Queen Eclaire kept her promise to Tama and maintained their arrangement secret. After Tama departed with the Drahian delegation, Queen Eclaire waited for nearly a day to make sure she'd reached Drahvelt. Then, she sent her messengers to Tama's parents in the Lotus Temple, her brother Yannou in the expedition, and to King Alaster Hidraz, who was Yannou's commander.
Queen Eclaire sent a personal message to King Alaster, relaying the details about her and Tama's plan. It was to justify her decision because King Alaster loathed deceptive tactics and was a good friend of Tama's father, the former Lotus Knight, Mithras Raveene.
The messengers carried twenty trunks of gold to the Lotus Temple – the payment for Tama Raveene's courageous service. With that, Queen Eclaire hoped to mellow the Lotus Priestess' heart when she heard about her daughter's departure to Drahvelt. Queen Eclaire knew about the Lotus Priestess' virtues, but Cardinal Rochefeu's words had a heavy influence on her. As the Cardinal mentioned, the current Lotus Priestess was the Shadow God's daughter. No matter how pure her heart, she must be a dangerous entity – so Queen Eclaire believed. The fact that her daughter's marriage to the cruel Dragon King was kept a secret from the Lotus Priestess after she arranged everything to let Princess Amida be healed, would surely anger her.
But Queen Eclaire forgot an important detail – the Lotus Priestess possessed the power of Vision. She received godly signs through her dreams and, sometimes, even when she was awake. She could travel through Dreamscape and even build her domain there, influencing other creatures in it. She could predict the future or decode events that were happening far away. Therefore, even if she was bound to the Lotus Temple as the Earth Goddess' oracle, she could learn about the important events.
That night, the moon shone brightly upon the Lotus Temple. Located at the northernmost border of Hasurei, it was a pink-blossomed tree as tall as eight kilometres, with its trunk as thick as a mountain. Wooden buildings with glass windows were spread all over its branches – the temple settlement. The tree was covered in thick foliage, able to withstand any rain or storm. Inside it, dwelt the immortal body of the Earth Goddess – Lotosse, the Thousand-Petaled Lotus. The legend said that her roots reached every corner of the world. Her massive petals shimmered in every rainbow colour in a thousand shades. Lotosse was the giver of life and healer of all injured. She was also the sister of the other plant-based deity, Shadow God Carneh – Tama's and Yannou's grandfather.
The Lotus Temple had stood around the Thousand-Petaled Lotus for millennia. The Lotus Priestesses were girls chosen by the Earth Goddess Lotosse to serve as her oracles, and thereby they donned the name "Lotosse". When they formed a tie with the Earth Goddess through her lianas, they were bound to her, never able to leave the Lotus Temple lest their life be drained. In return, they were blessed with the power of Vision, permitting them to predict the future, see with their mind's eye, travel through Dreamscape, and perform the most difficult healing techniques.
Anne Lotosse, Tama's and Yannou's mother, was the current Priestess, born to the late Priestess Elaine. The latter was an exceptional mage, having charmed even the Shadow God Carneh and pacified his bloodlust. Elaine Lotosse's union with the Shadow God spawned two demigods – Anne, Elaine's heiress as the next priestess, and Valkas, the heir to the Lunarian throne, following in his father Carneh's footsteps. Valkas and Anne shared the Shadow God's powers, so Anne was the strongest priestess of all time. Due to her vast inherent magic as the Shadow Demigoddess, she harboured more of the Earth Goddess' powers than average humans could. So, her hair turned pink when she linked with Lotosse – a sign of her power overflowing.
Naturally, Anne found out about Tama's trouble long before the royal messengers reached the Lotus Temple. The same night the messengers were travelling on their horses, Anne opened her eyes wide in her bedroom, frightened. Her long tresses of pink hair spread all over her pillow and sheets, messy from her rolling around in her sleep. Her blue eyes, exuding an overwhelming aura of spiritual knowledge, watched the green canopy above her. Her whole face was sweating and her nostrils flared as she took deep breaths, trying to calm down.
