The warm breeze lightly tickles Paige's lashes causing her to softly open her eyes. A couple plump clouds blow by, 'Ha, they look like a couple of fat toads. Well, time to get what I came for.' Stretching as she gets up on her feet, Paige wonders over and picks the various herbs she was sent to get. 'Oh, my favorites are in perfect bloom!' Paige notices a couple of her favorite flowers, and places one daisy on her Elven ear, and then one sunflower joins the bundle of herbs. The caw of the night fowls starts to pick up and multiply. "Oh, damn it! it's getting late!" Paige starts to hurry back home. "Mom is going to be so upset! I promised I would go to the meadow, get the herbs, and come straight back!"

As Paige approaches Shalace Creek, a rustle comes from the bushes. "What...what was that?" Innocently and naively, she walks over to the sound and discovers a little clearing past the bushes. After she steps into the clearing, there is a large thud from behind her and then a frightening blood-curdling roar. Squeaking out a little scream and turning quickly while dropping the herbs and flower, she sees a giant brown bear on its hind legs. Foam drips from its jowls as it intensely looks at Paige with blood-shot eyes. Suddenly, with a fierce craze, the bear charges her! Paige screams fully, and reactively puts up her hand in defense. The bear stops instantly. Paige immediately notices her hand is glowing purple, 'That's never happened to me before.' The bear begins to calm down, 'Oh, it looks so ill.' Paige walks cautiously over to the bear; her hand still glowing. The bear collapses on the ground, barely conscious. Once she is close enough, she kneels on both knees next to the bear. 'Oh my, your pain! It's intense!' Paige's body slightly shudders. The bear looks up at her, and in her head, she hears a voice.

"Please help me. You do have the power," the voice says.

Paige, surprised, looks at the bear and asks, "Was that you? Are you telling me I have the power?" Its head movement she takes as an acknowledgment. 'But how? I'm sure my Elven side helped calm and sense its pain, but how am I supposed to help its sickness? Do Fairies have the power to help with sickness?'

The bear's breathing deepens. She reaches to pet it. As she's just about to touch it, her hand begins to glow a brighter shade of purple. 'Oh, I get it now,' Paige understands. She shifts herself to sit on her knees, and then touches the bear with both hands. 'Oh, my, you're a lot warmer than I would have expected!'

The bear's entire body glows blue for a couple seconds before it closes its eyes.

"Oh My Lord! I killed it!" Paige cries out.

"No, lass. I'm very much alive," the bear replies in her mind, chuckling a little as it gets up. 'Wow, the foaming is gone! And the eyes look normal! It is as if the bear is completely healthy and wasn't sick at all!' Paige noticing the bear's vigor as it gets up. It walks over to her side and says in her mind, "Paige Telwin, I am in your debt."

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Paige asks.

The bear quickly looks around as though it has heard something, "We animal folk know many things, and we only speak to those who will listen, but right now I must warn you. There is an evil in the forest that has not been around for several centuries. You must hurry to your mother!" The bear urges.

"But-" Paige starts to speak but is interrupted by the bear.

"Go now!" the bear shouts in her head.

Suddenly she feels it. A large, looming feeling of cold and darkness crawls over her skin. She's never felt this before. Realizing the danger, Paige runs as fast as she can to the cottage. At the creek she decides to fly over it, "I am going to keep flying. I can fly faster than I can run," she tells herself. Normally Fairies shrink the longer they stay in the air, but since Paige has Elven blood too, she stays the same size, causing her to cover distances quicker than the standard tiny fairy.

'There's smoke coming from the cottage!' Fear has almost overwhelmed Paige at this point. She flies faster! In the distance she can see horses heading down the west path behind the house, but they are too far away for her to make out who is riding them. Paige lands in the front yard. The roof of her home is ablaze. With some magic words she casts a misting spell that blankets over the roof and puts out the flames. An Elven spell her mother taught her when Paige was just a sprite.

