In spite of the fact that it was an early summer’s eve and the weather was distinctly muggy, the room’s atmosphere was quite cold. The stone walls were blank and gray, reflecting the faint orange light from the candles on the table. Seated around the room were several people, most appearing to only be in their mid-to-late teens.

            One girl with long, somewhat messy light brown hair and green eyes with a red circle around the pupils spoke up, “So, what’s all the fuss about?”

            Sitting directly across from her, an older girl with jet black hair and pale skin arched her eyebrows. “Where have you been? Haven’t you noticed something’s wrong?”

            “Nope. I’ve been too busy sword-fighting.”

            The girl seated next to her, who had crystal blue eyes, snorted, “Again? You’re going to have a sword for an arm or no arm at all if you keep that up!”

            “Can we please be serious?” a girl with a long dark brown braid asked, frustration and a hint of worry creeping into her voice. “First Adaline vanished, then Keegan’s sheep were poisoned, and now a couple of villagers are reporting that something is attacking their crops. There’s something bad going on and I don’t know what it is.”

            “I agree,” a man seated at the end of the table farthest from the door rumbled. “We need to investigate this; I doubt that these are unconnected incidents. I have a bad feeling that it’s something we can’t deal with on our own. We need special help.”

            A brief silence. All eyes slowly shifted to the girl with green and red eyes and her friend with the crystal blue ones. “Are you suggesting…” the blue-eyed girl started.

            Her companion cut her off. “Yeah. We need Tanya.”