Cain Lokris - Looking Back to Look Ahead

Sometimes you have to look back to see where you’ve been in order to find the path forward. Today was my first taste of freedom in over ten years. It was a day to remember and one that I owe to Finvarra and his family who greeted me almost as one of their own. I am settling into the room I’ve been given while I recuperate from the travails of my imprisonment. Conveniently, a blank journal was left on the desk in the room and I plan to use it to sort out the many thoughts I have bouncing around within my head tonight. Though how long I’ll be able to remain awake to write this long chapter in my life, remains to be seen.

Looking Back

The endless expanse of the Astral Sea… it used to be a lullaby, a constant hum in the back of my mind. Now, it has become a reminder of a past I can't grasp, a burning ember of curiosity that flickers just out of reach. A part of me that has been lost, likely never to be found again.

Kane Lorkis
Microsoft Image AI Creator - 2024

Master Jinora claimed the Jedi found me clinging to a shard of crystal, a fragment of a colossal vessel they called a "planeship" that had been turned into my lifeboat. Apparently, someone wanted me to live, and my entrance into the Temple’s grounds wasn't exactly a graceful arrival and caused quite the commotion, when it crash landed on the parade grounds. I walked away from that shard intact, though the shard was destroyed and supposedly disposed of. I was three or four when I arrived at the Temple, with the barest fragments of any memories of my life before then. 

Though with the events of the last ten years, I am rather skeptical of any of the things that I have been told about my past by the Jedi. According to what I’ve been told by the local Council members where I crash landed, there was an investigation into how I ended up at their Temple, but to this day I don’t believe that anyone has truly told me the full result of that investigation. In all likelihood I’ve been told a tiny portion, but much has been withheld. 

After my arrival and completion of the investigation, I was tested for any connection to the Force. It was then they learned that I had some skill with the Force and determined that I should remain at the Temple until either my family claimed me or I advanced deeper into Jedi mysteries. 

Training as a Jedi

No one claimed me, so when I was old enough, I began my training at the Temple as a Youngling Jedi Guardian and eventually advanced to Padawan…so my childhood was challenging to say the least. Not having parents, just Jedi monks and their servants to raise me.

While I could connect to the Force, as I grew older it seemed easier for me to connect to the Weave, and I tended to use spells as much or more than I did the powers of the Force which made me different from the other Younglings and made many Masters hesitant to train me as a Padawan after I came of age. 

However, when I look back to the first time I saw Master Jinora’s Sunsword ignite as a Youngling, seeing that golden blade humming with life, all those years ago, even now I get shivers just thinking of it. It sparked a long-buried memory of seeing one being used in combat to defend me. I later learned that the Sunsword was only given to Jedi who had done some great service to the Order. I knew even then that using one someday was to be my calling.

Master Jinora was an elderly Jedi who was ready to retire from active service. Despite my efforts to get him to say yes, when I would ask him to take me on as his Padawan, he kept telling me that he was too old to take on a new Padawan at this point in his life. Looking back, I believe that I wanted to train as his Padawan more because he was the only Master who carried a Sunsword at our Temple. Then once it became apparent that the other Masters were also refusing to take me as their Padawan, he became my only hope. 

At the age of fifteen, I was told that if I didn’t find a Master to take me as their Padawan, then I would be sent to one of the Magic Academies and not allowed to become a Jedi. What a crushing blow to me at that point in my life. It was as if they all knew something about me that I did not know myself. Thankfully, at the very last moment, Master Jinori reluctantly came forward to train me.

Again looking back perhaps it would have been better if I had been tasked to go to one of the magic academies. Fate had other plans for me though.

For the next three years I trained as a Jedi Guardian under Master Jinora’s guidance. I learned a great deal, but I still was more reliant upon my spell mastery than my connection to the Force. Then at last my Master let me in on his secret, he did much the same thing and after that he focused on teaching me the methods of an Eldritch Knight. He showed me that he used magic items to enhance what other believed to be his Jedi abilities and we figured out how to mirror minor Jedi Force powers with my spells that would be enough to keep me a Jedi. 

However, on our journey’s beyond the confines of the Temple, Master Jinora began to train me more with his Sunsword than the Lightsaber, saying I attuned to it more easily. It wasn't just the elegance of the weapon, but the connection it seemed to foster within me to the Force AND the Weave. 

