With a final affirming nod, Khaalseru activated the portal, the swirling energies of space gathering around Lassim. He took a deep breath, ready to face whatever awaited him on the other side, his fate and the fate of the Drow now intertwined more than ever.
~~~~
Perched on the edge of a weathered cliff, Hallen sat alone, his gaze locked onto the horizon where the sky melded with the sea in a wash of twilight colors.
Each day, he returned to this spot after checking leads or stayed for weeks at a time, the very place where disaster had struck five years ago.
It was here that he had last seen Lassim, the young master whose safety had been his responsibility, the prodigious talent meant to ascend to unprecedented heights. He should have traveled to and entered the Lightning Sect for a few years now, now a sad dream that had passed by.
