Dillan, after waiting outside Queen Amber Academy for longer than he ever had to before, searched for his little sister. He ran around the school grounds, and went back inside and searched the corridors and rooms. She was nowhere to be seen.

"What is she doing?" Dillan growled under his breath, as he stepped out of the main door again. "Why would she leave without me?"

He then decided to run to the Central City's nature garden - the usual place where they met Prince Oslac.

He passed the surrounding trees and shrubs and made his way across the grass to the old statues and fountain in the centre. There stood the Prince on his own, waiting patiently for his friends. He turned and looked at Dillan who stopped to catch his breath.

"Hi Dillan, what took you so long? where's Bay?" Oslac asked, looking around for her.

Dillan could not speak through the deep gasps that punched their way from his chest. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Dillan? What's going on?"

"I..." Dillan rushed to regain his composure. "I don't know. I... She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone?" A glower slammed down onto the prince's brow.

"I mean she's gone! She didn't meet me at the Academy." Dillan tried his hardest to piece together his thoughts, but that was difficult as he couldn't really understand what was going on. "I thought she may have left to meet you without me. But she's not here either. It's not like her. She's gone!"

"By the stars..." Oslac's eyes glazed over as what Dillan was saying sank in.

"What can we do? I need to find her! She's my sister!" Dread dried up Dillan's throat and he stared into the abyss that was opening up in front of him. "Dad's going to kill me..."

"We'll find her, don't worry!" Oslac rushed to reassure his friend, but Dillan could see in the prince's hazel eyes that he didn't fully believe in his well-meaning sentiment.

"How?" Dillan began to notice the murkiness of twilight that began to lie heavily upon his surroundings- such a sight made his heart fall to the pit of his stomach. "It's getting dark."

"You must go home," Oslac said, glancing past the Draoicis-Lus' shoulder towards the West - towards Dillan and Beanni's home village. "Maybe Bay is there now."

Dillan shook his head, the worry that grew more and more inside him felt like it was going to overflow. He watched the prince fish out his orb and make it expand in his left hand.

"Go home Dil, or your father will kill you!" Oslac demanded, then made his orb glow violet. "I'll do what I can at the Palace. I won't stop looking for her."

A mere split second passed after Oslac made his promise, violet light engulfed him and he disappeared. When the last wisps of the royal light magic began to fade away, Dillan swiftly turned on his heel and darted towards his home village. He had to fight against the strong hand of anxiety that desperately wanted to pull him in the opposite direction. The last thing he wanted to do was face his father's anger.

Oslac materialised in the grounds of Astrid palace. As soon as the violet magic finished evaporating in the air around him, he turned towards his royal home and ran all the way to the main door. Desperate to get to the communication mirror as quickly as possible, he sped along every grand corridor he had to take to get there. Once he got to his chamber he leant against his closed door to catch his breath. Worry and fatigue mixed uncomfortably within his chest making it ache with every breath he took. Once he felt semi-human again he pushed his door open and headed straight for the mirror that hung upon his wall; the bottom corner was missing, leaving behind a sharp edge.

He held up his light orb and watched his reflection copy his movements in perfect synchronisation. The look within the boy in the mirror's eyes betrayed how distressed he was. He pressed his right hand upon the cold surface of the reflective glass as his light orb shone brighter in his other hand's grasp.

"Beanni!" he called for his friend. "Beanni Draoicis-Lus! Are you there?"

Oslac waited for an answer, he tried to be patient, but the flutter within his chest began to get more wild with each passing minute.

"Beanni Draoicis-Lus!" he snapped at the unmoving picture that graced the mirror. This made his reflection wobble and disappear into darkness. The hard surface then began to vibrate with muffled, angry voices.

"Where have you been?" Oslac could just about make out of the muffled growl that the mirror picked up. He guessed that this angry sound belonged to the head of the Draoicis-Lus family. Dillan's father was at this very moment finding out that his daughter was missing, and just as Dillan anticipated, he was indeed getting the brunt of the man's fearful wrath, for his muffled growl only grew louder.

Oslac pulled his light orb away and stored it back into his pouch, making an eerie silence fall upon his room. There was no use looking for Beanni using the communication mirror, for it was clear that she was nowhere near the shard that he gave her. It was left behind, hidden somewhere in her home. Oslac let out a frustrated sigh then left his room, slamming the door behind him, then darted to find someone who he could ask for help.

"Well?" Lorrus' low growl shook at Dillan's nerves. He opened his mouth to speak but fear silenced him. His father looked past him towards the empty doorway. "Where's Beanni?"

"Sh-she's not here?" is all that Dillan could say in response. On his way home he began to hope that his sister may have been there all along. He hoped so hard that he managed to convince himself that that must be the case. The worry he felt so thickly at the nature garden punched him in the gut again when he saw the angry look in his father's eyes.

"No she's not!" Lorrus snapped, making Dillan jump. "Didn't I tell you that you must walk her home, no exceptions?"

Dillan nodded a timid nod as his father's raised voice rang uncomfortably in his ears.

"Then where is she?"

"I...I..."

"You better not be covering for her! You are both supposed to come straight home! Tell me the truth!"

"I d-don't know where she is, Dad." A sudden movement drew Dillan's eyes to the belt around his father's waist, which made him take a step back and hold his hands out in defence. "That is the truth I swear!"

He watched his father undo his belt.

"Turn around," Lorrus demanded in a calmer, yet chilling voice. He threaded his orb pouch off, placed it on the side, out of the way, and folded the leather belt in his mahogany hands.

"Dad please, don't! I promise, I looked everywhere for her!"

