4 months later

Dear Diary,

Things have happened in my absence, since I’ve been spending most of my time with Flynn, as of late, I’ve learned that Lucretia has mysteriously disappeared, leaving the House Title up for grabs once again. I’ve also learned that Puck has returned.

Was visited by Cassidy while staying with Flynn. She talked about Alanon for the first time in a long time. I’ve never met Alanon. She’s convinced that Uncle Nick killed him, however. She’s looking for someone to do a little trump trick and read Nick’s mind to learn the truth. I offered my help to find someone for her and quickly left. I had the idea that they wanted to be left alone, if you know what I mean.

Upon return to Castle Amber, I was a little hungry. I was very amused by a certain serving-girl’s reaction to a wonderful invention called the Ice Box. The more advanced version of those things are called refrigerators, but since technology doesn’t work all that well here, the Ice Box will have to do. Poor Lolita! I scared her, I think, by my laughing about the whole thing. I was almost wondering why Random hadn’t done it long before this. But then she scared me by getting dizzy and passing out completely. Once I got her to the infirmary, I was able to continue about business.

So who knows the trumps better than anyone? Fiona, of course. But I wasn’t able to get a hold of her at all. In fact, while trying to contact her, her Trump went black, a sinister voice said "Go no further", a crow comes flying out of the card and my living room gets sucked into it. I don’t know how else to explain it. If it wasn’t for Llewella Trumping me at just the right moment, I would have gotten sucked in instead of the safety of Rebma. You can imagine, I was a little shook up, so I was allowed to stay the night.

Once I got back to Amber, I told Random of what was going on. He handled it like he always handles things. "Look into it and report back to me on what you find!" What a Royal Pain in the Amberite! Next, I Trumped Victoria to tell her what had happened. She joined me and then tried Trumping Fiona herself and nearly got the same reaction as I did and had to destroy the card in order to cut contact. So now my deck is short a card. I then get Trumped by Draven, who pulls us through to his place and we head over to Chaos. It turns out that Cassidy and Nick are fighting over House Title and are dueling to the death and I was serving as Cassidy’s second. The entire known family of Millithor was there. It turned out to be a sword fight to the death in human form. My heart sank. We all knew that Nick was better than she was and it even looked like he was toying with her. Draven, Rufus and myself were standing very close together as to shield Victoria and let her do her mind probe of Nick, concerning Alanon’s death. Nick is aware of the probe, but didn’t know who it was. Then, a real twist—Nick suddenly jerked his sword away in one direction and Cassidy killed him. Cassidy finally had house Title back where it belonged. Victoria later told a few of us that there was foul play and Logrus involved. Someone had used a Logrus tendril to yank Nick’s sword away, leaving Cassidy the perfect opportunity. I couldn’t possibly imagine who could have done it and wasn’t about to go investigating into it. Cassidy had won. The duel was over. Don’t look a gift dragon in the mouth!

Anyway, Cassidy went away with Flynn, Rufus went back to his duties, while Victoria and I went back to Amber. From there I tried to contact Fiona again, only this time, I was using my Logrus. Bad idea. I was blocked and when I tried to pull away, something grabbed my tendril and held it. Something tried to make its way up the tendril and I couldn’t cut the contact. Whatever it was, it had knocked me out senseless and left me with a horrific headache. The doctor in the infirmary thought it best for me to stay overnight for observation. And I had also learned that the serving girl, Lolita, had died earlier in the day and her body was in the same room with me.  (Hello--shivers!)

No, I don’t normally suffer from a case of the heebie-jeebies around a dead body. But when that body comes back to life at three in the morning and claims to be Coral is another story. The doctor had come in to see what the commotion was about and gave himself a real bad scare. Me, on the other hand, was skeptical. I followed "Coral" around the castle and eventually to the family quarters. The guards still saw her as Lolita, and weren’t about to let her in, but she used some sort of spell and put the guards to sleep, allowing her to slip right on by them and into the real Coral’s quarters. I didn’t pursue the matter further and went to bed myself, thankful to be in my own bed after a day of being poked and prodded by the doctor.

In the morning, just to satisfy my curiosity, I awoke early and headed over to Coral’s room. There was no answer when I knocked on the door. I was beginning to wonder if it weren’t all a bad dream that happened, but seeing that I had made it to my own quarters last night and the fact that the guard had indeed fallen asleep at their posts convinced me otherwise, so I went off in search of Victoria. The only one in her quarters was Akosha, who seemed a little agitated for being waken up so early. I apologized and headed down to the kitchen to get my breakfast so I could take it back to the terrace. Victoria actually came looking for me, so she joined me for breakfast and we swapped stories.

Later, we both tried Coral’s room again, but there was no answer. I don’t take No for an answer! So we broke down the door. (and took pains to replace it, of course!) Coral wasn’t there. So with that handy-dandy Logrus tendril, I went looking for her and found her at Draven’s place, having breakfast and seemed deep into conversation. I was barely there for what seemed to me ten seconds before she stopped, looked over her shoulder, actually had a hold of my Logrus tendril and looked into it, clearly mouthing "Don’t spy on me!" I immediately pulled my own self through to defend myself, but it turned more into an argument, and with a single wave of her hand, I found myself back in the front courtyard of Castle Amber. I talked things over with Victoria on the subject and I came to the conclusion that I must have a touch of paranoia. I’m convinced that it’s not really Coral. I can’t quite explain how—it’s more of a gut feeling, if anything.

