Edwin Bitteroot the Shadow Master walked westward through his swamp. The visit from the Lord of the Realms had left him emotionally exhausted; he needed to be alone.

The Five Stars were getting closer to their goal. It seemed that Edwin’s defeat was imminent – unless he made a final, hard choice. Soon he reached where he had to make it: the Portal of Darkness, floating at the western terminator of Edwin’s swamp planet. He still couldn’t sense its location himself from afar, no more than he could in Nicholas’ castle; but true to the Lord’s word, Edwin’s borrowed Daimonae had no difficulty sensing it and pointing him in the right direction to it. The Lord had told the truth, as always; but touching the Portal meant a change of the rules, it meant one more act of disobedience that would seal Edwin’s fate.

Edwin stared at the floating Portal as if staring at a ghost; he almost couldn’t believe all that power was there within his grasp. But fear still gripped him; the choices were grim. Run now and live to fight another day? Fight on without the Fire and die trying? Take the Fire and run? Take the Fire and fight? None of these seemed like a great plan.

Edwin knew an “intervention” was coming, but why now? The Lord had made an appearance – guaranteeing that only disobedience by the Five Stars would allow Edwin to win. Just surviving the upcoming fight was looking to be an impossible task. More enemies were coming his way: Amethyst Bellatrix, the one Elemental able to make his power of teleportation useless, and an angry Nicholas Blackthorn bringing all his fiery power to bear against Edwin and his Shadow Chasers. It was not looking up for the Shadow Master; all his planning had been shot down with one blow. Edwin swore to himself.

He spat at the Portal. This was the moment; this was the time, the final decision. He knew the day would come when all who opposed the Lord would get all the rope they needed to hang themselves: power-hungry Nicholas, Callista his sex-crazed daughter-wife and finally the Shadow Master himself. Touching this Portal meant bringing that time even closer.