Azura watched the others leave to pursue their attunements. She was feeling pretty good about the training. The others would get over the whole purge thing soon enough… probably. She was about to get some food when Fatania approached with Tallous at her side.

"Azura, do you have a moment?" Fatania asked.

"Sure. Just finished with the others. They are off to do their attunement and ki practice."

"That's good news," Fatania said. "I have even better news. A kin informed me that the elves and Dageth plan to leave Deepmere. They should all be gone in two weeks."

"You sure?" Azura asked.

"Not yet. I have my family on it. So far, it appears to be correct."

"It does explain a lot," Azura said.

"It does," Fatania agreed. "It is also the best chance we'll have for our plan."

Azura's attention snapped into sharp focus. "EXODUS?"

"Yes. If what Nicola told us is true, it will be the perfect time. Once the other liquid cultivators achieve their attunement, we'll act. My spies have seen a lot of mages and elves leaving by the portal. I'm having Trisva watch the traffic."

"What about the elf? He said he wanted to talk to you about an alliance," Tallous said. He'd brought Brianna to Azure's Rest late last night. He'd decided she wouldn't be missed, not with how drunk she was. They needed her to help verify this information immediately. Besides, a deep interrogation was overdue.

Fatania tapped her chin, then turned to one of Alenina's children nearby.

"Go fetch Trenton and the other Mothers." The rabbit-kin sped off at impressive speed. Alenina's children made great messengers.

"Why would he want an alliance?" Azura asked.

Tallous snorted. "Because he knows he's fucked."

"I mean, aren't the elves leaving?" Azura asked. "Why bother?"

"Most are," Tallous said. "I had Trisva ask around before returning, and he's the elf who lost at Fortunia. He's disgraced."

"Him!" Azura snarled. "It must be that same bastard who ambushed me. We can't trust him."

"I agree," Fatania said. "But we might be able to use him."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Coralline, Alenina, and Trenton. Fatania told them of the request as Azura rubbed her thighs together.

"What do you know of this Sylvar?" Fatania asked Trenton as Azura began to squirm more.

"He's is… er was an elven elite warrior. I suppose he'd fallen now if he's asking for help."

"Do you think he's genuine?" Coralline asked as she watched Azura's face turn redder and redder.

"Yes and no," Trenton said. "He won't betray his word. But I doubt he has any love for the kin or Azura in particular. He's simply taking what he's seeing as the only way out."

"It's about what I expected," Fatania said. "When and where did he want to meet?"

"Tomorrow," Tallous said, confused as Azura began trembling. "He, he uh, said to, umm, meet outside of Deepmere at noon on the old road toward Fortunia. Are you all right?"

"FINE!" Azura snapped. "I, I, I gotta use the bathroom…"

"I thought liquid cultivators didn't have to poop anymore," Coralline said sweetly.

"What? Oh, um, yeah. I have too… too… I just gotta go," Azura stuttered.

"You should stay," Coralline said. "These are things we need to address as leaders. You can go play later."

"I'M NOT PLAYING!" Azura shouted, then turned an alarming shade of red. The world seemed to pause as if waiting for the scale to tip. Azura's hands began moving up and down as if she were scratching some invisible itch. As soon as she noticed that, the battle was lost. She gave in, plunging both her hands down into her trousers, where she scratched hard enough that she could've left gouges in steel. For a wonderful moment, she was in a state of bliss. Her eyes were crossed, her tongue sticking out slightly.

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"AZURA!" Coralline shouted.

"I, err, I… ARRRGGH!" Azura's attempted explanation transformed into a guttural cry of misery as she turned, running toward the river while her hands scratched away. The result was an awkward half-skip.

"GODS BELOW, IT'S INSIDE ME!!! IT'S INSIDE ME!!!"

The following scream sent every bird for miles around, fleeing for their lives. Coralline and the others stood still as they watched her disappear. Presumably, to dunk herself in the river. Coralline turned wordlessly toward Fatania and tossed her a gold coin, which the rat-kin caught.

"My compliments to Hamal. That was totally worth it," Coralline said. "Teach that brat to leave me to clean up her mess."

Trenton regarded her very carefully. "You're a dangerous woman," he said simply. Tallous firmly nodded in agreement, his hands protectively over his private bits.

