Stunned because he'd been in the shadows the entire time, Samira had only seen his face, nothing else. Well, his wild orange-red hair, a color she still wasn't sure was even natural to his body. However, she was utterly shocked when he rose to his equine height. It was one thing to hear a verbal description of someone or something. It was an entirely different scenario when seeing a centaur in real life.

He was powerfully built with muscles that matched his equine half in dexterity. He had most of his hair pulled back into some tail so that it wasn't entirely in his face. At some point, Grey would need to redo the simple hairstyle. He looked like he'd been chiseled out of obsidian or some other black stone. Grey glanced at her and then away as if uncomfortable with her perusal of his body. He was frowning slightly as he muttered something under his breath. A glowing object appeared, throwing a bluish light over his features. That's when all his scars were brought into the harsh reality of a complicated life at some point. He studied the information and shook his head. "This is insufficient for our situation." He sighed. "Who can you think of is powerful enough to control the clouds surrounding Brilliance?" He waved a hand in front of her face. "Guide Kelos?"

Samira was hard-pressed not to salivate or purr deep in her throat for the first time. As Grey rose to his full height, it became apparent that he wasn't a typical centaur. His hair was the only brightly-hued part about him. Otherwise, he was ebony everywhere else in his horse body. Even his tail was jet black and swished through the air, making a whistling noise with each step he took. His human half was strikingly pale against the rest of the equine.

She blinked and registered what he was telling her. "You believe someone is controlling those clouds?" Samira hadn't even considered that possibility.

His eyes narrowed. "Do you think you could take a moment and check your own status window? It might have some more updates about this situation. Right now, the odds of our survival are very unfavorable. He folded his arms over his chest. "That and I believe some predators are approaching."

Samira grunted and shrugged. "I'll check it later." She was somewhat doubtful of his claims that people strong enough somewhere out there could manipulate those clouds. Why would anyone do that anyway? It didn't make any sense to her.

She continued to survey him with outright appreciation. However, he was very muscular, even beneath the loose shirt and vest that covered his chest and arms, and dropped to his knees. It was obvious Grey had gone through much. She discerned scars of all sorts covering his hands and forearms.

A sigh escaped Samira. "I'm taking you to the local healer, Raj, who'll decide whether you can enter the palace immediately or remain nearby in quarantine." A necessary precaution to prevent the disease from causing a pandemic. That happened one too many times in the last two decades. Thank you very much, for Samira didn't want an outbreak under her watch.

"You have a healer named Raj?" A peculiar note entered his voice when he walked to Samira's side. It was almost as if he recognized the name.

"Why yes, he can hop worlds at a moment's notice." Samira frowned slightly. "Do you suppose you've encountered him before?"

"Hmm," Grey tilted his head in thought and winced at the action. "Nothing is coming to me at the moment. I think I hit my head harder than I thought." He shrugged ruefully. "So, what should I do next if I pass the medical exam?"

He was avoiding the subject. Interesting, but Samira needed to concentrate on what was happening now. "Recheck your status window. It should give you prompts of what to do next." She wouldn't know where to take him next if he didn't.

"Then I would appreciate it if you did the same so that we aren't circling the forest in futile waste of time." Grey regarded her dubiously. He sighed and did as prompted.

"Fine, I'll check mine." She did so and frowned at what appeared. That didn't give her a good feeling about what was to come. It would explain why he wanted her to check the status if it was similar to Greys. It looked as if they would be headed out on one hella big journey. They would acquire some unusual allies in the process.

However, when she finished reading the information, there was no indication if the individuals were people she knew and could trust or if it was someone Grey knew from his past. Samira was miffed when he didn't say anything at first. She would've inquired of him, but he held a hand in warning.

He took three steps forward when a menacing growl rumbled from the other side of the clearing.

Samira identified the unique sound. "Raj, tis I, Samira."

When Grey stiffened and came to a halt, Samira was shocked. Before she could speak, he held a hand and motioned her to silence again.

It seemed there was something else prowling the forest and targeting them as well as Raj.

*

The lightly foggy forest appeared more ominous than average this day. It would make one believe that another evil nature-based catastrophe might occur on top of all the other bizarre events occurring weekly.