Horizon Walkers

When I discovered the holocrons within the library. Our ancient Jedi archives at the Temple whispered of forgotten paths and divergent methods of using the Force and integrating it with the Weave that aren't generally acknowledged. While going through them, I came across a sect of Jedi called The Horizon Walkers. A small sect of Jedi who traversed the planes, and were guardians against extraplanar threats. Their skills, a blend of martial prowess and planar magic, resonated deep within me. As if the Force or something was calling me in that direction.

It wasn't easy, approaching my Master, then the Council with my request to move to the Horizon Walker Order of Jedi. Master Jinora, my current Master, looked…disappointed initially at my request - he considered it to be some failing on his part. He thought that it was because he was too old to be training a Padawan – he wasn’t. 

There was just something about the Horizon Walker sect that called out to me in a way that I didn’t understand, but I knew that becoming a Jedi Guardian wasn’t in my future, once I learned of the Horizon Walkers.

After considering my request and consulting further with other members on the local Jedi Council, there was again a bit of a twinkle in his ancient eyes. Ones that held more than simple understanding of a young Jedi Padawan attempting to find his own way in using the Force. It was as if he remembered back to when he was a Padawan and considered “different” from the others…and something else. 

While Master Jinora is one of the few Jedi I would still trust, for I truly believe that he loved me as the son he never had, but even he had secrets that he kept from me.

'The Force works in mysterious ways', Master Jinora rasped to me on many occasions.

Shockingly, the Council voted to accept my request and started the process to begin my retraining as a Horizon Walker Jedi immediately. Looking back, I wonder how much more they knew about my past than they let on…it is something that didn’t quite fit with my past experiences. One where the Council often took months to come to a decision regarding the appropriate path of Younglings and Padawans. In some ways I believe they wanted to be rid of me, an anomaly in their carefully scripted plans at the Temple.

Perhaps someday I’ll find out the truth.

Though it was decided that while waiting Master Jinora would continue training me as his Padawan until a new Master could be found. For more than a few weeks we spent long hours discussing my future and surprisingly his own as well. Though I felt at the time and still feel that there were words he wanted to say, but for some reason held back. 

I learned during those conversations that I was to be Master Jinora’s last Padawan and if I had been chosen by another Master earlier he would already have retired. He told me with a sad smile that after I found a Horizon Walker Master he was to retire to his home world, far away from the Temple - a place called Crannog. His age and old wounds had taken their toll on his meager abilities in the Force. He shared that he was tired of the charade that he had performed for so long to remain a Jedi and the politics that had come to the Order over the years. As he told me, it seemed that the Force had other plans for me and him. He also told me to be careful of who I trusted on the Council and would say no more on it, which I found odd then and more so now.

Master Alandor

After several months of searching for a Horizon Walker Master who was willing to take on a much older Padawan. Even when one expressed interest, when they found out more of my background from the Temple Council they would then refuse to take me. Then out of the blue, one called Master Alandor consented to become my Master, he had been away on a long-term assignment, when my request was made, but seemed to be interested in why I wanted to become a Horizon Walker and who I was. 

The name of Master Alandor was a legend around the Temple though most of us didn’t know that he was anything other than a Jedi Knight until he selected me as his new Padawan, something he hadn’t done in over a 100 years. I learned later that he was the senior Jedi amongst the Jedi Horizon Walkers.

From rumors I heard around the Temple he was also a bit of a nonconformist when it came to using the Force. When we met for the first time, I found out he was also an Astral Elf and bluntly told me I was much too young to be a Padawan even though I was the same age as many non-Elven Padawans.

What the rumor mill did say was that he was a seasoned warrior with a blunt, gruff exterior and brooked no fools for long. Master Alandor was known for his meticulous planning, bravery, and unwavering determination. He wasn't one for flowery speeches or empty praise, but that his respect was hard-earned and deeply valued by all within the Jedi Order. He usually got many of the more difficult assignments in the Astral Sea. 

The parting with Master Jinora was difficult, but he was gracious and gifted me his Ring of Telekinesis, Bracers of Defense and an Amulet of Health that he had worn for so many years himself. He told me that I would need them more than he would in retirement, but that he couldn’t give me his Sunsword, that I would have to earn that through my actions, and one could not be gifted to me. 

We both smiled sadly, and hugged. I thanked him for all that he had done for me and he wished me well. Then he started to say something more and the senior member of the Council who I thought had been shadowing me during our parting, stepped between us to shake my hand and wish me well. Then I bowed and said goodbye to Master Jinora and the Councilor, turned and walked away before my emotions could take control of me. 

