A search party found Falaius Taneek four days after the massacre at Scorpion Wadi. The small party of humans and centaurs had worked tirelessly the past nights to search every known watchpost, hiding place, campsite, and trail known to the militia to find any stragglers, survivors, and patrols that had not received news of the massacre or of the rendezvous at Sinking Wells.

On their way back to the Wells, they passed one of several stock ponds along their route. The pond, a depression dug by farmers to catch rainwater for stock, was nearly dry, but a sharp-eyed centaur noticed a body lying in the thick grass and trotted over to investigate. His call brought everyone else running.

The old Plainsman was feverish, dehydrated, and bore several wounds. But he was a man of the Plains, tempered by heat, strengthened by barren wastes, empowered by storms, and toughened by years of hard labor. He needed only water and the joy of seeing familiar faces again to find the strength to rise. The centaurs vied to offer him a ride, and two Legionnaires, who had accompanied the troop, walked beside him, their wan faces smiling for the first time in days.

A large group greeted the party when they returned to Sinking Wells shortly after dawn. Cheering the return of the Plainsman, they followed the search party to three crude tents that had been set up in the shelter of a copse of trees. The tents served as a headquarters for the militia leaders and a healing place for the sick and wounded. Mariana, accompanied by two elves, walked out of the headquarters tent to meet the Legionnaire.

The half-elf smiled and extended a hand to help Falaius to the ground. “Old Man, it is a joy to see you!”

A grin of sorts spread across his weathered face at her nickname for him. “Young woman, the pleasure is all mine.”

He refused to go in the healer’s tent until he had talked to General Dockett or Knight Commander Remmik, so Mariana ordered a healer to come to him. They brought him soup and a pallet and made a couch for him under the trees. A fire was built, and while the Legion commander ate his soup, the Captain told him of General Dockett’s death, the slaughter in the Wadi, and the capture of the Solamnic Knights.

Falaius ran his gaze around the faces of the people who had gathered to listen, and his heart grieved. There were too many faces missing, too few here beside him. Of those he saw and recognized, most were people who had been out on patrol or stationed out in the watch posts. There were a few messengers, one child, one Solamnic Knight, and some new arrivals he did not know. Of the guards he had been with the night of the attack and the people he knew to be in the Wadi, there were none.

“Falaius,” Mariana said when he had finished his soup. “We looked for you in the canyon. We spent three days searching the gullies and caves for you. We gave you up for lost. How did you survive?”

A grimace passed over the Plainsman’s features. “If our gods had not left us, I would have said the hand of a god passed over me and held me in grace. I was checking the outlying pickets along the top of the Wadi when we were ambushed by Tarmak assassins. One of our guards managed to give a warning before he was killed, and a moment later, we were attacked. I was struck by several arrows, and Tomarick, the Legionnaire who accompanied me, took two in the back. Even so he had enough strength left to help me kill two attackers.” He paused, his deep-set eyes staring into the past. “He had enough strength, too, to push me into a crevice and hide my body with his. I shall honor Tomarick’s name for the rest of my time in this life.”

His listeners leaned forward to better hear his tale. When he did not continue right away, someone from the back of the crowd said, “Then what happened, Falaius?”

Mariana passed him a cup filled with deep red wine, part of a small stash one of the centaurs had found in an abandoned farm. He inhaled the aroma with pleasure and sampled it before he continued.

“I don’t know what happened after that. The Tarmaks must have passed me by, because the next things I remember seeing are daylight and hearing the sounds of vultures. It was almost midday.”

Mariana nodded. That explained why Varia hadn’t seen him. She’d left the canyon about midmorning.

The centaur who had carried him back asked, “How did you get to the stock pond? That is almost seven miles away.”

Falaius pointed to his bandaged leg and bloodstained boots. “One step at a time. I moved at night and was planning to make my way here. I am very grateful you spotted me.”

“We are grateful, more than you know, that you are here,” replied Mariana.

The Legionnaire’s expression folded into a frown. “But many are not. Tell me what else has been happening? Have you heard news of Lanther or Linsha?”

With the help of various comments and additions from others, Mariana told him the rest of the news of the battered militia, of the scattered and grief-stricken survivors that came trickling in to the Wells, of the stunned patrols who returned to find their families dead, of the search party that found him, and of their struggle to regroup and find more help. She reported Varia’s news of the prisoners, and the remarkable survival of Sir Hugh, Sir Fellion, and little Amania.

“I see Sir Hugh,” Falaius said, giving the young Knight a nod. “Where is your companion, Sir Fellion?”

Sir Hugh looked down at his hands. “I buried him this afternoon. The healers could not stop the infection.”

“I am truly sorry.” Falaius’s face grew more troubled. “Too many have joined the ranks of the dead,” he murmured. “Too many souls.”

He said nothing more of what he knew to the younger people around him, for few would understand and none would be comforted. Only to Linsha had he once voiced his suspicion that the souls of the dead were not leaving this world. Something held them here, some great power that kept them in thrall for reasons Falaius could only guess. It galled him to think that the gallant spirits of Tomarick, Sir Fellion, and hundreds of his friends, acquaintances, and members of his fighting forces had met their deaths only to be trapped in a place where they no longer belonged.

“There is other news as well.” Mariana’s voice broke into his thoughts and drew him back to the camp. “These elves-” she indicated the two who had sat silent by her side for whole telling of the tales-“are kirath from Silvanesti. They bring their own news.”

Falaius sat up. “Friends, it is a pleasure to welcome you, but from your expressions, I fear your news is no better than ours.”

The oldest of the two bowed to the Legion commander, “This has been a summer of disasters for us both. We came hoping to ask for help only to discover you are in as dire shape as the Silvanesti.”

Falaius suddenly remembered what the kirath were. These elves who looked so wan and haggard were members of the band of elves who guarded the borders of the elf realm, Silvanesti. His understanding made a leap forward and he exclaimed, “Your shield has fallen!”

Exclamations and sounds of surprise came from the crowd all around him. Obviously, no one else had heard this. The two elves nodded.

The oldest continued, “We were telling Mariana when you were brought in. To make a long tale shorter, a Dark Knight named Mina found a way through the shield. She exposed one of our trusted ministers as Cyan Bloodbane, the green dragon of our nightmares. We killed him, and our King Silvanoshei tore down the shield tree and destroyed the shield.”

“That’s wonderful news!” someone cried.

The others took up the excitement.

“The elves could help us!”

“Silvanesti is free! It’s about time!”

Voices spoke with happiness and relief until Falaius held up a hand to silence them. He had been watching Mariana and the two elves and could see as plain as daylight that the fall of the elven shield was not wonderful news. “What happened?”