They took my brother.  The Knights of Takhisis took my brother.  On top of that, no one remembers what Mom and Aunt Krystal went through except for me, Aeryn, and Jen – not even Uncle Fiz remembers.  I don’t know what to do and I don’t know where to turn.  How am I going to explain to my parents that I lost Davil?  How?  I don’t understand why, either – I wish I did, maybe then we’d know where to start looking.
            We’re not going to change our plans, though, not quite yet – we’re going to stop at Aunt Krystal and Uncle Coramoor’s, then we’ll head out to Thalgard Keep to meet Set.  From there…the Gods only know where we’ll go or what we’ll do from there.  It’s just so damned frustrating to have to sit down and write these words and know that every one of them is true, and know that you are so hopeless that there’s nothing that can be done about any of it.  By the Gods, I hate it so much.  I do.  I hate it.  I hate not knowing what to do, I hate not knowing where to turn.
            I hate not knowing how I’m going to get my brother back.

            Well, we made it to Thalgard Keep, and things got worse from there.  Set ditched us and didn’t come back.  On top of that, freak storms started up, someone tried to kill Aeryn, and from there everything snowballed.
            Sterling has turned black, and we don’t know why.  The storm that was raging wasn’t natural, the little green cursed snakes are immune to charm and sleep, and I just found out that not only am I related to the Silvanesti royal family by way of my Aunt Kimara, Uncle Govan’s wife, I’m actually cousin or some such to the current king of the Qualinesti, something I don’t think even MOM knew.  Apparently, Dad is also considered a noble in Silvanesti – I don’t ask questions about that sort of thing, it’s safer that way.
            Lord Gunthar arrived at Thalgard with an injured mount and said that they’d fought what appeared to be a mercenary band with a red dragon.  The signet of the band was a golden lute on a dark blue field – we’ve pretty much figured that it had to be a group of bards, and I, for one, think Draven is behind all of this.  How else can we explain humans taking orders from a kender who escaped Thalgard Keep by using a time-traveling device?  The kender’s name is Kahn-something Thistleknot, which matches up with the stories, I were to venture a guess.
            We captured four men who apparently work for that force.  There’s little else to report other than my uncle has fallen ill due to the weather and has since recovered, my aunt is a druid, Sterling has turned black and now hisses at me and attacks my uncle’s lieutenants – AND AERYN – and I have a baaaad feeling about this.  What are we going to do?
            I’m writing this while Aeryn cooks dinner.  We’re on the road between Vingard Keep and the High Clerist’s Tower.  We’ll be in Palanthas soon.  I didn’t have much time to write while we were at Thalgard – there was too much to do, too much to think about.  I don’t know what’s going on anymore, but I know enough to know that I really don’t like it.

            I’ve found work in Palanthas as a barmaid, while Aeryn and Jeanelle have found work as well in the city.  It is my hope that eventually we will find Davil somewhere within the city, and we’ll be able to take him home – or something.  In the meantime, we’re making a comfortable living here, and staying in an inn in the city.  We just have to wait, and hope.  It’s all a matter of time.  That’s all.  A matter of time.

            Close encounters with Dalamar went better than I expected.  Jeanelle ran into him in the city and she and I met with him today.  It was strange...he doesn’t seem like an evil person.  He told me that he owed a debt to my mother for her kindness toward him – that is, how she never looked down on him or made snide remarks toward him where her peers normally would.  He predicted that my mother would never join the Conclave.  I’m not so sure.  He also underestimated exactly how close I am to the point where I would need to take my test.  It’s hard for me to think about it, though...I don’t think I could, now, given the circumstances.  Maybe after we find Davil and bring him home, I can think about it.

            Aeryn fought Kaz recently in the arena and ever since, she’s been acting very strange.  There’s this weird guy named Mark floating around.  I wonder what’s wrong with her – I worry about what’s wrong with her – but what can I do?  It’s not my place to pry.  The only time I ever really say anything is when she seems like she’s giving up on my brother.  She’s got no right to do that.  I know that Davil will come home.  I just know it.
            Another note on this Mark fellow Aeryn’s been hanging around with…Dalamar was speaking to the man when Jeanelle and I met with him for the second time.  During that meeting (with Jeanelle and I), Dalamar told us that the Knights of Takhisis are not responsible for the attacks against the lives of our families and the kidnapping of my brother.  I suppose we’re back to square one, now, except for that we know the signet of the people after us – the golden lute on the blue background.
            Could this be connected to my mother’s past?  I think it is – I have every reason to believe that it is the man my aunt killed a century and a half in the past that has somehow learned of that act and is now hell-bent on killing all that bear the name my aunt Crystal gave – Malefant.

            They’ve warped him.  I don’t know how they’ve done it, how it’s possible, but they’ve done it.  They have warped my brother.  They have killed my cousin, Delilah, and her twin has left Caergoth for parts unknown – possibly for the Tower at Palanthas.  Something has happened to my mother, the nature of which I do not quite understand, but she is unable to remember where she set down a glass, let alone how to cast a spell.
            They have to be stopped.  Whether or not my father or my uncles give us permission to stop them, I vow here and now to do that.  I’m going to stop them from hurting my family, and I’m going to make things right.  However I can.

            Much has happened in the past weeks and I have had little time to write – too much research on my part, too many unanswered questions.  All that has been scribbled in my hand of late are notes on ritual and corruption and curses in hopes of finding ways of reversing such things.  It’s hardly necessary now, though.
            I owe Dalamar a favor for what he’s done for me – by searching through books at the Great Library here in Palanthas, I discovered that the same ritual used to create draconians can be used to corrupt individuals or objects.  After witnessing my younger brother, Innis, becoming what Davil was, I was able to figure out what needed to be done – sort of.  Through my research at the library, after Aeryn and I had left the company of my brothers (that is a tale in and of itself, which I will relate in this tome if I have the time), I learned that research had taken place into a ritual to reverse the process, research done here, in Palanthas, as an effort at the Temple of Mishakal in conjunction with research done at the Tower here, by Dalamar.  He gave me his notes on the ritual, his research, and I was able to perform it successfully with the help of my cousin, Gerrand.  Thus, Innis and Davil are once again with us, as they were meant to be.  We will soon depart for Thalgard Keep to see Uncle Govan and Aunt Kimara, then go on to Caergoth and from there to New Ports and Haven.  We are under orders from Uncle Fizban to do so.
            As I have previously stated, much has happened in the past weeks.  Kalara has become Dalamar’s apprentice here in Palanthas, and I am certain she wants my brother dead for something he did when he was not in his right mind.  It was a relief in and of itself that Jeanelle forgave him.
            My father has taken my mother to the Dragon Isles, and I have no way of contacting them at the present time, because the Knights of Solamnia have stopped using dragons for couriers – they have apparently lost more since the incident with Lord Gunthar.  I don’t know what to do – even Uncle Fizban doesn’t know how my parents are.  I hope they’re all right, and I hope things get better.
            The light is fading, and I am injured and exhausted – I spent the better part of last night tending to my brothers.  I suppose I shall have to continue the tale at some later date, if that becomes possible.

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