Taris watched her go reluctantly, wondering at the feeling of unease that was settling around him. Aera’s words sifted through the haze of sleep. There was a tingle in the air that he felt slightly, now that he was fully awake. It made him nervous, and he’d learned that it was never a good thing when he was nervous.
He slipped out of bed, not bothering to clothe himself. He tried to scry Aera, needed to make sure she was okay. The shadow swirled between his hands but nothing appeared. His brows came together and he tried again. Once more nothing appeared in the shadows, and he became worried.
Someone had set up a barrier against him.

Taris dressed quickly and grabbed his daggers, this was a very big problem. Nobody knew he could scry through the shadows so who would put up a barrier for it? He tried opening a path to Shadow, but again the shadows pooled and swirled but he couldn’t step through without complete concentration. Now something was very, VERY wrong. He needed to contact his master, and call for another assassin. If he couldn’t travel between shadows easily, he may have been compromised.

He pulled off the cover to the mirror and called through, “Master.” Nothing happened. Not even a shimmer. Taris wasted no time, the shadows would take too long with the barrier in place, he bolted out the door towards the castle. Things were going badly very suddenly. The guards leveled their weapons at him when he approached, one nearly impaling him on a halberd if Taris hadn’t dodged. One smirked, “New orders, Dark Elf, you aren’t allowed in the castle anymore. Try it, and we get to kill you. And that’s if you’re lucky. We take you alive and we get a bonus. Prince Kentaro wants you in the dungeon.”

Taris knew he could end them easily, but now was not the time to cause undue trouble. Paytin was inside, she’d keep an eye on Aera for him. He trusted his guild-sister. Quickly he jumped back, disappearing into the night. He made his way back home, and tested his mirror once more. When that failed he tried the shadows again.

Taris sat in a chair and stared into the pooling darkness. He was cut off from his guild, and traveling the Shadow Realm had just become problematic. He was alone. He watched as the rising sun cast its rays through the windows. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day. Taris shuttered the windows, and sat on the floor, testing the barriers to his shadow walking. He needed to find a way past them.