[sub]in collaboration with [@Meiyuki][/sub]

[h1][center][i][u]"Long Shadows"[/u][/i][/center][/h1]

Lorelai strode through the dark hallways of the castle briskly.  She'd endured long enough,  accepted too much,  and now it was time to spit in the eye of god and fate.  There was a relic,  sitting unused in some dusty vault,  that could restore Elina's leg,  give Alphonse back his arm,  and possibly return Vespa to her.  Alyssa could warn against the danger as much as she wanted to.  It would be hers,  and soon.

She came to a halt outside Alphonse's room,  and with neither a knock nor thought to the hour,  threw it open.  Lorelai's eyes were maddened.  [color=00aeef]"Alphonse!  I want that fucking saint!"[/color]

Alphonse's floated unnaturally from beneath the covers. [color=ed145b]"But mooom! I spent all day being with people! I have to sleep now."[/color] His head floated back under the blanket, apparently into the shadows beneath.

[color=00aeef]"Alphonse... Elina attempted suicide,  the least I can do is give her a fucking leg."[/color]  Lorelai strode into the room,  and with a command word activated the magical lighting.  [color=00aeef]"I'm getting tired of losing people,  now are you going to help me plan this or not?  We've only got three days of peace to pull this off before the war starts in earnest."[/color'

Alphonse rose out from his comfortable shadow, and threw off his blanket. [color=ed145b]"Alright, alright. Here's what we do. I go sneaky sneaky, grab the corpse...." [/color]Alphonse clapped his hands together, and held them to either side. [color=ed145b]"then I run away."[/color] Alphonse grinned. "Brilliant, right?"

[color=00aeef]"Stunning."[/color]  Lorelai rolled her eyes and took a seat on Alphonse's desk-chair.  [color=00aeef]"That only leaves the wards,  spirit sentries,  and the battalion of knights that would get alerted left over.  Minor details right?"[/color]

[color=ed145b]"Exactly! Glad to hear you have it covered. Good night!"[/color] Alphonse was about to jump back into bed but was stopped dead by the murderous glare Lorelai had affixed him with. Al became certain that her eyes were literal portals to hell in that moment. "But I can understand if you want to consult with my expert opinion." Alphonse pulled out a chair from the table on the side of his room, and propped his feet up on said table. [color=ed145b]"So, what have we got for resources?"[/color]

[color=00aeef]"I've got you,  Phagora,  and I might send Liz along too."[/color]  Lorelai rubbed her eyes.  [color=00aeef]"But we'll need a hell of a distraction,  and that might mean you need to do something I'm sure you won't like,  because I don't like it either."[/color]

[color=ed145b]"Are you saying we need to find some blood before our trip?"[/color] Al's face rested into a concerned smirk.[color=ed145b] "Taking a hunter so soon might be a bit risky given our time frame. You know I'm concerned about hunter's disappearing near my cover."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Right,  but blood we'll need anyway."[/color]  Lorelai thought for a moment.  [color=00aeef]"I've heard a whisper of a new hunting lodge setting up in Rovenfeld,  about two weeks west of here by horse... that might do it though.  Plenty of newly blooded hunters to snatch up."[/color]

[color=ed145b]"Alright, so I should be back by morning. What are we doing with the whelp once I get back?" Al began pouring the two of them a drink, Setting glasses on the table while he held a bottle with his other hand.

[color=00aeef]"Al... you... only have one hand."[/color]  Lorelai's eyes fixated on a shadowy appendage that had manifested from the stump of his ruined arm. Alphonse followed her gaze to the stump. Whereupon the still half full bottle of whiskey shattered to the floor as the mentioned appendage faded away. She reached for her drink slowly,  draining it quickly.  [color=00aeef]"That's... neat."[/color]

[color=ed145b]"Huh. I forgot for a second."[/color] Al punched his shoulder a few times. "Hey, get back here ass hole!"  He shrugged. [color=ed145b]"Oh well, phantom limb or whatever."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Phantom is certainly right..."[/color]  Lorelai gave Alphonse an appraising stare,  then shook her head.  [color=00aeef]"Confirms some theories I'd had about your biology,  perhaps all that training hasn't gone to waste.  Alas... where were we?"[/color]

[color=ed145b]"You were going to tell me to what ends kidnapping a nascent hunter is going to contribute to." [/color]

[color=00aeef]"Right,  well.  [i]One[/i] isn't going to be enough Al."[/color]  Lorelai's eyes glittered darkly.  [color=00aeef]"Lord Dagon is a hungry beast."[/color]

[hr][sub]Somewhere near Rovenfeld:  Alphonse[/sub]

Fires burned at the top of the fort's wooden walls. Guards shivered in a warm night. Feeling as though a ghost had gripped their bones. They scanned the wide open field all around them nervously. They felt like something should be approaching, A fight should be breaking out. There should be blood and sweat and fire. Instead there was only silence. 

Within the fort, near the barracks main, slept men and women, ready to get up bright and early to train. Their lodge was barred, and warded from terrible magics. Iron crosses adorned the doors, and garlic and other strong herbs adorned the windows. Sacred object to repel the unclean. A shadow crept across the outer wall of the fort, only to become flesh as it approached the barracks proper. The shadow was quick, and did not tarry. A silver sword struck out at the sacred wards where no light could touch it. No one saw, they only whispered, and dreamed. The shadow gathered the amulets, corrupted by a blasphemed blade. He powdered the herbs together, and inscribed blasphemous symbols on the walls of the barracks. The crosses he bent and twisted, and struck into the window panes like nails in eyelids. The dreamers stirred, their peaceful rest disturbed.

A dark chill suddenly crawled up Garfield's spine. He had spent all night laying in bed, struggling to sleep. He stood up, he thought he saw a shape through the  window. He rushed to it and opened it. There was no one. 

[color=00a651]"probably nothing."[/color] He said as he turned about. He was suddenly struck by how dark the room was. There were no lights besides the stars before, but now...he could not say. For no reason he could fathom he approached the cot of one of his companions. "Felix, I can't sleep, You up?" Felix wasn't there. He rushed all about, the barracks were gone. Empty. He rushed out the door to scream for the guard. His voice never left his throat as a pressure held his mouth shut, and he felt something across his throat. He tried to throw back a shoulder, but had no leverage, his body weak, he fell. Darkness engulfed him. 

[color=662d91]"Well done, Master."[/color] Said one shadow to another. "It almost reminds me of when I had blood and flesh."

[color=ed145b]"Shut up Steve."[/color] Said the other shadow. The two of them glided home in darkness and silence.