As they were talking, a party of knights entered the outskirts of the valley. Outfitted with swords and glowing armor, they marched up the face of the mountain. Aleic knew his magic was more in sync with his body as he felt them well before his other sense could, but figured the dragon could as well. He turned and gave her a knowing smile, backing away slowly. "I will think on what you said. but for now I take my leave." Pulsing his magic out through his muscles, he turned and quickly raced down the mountain, Invisible to the warriors that were making themselves up. He made his way back inside the kingdom, and could feel what he used to think of as home, but now only left him feeling tainted, and dirty.<br/><br/>After he felt safe and far enough away from the dragon, he waited to recharge his magic, deciding first to meditate and see what it looked like. Inside himself he saw that his magic was now a grey color, no longer the black anamorphic mass that it used to be. He could see it curling in on itself as the black magic from the lands looked to get in and taint it again. 'Maybe the dragon is right.' He thought to himself. He opened his eyes, vowing that he wouldn't recharge his core until he had thought over the options carefully.