"Who are you?" Anwynd said, cutting every word sharply. Cadence hoped the dagger he held at her throat wouldn't cut as sharp as those words. The look in Anwynd's eyes said he would take her life without a second thought. Cadence swallowed hard, and felt the dagger sting her skin.

"I told you. My name is Cadence."

"How do you know who we are young lady?" Cerd, the hideous creature, said in a kinder tone then the one Anwynd had used.

"If you want me to explain that, I'm afraid you'll have to remove that knife from my throat, it is actually a long story, and hard to believe, too." Aldara raised her brow, she gently touched Anwynd's arm, he complied with the gesture and removed the dagger from her throat smoothly. Cadence tried to sit up, she found it wasn't as painful this time. She propped herself up in her bed with her arms.

"Today?" Lysandra said coldly. If only the girl had a clue how much I know about her. She wouldn't get so wise with me. Cadence shot her a warning glance, and raised her head. If she was going to be in this world, she would have to act the part. Just as she was about to begin telling her story, a young man ran into the room, stopping at the doorway. Gavyn. She thought with a smile. His crystal blue/white eyes darted around the room, stopping twice to look at Cadence, surprised to see her awake. The urgency of his message was too important to dawdle with however.

"Gavyn. You've returned. Any news?" Aldara asked, in her ever pleasant tone.

Cadence tried to figure out what was going on. What part is this up to? Gavyn took in a breath. "Yes, much news, as a matter of fact. I just returned from Amidare with a message from the Lord Capron, he demands you come and see him about the . . . " he trailed off, recalling Cadence's presence in the room. "On my return another out break on the border of Amidare and Tollence, this time it wasn't the same, Amidare and Tollence couldn't hold the fight. I hardly managed to escape after helping them a bit."

Anwynd sighed. "It's getting closer and closer by the minute."

"I know. I can feel it. It's a scarey thing, I wish I wouldn't be 'round for it." Cerd said sympathetically.

Cadence tried to gather up the details and recall what they were talking about. Just as she had gotten it pieced together, Lysandra turned her attention back to her again. "I believe our little friend hasn't answered us yet?" she said addressing her companions.

Aldara nodded. "Cadence you said it was?" Cadence nodded in reply. Aldara took a few steps toward her and placed a hand on the edge of her bed. "Where are you from Cadence? And how do you know our names?"

Anwynd interrupted. "Can't you see the girl has information from-"

"Idrhys?" Cadence interrupted, at the sound of the horrid name all heads turned to her, with fire burning in their eyes and puzzled looks on their faces. She had forgotten not to say the name unless she had to. There were other substitutes for the Evil Lord's name. She decided to relieve them of their rage and curiosity. "No, it's not the Mad Fire, if you give me a moment of your time I will explain how I know. So please. Stop interrupting." She said coldly. Once they got to know her, they would see her words could freeze hell, or the Underlands as they called it here.

"Go on." Aldara said with interest. Lysandra had retired into the cushioned seat at the corner of the room Cerd and Anwynd still stood intent on her words, Gavyn had come into the room and was leaning against the wall with interest.

"It's rather difficult to explain." Cadence sighed, took a moment to figure out how she would explain it to them. "You see, I'm not from this world, at all. To me, this world is . . . a story."

"What?" Lysandra said, with a snort at the end, as if implying that Cadence was full of lies.

"I asked you not to interrupt, Lysandra." She said shooting her another glare that would make anyone else burn in their seat, Lysandra though, much like Cadence herself , was made of ice.

"I'll continue. You see. I'm seventeen now, I've passed seventeen summers that is." She said to make herself clear. "When I had fourteen or fifteen summers, I used to read this series of books, for fun, they were fiction, or fantasy, meaning they weren't real or true, at least so I thought. There was a series of books, which followed the lives of certain characters, certain ordeals, the book showed these stories through the characters eyes." Cadence stopped a moment to study her listeners, all look confused and bewildered with exception of Anwynd who showed no facial expression, Cadence knew he rarely did, she knew why too. She continued "the characters in these stories, were . . . Aldara, Anwynd, Lysandra, Cerd, Gavyn, Aiden . . . should I continue? I believe you get the point, and I fear I might mention names of people you haven't even met yet."

There was a silence in the room. Gavyn stood up straight. "You mean to say, you read about us, as if some child's story, a fairy tail." He asked in disbelief

"Sort of."

"And you saw everything, you say, through our minds and our points of view?" Anwynd asked.

"Yes, each in turn. Technically I've seen through each of your perspectives, more then four or five times, the more important the character-eh- you- were to the plot of the story, the more I would see through your mind's eye."

"That ought to make one feel uncomfortable I'd say!" Cerd chimed in. The giant always had a merry word for the worst of situations.

Cadence noticed Lysandra's cheeks colored slightly. "You've known our thoughts." The young woman said quietly. "Anwynd how can we trust her? She knows. How do we know-"

"Lysandra, the same way we trusted you." Aldara replied. "Cadence, since apparently you know as much as we do, perhaps more . . . where do you stand, in this situation?"

"With you of course. I am no fool. I've read beyond this point, obviously in the book there was no other-worldly stranger thrown into this world, but yet I know what Gavyn was talking about with his message, and I can surely help you to solve many problems. You see, the writer, the author of the book, often wrote a chapter or more from other points of view, even from the Idrh- I mean, FireWind's view. I want to try to help you, as much as I can, if you will allow me to."

Aldara nodded. From behind her Anwynd cleared his throat, and asked the question Cadence was hoping no one would ask. "Cadence, tell us . . . what happened at the end of this, story of ours?"

Cadence stared down at the covers sprawled over her legs. Then back at Anwynd's bright green eyes again. " I don't know Anwynd. I never got to the end. It was a long line of stories, and I stopped reading because, it became too important to me. I had to stop. Otherwise, I would never get out of it. But I did read to a certain extent, past this point in time, like I've told you. Believe me Anwynd, this is as strange to me as it is to you. If I tell you everything I know, I need you tell help me get back to my world, I can't stay here forever..." The five others looked at each other doubtfully. Only Aldara spoke, when she spoke her words were as gentle as she could make them.

"I'm sorry Cadence. I'm afraid we can't do that."