unable to help her further, Catriona summons a crow to try and lead Mara out of the Shadow Realm, and Mara takes her leave. Mara makes her way to what appears to be an inn; its inhabitants turn on her, reflect her own magic onto her, consuming her with fire, and she loses consciouness.
She awakes on a cart being hauled to the gates of Fulcairn Keep. Cuinn and Aerona greet her, and the trio leave to try and follow Adair and Asha, who still have not returned from their scouting mission. They are intercepted by the Archduke's envoy, Lord Winterholm, who casually tosses Asha's head and Adair's hand at Cuinn's feet. He proclaims that Boeruine is winning the war, but he will allow them to rejoin the fold, and spare Adair's life, if they surrender Mara to them. He also says that the Dragon has reclaimed the mebhaigl from Mara, and Mara discovers she cannot reach the land magic. Cuinn angrily turns on Mara, accusing her of urging them toward the losing side because of her lust for power... and agrees to Winterholm's terms. Mara then realizes she is in the Shadow Realm, knowing the real Cuinn would never abandon her. She unleashes a fireball on the entire group, killing Aerona, but Cuinn's bloodline powers shield her from the fire and she manages to retaliate with two well-placed arrows. Mara falls; Winterholm goes to bloodthieve her, but Cuinn snarls that the right to do so is hers. She kills Winterholm, beheads him and his men in vengeance for Asha, and drives her blade into Mara's heart. The last thing Mara hears is the cawing of a crow.
Cuinn grimly returns to Fulcairn Keep empty-handed, frustrated at the Ghosts' inability to locate the invasion force. Laurentius returns without Mara; she angrily accuses him of failing at protecting her, then relents. With no news from Mara or the Ghosts, without the full strength of the hired mercenary forces, and with more refugees heading eastward from Portage, she decides to take a small party to try and retrace the steps of Adair and Asha, as she is unwilling to launch an offensive without any idea of the size, strength and location of the invasion forces. Cuinn, Aerona, Laurentius, and a few men-at-arms leave for Portage. They locate only supply trains, but still cannot find the bulk of the invasion force, and Aerona's attempt to befriend and question a group of soldiers fails. Cuinn, at her wit's end, decides they cannot afford any further inaction and they will have to attack the supply trains. She commands Aerona to return to Fulcairn Keep, take command of the Wilder archer unit and whatever mercenaries have arrived, and strike westward to disrupt the supply chains, while she tries to find Adair and Asha deep in enemy territory. They part ways. Cuinn follows the trail of an apparent hunt westward, finding bodies of enemy scouts, traps, and scenes of vicious fights in the woods; despite the danger and fearing the worst, she is filled with pride at the skill and bravery of her Ghosts. The trail splits off and she is forced to follow one north, believing it to be Adair's. Finally, nearly at the coast, she finds him, his right arm mangled beyond use by the jaws of hunting dogs, nearing the end of his strength and without his weapons, but alive. She embraces him, relieved, and tends to his wounds. He has dire news-- the reason they could not find the invasion force is because they were magically concealed, and he and Asha blundered into them, barely managing to flee with their lives. Horrified, Cuinn and Adair make for Fulcairn Keep.
They reach it at the same time as the full strength of the Forgotten Sons mercenary company's units of light cavalry and infantry. However, an Imperial messenger arrives with even grimmer tidings-- Stormpoint has fallen. Forces from Boeruine, Portage, and Bhaine, working in concert, and magically cloaked, attacked without warning and claimed it, as there was no wizard to defend it or raise the alarm, with Mara still absent. Thaliere commands Cuinn to head to Seamist to join the Imperial forces planning for war, even as a letter from Branna Nentril arrives begging Wilder's Gorge for aid against the forces besieging Bayside.
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