A sigh escaped Raj as he left his cozy home. The fog would grow denser as the day progressed. Already the noon time of the brightest moments passed. Now, of course, it would become darker more quickly.

Earlier, one of the assistant priests ran to the healer's dwelling as soon as the Oracle Reader finished telling the latest summoner what was necessary to do this time.

"Heh, only because it was Samira again that I was involved," Raj grunted. "I hope this situation doesn't devolve into another attempted orgy as had the last time." Raj grimaced at the thought.

He started despising all the summoned humanoids, male or female, no longer mattered. They were all troublesome fools that had no manners whatsoever.

Indeed, he had not learned the name other than it was male and somewhat unusual and form this time. That always meant trouble would break out. Whether Samira started it or the other party involved. Raj, for once, wanted to make a preemptive strike and ultimately ensure that no one would mess with his little sister.

Raj had gone patrolling once he'd heard the news of the latest summons that involved Samira. Those were always the worst missions possible, and she inevitably needed assistance to complete them.

So when he espied an unnaturally brightly colored creature in the distance, he growled threateningly. He was in his feline form and not in the mood to be excellent.

Samira and the four-footed...what the hell was he looking at anyway? Raj gaped in shock when he realized he beheld a centaur. A clothed centaur at that, and he didn't appear any more pleased than Raj about this situation.

This might prove interesting. Raj watched as a faintly glowing thing appeared before the centaur's face and vanished. A crack of lighting shocked them both, and the centaur disappeared with an angry yelp and a bunch of curses.

Damn! That was not a good sign. Raj burst out of hiding and shifted to human form. He hastily donned clothing at the last minute when Samira squealed and hid her eyes, muttering, "I don't need to see you without a stitch of clothing either, Raj!"

Ah, man, what a mess. When Raj cautiously approached the burnt area, he studied the man lying in the middle of the scorched earth. He checked for a pulse and found that he still breathed. "He's just knocked unconscious." Raj lifted and cradled the man in his arms. There was something disturbingly familiar about this form. Not to mention that blasted bright hair. "Who is he?"

Samira swallowed hard. "He's the one I was sent to locate with the latest summons. His name is Greyness Gideon Farthing, but he prefers to go by Grey. As you saw earlier, he is also a centaur." She was eyeing him avidly even though he had retained basic minimum decency with both shirt and breeches covering his body.

Even though that distinctly inadequate shield, Raj could feel all kinds of bumps, bruises, and welts covering him. He'd gone through one helluva ordeal when arriving. This one was no doubt a warrior, through and through, and he had a tale to tell. If he could be persuaded to say to it, that was.

"Well, accompany me to the hut. I need you to tell me about that latest prophecy if I'm to ensure this man's survival." The fact lightning cracked through those clouds and nearly killed this man told Raj something was going horribly wrong with the future of this world.

Samira bit her lip. "He's either going to make or break the world. That's it in a nutshell. Supposedly this vampiric centaur can summon a breakup of the intense fog that has held the sunlight hostage all this time. Though it'll require the help of all the others pulled in beforehand."

Raj grunted skeptically but held his tongue. He did not have much faith in all of that happening. From what he could tell, they lazed about and did nothing to contribute to the country's health. If anything, the fog grew denser, turning from darker gray to utter blackness. He glanced at the sky and grimaced. "Rain is about to fall once more." At this rate, there would be no harvesting of the crops.

"Raj, weren't we needing rain anyway?" Samira's voice held faint hope.

Raj sighed. Since she was right. He didn't care for the timing. "Maybe some of those elemental magicians began doing some of the work they were called for after all." His heavy sarcasm made Samira sigh.

"Whatever the case, please hurry. Otherwise, none of us will maintain even a modicum of modesty with the rain becoming heavier." Raj directed her.

"I'm going. I'm going, sheesh. What a bossy big brother." Samira grumbled and made Raj smile. Yes, in this world, he was her older brother. Raj had reincarnated into the world of Brilliance. He hadn't known about that part until he turned sixteen and she was born. That was when his memories triggered, and he decided to renounce his status as prince and become a simple healer. That had been more difficult than Raj expected. However, his somewhat older brothers proved their worth as potential rules. Now with this stranger arriving, who knew what the future held?