Well, I needed to be doing something fast. I tried to get a hold of Elysium, but she was busy. I tried getting to World’s End for a drink or two, but I wasn’t able to get there. I tried getting a hold of Flynn, but he wasn’t alone. So I decided to go and bug Rufus for a while. Turns out he’s been playing the neutral guy in the power struggle for the house. Cassidy gave it up so she could be with Flynn, so she left it for the rest of the family to squabble over. An interesting tid-bit for me was that I learned of Draven backing Lucinda for House Title. Interesting. I’m not sure whether or not I should particularly care.

As Rufus and I get to talking about things, I told him about the one Drazzi incident that had happened at Amber a while back. (The weird, gray-Gak creature)  The story had his full attention. I relayed other information and stories—how Puck had become the Drazzi ambassador and how the Drazzi feared Fiona and how Fiona was now missing. Rufus decided to come back to Amber with me. I’m happy for the company and the first thing I do is grab a HUGE sandwich when I got there, showing off the new Ice Box. We took the opportunity to Trump Draven, since he was not present at the latest installment of the Millithor family meeting, just mostly to say hello and to see if he knew of any strange goings-on in Amber—aside from all the supernatural stuff happening in his house, but he didn’t, and we took our leave back to Amber. Rufus didn’t stay long, and thought it best to get back to Chaos.

I was about to get back into my investigation of things when I suddenly received a strange Trump call from none other than a Drazzi! All it said was to stop searching for them, or else there would be "great woe". So there you have it. My investigation is now dead in the water.

Jaylena

Dear Diary,

I’m so excited! I get to share in some happy news that will be taking place. I get to be Victoria’s Maid of Honor as she weds Delwin! In other news, I have learned that Jordan has become a father. He has a daughter, of whom he’s proud and protective of. Her name is Mirella. I’m an Aunt! He’s quite the doting father—takes her just about everywhere he goes and when she’s not with him, Flora baby sits.

Puck is definitely back. In a nutshell, we kissed and made up. We went over to World’s end to talk a few things over. Where there’s Puck, trouble soon follows and we wound up in a bar brawl. We made a hasty exit, but not before we left a note of apology and some money for the owner. We went back to Amber then, and went out to the gardens to clear the buzz from my head.

There was some news from Draven. Lucinda is now head of the house. Lucretia and grandfather are still missing, and then there was the death of Suhuy. Baneray has resurfaced and remarried, looking to reclaim noble-house status.

At dinner, there were some visitors. The two witches of Aspien—Celeste and Morgana. Coral was also there. We’re allowed the twenty questions game before eating. They seemed to be confused about my description of being blocked to Fiona’s shadow. Victoria wasn’t at dinner, so I had to trump her on over. Despite our questions, the guests could not answer them. Now, for real, there’s nothing I can do about anything!

Flynn gave me a call. He invited us all over to World’s End. He and Cassidy now own it and are running it. It was the Grand Reopening, so it was extremely crowded! But Victoria and I didn’t stay long. In fact, with it being the night before the wedding, we headed to Gerard’s ship to finish any last-minute touches and to get to bed early.

The wedding was beautiful. Things went great—right up to the point where Bleys stuck his nose into it, calling upon Victoria for a boon that she owed. Bleys actually wanted her and Delwin to hold off on having kids for at least a hundred years, due to the fact that Jordan now had Mirella. She was stunned, Delwin was outraged and I was more than upset to say the least. Bleys and Delwin argued and got into a huge fight, breaking out the spikards. During the fight, Bleys asks for Jordan’s help, but Jordan does not pick a side, and with the use of his spikard, tried to break up the fight. Instead, there was a surge of power that went through the spikards and an explosion that made Bleys disappear for the time being. A perfect day was nearly ruined and it left me in a bitchy mood.

Days later, Puck called a meeting over at Corwin’s tomb. I was in for the shock of my life. I recalled that to save his mother Sand, Puck had agreed to a boon with Oneros. Apparently, Oneros had called upon Puck and was ready for that boon.

Oneros wanted Puck’s firstborn child, and surprise! I happened to be pregnant with Puck’s child. I was a whole mix of emotions. Jordan was smart enough to move out of arm’s reach as I felt my knees buckle. I was going to have a baby! But that excitement was quickly extinguished as the weight of Puck’s boon was suddenly shifted to my shoulders. Really, to someone as powerful as Oneros, you don’t refuse him anything. But I wasn’t the one who made this bargain, and this was my child! Puck said that de wanted to go with whatever my decision was. It may screw over his life, but the maternal instincts had already kicked in and told him and everyone else that this thing would only happen over my dead body! Amazingly to me, he didn’t question it, he didn’t dispute it, he didn’t argue, he didn’t try to talk me out of it. He simply agreed with me and vowed to stand by me and do everything in his power to protect me and our child.

