"Do you trust me?"
If I was not who I am, perhaps this would be an easy question to answer. This time however I felt that the one asking the question had already placed some trust in me. So I said "yes," took Lars' hand and together we entered the dark current that is the reflection of the Black Road.

After we had left the island we had traveled into a large kelp forest. Shadow shifting became difficult, and we quickly seemed to be lost. We stopped for a few moments to gather our thoughts. Deciding that he owed me as much, Lars told me of where he has been and why the demonesque things had attacked him in Amber. These are things that I would never reveal to someone else, much less write down here.

To back track a bit, after the trip that the whale took me on I've been tuned into some sort of pulse. It seems that these pulses are coming from the ends of the Black Road, or more precisely the signs of power there. These pulses seemed to be chaotic in the kelp, so I brought the pattern to mind and shifted shadow through it. The mental exertion that it took was such that I nearly collapsed when we broke free of the kelp. Unfortunately we were back where we had entered.

This is where Lars decided to try traveling along the dark current. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but we were able to get past the kelp. We left the current when we were a safe distance. By now there was very little light to see by, and we were too exhausted to continue on. Even leaving the water to get some rest was difficult. Just as I was going to drift out of consciousness I felt Trump contact, but not wishing to be disturbed I blocked it until the contact ceased.

When morning lit the world we noticed a set of Tori arches that defined a path to an underwater citadel. This place seemed to absorb the pulses that I have been tuned into, and the creatures that traveled the dark current seemed to want to avoid the place. Perhaps I will return to explore when there are less pressing matters.

Our way continued until the road disappeared under a large underwater maze. Above the maze was a large storm that seemed to be centered over something. We were too far away to really make anything out, but it was decided that we travel above the maze. It took us the rest of the day to reach the edge of the maelstrom and find that the maze ended in a huge whirlpool. It was an incredible sight to behold, the beauty of destruction. Here the pulses were one sided and very strong, thus cementing my idea of the pulses coming from sources of power.

We spent the night in a cave we found near the edge of that abyss. We were at the end of the road, now we just had to find the Queen. At daybreak we descended farther into the cave and found that it indeed seemed to lead to the Triton household. As we proceeded deeper it seemed as if we were getting close to an edge of Shadow. Lars said that such things were common where he is from, but they can be very dangerous if you do not know where a Way goes. After that I decided it would be a good idea to stick close.

While transversing these Ways we surprised a Triton sentry. During it's battle with Lars I felt quite small and insignificant. Perhaps it was because I was not part of it, knowing I would just get in the way in such a conflict. After the Triton was dispatched we continued on, only to have the Queen find us. We fell enough for the trap that we were ambushed by small biting fish. The Queen, as best as I could tell, was an illusion to draw us to where they wanted us. As always we lived through the experience.

A little further exploration and we decided there was no way we could continue unnoticed. After weighting our options we left the way we came in. Once on the outer rim of the maze I Trumped Eric to give him a brief idea of what occurred. I also told him that we were going into other Shadows to try and find a solution to this problem. Then I Trumped my father and asked to be brought through.

After getting cleaned up we found that Gerard and Julian were also guests. They had been following the Black Road and ran into something big. With them injured I'm curious how the front lines are holding up. We were enjoying a nice dry dinner when Lars got a trump call from Ferrin, and left saying that he would be back soon.

A few minutes passed and then I received a call from Ferrin. It seemed there was some trouble in the dream world. I went to him only to find that we couldn't contact anyone inside. It took the concentration of myself, Ferrin, Ansom and Vinnie to contact anyone. We found the Crown Prince nearly dead, Lars badly injured, and Lellyn and the League of the Silver Rose gone. Alexander, Eric's child, was rushed to the infirmary where Lars was also taken. After some bandages I took Lars back to my father's.

I spoke with my father and he thought a segue on the Tritons would be most difficult. Not only is it small quarters but there is no real way to get troops there. I wonder how Eric will take all this, as things seem to be going from bad to worse.

I'm hoping that I will be able to find a few days rest here. Perhaps I'll try to find a place with a quick time stream, I have a lot to think about. Right now I'm going to get some rest, but I'll be keeping my watch over Lars. It just wouldn't due to let any more assassins try to get at him right now. With a little luck tomorrow will bring some light into my world.

Entry Four