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She sat in her hall upon the large black oak chair at the head of a long banquet table. Around the table sat her retainers. The fireplace behind her was large enough to contain while tree trunks ablaze, but the hearth was filled with only ashes of a fire that had burned out long ago.

The retainers about the table sat motionless in their chairs, with their heads bowed in silence. The whole of the hall was still and silent. Long shadows filled the hall, cast by a dim illumination coming through the glass windows placed high in the halls’ outer walls.

Keara’s own head was bowed upon her chest, her hands rested in her lap. The whole hall was covered in a thick layer of dust, so long had it been since there was any movement, that layers of dust were upon Keara and the retainers’ bodies.

The voice started as a small echo in the high reaches of the hall. A small sound like the squeak of a mouse, but soon the noise grew loud with a more pronounced voice. The articulation of speech rose in volume till it filled the hall. The call became a shout, then a roar. As the voices bounced from wall to wall, the figure at the table’s head looked up for the first time in eons.

She tilted her head and listened to the maddening loud voices. The voice was shouting the same phrase over and over. “Keara, Lady of Shadow and Silence, we call to you. Three times we call, three times we beseech.”

The woman stood, dust falling from her lap and form. As she arose, her retainers looked up as one and watched her, still maintaining their silence. The long black silk dress reach to her feet, and her upper body was covered by a black lacquered breast plate worn over the silk dress. At her side rested a black sword.

As the voice called out her name again, Keara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her lungs filled with air for the first time in many years. As Keara breathed out, she opened her eyes again and large shadowy wings formed on her back.

The voice called out once more. “Keara, Lady of Silence and Shadows, we call you, we beseech you. Attend us. Grant us that which we desire!”

A frown formed upon Keara’s brow as she finally interpreted the words spoken across the worlds toward her. The shadow wings spread wide to a wing span three times Keara’s height. With a single down beat of the dark wings, Keara rose into the air, and arrowed out of the hall. Her flight took her into the air. Soon the Keep of Silence and Shadows feel away behind her. Keara rose high above her domain, deep in the heart of Faerie.

Keara paused for a moment hanging high above her land. She could feel her rising strength being drawn from that domain. After renewing herself fully, she oriented herself, seeking from which world the call originated. As a wheel laid out around Faerie, she knew lay the four lesser fae realms: Avalon, Lands Beyond Dusk and Dawn, the Green Silences, and the Chaos Lands. Beyond those lay the three Dragon Realms and several others. And yet all anchored upon the many Earths beyond. It was from one of these Earths that the call came.

Once she had her bearings, Keara winged off across the worlds to fulfill a summons.