We spent the next nine months in my personal shadow of Stellairia until I had the baby. I am proud to say that we now have a beautiful baby boy, and we have named him Trent. It was then that Puck presented a ring and proposed to me.

We went to Oneros’ ways and basically refused the boon. It saved our child, but Puck still paid a terrible price. It left Sand under an Eternal Waking spell. But now that our child was in the clear, we were married.

I feel as if I must explain something.

Yes, I do love Puck. He seems to worship the very ground I walk upon, is charming, loving, caring, and would never do anything to hurt me. I am happy, but there is a part of me that isn’t. It’s the part of me that wants Rufus. I couldn’t tell you why. Rufus has been more of a father figure in my life and has taught me everything that he knows, but it’s just been that whenever I’ve been around him anymore, we’ve been just comfortable and familiar together. True, I was under no obligation to marry Puck. I didn’t have to. But I made the choice for both myself and for Trent. My parents weren’t able to marry, and I didn’t even know who they were until recently. I want Trent to grow up happy, and I want him to have the closest to normal family life that Puck and myself can provide. But it damn near killed me when I went to see Rufus to tell him. He didn’t say much, but the look in his eyes seemed to hit the very core of my being. I felt terrible. I suddenly wanted to beg forgiveness, but simply asked for his blessing instead. For a brief instant, I felt as if I had done the wrong thing, but I convinced myself otherwise.

But overall, I am happy about having done what I have done. Now Mirella has a cousin to play with!

Jaylena

2years later

Dear Diary,

Have been spending a lot of time in Chaos, raising Trent, who is now thirteen years old. A teenager—aack! He now spends more time with his father down in the Abyss and he also works on his shape shifting when he’s with me. We’re considered a close family, I’d suppose. The Amber relatives have been wonderful with our son. Trent is my pride and joy. Although Puck has already "turned him loose", I still tend to keep him on some kind of a leash, seeing that he has not taken Logrus yet. Once Trent takes Logrus and has gotten over the madness, only then will I decide that he’s able to be completely on his own, and will leave him to live his life and have his own adventures.

Had a strange happening recently. Was trumped by Merlin, who seemed to be in a bind, and was begging for me to pull him through. I had a hold of his hand, but he wasn’t coming through. He begged for me to pull, so I pulled harder, but nothing came of it. I guess I just don’t know my own strength. I gave one last tug, and pulled him through—at least, his arm. The contact was cut and I was left, knocked onto my ass with a bloody stump of an arm in my lap. I immediately tried to trump him back, but couldn’t reach him. You can’t reattach an arm if that person isn’t there to have it reattached! I noticed that Merlin’s spikard was on one of the fingers. It took a little effort, but I got it off the hand and put it in my jewelry box for safe keeping. I didn’t put it on for fear of what it could do. It wouldn’t be coming off my hand unless someone actually knew how to remove it, or if I were dead—I don’t want that. But the most embarrassing part of the whole situation was the fact that I wasn’t thinking—at all! I should’ve gone with my first instinct to feed the stump to the dogs, but didn’t want to put out the effort to go and do it, so I simply chucked it into the fireplace and wound up deeply offending the olfactory of the castle. What a stench! I quickly doused it the best way I knew how, but that didn’t stop Benedict from coming in, demanding what was going on. I explained myself to Benedict and Co., but I never mentioned the spikard. It wasn’t ‘til everyone had left me alone did I tell Jordan. I knew he had a spikard of his own, and for not being one of the greedy elders, I knew I could tell him about it. He put the spikard on his own finger, where I knew it would get stuck.

We then left and headed for the gardens to go and find Mirella, and we ran into Draven on the way, who noticed the ring on Jordan’s hand. I tell you, the man doesn’t miss much! And then, a terrible thing happened that sent all of us out to the gardens at a dead run.

Something had taken Mirella and had beaten Puck. Puck said that there was some kind of explosion and he was caught in the blast. When he was able to gain his bearings, Mirella was already gone. Once Puck had gotten himself together, we tried trumping Mirella, Merlin, and Delwin—had better luck trying to reach him, although we really didn’t reach him. We decided that hell riding over to Delwin was our best bet. Of course we had to stop and rest our mounts along the way, but we were having better luck at getting luck at getting a hold of Delwin. He didn’t seem able to take our call, however.

When we finally did reach Delwin, he wasn’t in the best shape we’ve seen. We were attacked by demons, who somehow got a hold of Merlin’s spikard. We engage nine of them in battle and beat them, killing every one of them, but not without getting sliced in the shoulder. (I’ve had worse! I noticed I get hacked a lot!) But we did well. After rescuing Delwin, we then realize that something—or someone is after the spikards. Once we had gotten ourselves together and healed, we instantly took off hell riding after Mirella, who was in possession of Jordan’s spikard. We made it to the shadow where she is, but we are currently blocked from getting in. We’re currently trying to figure a way through or around, but haven’t been able to come up with a viable plan just yet.

Jaylena

Dear Diary,

3 weeks later

Dear Diary,

A few things have happened in the last few weeks. The mystery of the spikards has been resolved. The demons wanted them so they could be free. They didn’t want to be in the service of others anymore, and they hated the idea of being bound to service. So what of those spikards now? Who knows?

