Meiikii was still purring. “Ugh, what happened?” She remembered, but somehow it all felt like a funny dream.

“Kazen happened,” Vamele said. Turning, she saw that Vamele and Annota were sitting beside Meiikii near her. Vamele was holding a bowl of lumpy grey-blue stones, and Annota had some bandages. The cave was still lit, but it looked to Thairyn that it was about noon now.

“It seems your little encounter with him was a bit too much for you to handle,” Annota added, tucking the bandages away.

“I don’t like Kazen. He’s mean.” Thairyn looked down at her hands. She saw that they had been redressed and cleaned while she had been sleeping. They still felt like they were still on fire.

“Nah, he’s just young and a little stupid is all,” Annota said fondly. “Time will fix both, eventually. I am really sorry about how he acted towards you though, he was out of line.”

“I’ll say,” Vamele said.

Thairyn had been surprised to hear Annota call Kazen stupid. She was in the midst of contemplating this, and wondering if maybe Annota really was more of a big brother than a papa to Vamele and the others when Meiikii awoke. The great beast stirred and turned his great big head around to lick Thairyn’s face sleepily. Not being able to help but giggle at his tickling tongue, Thairyn pushed him far enough away so she could prinnage the end of his beak. “What is he, anyway?” she asked, looking at Annota.

“Meiikii? He’s an irwyn. A very young one, only thirteen years old, but an irwyn nonetheless.”

Thairyn had never heard anything about a creature called an irwyn before, other than the Dracoen phrases as mighty as an irwyn or as fierce as an irwyn-mother, all leading her to believe that an irwyn was a ferocious protector; but Meiikii seemed no more ferocious than a great big baby.

“He’s not left your side since you passed out,” Annota went on, “I’ve never seen him so attached to anyone before.”

Thairyn smiled and looked into those great big gold eyes of the irwyn’s. She rubbed his silver beak. “I like you too, Meiikii. Thank you for being my friend.”

Meiikii’s eyes seemed to smile for him. He butted his head into hers gently and nuzzled her, his purring all the louder.

“Hey, are you hungry Thairyn?” Vamele asked.

Thairyn looked at her eagerly. She noticed that Vamele still refused to look at her directly. “Aye, a little,” she said slowly, giving her a funny look. “Why?”

“Here, I got these for you,” Vamele said, offering her the bowl of rocks.

Thairyn looked at the offer doubtfully. “What am I supposed to do with them?”

Vamele laughed. “Why, you eat them of course!”

“You want me to eat... rocks?”

“Only if you’re hungry,” the girl said with a wink.

“They’re rocks,” Thairyn reminded her, just in case she had forgotten.

Annota laughed. “They’re called chelladu. They have all of the minerals and chemicals in them that you need, though not as condensed and pure. They may not be as pretty to look at as a gemstone, but it all ends up in the same place, right?”

“Well, the texture is kind of weird and grainy,” Vamele said.

“Vamele’s a Gemkind too,” Annota said. “She eats these all the time. Of course, that’s been our little secret for the longest time; so Meyjey would feel useful and Kazen wouldn’t tease.”

“Meyjey thought we were joking. Then she thought we were crazy. So I had to prove it and eat one in front of her,” Vamele said.

Thairyn’s head was spinning. “Wait, what? No, I know everybody in the Gem Forest. You can’t be a Gemkind.”

“My parents left the Gem Forest a long time ago,” Vamele said. “I was born while they were travelling, and we never went back.”

Thairyn looked down, her face seeming resentful.

“What’s the matter?” Annota asked gently. “Don’t worry, as soon as you’re feeling better, we’ll get you back home.”

Thairyn mumbled something. “You can’t.”

“What?” Annota asked, his earfins rising in surprise.

Her eyes flashed and filled with tears as she looked up at him. “You can’t! You can’t take me home because my home is gone!” Her voice broke and tears spilled down her face. Shamefully, she buried her face in her hands and started to sob.

Distressed, Vamele looked helplessly in Annota’s direction.

Annota, for his part, was starting to understand... her injuries, why she was all alone when they found her. He gently touched her shoulder—at first she flinched from it, then, without looking up, she realized the touch had been his hand. Distrust washed over her from the first—and she faced that with anger. But she was frightened and hurt too, and she wanted someone to protect her, to make it all go away. Through blurry tears she looked up at his face, his eyes; there, she met genuine compassion. She felt a sense of familiarity, again, and saw understanding. There was an unspoken question between them, to which she consented, and he took her little shaking form into his arms and held her close. She tucked her head close against his breast and wept, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. She moved to wrap her wings around herself also, but it felt like claws of lightning tore up her back—she gave a short yelp and did not attempt to move them again.

Annota looked at Vamele in a sad, knowing way. He reached out and wrapped his wing around her. “It’ll be okay,” he said quietly.

Vamele leaned her head on Annota’s shoulder. Delicately she reached out towards Thairyn and, once she found her, started gently stroking her hair.

Thairyn continued to sob, though she had quieted some. Somehow, these gestures of kindness were not enough. She felt like she had a great big gaping hole in her chest where her heart should be, a hole that did nothing but ache and no comfort could fill it or ease the pain! Worse still, the more she thought about it, the more it hurt! Her sobs became louder, racking her little body. She balled her hands up into fists and hugged herself tighter.