How dreadful it was! She thought, remembering her nightmare. That burning sun… And yet I can't reach Tama in Dreamscape! Where is she?
She glanced at some lianas dangling from the ceiling. Some twigs were intertwined on them, where the white pigeon Pena sat, sleeping soundly. Near the lianas, stood a writing table, where many pieces of paper were stacked. Most of them were Anne's children's letters – those of Yannou, Tama, and Anne's nephew Arubah, whom she saw as a son. One particular small parchment contained Tama's letter of that day, informing Anne that the Queen accepted to send Princess Amida to Lunaria. Tama also wrote that she travelled to Drahvelt in Dreamscape and met a creepy man there, named Draki. But Tama promised never to commit such folly again now that she received Anne's letter. She also promised to stay in the Vienrose royal palace in Dreamscape since Anne advised her not to travel far.
Anne dispatched the news regarding Princess Amida to her brother Valkas that very day, but Tama's adventures in Drahvelt made her concerned. She couldn't explain these worries – Tama was a smart girl, she always listened to her advice! And yet, a nightmare had roused her again now, worse than the last. She tried to connect with Tama in Dreamscape to warn her but couldn't reach her. It was as though Tama wasn't in the Vienrose palace anymore, and even worse – her spiritual trace had vanished! Anne imagined the worst reasons.
I must tell Mithras! She thought.
She turned around, looking at her husband, Mithras Raveene, snoring by her side. He was fifty-two like Anne, but the age was adequately marked on him while Anne looked forever youthful due to her link with the Earth Goddess. Mithras' rough brown hair dropped messily on his pillow and his prickly stubble gave him the ferocious look of a former knight. Even in his sleep, he tended to frown as though ready for any danger.
"Mithras!" Anne shook him with her little palm.
"Mhm?" he grumbled in response. He stopped snoring and took a deep breath but didn't open his eyes.
"Wake up!" Anne nudged him. "I've got bad news!"
"Is it another nightmare about straggling dragons invading our village? – Because I can deal with them," Mithras grunted, his eyes still closed. "But it'd be the tenth time this year, and the spring has just begun! For real, those Drahs can't even handle their beasts! No wonder my mother escaped their savage land…"
"No, it's not that!" Anne said. "Mithras, I need your full attention! It's about Tama."
"What?" Mithras opened his eyes wide now. He jumped up from the bed. "She was flying near the sun again? Did you figure out what that dream means?"
"No, but it's nothing good!" Anne teared up. "Tama was just flying with her dragon last time, but now the dragon took her straight to the sun, and Tama began burning! I screamed at her to come back and wished to chase her but Lotosse's lianas bound me to the earth! And then… oh, Mithras!" She covered her face with her hands. "She burned right before my eyes! I tried contacting Tama through Dreamscape to warn her about my nightmare, but I couldn't reach her! It's as if she's vanished! What could be happening?"
"Vanished?!" Mithras widened his eyes. "W-What do you mean?"
"I can't trace her spirit anywhere in the world, not even in Lunaria and Alsahra where I have access!" Anne exclaimed. "Where could she have gone?"
"Y-You don't want to say…" Mithras went pale.
"Oh, Gods forbid, no!" Anne covered her mouth with her hand. "No, I would've sensed her energy in that case! But that's what worries me, Mithras – how could her spiritual trace have vanished so that I can't find her through Lotosse's roots? Forget about flowers, I couldn't even sense her through shadows! What could be the place where shadows don't reach?!"
Mithras sighed in relief – his worst fears proved false. Tama was alive. But her disappearance from his wife's omnipotent sight was concerning. He grabbed Anne and embraced her tightly, pressing her to his naked chest.
"Don't worry, Anne, we'll find her!" he said. "I'll dispatch my night hawk to the palace right away. Alaster should know what's going on!"
"But didn't he leave for an expedition with Yannou?" Anne asked, wiping her few tears off. "We have to write to Her Majesty herself!"