Puck has gotten himself into trouble again—this time, with Amber on a whole. It was mentioned before that he was the ambassador of the Drazzi and he recently delivered a message from them to Random, demanding Amber’s unconditional surrender. (Dumb, bone-headed move! If you ever want to wind up on Random’s bad side, that’s a great way to do it!) Of course Amber would never surrender and as a result of the message, Puck has now been banished from Amber and will be killed on sight if he is seen anywhere in the place! (How do you think that makes me feel? I’m probably being eyed suspiciously all the time just because I’m married to him. How do you think that makes me look?!) Amber Castle has been put under marshal law for the time being and we’re expecting an attack from the Drazzi.

In other sad news, I have learned that Flynn is dead. Draven had killed him in a duel to the death that was intended for Flynn and Rufus. Flynn had known that Draven was the one who "fixed" the duel between Nicholas and Cassidy, (news to me!) and since Cassidy did not want the house title, he was also the driving force behind putting Lucinda in charge. As it turns out, Draven also had knowledge of Lucretia’s death. Although I personally feel better that Lucretia is gone, it still doesn’t excuse what he’s been doing. I just wonder why he didn’t contend for House Title himself?

But here’s where he comes in on the Flynn/Rufus fight. Flynn accused Rufus of having an affair with Cassidy. I wouldn’t believe that lie if my life depended on it! (Don’t ask me how!) Flynn was enraged over something, and challenged Rufus to a duel to the death. Draven was chosen as Rufus’ second. Rufus had gotten stuck in a fast time shadow and didn’t make it to the duel on time. Flynn instantly turned his rage upon Draven, and Draven having no choice but to defend himself, wound up killing Flynn. Cassidy has taken it well, I think. She’s not letting on how its affected her. She’s wrapped up some business over at World’s End. She probably sold it—I don’t blame her. I think it will be a long time before I can return there without the pain of the recent happy memories. With Draven’s little snafu with Lucinda and the House Title, Cassidy has gone to take her rightful place and set House Millithor straight again.

I was saddened and devastated by the news, of course. I’m not on speaking terms with Draven at the moment. I will need some time to mourn and figure things out a little better before I even consider talking to him again. I will sorely miss my father. I had barely known him, it seemed. He was my good friend and drinking compadre—I was able to drink him under the table a few times, I think. (But then, we would be having so much fun getting plastered, who would remember?) Cassidy is in deep mourning in Millithor Ways, and I had retreated to Rebma to stay with my mother and visit with Trent. I wasn’t able to get a hold of Rufus, though. (Rebma, by the way, is on ready alert concerning the impending Drazzi attack.)

Victoria trumped me with a wonderful idea to go exploring the uncharted parts of Amber with her and Delwin. It was something to do other than mourn myself sick, so I agreed. We decided to start with the ocean. I hadn’t been many in boats, so this was an experience for me. Even better was the fact that I was pulled through from Rebma, and I was soaking wet. (I kind of forgot that factor!) But with the way the ship moved, I was dry (and frozen) in no time. (It was a beautiful tri-foil, a wedding gift from Puck—he always had good taste in gifts.) Since my belongings were all water logged, I was able to borrow a simple T-shirt and jeans.

We decided to be Explorers and headed due South, past the Cabra Lighthouse. The only thing we forgot was a map. (And who gets the bonehead award for this?) Victoria had to Trump over to Gerard’s ship and get one. She wasn’t gone very long and found out that a certain pirate that Gerard was chasing had gotten away from him again and was headed in our direction.

We found a good sized island that was on the map and decided to stop there for lunch. A huge talking (insolent would be a word I’d use) bird had caught up to us with a message for Delwin. He was handed a spikard that was not originally his, but was told that the Demon Consortium now had no use for the spikards and were re-distributing them. The bird quickly disappeared again.

The spikard was in perfect working order as it whipped up a beautiful seven course spread for three on a table with chairs and had it all set up right there on the beach. We were barely into lunch when we were discovered by a pair of ugly trolls who want to eat us for lunch. I wouldn’t have any of that and shape shifted into my Chaos form. We managed to melt one with sea water, and hurt the other, who just sat there, crying about his knee and cried when I literally kicked him in the butt.

The troll told us about "Black Beard", and how he was supposed to be guarding his things and the camp. There were about three hundred men all told, and with the help of Logrus, I was able to determine that "Black Beard" was really Caine—or at least a shadow duplicate. We trumped Gerard to tell him about it, and he asks that we not make our presence known, but the troll decided to squeal about it. Delwin took care of that by making the troll die of a heart attack. We decide to leave the island, not wishing to take Caine on, but not before we pulled some shadows through to take our place—a man, two women and a little kitten. A decoy is always good when you need to put distance between yourself and the enemy.

