A tear in the air.

That was the only way to describe it. It literally looked like someone... or something... had caused the air itself to be torn asunder, and split. As the tear formed, the clouds above her began to darken, and quickly so. Almost at an alarming speed. She then heard some thunder in the distance, which meant that the storm would probably overtake her very soon. However, before she had a chance to properly process this, the split opened up and morphed into a circular shape, revealing a figure standing inside it. He was shadowed in black, and almost impossible to see... except for the sudden flashes of lightning that were now illuminating the area, and the figure.

The figure appeared to be a male, somewhere in his mid-20's. His hair was short and dirty brown... with a weird change to lavender as it went out, and it was a bit messy, but overall well-maintained. His eyes seemed to be a mesmerising lavender that matched his hair as well. He was well-dressed, with black slacks on, dark brown dress shoes, and a light grey dress shirt.

He very much looked like he was dressed for a business casual affair.

He stood in the portal for a mere moment, before gracefully stepping out of it... and bowing to her.

"It is an honour to finally meet you, Calysta Icesska." he said, his voice silky and smooth.

The man that was standing there looked at her... and smiled.

It was as silky as his tone, and it implied that he knew what he was doing... like he was thinking several moves ahead.

"I wouldn't expect you to." he said. "Not right away, anyway." he continued.

"After all, I just appeared out of nowhere, out of thin air? Yes, very strange." he reasoned.

"...." he was then silent, before smirking slightly.

"However..." he said further, trailing off a little and looking into her eyes, his gaze almost piercing.

"...what if I said I would be able to tell you more about your father?" he asked her.

The man just smiled.

"How?" he asked.

"Simple." he said. "I have a vast network of information and sources." he told her. "If something happens, or if there's talk of a noteworthy person... I hear of it." he continued.

"And your father is... well, he's noteworthy." he chuckled lightly.

He then gestured towards the portal with both his arms.

"You want answers, don't you?" he asked.

"They lie just beyond this gateway."

The man just smirked.

"Away we go." he said.

The two of them then went through the portal, and she suddenly felt herself lifted off the ground, floating through the tunnel.

As they floated through, the man just smiled at her.

"I'm glad you decided to come rather peacefully." he said.

"It'd be a shame if I'd had to use force." he added.

Then, before she could answer, another 'tear' formed in one of 'walls' of the 'tunnel', and another figure popped out of the resulting hole.

He had slightly longer hair than the one she was with, and it was an earthy brown... but he had a streak of evergreen down one of his bangs... which matched the green hue of his eyes.

He was clad in a cloak that draped over one of his shoulders, and underneath it was a modest set of what looked to be hand-made clothing, woven from materials found in nature.

"Pardon the interruption." he said with a grin.

"YOU!" the first one exclaimed in an angry tone, quickly losing his composure.

"You blasted elf!" the man shouted.

"S'cuse me." the elf responsed, flicking one of his pointed ears.

He then quickly grabbed Calysta by her shoulders, and started to pull her into the tunnel he'd created.

"She's coming with me." he told her.

The man growled, before extending his hand forward.

"HA!" he shouted, snapping his fingers.

Then... nothing seemed to happen, as the two of them disappeared into the tunnel, and it shut behind them.

"Figured I needed to act quickly." he told her as they quickly floated away from where she'd just been.

"Calysta!?" the one that had got her exclaimed, before the other male sighed.

"Damn it." he cursed.

"What is it!?" the first one asked.

"Looks like he may have gotten to her." the other one growled.

"Oh no..." the first male mumbled.

"Calysta? Are you all right?" he then asked the girl.

But she was gone. Unconscious.

"All we can do is let her rest now." the one muttered, shaking his head.

Adym just sighed heavily.

"You're right, Xeri." he said.

"Don't worry." Ceth interjected. "We're always watching." he told him.

"...I know." Adym responded.

Ceth then looked to the female, and nodded.

"Let's go." he told her.

"The sooner we leave, the quicker we can make our rounds." he reasoned.

"..........." Ceth was silent, before nodding.

"Right." he said.

"Goodbye for now, Adym." he told the other elf.

The two of them then left the modest dwelling, and he felt their presences vanish.

With that, he sighed, and looked at Calysta.

"...only time will tell what happens now." he mumbled.

"And I'm scared to find out." he added, before carrying the girl to his bed, so she would at least be comfortable.

"Eh?" Adym muttered.

"You don't remember?" he asked.

'....hmmmmm...' he thought, before shaking his head and deciding against looking TOO deeply into it.

At least right now.

"Vyran tried to take you to... wherever his hideout is." he told her.

"I managed to interject and bring you here, to safety." he continued.

"Are you all right?" he then asked her.

Adym's mouth almost dropped when he heard that.

"..." he was silent, a lump in his throat.

'How...? What did...?' he started to think, before shaking his head.

"I... ah..." he stammered.

"Tell me." he said.

"What... DO you remember?" he asked her.

"What's the last thing you remember, before waking up here?"