Quickly she goes to run into the house, but there is a CLUNK sound from her foot bumping into something. She stops suddenly. A strong, stale stench wakes Paige up from her panic as reality sets in. She looks down to see an armored black hairy beast lying in a pool of dark yellow blood. A wound is in the center of its back. From the look of it, the beast has been stabbed from the front straight through its back. She looks around and sees three more such beasts lying on the ground. All with various wounds that were fatal. Not knowing what's going on, she hesitantly walks to the front door, which is barely hanging on its hinges. Another beast's corpse is on the ground cut in half. She sees two more corpses, one in the hallway and another just in the kitchen. She can barely sense her mother's magic.

"Mother!" Paige cries out.

A groan originates from the other side of the kitchen counter. Paige warily walks into the kitchen. Stepping over a slain beast, she looks around the counter, and on the floor, she sees her mother lying there. Shalace has been shot by three arrows: one in each leg and the other in the chest just below her left breast.

"Mom!" Paige cries, running to her mother's side. Shalace puts her arm up to make sure Paige doesn't fall on her. "Mother, what happened?" Paige asks frantically.

"The Trolls," Shalace barely gets out. She coughs up a little blood due to her wounds.

"Trolls? What are you talking about?"

"No time, Princess. You must leave. You can't help me. You must go to Shonagal," Shalace whispers through her pain.

"Why Shonagal?"

"There you will find a Felinala Priestess. She will answer your questions and help you on your quest. You must also continue to keep your fairy blood a secret, for now. Here, this too will help you. It was your father's. He left it behind. You will need it," Shalace whispers, handing Paige the rusty bladed sword.

Paige takes it and says, "What quest? Why must my fairy blood be kept secret? Why will I need this sword?" But Shalace says nothing. Her eyes start to close. "No, Mother you can't die! This can't be happening! Here, look, I'll heal you!" Paige cries as tears stream down her cheeks. She drops the sword. Paige grabs the arrows, and swiftly but gently as possible pulls them out. Shalace grunts in pain. Paige puts both hands up, and they start to glow purple; she places them on her mother's wounds. Instantly Shalace's body glows green, as Paige feels her mother's magic fade. Shalace takes one last look at her princess. "No, Mama! You must make it! I don't know what to do! I don't want to be alone!" Paige continues crying, her eyes shut tight. 'I-I can't help her!' Overwhelming feelings of sadness and rage begin to mix with in Paige.

The setting sunlight catches Paige's tears and then reflects a very slight dark purple light. It catches Shalace's attention. 'Obsidian tears! A sign she could be the one! She needs to calm her power. She's nowhere near ready,' Shalace says to herself. Inside those tears is a granular sized deep violet almost black jewel that has formed. Suddenly Paige's body glows even brighter. Paige is unaware of what is happening to her, because of her uncontrollable crying. With the last bit of strength Shalace reaches up and wipes the small trickle of blood from the corner of Paige's eye, caused by crying those tiny jewels. Her mom's cool touch causes Paige to open her eyes. She sees her mom proudly smiling at her. Shalace quietly says, "Calm your emotions my little sprite. I guarantee we'll see each other again." Shalace grabs a pinch of the jewels that have accumulated on her body, and holds out her hand showing them to Paige. Paige sees her mom's blood-stained finger tips. Shalace fully closes her eyes, the wounds don't close, and her body goes limp.

"Mama! Wake up, Mama!" Paige cries and shakes her mother's body gently, but nothing. Shalace Telwin's green light magic is extinguished, and her magic has faded away.

Paige fills with fear. Confusion grows as she looks at the fine granular dark jewels that have created a small pile on her lap and her mom's body. As she wipes her eyes, she sees a small amount of blood smeared on the back of her hand. 'That is my blood on her finger tips,' Paige realizes. Quickly the words her mom spoke echo in her mind, 'I guarantee we'll see each other again. Go to Shonagal. There you'll meet a Felinala Priestess, she'll help you on your quest. Keep your Fairy blood a secret.' Paige's thoughts are racing, chaotic, and become overbearing. She's scared. She tries to move but seems to be physically unable to. Paige just sits down holding her mother's body, continuing to cry as tiny trickles of blood stream down her cheeks.