So we spent the next two weeks headed South as before. We had come upon uncharted waters, and we spent time charting it. We had come upon another island and a section of the coast that was devoid of beach. The sea floor dropped drastically from the mainland, making it seem that we were sailing through a trench of some kind. I determined that it was about 500 feet deep, but I failed to notice that there was something very big in the water. A sea serpent came up and attacked us. (I guess that serpent drawn on maps isn’t make believe after all!) Needless to say, the boat was smashed to bits and we were all thrown overboard. I tried to tread water and use Logrus to pull me over to the shore of the mainland, but that didn’t happen. I got caught in a whirlpool and was sucked into this serpent. (Yes, now I can add eaten to my list!) I thought I was a goner, but Delwin came to my rescue just in the nick of time and dragged me up onto the shore. I spent the next couple of hours salvaging the wreck and looking for my trumps. I was a little upset that I had lost "Shadow Bane", however.

After we had gathered our things again, Delwin took off after a child that discovered us and went screaming into the forest. Victoria and I went after him and caught up. We stayed out of sight of a city we had stumbled upon. It reminded me of what Shadow Earthlings called "The Lost City of Atlantis". Of course our luck would have it that we were found by the city guard who took us into the city to see the King. As we walked through the city, we were surprised to find that there was a statue erected near the center of town that looked exactly like Benedict! There was a plaque of some sort beneath it, but we weren’t able to stop and read it. Victoria was able to catch the word Kolvir, on it, though. As it turns out, we’re in the city of Gnesh. I had heard of Gnesh in Amber history, of how Benedict had single-handedly fended off the Moon Riders of Gnesh from Mount Kolvir. But I didn’t get a chance to dwell on it, seeing that we were in the presence of the king, who was nothing more than a mere child—a royal pain in the ass!

We were welcomed and told that we were to never again leave the city, and that we were to make a new life for ourselves. We got to questioning about Benedict’s statue, and then Me and my BIG mouth spilled the beans that Benedict was my uncle. The king flew off the handle at that. He instantly had the Amberites arrested and put in the dungeon. That was a joke. We escaped with ease, reappearing before the king again, who wasn’t impressed. Instead, he orders us to go save his kidnapped mother or else die. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was royalty of some kind, I would have blown him off, but we agreed.

After very little preparation, we found ourselves on the shores of a lake with a black castle/keep in the center of it. We rowed out to the castle. I jumped out of the boat, getting my feet wet in less than six inches of water, and then the next thing I knew, the entire day was gone, and I was sitting on the shore suffering from a headache. I had lost my memory. The water had caused me to lose my memory—all of it. I spent the next few hours wondering just who the hell I was. The amnesia was absolute and complete in the fact that I couldn’t remember a single shred of my life. I had pulled out my trumps at one point, and couldn’t recognize anyone. I found the trump of Delwin, and the one of Victoria, but even that didn’t help. All that told me was that I knew them somehow. When I asked what the cards were for, Delwin said that they were for a kind of poker game. So I asked if I gambled. He replied that I was a terrible gambler, and extremely addicted to it. Victoria had to set me straight. Delwin had to once again step in and saved me again by breaking the spell that had come over me. He was trying to have some fun with me, that Victoria quickly spoiled. I thought it was some kind of lover-spat and volunteered to leave, but Victoria would have none of that. After Delwin dispelled the magic that was upon me and I was getting my wits about me, I shape shifted into my form and we began to search for the king’s mother.

We came upon the missing Moon Riders first, who were engaged in battle with a two headed, wingless dragon-thing. We met Captain Cormere, who was frightened by my form. It was plain to me that he had never seen anyone from Chaos before. But Victoria calmed them down and with Delwin’s help, I killed the creature with use of the Logrus. We learned that there were only six Moon Riders left out of I wasn’t sure how many originally. We stormed the castle in our own fashion, but were caught, of course. There was a mirrored room that revealed a four-armed monster and a scorpion/lady, that were deadly. My tail did not appreciate getting caught in the door again. (Such is the lament of the cat!) Delwin took care of the old sorcerer and saved our "Damsel in distress". Unfortunately, she had the same insolence and attitude of her son. We let the Moon Riders return her to her city on their own. We did not follow. I had no desire to go back there. We went our separate ways and headed for the "Great Wall".

The "Great Wall", I learned, is a wall that runs from coast to coast, dividing Amber. For what reason, or why the wall was even put there, I couldn’t tell you. It reminded me of the Great Wall of China back on Shadow Earth. We also learned that there was a lone inhabitant of the Wall. A three foot high little gnome by the name of Newt. He bids us welcome and shows us around (after we nearly scare him to death). Interesting place he has. He claims to be an inventor and does most things by the use of magic. We were in the middle of his tour when I was trumped by who I thought was Rufus.

"There’s a problem," he tells me.

"What problem?" I ask once I had pulled him through.

"The problem is that you’re still alive!" The next thing I knew, I was being held by the neck and being held prisoner by a Drazzi, who was then telling me that I was chosen. For what? I didn’t get a chance to find out as Delwin wounded it and it took off down the hall. We scared Newt, but we apologized and gave pursuit—making sure to stay in plain sight of each other. I tried using Logrus, but couldn’t find it. In the middle of the pursuit, I was trumped again by Rufus, who started talking strangely about my being chosen. I instantly cut the contact, hoping to deal with him later.

