“I am Callindra.”  She said, stepping forward with more confidence than she felt and holding out her right hand.  “My companions and I are attempting to rid as much of the Abyss from the Prime as we can. Seems as though we might have a common enemy in the Taken.”  Shadowsliver’s chain tinkled merrily where it hung from its shackle.

“Yes.  Names.”  The creature paused, becoming more still than any living creature could.  “Terevelen. I was called Terevelen once a long time ago.” He extended a hand that was all skin and sinew stretched tightly over bones and grasped hers.  Instead of being cold as she had thought it would be, his skin was so hot it nearly burned her.

“The Sol’Estin has chosen a successor.”  Terevelen grated, eyes shining from inside the hood and releasing her hand.  “I see. He has chosen his blood.”

“What?”  Callindra was startled out of her careful confident tone and struggled to regain her composure.  Of his blood? He must be referring to her magic. “Terevelen, we wish an alliance.”

There was a moment of hesitation once again, a stillness so complete that he could have been stone.

“You desire to ally?  With me?” Even his dead and dry voice, the disbelief was evident.

“Yes.  After all, you aren’t one of the Taken.  You aren’t from the Abyss. It matters little that I don’t agree with everything you do here, what matters most is that you are a child of this place.”  She met the azure pinpoints of his eyes evenly.  

“What do you suggest?”  He asked.

“A truce wherein we will attempt to help not harm one another.”  She kept his gaze and took a risk, “Also we will help you be rid of the Taken dragon that’s threatening your stronghold.”

Her daring was rewarded with a flicker of surprise from Terevelen.  A literal flicker, the bright blue of his eyes moved like a candle flame in an unexpected breeze.  “You guessed.” He stated.

“It was an educated guess.”  She said with a shrug. “You wouldn’t be bothering with these pitiful things if you had something like that at your command.  Or at very least you wouldn’t be making so many of them.”

“Ah.”  He said, “Very well.  How can I trust you?”

“We came in good faith without offering violence to you or your allies or your … creatures.”  She said, crossing her arms in a way that put Shadowsliver’s deadly blade on clear display. “I think a better question is why we should trust your word; but I will tell you why you will keep it.  If you do not we will destroy you.

“I am The Sol’Estin, Master of the Four Winds.  We were once known as The Brotherhood of Steel. My brother and I have witnessed the death of a God and yet we still live.  If you raise your hand against us whatever thin claim on life you still have will be forfeit. We came to offer you a choice.  Join us and live, oppose us and die.”

A wind swirled Terevelen’s robes despite there being no convenient place for it to enter.  It returned to tease the ends of Callindra’s ragged hair and make Shadowsliver’s chain tinkle merrily before fading away.

“And if I wish to be neutral?”  Terevelen rasped, not seeming intimidated in the least.

“There is no neutral.”  She said, “You will either join our enemy or simply be slain by them and thereby deprive us of a potentially useful ally.  Given your outlook on the living I would imagine you could be more sympathetic to any lie the Taken might tell you.”

Terevelen put his hands into the wide ends of his sleeves and inclined his head slightly.  “Show me you are stronger than my allies and the Taken then. Kill the dragon and we have an agreement.”

“I believe it was Jadev Blindfist that said ‘Competence is the seed of the crystal of Alliance’ wasn’t it?” Callindra asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I never read much of the irritable scratching of the warrior caste.”  He responded, “I found my calling early and have not strayed far from my true path of power.”

“But you speak with his voice nonetheless so at least you share his wisdom.”  She said with a grin. “I accept your challenge to our strength.”

Without hesitation, she turned and walked back the way she’d come, the others turned and followed behind her.  It took all her self-control not to look over her shoulder.