"Found it!" Rowan said very happily! She whirled around to Kitara who was still trying not to swat at all the shiney things.

She held out her hands.

"Here! This one used to be my favorite, but I don't need it anymore, so you may have it!" Rowan said very warmly.

In her hands was a beautiful cherrywood wand with a petrified honeycomb handle. It smelled of rich wood, and even a slight hint of sweet honey despite how old the handle was. It seemed to glow almost, it was so inviting.

"It was my first wand! Wands are very useful for those who are just starting to learn magic. They make channeling and focusing the magic a bit simpler since they do some of the hard work for you. Once people get good enough, they usually discard them and just stick to using their hands. And once you're REALLY skilled, you can do magic simply by speaking, or even just THINKING the spell!" Rowan said. She was obviously fascinated by sorcery.

"I still use my wand. I don't really need one. I just like the way they feel and look; and magic always performs at its best when the weilder is the most comfortable!" She tapped the wand on her hip. It was composed of a rosey-colored wood and had strange glyphs etched up one side. The handle was wrapped in something that looked like a bunch of petals squeezed tight together.

Thalian was only a foot away from Aideen and her death before someone tackled him sidelong from the banister and into the floor across from Aideen and Valerie. He cried out as he and his mysterious assailant crashed onto the floorboards, and his sword flew out of his grasp and stuck fast to the opposite wall, which began to burn around the blade.

It was Rolgen.

After a few moments of wrestling, Rolgen finally managed to pin his son to the floor with an expert maneuver. Thalian only struggled for a few more seconds before he realized who it was.

"FATHER!" He cried out with surprise and relief.

"But you..! And she... mother is..!" Thalian was so enraged and distraught he couldn't even form the words. Rolgen placed his gloved hand lightly on his son's forehead to calm him, just as he had done when Thalian was a baby. Thalian relaxed visibly, but before he could continue, his father interjected.

"Do not worry my son! We will take care of your mother. Aideen was not responsible. We were all attacked by the monster who assaulted me earlier today. I could hear the fight from where I lied in the hallway. Valerie was trying to protect Aideen from the attacker, and it was Aideen who finally dispatched him, at least for the moment. She is not to be harmed. Do you understand?" Rolgen explained very calmly.

Thalian raised his head from where his father still had him pinned to stare at Aideen and his mother before letting it fall to the floor again. He was so relieved... and worried at the same time. He had almost made a terrible mistake.

Rolgen released his son gently and stood with much difficulty. He staggered over to where Aideen and Valerie were on the floor and dropped to his knees beside them.

Thalian quickly followed suit. Before he joined the others, he staggered over and dug his sword out of the scorched wall. When he finally got it free and resheathed it, he went and sat next to the exhausted Aideen on the bottom step.

"Well, first you hold hit in your hands for a little while. Study it, feel it... get used to it. Eventually you'll start to pick up on its voice and it will feel more natural when you weild it. We'll start with some simple spells, but first we need to go somewhere less... fragile." Rowan said after looking about her room at all her breakable things.

Rolgen looked down at his beautiful wife...

Her soft black girls were matted to her pretty face with the sweat and strain from the magic she had cast... and from pain. Her wings were no longer glowing; laying limp and slightly torn around her, and a small trail of very dark blood ran down the side of her mouth. It had also begun to pool out from underneath her. Her white face looked even more pale than usual, and her eyes were not open.

Rolgen did not look so much like he was worrying, and more like he was concentrating. He studied her face, holding two fingers to her neck and placing his head on her chest just above where she had been impaled, his long black hair sticking slightly to the blood around the wound.

Thalian looked practically faint.

"It missed her heart." Rolgen said with evident relief.

"That means she will live..."

"Why, the study of course! Where else?" she said matter-of-factly. She took Kitara by the hand again and vanished them to a VERY large looking library that could have comfortably furnished an entire auditorium.

This was a far cry from a simple study...

It was comfortably furnished with large dark desks and tables of rich polished wood, accented by even more deep cushioned chairs that seemed to be placed in every available comfortable reading space. Books were overflowing from the shelves and scattered about several surfaces; even the floor. Most of them looked very old, and even the occasional scroll could be spotted amongst the pieces of literature. A grand fireplace more than twenty armspans wide occupied BOTH walls on either side, and the farthest wall was entirely covered by an overwhelming pastel stained-glass window.

It depicted a scene of the two crescent moons overing above the sea, with sirens and merfolk dancing on the waves. It also showed a picture of the castle and its pretty mountains in the background, and even a decorative dragon or two in the sky. The window glowed immensely; accented by the twin moons that mirrored it from the outside.

Torches and candelabra hung in every empty space between the bookshelves, and the corners were stuffed with enormous statues of angels, demons, and other mystical looking beings of the cosmos. The ceiling mirrored the sky outside, completely plastered with stars and made all the more grand by the pure crystal chandeliers that hung from its surface. In the firelight, the chandeliers were radiant and even made the painted stars seem to twinkle a bit.