In pure frustration, I stood in the middle of the hallway and called out to the Drazzi, hoping to bring him to me, since he was coming after me to begin with. I was suddenly enraged. My imagination began to go wild with the thought that they could have killed Rufus to get to me and I began to shape shift again into my cat form, ready to take it on. It didn’t show itself right away, but spoke again.

"Jaylena, you are chosen as our bride!" Yeah right. I tell it no way! But I know that it’s near, because Victoria is suddenly knocked to the ground. It’s on the ceiling and I’m yelling at it to come down and face me. I’ve gained my cat form by this time, but what it says next just about floors me.

"Come and join us Jaylena. Your husband already has. He’s already one of us!" I was dumbfounded. "He’s half Drazzi, or didn’t you know? Our experiment with Sand had done well. You could do just as equally well. Join us!" At this point, it had run off again, and Victoria and I gave chase, but all in vain. We did turn up something interesting, however. We turned up a robot by the name of Clockwork, an invention of Newt’s long forgotten.

We found Delwin before finding the Drazzi again and learned a little more about the new spikard that he was wearing. As it turns out, this spikard is the Spikard of Knowledge and it knew something that we didn’t and was telling Delwin all about it. The story goes like this: Sand fell in love with a man, but it was really a Drazzi in disguise. Puck was the result, making Puck a half-Drazzi. I realized that with this knowledge, our son Trent is part Drazzi. I suddenly became worried and concerned for my child. And the kicker of the whole deal was that Delwin’s spikard also had a spell hung in it for not only locating the elusive Drazzi, but also for capturing it as well.

We caught the bastard. We began questioning it and he did answer some questions. Why me? Why not some other woman? I barely remember the reasoning, but he mentioned that his people were pleased at how Trent turned out. I immediately became more concerned, since they eventually want him raised to be a great Drazzi leader. And what was Puck’s roll in all this? The Drazzi had plans for him. Puck had an integral part in their master plan. After arguing with it about Puck, he dropped a real bomb on me.

That damn Drazzi bastard told me that Rufus was not Rufus. Rufus was never Rufus. Rufus was a Drazzi in disguise all along and I never knew. Sorry, but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back! I couldn’t take anymore. I just sank down to the ground and had myself a terrific cry. I was barely aware that Victoria had Trumped us back to Amber Castle. I was escorted to my room where I finished my good cry in private.

Once I had gotten myself together, I trumped Llewella, who pulled me through over to Rebma. She was wonderful and sympathetic. I didn’t lose my senses completely, though. I presence of mind to get a hold of Trent. Granted, I had interrupted him as usual, but I pulled him through. (Teenagers!) I sat him down to have a heart to heart talk about his father. I told him of what I had learned and basically told him to be extra careful. He’s a big boy, but I still worry about him!

I have decided to stay a while in Rebma while I mourn my losses. I’m taking time out with Llewella’s help to recover Shadow Bane in shadow somewhere.

My father dies, my husband is half Drazzi, my only child is in danger and Rufus, the only man I think I have ever truly loved and respected, turns out to be a Drazzi. How can I be in love with my enemy? (Because I'm mental, that's why!!)

Oh, I am so very angry with Puck right now! If I ever get my paws and claws on him, I’ll rip him a new one! Two hearts won’t be the only pair of something by the time I get done with him! I tried trumping him, but he was unreachable. Must be in the abyss again. Just wait ‘til I get my hands (and claws!!) on him!

One year later

Dear Diary,

I had been spending most of my time in Rebma to be closer to my mother and my son, although I haven’t seen Trent in nearly four months.

I was trumped by Tiffany to learn that the Drazzi were finally attacking Amber. Of course I went through to help defend the castle, changing into my cat form as I went. I tried to fight them, but was quickly overwhelmed.

"Ah! Drazzi bride!" it hissed. I panicked as they had me by the legs. I grabbed for the first Trump off the top of my deck. I trumped Julian and pulled him through to help me! Unfortunately, Julian couldn’t really do that much better. If it wasn’t for Tiffany trumping Martin, Merlin and Sorsha through, we’d been done for! There was some kind of spell cast to fry those Drazzi, freeing Julian and myself. Aside from being a little singed, the Drazzi had retreated and were gone. In the moments following the battle, Deirdre had gotten a Trump from Corwin, saying that the Drazzi were now attacking him and his Pattern. A Trump gate was made and we Trumped through to give Uncle Corwin some aide, only to find that there were at least one hundred Drazzi there. We attack, of course. I try using flaming crossbow bolts in my defense, but I was quickly surrounded again. I Trumped Julian again and he pulls me through to him this time, out of trouble for the moment. Only feet away from me, Luke was battling with a Drazzi, but was on the losing end. The Drazzi kills Luke by yanking his head off, and disappears. I instantly dashed over, dropping my crossbow and picked up his sword. (I later learn that this sword is Were Windle, the spikard of Wrath) I knew I had a good weapon in my hand, knowing that it was a Pattern Sword and my confidence had returned ten-fold. As I advanced with this Pattern Sword, the Drazzi were suddenly afraid of me. It was like fighting with a lighted torch. After I had successfully killed one and watched it burst into flame, thirty more decided to show up. I advanced with war-howl and killed two more with one swipe and got another as I swung around again. As you can imagine, my confidence is riding sky-high—those bastards are not getting a hold of me without a fight! I was feeling near invincible with Were Windle in my hand!

