Free The Lady's Man by Greg Curtis

not an accident. Whoever guided him – and he was guided even in his pain, of that much she was certain – had made sure that he was where he had to be when he was needed.
    Annalisse sensed that his role in this matter had not ended and that she would see him again. And if he truly was a paladin as she believed, then perhaps the others of his Order might ally with the elves in the coming days. Certainly they would need that help, They would need all the help they could get as without it all would die. Elves, humans, the other races and even dwarves.
    Against that her daughter's concern for her well-being, while both embarrassing and inappropriate was as nothing. All that mattered was finding the help they needed, preparing for the battles ahead, and trying to keep both kith and kin alive. And the first step in that long journey was to convince these elders of what was coming. Ammelia's telling them of her infirmity didn't help as far as she could see. But arguing about it would simply make things harder.
     
    “In her vision my mother saw Hammeral and knew she must come despite the risk. For this is the place where the defence of all our people will begin. It is here that allies will meet, that councils will come together, and plans will be laid. And it is here that the final battle will be waged. A battle such as none of us will ever see again.”
     
    “This will be a battle not between elves and dwarves as many of our younger warriors might dream of. Nor between the humans and any of the monstrous races they seem to regularly annoy. It will be a battle between whole realms. The realm of the living, and the realm of the dead. For the enemy is of the dead.”
     
    “What!”
     
    A dozen elders all began speaking at once, demanding an explanation for the impossibility they were being told, and even breaking Council protocols to do it. They had reason. Necromancy in all its forms was forbidden in all elven, human and even dwarven lands. One and all knew the cost of such evil magic and how it fed on the souls of the living and even the land itself. To hear that an entire realm of the dead was to be their enemy was almost too much to take in. Ammelia silenced the elders quickly with the raise of her hand.
     
    “It is without question. The Dark One has finally given in to his own demons, and has started uttering the spells even he should know better than to let loose. His frustration at his long imprisonment has finally caused him to go mad, and there is now nothing he will not do to be free. To rule the entire world, or to destroy it.”
     
    That though, was the part that Annalisse didn't understand. It was the only thing that made sense when she considered what she had seen in her visions. But it was a guess at best. She also wondered if their enemy might be something other than the Dark One? Someone hiding behind his name perhaps? But she couldn't see through that deception if it was one. And she couldn't imagine who or what could be so powerful as to do such a thing.
     
    That was the trouble with her visions. What she saw always came true. But often it didn't happen in the way she thought it would, nor for the reasons she assumed. In the end she was mortal, and whoever sent her these visions, allowed for that weakness. She – and Annalisse was usually persuaded that it was the Mother herself – showed her the parts of the future she needed to see in order to bring about the desired end. But she sent with those visions little in the way of understanding. Annalisse had to work that out for herself.
     
    But for the moment, whether it was the great demon or not, it was enough to use his name – which was why she had told her daughter to do so. Everyone feared the Dark One, even though no one knew anything about him save a few sensitives. After all, he had been locked away in his other worldly prison long before history had begun to be written. Some claimed that it was even before any of the peoples of the world had