Coralline just smiled at them.

***

Hamal was deep underground in the rat warren, heading down a special tunnel he had constructed over a year ago. He'd been preparing for this day for over a year. Finally, it was time. He grabbed a small lantern and headed deeper to where no light could reach. After all, where better to attune his ki to darkness than in the absolute abyss, well as close as he could get.

The tunnel had several turns, each designed to prevent unwanted light from entering. The light from his lantern danced across the walls, showing only compacted earth and a few root ends. After several more turns, he reached his destination. It was nothing special, just a hollowed-out den. A dozen of his family could lie comfortably here. Plenty of space for his attunement.

Hamal extinguished the lantern, setting it behind him. He took a focusing breath and reached inside for his ki. He admired the solid ki as it lazily spun in the middle of his ki spiral. At last, at long last, he had it. Power. Enough power to rival any who would hurt his family or friends. He silently thanked Azura as he seized a piece of his ki. With willpower tempered by his cultivator training and years of assassin work, he withdrew the ki. The glorious speck stood on his fingertip.

"Accept the darkness," Hamal commanded. He waited. He continued to wait with his ki on his fingertip. As nothing continued to happen, Hamal was happy Azura wasn't around to witness his pathetic command.

Accept the darkness… Hamal cringed inwardly at his own words. Perhaps he had to get it off his finger. With a mental command, he floated his ki to hover near him. Nothing. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He felt something. Focusing on his ki, Hamal felt the possibility. It was wispy and whimsical. He immediately rejected the potential attunement that was growing. Air or wind was not for him. He then lowered to the ground. He expected to feel the attunement for earth. Strangely, there was nothing. Perhaps he wasn't compatible? That was fine. He didn't want it. But why was there no darkness? Hamal waited. Then he kept waiting as nothing continued to happen. The mental strain of holding his ki in place began to weigh on him. Was something in the cave interfering? He ignited his lantern with a spark. He looked around. Nothing looked out of place.

Was darkness attunement not possible? Fuck…

Hamal began to pace, his concern growing. It was the perfect attunement for him, so why wasn't it working? On his fourth pass, he felt it. It was minor, only there for a fleeting moment. Darkness. He would recognize it anywhere. Immediately, he focused on the ki. The brilliant speck floated there in the light cast by the lantern like an invaluable shard of diamond. It hadn't been his imagination. The potential was there now. It wasn't enough to achieve attunement, yet it was the beginning of darkness. Why? Experimentally, he leaned forward to see if something was different. When his shadow covered the ki, the building of potential started once more. He stopped. It suddenly made sense. The essence… it needed a physical component. He caused his shadow. It added the necessary physical piece, even if it was indirect and relatively minor. It was enough.

Hamal sat down as his ki hovered before him, bathed in his shadow. Slowly, the potential was built. First, an hour, then two. As the fifth hour passed, Hamal knew it was testing him. Cultivating darkness, well, he supposed shadows, would be slow. He would have to find a way to do it automatically, just like he did with mana. Azura's power came in large, infrequent bursts from the blood around her. Not his. The essence he needed was always around him. He'd just get small amounts at a time, just like now. Patience. The shadows required patience. He smiled at the thought. It was so similar to his assassin training. He would sometimes wait days for the right time to strike. To be an assassin, one must be patient. He could give that to his ki. It was as if his determination to wait for however long it took was the deciding factor, and maybe it was his ki-radiated darkness pushing back the light on the earthen walls.

Child of the still night. Is this who you are?

This was the acceptance that Azura was referring to.

There was only one answer for the rat-kin.

"Yes…"

Immediately, the potential locked into place, and the ki broke his hold over it. Hamal's backpedal knocked over the lantern as the ki slammed home, joining its brothers inside him. The darkness enveloped him as the lantern shattered, flickering out. His panic quickly turned into a feeling of awe. The darkness had receded, yet it lingered still. The den was illuminated by darkness. Which made absolutely no sense, yet it was true. As he gazed about, he recalled that Azura could feel the blood around her. Perhaps this was something similar? What lay in the shadows could no longer blind him. Hamal grinned as he confidently made his way out of the absolute darkness. The first shadow cultivator basked in his element before rejoining the world. He had a lot of training to do.

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