The battle was over as soon as it started, it seemed. We all retreated to Corwin’s Keep. I was able to meet Julian’s daughter and Farrell was there, also, completely healed. I hadn’t seen him in a very long time. I also was able to meet Chiron and Alysia, two of Puck’s children. I also met Lord Toril. I really didn’t get a chance to last time. I pulled Trent aside for another one of those Mother/Son heart-to-hearts. (My, how he’s grown!) Our discussion really didn’t lead to anything important. I had retreated to a corner, absent-mindedly shuffling through my trumps, having a small pity-party, making it a point to avoid Puck for the time being. Yes, I knew that he was around somewhere. I was still deciding if I should still be angry with him or not. In the middle of that, I fell asleep. Next thing I knew, it was time for me to take on the watch and I was teamed up with Puck. We spent most of our time talking. I gave him a chance to explain a few things to me, but I still wasn’t ready to completely forgive and forget. I still kept my distance, somewhat, until Thanos and Alysia came to take over their shift of the watch.

Thanos had sounded the alarm, and came to find out that Alysia was kidnapped and the Drazzi were attacking again. Again, the Drazzi retreated as I brandished Were Windle and one fell under the burning blade. One tried to be bold enough to get me and I killed it, but not before it got me—a mere shoulder wound. This is one hell of a fight—and you know that it’s just that when Dworkin actually shows up! He was there giving the order to retreat as Corwin and his Pattern blinked out completely and an earthquake began and got more and more violent as the seconds passed. Those of us remaining Trump back to Amber. Puck has lost Alysia and all I can do is offer my sympathy and silent support. He seems to be losing his children right and left and I’m concerned for Trent, but I don’t say anything about it, since he is grown and can take care of himself.

In the meantime, Dworkin is puzzled over the outcome of the battle. He was sure that we were supposed to have victory, not defeat over the Drazzi. He shook his head and headed off somewhere. Puck and I retired to the library.

Eight hours later, Dworkin returns with a list in hand and seemed very excited. He handed it to Puck and told him to call everyone on that list and have them meet there in the Library. The list included Martin, Sorsha, Anastacia, (Julian’s daughter, I believe) Delwin, Victoria, Morgana, and Elysium. Dworkin presided over the meeting after we all had our "Drazzi test". He doesn’t give much of an explanation, but has us trump on over to a beautiful, pastoral shadow—Dworkin’s own personal Shadow. It turns out that we’re "trapped" there for a while. No Trumps going out and no Logrus or Pattern going out, either. Dworkin had us build homes for him and ourselves, indicating a long stay. Puck had to build Dworkin’s house and then he and I built our "dream" house.) After some more thinking about things, we’ve kissed and made up.)  (Don't ask!!)

While here on this shadow, I’ve had Delwin teach me some shape shifting tricks and now changing into my form doesn’t take nearly as long. We’ve all gotten to know each other very well and with Puck being half-Drazzi, we were able to keep our fighting skills, learning how to defend ourselves against an attack.

And since we figured on being in this shadow for quite a while and since Puck and I had kissed and made up, we decided that we wanted another child. So pregnant I became! We’re hoping for a girl, by the way.

I was a little more than eight months along when we experienced a Shadow Storm. It literally ripped the shadow apart, and Jordan’s house was the only one left standing. Dworkin had enough in him to fix the shadow again, but none of the structures that we had built survived. At that point, Dworkin had announced that it was time to go back to Amber. It was then that we had realized that we had spent a year in this shadow. Being the pregnant one, I lost my temper and flew off the handle at Dworkin, and as a result, the baby came early by two weeks. We are now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, and have named her Abyssia—Abbey for short. After having her, I was as good as new in about an hour. (That shape shifting can come in very handy!)

We were in for a real shock upon our return to Amber. We learn that it has been ten years since our "abduction", Amber Castle is lying in ruins, Arden Forest is burnt to the ground. The Drazzi have obliterated Amber. Dworkin has explained that there are very few people left and that we are now in charge. He hands Martin a book that explains who has what duty in the New Age of Amber. He then explained that the Primal Pattern needed fixing, which meant his own death, and he quickly disappeared.

Martin opened the book and revealed Dworkin’s final orders. Martin and Sorsha are now the King and Queen of Amber. Merlin was made Martin’s advisor. Victoria and Delwin were given the seas to protect. Puck was made the in-house Drazzi expert and Court Jester. I was made the new Master of Arms, sharing that duty with Thanos, once he was found. Anastacia was made the new Guardian of Arden Forest. Morgana was made the new guardian of the Primal Pattern. Elysium is now the Mistress of Tir Na Nog'th.