Something strange then took over Lorrus and the angry look fell from his eyes; they then became glazed over, as if they got lost in a place far away.

"Dad, what is it?"

Dillan watched his father lower the belt to his side, then looked back into his father's face and witnessed it crumble with worry.

"Dad?"

"They took her... They must have taken her back!" Lorrus mumbled.

"They? Who's they?"

Lorrus didn't answer, he just stared as if he was in some sort of trance, it was as if he was taken over by a strange spell. With fumbling hands, he then picked up his pouch from the side, slid it back onto his belt, tied it around his waist and headed for the door.

"Dad, where are you going?"

"Stay here, Son!"

"Lorrus?" Lorren's voice crushed through the air making both Dillan and his father wince. "What's going on?"

Lorrus didn't respond, he left the house and disappeared into the night. Dillan watched his mother dart to the door that still stood wide open. A storm was beginning to brew outside, reflecting the unrest that took over the Draoicis-Lus household. A strong wind flew through the kitchen, sending a chill down Dillan's back.

"Where is he going?" Lorren turned towards her youngest son.

"He's gone out to look for Beanni, I think..."

"Why? Where is she?"

"I don't know."

The scowl that pulled on his mother's brow caused an exasperated sigh to crush through him. He racked his brain for a clue to where his father may be headed.

"I think he's gone to get her back. He said that they took her... I don't know..."

"They?" Lorren repeated impatiently.

"He means the Biabs," Aeron-Lius piped up from the living room doorway.

"What are you talking about?" Dillan demanded. "How do you know that?"

Aeron-Lius ignored his brother. "Mum, I think he means to confront the head, in Tuanalis."

"What? That ridiculous man! He'll get himself arrested, or worse!"

"What should we do, Mum?" Dillan looked at his mother who stood staring into the Geimheim storm.

"Grab your cloaks, we must go after him!"

Lorrus' angry fist crashed onto the wooden door of the Head of Biabus-Lus' home. The harsh knock echoed through the air, mixing with the drumming of the rain and the howling wind.

"Lucas!" Lorrus yelled, with a deep, gravelly voice. "Lucas, come out here, you coward!"

The door suddenly flung open, making the Head of Draoicis-Lus stumble back. He quickly caught himself and stared at a man's silhouette in the now lit up, open doorway.

"Who are you calling a coward, Draoic?"

"Where is she?" Lorrus muttered through gritted teeth.

"Who?"

"My daughter, I know you took her!" Lorrus then looked past Lucas' silhouette trying to search what he could see inside the house. "Beanni!" he called, nobody responded. "Beanni!" he tried again, then tried to barge his way past.

Lucas threw him back out into the heavy storm.

"Have you gone insane, Draoic? You stay away from us or I'll call on my men and they'll flay you alive, don't think they won't!" Lucas said with a chilling tone, as he squared up towards the dark man on his porch.

"I'm not leaving without my daughter!" Lorrus growled, not at all intimidated by his enemy's threat.

"Why in the highest star would I want your daughter? Why would I want any dirty Draoic inside my home?"

"Don't play dumb with me, you filthy Biab!" Lorrus spat back. "I know the truth!"

"The truth? What are you blabbering about? Your dirty Draoic daughter is not here, so go back to the West, before me and my boys drag you there!" The rain's relentless drum beat took over for a few brief seconds as Lucas' facial expression changed and a smile crawled onto his smug lips. "Perhaps she ran away? Ever thought of that? I mean it wouldn't be the first time, would it?" Lorrus' scowl got deeper as his rival continued. "Lorrus-Lius ran away to the Emeralds! He preferred to get brutally killed by Trolls than be around you! Maybe you should..."

Smack!

Lucas' rant got interrupted by Lorrus' flying fist. It crashed into his smirking jaw with a satisfying crunch. Lucas, holding his face turned towards his foe with a red veiled glare, then without another word threw himself at him. The rain grew heavier as they tore chunks out of each other. They were both so focused in destroying the other that they were blind to anything else.

Others came running from their homes in Tuanalis to see what was going on. Lucina, Lucas' wife, emerged from the house with their daughter and son at her sides.

"Lucas! Stop! Lucas!" she yelled. "Lucas! Before the violet light beacon shines, stop!"

"The Draoic is on our land, Aunty!" One of her nephews ran to her, as his brothers cheered on the fight. "The Draoic fool will be the one who the King arrests this time!"

"They are both fools! And you are too if you think the King is going to treat either of them lightly! This must stop before..."

Suddenly the murky night air was lit up with a strong violet light, making everybody present freeze in action. An unnatural silence took over Tuanalis as the King and his entourage entered the frozen battle ground.

"When will this unrest ever cease?" King Tellum's impatient drawl was heard by all. "Guards arrest these two!" He ordered his men, pointing at the two heads of the feuding families. "They can cool off in the cells at Astrid Palace."

The King then clicked his fingers and everybody was able to move again. Lorrus and Lucas were dragged apart and nobody else dared to interfere. The King then raised his orb that was glowing brightly with violet magic.

Lorrus looked around at all who stood around him and Lucas. He noticed his wife and sons joining the silent crowd, their faces betrayed the dread that they felt for their family's future.

"Let it be known!" King Tellum addressed all who stood around him. "That this feud must come to an end, I shall hold the heads of your families for as long as it takes. Now bow!"

Everybody bowed down and called out in perfect unison, "Stars shine upon you, your majesty."

As their words echoed through the now calming rain, all who were heading to the Palace were engulfed by a bright beam of violet light and disappeared.