I’m sad that in all likelihood I’ll never see him again, though with the time I’ve had to replay that scene in my mind so many times, I will always wonder what Master Jinora had wanted to tell me, before that Councilor stepped between us. Though I saw him talking to Master Alandor privately before we departed and they both just looked at me with a sad look, before that same Councilor stopped to talk with them, so I didn’t attempt to go speak with them both.

Horizon Walker Training Begins

I was 18-19 when I began my training with Master Alandor as a Horizon Walker Padawan and found out that most older Horizon Walkers used a Sunsword instead of a Lightsaber. A strange coincidence, I think not after learning more of what they do. Though Master Alandor was visibly perplexed and had a far away look on his face and seemed lost in a memory for a moment, when I explained my strange memory about being defended by someone wielding a Sunsword, as the reason for my fascination with one. He asked me my age again and then quietly walked away.

Master Alandor questioned me extensively on my memories of life before I was found by the Jedi. But I didn’t have much in the way of memories to share with him, other than the quick one I had about the Sunsword and fleeting glimpses of people, though not enough to describe them. It was almost as if my mind had been wiped clean of who I was before I arrived at the Jedi Temple. I think he was as interested in who my parents were as I still am.

The training under Master Alandor was much different than with Master Jinora. It was a different way of looking at using the Force and yes, more of what I had come to know as spells. Master Alandor told me that if I could learn to effectively combine what I had learned from Master Jinora and what he was going to teach me that I had the potential to become a formidable Jedi in time as my connection to the Force should increase with time. Though the time to learn to merge the two methods of teaching into something I could use instinctively would be frustrating and that rushing the training would not work. It would come together when the Force and I were ready to forge this new use of the two schools.

It didn't take Alandor long to see the Horizon Walker within me and I progressed quickly when it came to identifying portals and picking up on the spells that “Walkers” use. However, Alandor wasn't one to rush into things either. He believed true commitment came through learning, preparation, action and was much more than just words or fantasies about doing things, while sitting in a chair in some office or boardroom.

Alandor's way of testing my resolve to become a Horizon Walker wasn't a grand display of powerful spells or a flashy lightsaber duel for me to show how advanced a fighter I was. It was based on skills that I would need to survive in a Universe that was harsh and unforgiving. 

He trained me to fight a bit differently with the Lightsaber than Master Jinora had, I never used his Sunsword. It was more to find a killing stroke swiftly, then move on to the next opponent as efficiently as possible. Without the flashy flourishes, jumps or wasted motion that too many Jedi tend to add into their fighting style. Which even during my earliest training I didn’t understand. I saw their flashy efforts leave them exhausted at the end of a training session or battle and not ready to resume fighting at high levels if needed, without a period to rest. 

In all the sparring sessions I had with Master Alandor, neither of us exhibited any levels of exhaustion after them. Tired, of course. However, we were always able to start fighting again immediately and often attempted to quickly defeat the other, by attacking at odd times immediately after a session had supposedly ended. It wasn’t until my third year that I wasn’t completely outclassed by Master Alandor and my fifth before I could occasionally best him. At the Temple, I had been able to fight evenly with many of the Jedi Masters so his fighting style was in my mind far superior. Wasted or unnecessary effort was an anathema to Master Alandor in battle and I heard him tell me time and again, to forget the flashy fighting that I had learned as a Youngling and just fight.

His testing of my progress were also a series of solo missions, sending me into the Astral Sea to gather intel on small Force disturbances and report back to him on what they were and to take care of them if I could. He believed that I wasn’t his typical Padawan and used the skills I already possessed to the maximum extent possible. One of his pet peeves was to waste nothing, time, energy, and he didn’t want to waste my skills either. 

These missions were designed to test my resourcefulness, ability to navigate the unpredictable currents of the Astral Sea, and most importantly, my resolve. He needed to know if my interest in becoming a Horizon Walker stemmed from a genuine desire to protect others or was it just a yearning for adventure? Each successful mission and our time together chipped away at Alandor's reservations, and my unwavering focus on the task at hand solidified both of our commitment to train me to become a Horizon Walker.

As Master Alandor stated Horizon Walkers needed to be able to work alone, since the number of trained members of the order were small. Stealth and smarts were as important as martial skills, sometimes more important.

We both realized early on that I was not going to be a Padawan for an extended period of time and he expected me to move on before I was thirty. As Elves we looked at years and time differently than our short-lived counterparts. So he wanted to make sure that I was ready for when that day did come.