Now that we were back, I wanted to try and find out just who was still alive and who wasn’t, so I tried trumping Llewella first and I thankfully got a hold of her. It was quite an emotional reunion once I pulled her through and she was able to meet her new granddaughter. She told me that she was now the new Queen of Rebma, and that the kingdom was currently with war with some mer-folk. She met with Martin and Sorsha and gave them her good wishes and respect before she had to leave again. I left Abbey with Puck and went off in search of Trent by use of Logrus, since Trumps were not working due to Dworkin’s sacrifice to fix the Primal Pattern. I found him in Amber City, and pulled myself through, startling him and a few guards that were ready to take me out if I proved to be a threat. But after another emotional reunion, I learned that Trent was doing just fine for himself. He was the Ruler of Amber City. I let him know that we’re all alright, of my new post at the Castle, and of his new baby sister. He was very excited about seeing Puck and meeting Abbey. I promised to send them along once I had gone back.

Upon my return to Castle Amber, we set up camp, I sent Puck over to visit Trent. The next morning, I discovered that Puck’s daughter, Vertigo, had sacrificed herself for the good of Amber, and Amber was healed—the castle was healed, and so was Arden Forest.

Two weeks later (Amber Time) I returned to Amber from a very fast-timed shadow where I had been bringing up Abbey, and she’s now a self-righteous seventeen year old. With the help of her father, she has become a Ygg initiate and is well versed in sorcery.

We had a scare in the early morning. Morgana sounded the alarm saying that she had spotted a Drazzi in the castle. We track it down, and to my horror, I nearly kill Puck. After our "drill", Martin was trumped and was told that Chaos was under heavy fighting, and the refugees fleeing to Amber were under Dalt’s care in Arignor City. We were sent over to help welcome them and give them the "Drazzi-test". It took about twelve hours to get through all of them, and not a Drazzi in sight. Toril had been over helping as well, and was seeking Martin’s help in Chaos’ war against the Drazzi.

The following morning, after returning to Amber, we were all called together by Martin and was then told that we would be helping out in the Chaos war against the Drazzi.

We trumped over to Chaos, I in my form and had Windle drawn, ready for combat. I almost felt unprepared to the sight I met before me as we came head-on into sheer pandemonium. Before we realized it, we had all gotten separated in the fighting. I was doing alright until two came up against me at the same time. I tried leaping out of the way, but one caught me by the neck and body slammed me to the ground in mid-leap, causing me to lose my grip on Windle and began to strangle me. I couldn’t reach my sword with my paws, so I used my tail, picked it up and slashed at my bonds, causing both Drazzi to shrink away from me in flames. Just when we think we’re about to win this battle, the Drazzi begin pulling a "Gremlins" routine and begin to multiply into fifty more for every one that falls apart. Every time we’re about to turn the tables, they simply multiply and we’re thrown back to square one. It seemed like we just were not going to win—we were getting tired out! In the course of the battle, being separated from the others, I had gotten way off to the side of the battlefield, and had come upon Justin, a Drazzi and Styles, who was Puck’s son. They were discussing battle plans and they were so very sure that they were going to win. Justin trumped out, as did the Drazzi, leaving Styles alone, who seemed to know that I was hiding there around the corner. I saw no reason to run, but I also saw no reason to lower my defenses, either.

He introduced himself as Puck’s son and seemed concerned over his father. I was wary. He asked about Amber and about who was in charge. When he learned that it was Martin, he said "I should have killed that whelp the first time!" and blinked out. I knew that it wasn’t Styles, but Brand using Styles’ body! My heart leaped into my throat. There was no time for using Trump. I looked out over the battlefield and found Martin and Delwin fighting together. I began to run at full force. As I did, I saw Styles/Brand appear behind Martin, smiling wickedly, knowing that he was going to win. I just had to get there! I got cut in the arm by a sword as I ran through, but I completely ignored it and went on, drawing Windle as I went.

"Behind you!" I yelled out in warning as I made a running leap at Styles/Brand, who had his sword drawn and ready to stab Martin from behind. Martin couldn’t hear my warning over the din of the fight and thought I was coming after him. I felt the bullets from his gun rip into me as I flew over his head and sank Windle to the hilt into Styles/Brand’s heart. Styles/Brand fell over dead and I didn’t pull out Windle. Instead, Martin was bent over me, just heart-sick that he had shot me. (Yes, now I can officially add shot to the list!)

"I got him! I got Brand!" I said. Martin thought I was going delirious with the pain. I knew I wasn’t, but I would have to agree that I was indeed in considerable pain. But killing Brand seemed to make the battle turn for the worst. The Drazzi were suddenly amassing and calling upon Primal Chaos, which was erasing Chaos itself. Coral stepped in then, using the Jewel of Judgment to stop the Drazzi. Suddenly, we’re all free falling in the Abyss. With the help of Puck and Draven, we’re all saved and put on "solid" ground again. (actually, it was a huge floating rock) Once we were able to return to Chaos, we learned that only a few of the Houses had survived. I was a little sad to learn that House Millithor had not survived, and that Draven was now the only surviving member. Chaos began to rebuild itself, and amazingly enough, Toril of House Baneray was crowned the new King of Chaos and was also wearing the Spikard of Honor. I was pleasantly surprised. Once our work was done, we returned to Amber to finish healing and resting up.

Now begins the New Age in Amber. I’m hoping that we now live Happily Ever After!

Jaylena