"Then that's what we'll do!" Mithras said. "You write the letter! I'll fetch Jerole, my night hawk. He'll reach the palace in thirty minutes."
"Okay!" Anne nodded.
Mithras got up from the bed and exited through a wooden door. Anne jumped up and accessed the writing table, not even bothering to put a jacket on her night dress. She lit a candle and began scribbling a letter to the Queen. The scratching of her plume on the paper, the flickering of the candle, and Pena's sleepy coos disrupted the silence. Once or twice, Anne glanced at the stack of papers. Some of them were Tama's recent letters, lying open. Anne saw the word "dragon" in Tama's writing.
The place where shadows can't reach! She thought. That's it!
She felt chills on her neck – her Shadow soul's primordial fear. If her assumption was correct, Tama was in danger! She dropped her plume and jumped up from her chair, about to look for Mithras when he re-entered the room. He had a large red-to-black predatory bird latched onto his arms, whose crimson eyes glared about the semi-darkness. It was Jerole, Mithras' trusty night hawk – the fastest predatory bird, often used by the Hasurei knights to dispatch quick messages.
"Mithras, I think I know where Tama is!" Anne cried. "And it's bad!"
"What?" Mithras widened his eyes. "Where?"
"The only place where shadows can't reach!" Anne said. "The only place where I don't have access… It's Drahvelt! The question is, why? I know Tama travelled there through Dreamscape but to do so in the material world? – It's madness! I told her how dangerous it was even in Dreamscape! I can't believe she ignored my warnings… It's not like her!"
"In Drahvelt?!" Mithras staggered back from shock, so much that Jerole, his night hawk, squeaked and flapped his wings, grabbing tighter onto his clothed arm. "Are you sure?" Mithras asked. "Wouldn't the plants know she was there?"
"Not if she flew there and landed in a volcano far from the live gardens!" Anne said. "Dead trees don't see or feel… I'm telling you, it's the only explanation!"
Mithras knew his wife's arguments were reasonable, but he didn't want to believe that his daughter was, for some reason, in the Dragon Kingdom now, whence his mother purposefully fled. He remembered how sad his mother, Hanka Raveene, got whenever Drahvelt was mentioned. She escaped from there when she was young, crossing the border of Hasurei and falling into the royal knights' hands. She befriended the Lotus Knight, Huggart Raveene, who took pity on the refugee. They married soon after. Hanka donned Huggart's surname "Raveene" and never spoke about her family. When her only son Mithras was born, Hanka told him the bare minimum about their Drahian heritage, not even mentioning her maiden name. She didn't want her son to be ostracised by the Hasureian community because of his enemy blood, and she didn't want him to think the Drahs were any good. Therefore, upon Huggart Raveene's death in battle, the young Mithras had no qualms about slaying dragons with the Lotus Sword (which chose him after his father). Mithras' Drahian blood proved useful – he turned out sturdier than Hasureians. He lived far longer than his father, surviving every battle, and reached the age of retirement – a difficult feat for a royal knight.
Hanka alluded to her Drahian blood only in her old age when she heard her twelve-year-old granddaughter, Tama, had bonded with a dragon in Dreamscape. As Mithras and Anne were discussing the matter with worried looks, the old Hanka flinched on her rattan chair and asked: "Was that dragon aquatic?". That was when Mithras learned that his mother must be from Eastern Drahvelt – the dwelling of the Drahs blessed by the Water Dragon Goddess, who bonded exclusively with aquatic dragons. Hanka never disclosed any more details, though. She died shortly after when her grandkids Yannou and Tama were fourteen and thirteen respectively.
Reflecting upon his mother's secrecy, Mithras guessed that her life in Drahvelt must've been abominable. He didn't even want to think what Tama was going through now! Why did she even go to Drahvelt?!
While Mithras and Anne were thinking, a knock came on the door.
"My Lady," sounded the elder nun's voice, "royal messengers have come from the palace. They're requesting to see you and Sir Raveene!"