Betrayal

Master Alandor was entrusted to an important mission into a particularly volatile city in the Astral Sea that had strategic importance to the Jedi. He was to investigate a growing planar disturbance in the Force there, which seemed to originate within the ruling family. Strangely the High Council told him to bring me along over his objections. He was told that I would assist him in this mission since I was close to moving beyond Padawan though we both expected it to take almost another eight or nine years. Though looking back, it is very unusual for the Council to overrule a Master’s choice to not bring a Padawan on a mission and I had been left behind several times before. 

Once on the world, we found out that the ruling family knew we were coming and had prepared a warm welcome for us. A full platoon of elite soldiers were awaiting our arrival in the supposedly secret field where the planar portal was located. As we stepped through we were greeted with their weapons drawn and four spell casters with spells ready and told to surrender or die. They didn’t wait for our answer and began to attack before we could respond.

Master Alandor looked at me with sadness in his eyes, said “We’ve been betrayed!”, and told me to die with honor – “my Cousin”. Then he saluted me, and bounded off into battle instead of battling as a team as he had taught me. It was painfully obvious they were not there to capture us. We fought valiantly and acquitted ourselves well, but the casters and archers made the difference and suddenly my Master was inundated with a swirl of swords and then the soldiers finished their work - I believed I saw Master Alandor’s head fly from his body and knew my time was short as well. I had taken many wounds, then while falling to the ground, without thinking, I expended all my magic in one burst outward and heard nothing but screams. Suddenly everything went black.

Imprisonment

Some time later I awoke chained naked to a slimy dungeon wall. My wounds had been cleaned and bound and there was a helmed guard within the cell with me, who went to the door to let them know I was awake. About an hour later an Elven noble who stunk of cheap perfume slunk into the cell with four guards and an obvious Wizard. All who looked very aware they were dealing with a Jedi - even if I was just a Padawan. 

I was questioned extensively and answered the questions posed to me as the Jedi had taught me to respond if captured. The noble looked at me and shook his head and told me here you will stay. However, first we must question you further using other methods to ensure that your answers were the whole truth, not Jedi half-lies. 

A short time later the torture began and would continue. It seemed as though they took me to the gates of the dead and then brought me back - time after time. I longed for it to end though it never did. I lost track of who I was, where I was and how long I had been there. Eventually, no questions were asked when I was taken to the torture chamber, just pain given, the torturer’s smiles, my screams, and the silent guards within the room. I gave up all hope of rescue and as the years went by, time lost all its meaning to me. 

Still there was no word from the Jedi, no attempts to rescue me that I heard of or was mocked by their failure to free me. All I had was a sense of being completely abandoned and the feeling of being completely alone. And the pain, that was the one constant, always the pain.

The Torture Stopped

One day, there was a change in the routine and instead of being taken for my daily meetup with the one who wasn’t allowed to let me die, I was simply released from my chains, thrown a rag to wear, and left lying on the filthy, wet floor. More and more weeks passed and I was being ignored which in some ways was almost as bad as the torture, but I was being fed gruel once a day, so they hadn’t forgotten about me. Though the continued screams from afar continued, it just wasn’t me screaming. I was fed enough to survive, but not enough to let me have any energy to exercise or get stronger. 

It seemed that I had been left to rot and eventually die of natural causes.

Though during this time without torture my body and mind healed to the point where I was almost lucid once more. It was then I began to believe that the Jedi had abandoned me and had time to think back on my life and who my family was and with the few clues that I could dredge up I came to the conclusion that the Jedi knew more about my past and who my family were than they were willing to divulge to me - at least. Jedi playing Jedi games once more. 

Even so, I continued to attempt Jedi mind-speak every day I was strong enough, until I would pass out from fatigue and was met with only silence. There wasn’t any barrier, just no answer. I continued to delve into my past and plot all sorts of methods of revenge that I would take upon my captors.

Though I couldn’t get out of my mind the last words to me from Master Alandor - “my cousin”. Was he my relative? Did I mishear him? An Elf calling another Elf cousin is not unheard of even if they are not related, but to use that familial term “my cousin” brought too many unanswered questions to mind.

The ArchFey

After what seemed like years of this this torture, heal a bit, then torture again and never seeming to stop. And now being mostly ignored - I felt completely alone. One day there was a voice in my mind and an offer from one who identified himself as an ArchFey one who called himself Lord Finvarra, whose interest I had somehow garnered. My efforts to reach out to the Jedi, had reached into his mind, something that he had never experienced before and needed to learn more about who it was that was able to do this to him. While I had slept he had gone through my memories, then done some investigating of his own. 

