Enjoying the story so far. I look forward to the heroes' confrontation with Mei Xiang.

I'm glad you like it. ;) The next one will be a little different, but it sets up some good stuff for later. ;)

The mystery deepens, both concerning the true motives of the White Order and whatever Ethan might be hiding in his past. I'm beginning to wonder, now, if he might not know more about at least a small piece of this puzzle than he has been willing to let on so far. The last few pages detailing the shadow walkers and their conflict with Aldris is most interesting, and more than a little worrying. I can't imagine why anyone would want to bring them back into the world, and I can't help but think that the White Order and its operatives will end up regretting it in the end. These shadow walkers don't sound like the sorts of creatures who value or even understand concepts like friendship or gratitude, especially not with other species.

It certainly makes me wonder just what powers Diana's necklace might have, and if there's more to it than even she might be aware of. We already know that it's her link back home, and that it can let her, and presumably other people, return to Aldris. But it doesn't seem like the people who stole it are simply interested in visiting the fabled city. (Though it does make me wonder just how an outsider might be greeted there, even if they don't have any hostile motives for visiting.)

I really liked the interactions between Diana and her friends in this chapter, too. They clearly care a lot about each other, and Ethan's concern for Diana's mourning the loss of her choker was really rather touching. It seems clear that the situation is as hard on him, in a way, as it is on her, but I liked that he was mature enough to heed Lydia's advice and not push at things. That sort of restraint seems to be fairly rare, especially in fiction. His friendship with Rhodes is really sweet, too, even if there is still an element of mistrust there. I have no doubt that everyone's past will be laid bare much sooner than any of them would like, and that Ethan, in particular, is going to be pushed in this direction. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the next assault from the White Order is going to be magnitudes more professional and dangerous than this last little skirmish. I'd imagine their friendship with survive in the end, but it will be interesting to see what happens when things do come out.

Finally, I find myself wondering about Lindsey, as well, and if she's going to be a loyal operative or if she has her own agenda. There's something about her that screams rogue element to me, but that might just be my making assumptions again.

I do apologize for taking so long to get to you on this story, but it was a lot of fun and I've really come to like these characters quite a bit!

The Shadow Walkers are definitely a dangerous threat, and how the White Order is connected to them will come out later in the story. In some of the upcoming chapters you'll see more about both, as well as little bits and pieces into the characters respective backstories.

The White Order has plans for the necklace. You're right in that they're not just interested in paying Aldris a visit. Their plans are much more involved than that. After all, if they wanted to just go there, they could do that right now if they found the portal. What they want is something much more dangerous.

It's something that you don't see much, especially because sometimes there are things you just can't fix. As much as Ethan wants to repair the damage he knows he can't. Still, it never stops one from wanting to try. Ethan hasn't really loved anyone like he loves Diana before so Lydia was probably wise to warn him from pushing too hard. As you can guess, he and Rhodes are both keeping things from each other about their pasts, though neither can be blamed for doing so. With character development it really seems to me like it really matters to not only know who a character is, but how they got there and why they became that way. Both he and Rhodes have complex relationships with their pasts that got them to where they are now, and determined the kind of person they each desired to be. After all, people aren't formed in a bubble. :)

There are still two more members of the White Order left to be revealed. ;)