"You can open your eyes now Aideen." Rolgen said with a gentle smile. "It's just me and Thalian, my son. You're both safe now."

His words were very warm and kind. He knew Aideen had been scared to death, and he felt exceedingly sorry for not being able to assist her and Valerie sooner.

Before any more hesitation or protest, he ground his knees hard into the floor and grabbed the sharp slate keeping Valerie pinned to the ground. He pulled hard, but it wouldn't budge. The molten rock must have melded itself to the ground when Valerie was run through. He didn't have the energy to spare in order to remelt the rock enough for it to come loose. He would have to break it off and pull it out the other side...

He swallowed hard at this idea, and beads of sweat rolled down his face while he tried to remain calm. Slate was terribly fragile in this state, and breaking it could fracture shards in any number of directions. If one hit Valerie's heart, the situation would become much more dire...

"The room is spelled to reorganize itself. Hehehe. The entire library and all the books are fireproof, goblin-proof, stupid-proof, imp-proof, and gravity-proof."

She listed off these strange traits as if they should be obvious to everyone. She sighed again.

"I just wish they could be dust-proof! I STILL need to finish working on that spell! Dust is so fickle!"

She began muttering various complaints, spell combinations, and ingredients to experiment with later to herself as she walked towards one of the large desks in the center of the massive room.

Rolgen looked at Aideen with thankful compassion, and nodded.

Thalian looked at her with worried curiousity.

Hollow was holding on to the neck of the horse as tight as she could. It was painful and she didnt have any shoes on. She didnt know if they would help her anyway. The horse pounded down the trail obviously knowing where it was going. Eventually it slowed down and stopped.

Hollow looked up from the back of the horse. She was shaking terribly and already regretted coming. "oh." She said as she fell off the back of the horse. The girl rolled onto her back in a pile of snow. her black hair fell over the whiteness of the snow. She looked up at the sky. She was trembling all over from the adrenalin rush. Hollow eventually turned her head and passed out.

"Yes. Every wand has its own voice as much as its own personality." Rowan said as she cleared a stack of books off the table. The books would have crashed to the floor, but they floated just short of the marble tiles and glided gently back to their respective places on the appropriate shelves.

"See? Gravity-proof!" Rowan said tartly.

"Hollow?" Thalian's thoughts twinged. He could feel her close by. Either she had gotten herself lost again... or she had followed him. He couldn't go to her now. He had to be certain his mother was alright. He waited anxiously for Aideen to do whatever she needed to do, and he was growing more antsy by the moment.

"You pull it out Aideen. Only you would be able to retain the control needed to maintain the shard's shape while pulling it out. Please... I know you're tired... but I need you to finish this for me." Rolgen sounded more tired by the moment. His voice was only a mere whisper now as he pleaded with Aideen...

Rolgen sighed with relief as the stone came free. As soon as Valerie was freed from its grip, he pulled her into his lap. He pulled off his gloves and placed his hands on her pale cheeks. Her hair spilled over his lap in curly waves, and despite her situation, she still looked beautiful. Rolgen's hands began to glow, and warmth slowly returned to Valerie's cheeks and face. Soon, her wings were alight with the same soft radiance, and began to flutter a little. The wound closed itself, leaving only a hole in her gown where the slate had penetrated it. With a gasp, her eyes snapped open as she drew in a sharp breath of air.

She would live, though too tired to retain consciousness, she quickly passed out in Rolgen's arms again. Rolgen was tired, but overjoyed. He held Valerie to his chest and wept silently onto her face while kissing her forehead and running a hand through her long black hair. He looked at Aideen with shere admiration and thankfulness, and continued holding the sleeping Valerie to him tightly.

His adrenaline wore off, and he finally slipped into an exhausted state of sleep. He fell to the floor unconscious, still clutching Valerie to his chest. They actually looked quite picturesque holding onto each other on the floor with their contrasting sets of wings splayed out in opposite directions and their faces close together. It was clear they loved each other very much.

Thalian looked at his parents with surprise, worry, and gratefulness at the same time. He looked at the tired Aideen and his sleeping parents, wondering how he was going to get them all to their respective rooms safely. He would need a little help, but there didn't seem to be anyone nearby with the energy to spare.

Then Thalian had an idea. He closed his eyes and concentrated painfully hard. He called out to Hollow in her mind. Wherever she was, she would be able to hear him.

"Hollow!" His voice echoed in her mind. "Hollow! There's been trouble! I could used your help! Please..." He continued to call out to her. His voice would lead her to wherever he was. He only hoped she would dare to follow it to his father's massive mansion in the city's center. She couldn't miss it.

The wand sparked a little a little in jestive response, sending a small shock of electricity into Kitara's fingers playfully.