He told me that the Jedi order knew that Master Alandor had been killed and knew that his Padawan had been captured. However, they had dealt with the Lord responsible for that insult, but agreed to not attempt to rescue the Padawan, once his son had assumed his place and was willing to make an alliance with the Jedi. But on the condition that the incident with their Knight was to be forgotten and the Padawan forgotten as well. It would be an embarrassment for both parties if I was to resurface - alive and in the condition I was in after so many years. 

I couldn’t believe what was being said, but at the same time, I was still here imprisoned and Master Alandor was long dead. So, I tended to believe what I was being told. He then insinuated that my allegiance and oath to the Jedi Order no longer held me to them, as they had forsaken me. I sadly agreed with that observation, since I too believed that the Jedi had abandoned me.

His investigation had further piqued the ArchFey’s interest into who I was and he offered that he might intervene upon my behalf to work a deal that would be satisfactory to all parties and get me out of the dungeon that I was in. But only, if I was willing to accept him as my Patron and become one of his Warlocks and serve him in return. I thought for a moment and realized this might be my only chance to leave this cell alive. 

Besides what had the Jedi done for me since I was captured - nothing, they had abandoned me to a fate worse than death. I decided to accept his offer, it was a chance to live.

Also, knowing the ways of the Fey, that this would be my only chance to bargain with the Fey Lord for anything. Therefore, I requested the items that Master Jinora had entrusted to me as parting gifts, the Ring, Bracers, and Amulet that I had on when I was captured and to find who my parents actually were. I figured that the Lightsaber I had carried had long since been stripped for its crystal and would be useless to me. Along with training in this new class that was being offered. 

He stopped and seemed to be thinking, then I sensed him smiling, and then he replied he would see what he could do.

Lord Finvarra

About ten feedings later (that is how I had begun to tell time), there was clanging at the door and an imposing Elf walked into my cell with several guards with drawn swords behind him. He laid a blanket on the floor and unrolled it, inside were the Ring (it still had that small scratch on the inside that Jinora had shown me all that time ago), Bracers and the Amulet. Along with a set of clothing similar to what he was wearing with the same crest on the right side of the shirt. He looked at me and said “Due to the conditions of your release agreement, I cannot help you with finding who your parents are. That is a quest you will do on your own. Otherwise, I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. Will you fulfill yours”?

I struggled to get on one knee before him and nodded with tears streaming down my face whispering hoarsely “I will.”. He told me henceforth Run’arr would be known as Kane Lokris and I felt a probing inside my mind. The ArchFey looked at me and told me I was now under a geas to not talk to anyone but him about my time as a Jedi, or that I had been a Jedi. That I would not remember the city’s name nor the name of the family that imprisoned me, only that I had been imprisoned and tortured for over ten years in a dungeon - somewhere. 

“Do you agree with these terms?” 

Overwhelmed with emotion and now realizing the actual number of years I had been imprisoned. While I was overwhelmed with that knowledge, I nodded my assent and croaked out the word “Yes.” 

There was and is more to life than living for revenge and with the ArchFey’s offer I had the opportunity to do more than simply survive a miserable existence that I felt had little time left before I would be dead in any case.

Freedom

The Fey Lord motioned for me to rise and change from the rags I was wearing to my new clothes and begin my new life with him as my Patron. I steeled myself to perform this simple task, as I felt my connection to the ArchFey deepen. I was barely able to dress myself or stand, but managed to put on the clothes, the ring, the bracers and when I put on the amulet, I felt more alive than I had in a long time, though still barely able to stand and walk. 

I thought to myself, that no matter what it took, I was going to walk out of this hellhole on my own, with my head held high to show that I was unbroken. Once dressed, he motioned for me to follow him and he led me through the phalanx of guards, who nervously shifted around as we passed by them. They had surrounded us while he was talking to me and only reluctantly parted to let us by when the Fey Lord glared at them. 

Even with the amulet on, in my weakened state it was only through extreme willpower that I was able to walk at all, staggering along every so often. No one made any move to assist me and I don’t believe I would have accepted their aid, if it had been offered. There were too many familiar faces amongst the guards, those who had dragged me to the torture chamber, too many times and stood there silently while I screamed. 

