Lalauri’s body stiffened as the mood in the air instantly shifted. As a result, despite the obvious and clear command that was just given to her, Lalauri stood rooted in place. If she were being honest, she had not viewed the empyrean creature as anything more than a friendly, charitable creature. A literal godsend. However, now she felt forced to shift her mindset to view them for what they really were—what she should have always seen them as celestials. Elohim in material form. And with that reality comes the reality of the holy Hierarchy that all belong to.

In this Age, most souls had no idea of who Lalauri was beyond the legends and histories told of the part she played in the war that ended the reign of the tyrannical Faeries at the end of the Fourth Season of Change—or the Season of Usurpers—the event that preceded the beginning of the Arcane Age. To the few who did know her, she was The Daughter of Twilight. A woman of not only legend but also of the Mythical Age itself. She had lost count of all the adventures she had and the people she had met, and with that came respect. Respect for her power, her ability, and in many places, for her mere history alone. Of the few who knew of her, fewer still would dare to command her. But that’s because none of them were celestials. And when it came to that Hierarchy, the Mortal Races of Enchantyon were always on a level just a little below that of even common celestial creatures and their cousins the Muses. And so, she obeyed the Hound of Twilight and approached him.

“It appears that I have not been as clear as I should have been regarding why the White Faun had sent us to you and the girl.” Growled the largest Hound when she finally gathered up the nerve to approach him. “Allow me to rectify that now. We have been sent to help you and the girl bring an end to the sorcery-fuelled machinations of Panok and to purge this place of his presence.”

“Yes, I do understand that.”

“Yes, but this is not the only reason we are here. The White Faun sees your pain, Little Spirit. He sees how tired you are. He knows how much the road you have walked all these millennia has worn on you…and He knows how unjustly harsh you have been on yourself for all the deaths and hardships of those fortunate to cross paths with you—”

“Fortunate?” Lalauri actually laughed at that. “There’s nothing fortunate about it—about any of it! And now I’m supposed to help safeguard the life of this girl? This…this poor little girl who has already gone through so much.”

“And she will go through far more without someone to guide her—to teach her right from wrong after what happened to her parents…and if you think it is within His will for you to abandon her also, or for her to be simply dumped at the feet of your beloved grandmother, you are sorely mistaken. We will also not allow ourselves to remain present with the girl to ease your conscious should you choose to leave her. We will not take care of the girl should you allow yourself to perish as you are considering in your thoughts. Nor will we deliver her to your grandmother.”

Lalauri swallowed guiltily. “Why?” she whispered.

“Keridwen is your responsibility now, just as much as you both are our responsibility until the day you both perish. So says the White Faun.”

“But why? She would be far better under your care and protection than under mine. I’m not safe…”

“Perhaps. However, just because your life has meant you have endured the deaths of many loved ones, this does not mean that you are undeserving of love or companionship, despite what you have convinced yourself of being true…and as for me and my kin, do not make the mistake of thinking that we are here, intervening, out of kindness or charity. We are not kind. Do not assume that we feel some sort of empathy for your situation either. We feel nothing. We are merely the stars fashioned into a familiar form, Elf. If what I’m saying now sounds cold to you, it is because we are of the void of stars above. We should be wild still. We should be shooting across the skies still, chasing lesser celestials and communing with the Godhead Himself amongst the rest of the Heavens. But we are here instead—not out of love for you, but out of duty. For it was Yggomni himself that gathered us, forged us into these forms, and sent us down to protect and serve you…but we should be free.”

“With that being said,” he continued, cutting off Lalauri from speaking. “We will not stay if you refuse to create the conditions we were meant to guard. We were tasked to protect your family. You and the girl so that you may help foster a good environment for her to grow—a good foundation of morals and skills that she will need to guide her when tough choices arise in her future. So, if you abandon the girl by letting yourself perish, then neither you nor the girl will have any family. And then there will be no one left of your family that we will need to help protect. If you abandon the girl, we will abandon the girl.”

“That’s crazy! That doesn’t make any sense!” Lalauri shouted. “You can’t just abandon her like that just because of some loophole you think you’ve found! If she does not have you then who will she have? Who will take care of her?! You can’t just leave her to the wild to be…what, do you expect? Do you think a bunch of wild animals will be fit to raise her? That’s madness!”

The Hound stared at her for a moment, and then slowly, a smirk appeared on his face. “How amusing. For that is exactly the message I have been trying to get through to you.”

The two stared at each other for a moment longer. Lalauri’s hands were shaking from her frustration with the creature. He would not be reasoned with.

“So what is your choice, Daughter of Twilight? Will you let the enemy strike you down, and in doing so abandon the child?”

After a moment of forcing herself not to shout at the celestial, she finally said, “Alright! Alright…I’ll…I can’t promise I’ll win against Panok, but I’ll do my best. I will not lose on purpose. And if I survive, I will take care of the girl.”

“Good.” Then, without saying another word, the Hound turned around and began walking towards the way out of the hidden village.

“Wait! I want to know one last thing. If you are to be a part of this family that you want me to build, then I want to know your names. I don’t want to simply have to call you ‘Hounds’ all the time.”

The celestial look back at her and said, “My name is Razzalar, elf. As for the other four Hounds of Twilight, I suspect you will learn them in time.”

“And do not call me ’elf’ either. If you are to serve me and be a part of my family, then you will call me by my given name. Lalauri. Lalauri Imafenduwell.”

“Very well. Now hurry along. Panok will be resurrecting the others of his long-dead cult soon if you keep standing here talking to me and making little demands of us Hounds.”

With that, the celestial went off. Lalauri then took up Anthem into her right hand, inspected it for a moment, and then set off towards the heart of the village. And as she made her way in that direction, she dared to imagine a life after all of this with her newfound family as clouds glowing a sickly green light shimmered in the night sky ahead of her, forming a vortex of sorcery that seemed to be coming from the heart of the village.