More than coming, Captain Gelwin was nearly upon them when Penny returned her attention to the world beyond her and the two asura. As usual, his sylvari shadow trailed along behind him, doing nothing to mask the scorn in her gaze. Liæthsidhe stared thorns at all three of them, but Penny felt a special stab of contempt aimed her way.

Hours passed, and the sun finally peeked its lazy head up over the plateaus that carved out the deep hollow where the Ulta Metamagicals krewe did their work. Penny had inched farther away from the encroaching light as it came up over that too tall horizon, sticking instead to the shadows as long as she had them. After waiting all that time for the night to end, she now realized how much better the darkness had been.