On our way through the dungeon, I hesitated when we came to the room where I had been tortured so many times and looked at the man standing off to the side of the table - who smiled a sad smile, nodded to me and bowed. I am now sure he was placed there to create a reaction from me to give them reason to attack us. My new Master saw me falter for a moment when I saw the torturer and waited to see what I would do. I started to reach out with my ring’s telekinetic power and stopped, composed myself, nodded, and looked away. 

I began to walk unsteadily towards the Fey Lord. I knew that I had a new life ahead of me, and if I attacked that man, I would never see the light of day. I lifted my head a bit higher, stood up straighter, took a deep breath and walked away without looking his way again. I could not help but emanate all the hatred for the person who had damaged my body and mind so much. 

Suddenly my Master bared his teeth and made an almost inaudible growl, for he knew exactly what I wanted to do and without thinking took a step towards the torturer. My sudden surge of emotions had clearly affected the Fey as well. The torturer looked at us very afraid and took a step backwards. 

My Master stopped, then looked at me with a quizzical look, quickly composed himself, turned, smiled wickedly at the guards who were following behind who had taken a step towards us when he did that. 

Then continued to lead me and our armed procession through a labyrinthian set of corridors and rooms. I don’t remember the path we took or if anyone was watching us, other than there were soldiers all along our path. This went by in a blur, until we reached the outside where it was a dark night. A grand carriage awaited us in the torchlight. I didn’t have the strength to climb into the carriage and felt an invisible force carrying me inside the carriage. 

As I looked back upon a palace I had never seen the outside of, though I had been within its dungeon for over ten years. I etched the outside appearance of this grand entryway into the very essence of my soul. I have a feeling that I will be back there someday despite being unable to remember the names of who imprisoned me or where I was imprisoned, my agreement said nothing about not remembering what I saw after making it. 

We rode in silence and eventually, I could sense that we were heading towards a portal that I sensed quite a way off - I hadn’t lost my Horizon Walker powers, but I was so weak, so damaged. I was focused on remembering landmarks and what I could see of the palace in the darkness. When the carriage stopped, I was so lost in those efforts that I hadn’t noticed. My Master touched my arm and motioned for me to join him outside the carriage. I had rested enough that I was able to stumble/walk towards the portal. A large cavalry escort was still with us and more soldiers nervously lined the path to the portal with their swords drawn, looking as though they expected to use them.

Who Were They?

At the junction to the portal, a tall Astral Elf in plate armor with his sword drawn and flaming, standing beside a figure with a hooded cloak hiding his face, and what looked to be a lightsaber on his belt. They glared at us, then the Elf loudly and rudely remarked, 

“Do you agree that the pact is now complete and our obligation to you is done?”

My Master simply looked at them in a bored fashion, stood there silently glaring at the impertinent Elf for about thirty seconds. When the Elf lowered his eyes and stopped challenging my Master, Lord Finvarra smiled a chilling smile (one that I would have been terrified of if I had been on the receiving end of it) and in a low and dangerous tone that brooked no argument “Your obligation to me is complete, now step aside.” Sweeping his arm and pointing, indicating they would go to his right while looking directly at the hooded one and ignoring the Elf.

I don’t know what Lord Finvarra used to bargain for my freedom, but my release certainly wasn’t something these two wanted to have happen. I could feel both of their hatred and conflicted thoughts about whether to attempt to kill me now and suffer the displeasure of this ArchFey as well as the soldiers' fear of dying at my hand?

My hand? 

Thoughts I couldn’t comprehend or understand then or now. I focused on the Elf’s face and committed it to memory, while I attempted to see the face inside the hood. Without a doubt it seemed to me to be a familiar one from before I started training with Master Alandor, one of the Council members. The one who stopped Master Jinora from talking to me. Of that I’m almost certain.

Though I didn’t understand their hatred towards me…I certainly was no danger to them, but Lord Finvarra held something over two very powerful men that allowed him to take me with him and for them to put on such a display of power at my release. Who was it for? I don’t think the ArchFey was too worried or impressed. Me, I was so weakened and such a pawn in this matter, that it made no sense. However, these two, no three, I could now see another behind the two - one who was invisible and had released her spell.

At that pronouncement the two men and the once invisible Elven woman behind them and they all reluctantly moved aside. 

Lord Finvarra slowly and majestically walked up the steps to the portal as if it was to his coronation, turned and beckoned me forward, winked…smiled a warm smile at me, took my hand, then laughed loudly as we walked through the portal.