"So let me get this straight. You want the three of us, an exiled warrior, a swift archer, and a shadow mage, to attack the well-fortified, impenetrable home of the darkest warlock known as The Citadel... just because he and you have a grudge with one another! And you expect me to agree to this obvious suicide mission!" said the hunter, Archon.

The shadow mage looked at the warrior. "Well I, Helena, former student of the School For Dark Arts, am all for it."

The hunter stared at her. "Are you nuts!"

The warrior leaned back in his seat. "Archon, Helena, my old friends, just the fact that you came here to hear me out means more than you will ever know. And I called on you two because I trust you two more than any highly trained merc or well-numbered army. Helena, you were top of your class, even to the point of learning arts known only to the teachers. Archon, you are the only hunter to outrun the ogre of Trendale."

"Which I had to do only because your name came up in the conversation of the negotiations! The ogre nearly killed both me and the mayor of Trendale! You made so many enemies by whatever you did between the first two years after we all parted ways!" Archon was on his feet by this point, his hand on his dagger. "Give me one good reason not to kill you for entering back into the kingdom!"

"Two reasons: One, you don't have a dagger blade since a week ago when you broke it on a rockskin trogg. And two, you have the preconceived notion that I'm going to tell you the story of what happened. I can't, but I can tell you this: Kill the warlock, and we kill the man controlling the King. The warlock knows that I found out about the fact that he has the King wrapped around his finger. I publicly displayed distaste of the King and was marked as a traitor."

Archon sighed. "Jack... fine. I'll go with you to slay the warlock and his 300 minions, or whatever he has."

Jack smiled. "Good. We leave before dawn."

Helena rose from her bed at the inn. She stood in her nightgown and admired the moon outside her window.

Suddenly, she realized she wasn't alone. "Helena... listen, I... uh..."

She turned to Jack. "Save it. I know your secret. I finally figured it out about week before I got your letter. Jack... why?"

Jack stood and entered the moonlight. "Because he must be stopped. Because, I am the only one his magical abilities can't kill."

Helena sighed. "Jack..."

Jack wrapped his arms around her. "I missed you."

She smiled. "Jack... I loved you then, and now... I still do."

Jackal held her tighter. "I still love you too. Now, let's get some sleep. In the morning... we head off to certain doom to retake my childhood home from the warlock."