Annota said nothing, and continued to hold her.

When her sobs began to subside again, she heard Vamele’s soft voice venture, “Thairyn, what’s wrong?”

Thairyn did not look at her. She kept her muzzle buried in the folds of Annota’s loose black kyntin and continued to weep softly.

“Not now, Vam. She can tell us when she’s ready,” Annota whispered.

Shadowshifter had brought Gideon and his friends far out of Karton’s Village, once more into the barren expanse of dark Izlair. They did not know how long they had followed him; maybe a few minutes, maybe a few hours. They were exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and their various injuries ached and burned. However, they did not dare voice these complaints while in the Shadowshifter’s company. Some subconscious gesture must have been made, for certainly nothing had been said since they left The Hand; yet they felt that the status quo had changed, that bringing them to have their brief audience with the Shadowsfalcon had been all that the Shadowshifter had been obligated by his Queen to do. Now their safety depended on quick and quiet compliance with his directions.

Gideon kept his gaze mostly down towards the mists—at his boots in particular. Under the violet glow he could see small bits of black gravel and stone, and these were not nearly as monotonous as the rest of his surroundings. It gave him something to focus on while he tried to think about what was happening. It all seemed so unreal! A land where the Kiir never shines, nursery rhyme villains in the flesh, shadows that speak? Perhaps it was some sort of elaborate farce. Izlair, he thought, It can’t be a real place. Surely not. I’ve pored over countless maps of Sjoria’s seas... wouldn’t there be a figure on at least one depicting it? But if this is just some charade, where are we really?

He heard Marley gasp slightly and he looked up. She was looking ahead at something in the distance. He followed her gaze. There he saw against the dark sky a silhouette that was far blacker than anything he had ever seen before. He was not even sure how that was possible. Yet there it was; a tall, slender crack against the black horizon.

“What do you suppose that is?” Marley whispered.

“I haven’t the foggiest.”

Yet it would seem that they would soon learn, for their course showed no sign of altering, and they continued on towards the black figure.

It was a tower, though it took nigh twenty minutes to an hour for them to draw close enough to be sure. They could not know what it was made of, nor how it could be so much blacker than darkness itself, yet they could see that it was an incredibly intricate structure. Its single spire pierced the skies, fashioned with extravagant carvings so that it seemed to glitter even without light. Below it was a blackened courtyard; this was run down with dry fountains and beheaded statues.

Shadowshifter did not stop even briefly here, so they were left to wonder what its purpose was or had been. And yet... empty and forlorn as it appeared, Gideon and his friends somehow felt that they were being observed as they passed through the courtyard.

Marley’s immediate thought was that maybe the Kiventa lurked about the shadows in the place... yet, somehow, she felt sure that this was not so. This was a different sort of feeling now than they had experienced prior the attack in Karton's Village, and she could not say whether it was of ill intent or not. It’s not a comfortable feeling, and that’s a fact, Marley thought, and she was glad to leave the place behind.

Their final destination was only a short distance from the black tower. There was no road or path to follow, but Shadowshifter seemed to know where he was going and he plunged on into the darkness without hesitation. Then they came upon a large stone dome with a small rectangular entrance. It was inside this that they caught their first glimpse of real light since their campfire at the beach; two torches burned greedily inside. The living orange glow, though dim, almost gladdened their hearts were it not for the scene it illuminated. The inside of the dome was empty, grey, and gloomy. They were to rest here, in this dungeon? There were no seats! No beds! Nothing but a cold stone floor!

The giant ushered them forward to the centre of this room, where he lifted a heavy wooden trap door which the Münshirlings had assumed to be a prison loo. Instead they found that it had concealed a staircase which led down into pitch darkness. “Your quarters are down there,” Shadowshifter said, “Go.”

“Into that pit?” Marley asked incredulously.

“Yes, go,” Shadowshifter growled darkly and gave her a shove forward.

Marley shot him a scornful look. “This is ridiculous.”

Gideon and Nya followed after her. The Shadowshifter followed as well once the three of them had gone down, and he shut the trap door behind him with a great thud!

Total darkness surrounded them. They could not even see their own noses. Still, with the Shadowshifter breathing down their necks they knew it would be folly to hesitate, so down they went. Marley felt her throat constrict. She had to focus on something else. Anything else. “One... two... three...” she counted the steps under her breath, keeping her hands out ahead of her so that she would not bump into something. She was glad that Gideon’s diagnosis on her leg had in fact proven to be wrong and that her leg, however sore and bruised, was starting to feel better. She could even put some weight on it now without much trouble. “...four, five, six...”

The Shadowshifter snorted, and Marley hushed, but she continued to count in her head. One hundred and twenty, she thought, just as her hand met a big iron block in front of her. She heard Shadowshifter unlock something with an impressive clang! over their heads. Then with a great rumbling the door slid into the wall. As it opened, a faint sickly green light poured into their faces. Past the door was a hallway that seemed to go on forever. Numbered doors lined the hallway with more of those strange green crystals protruding out of the wall in between each one. The Shadowshifter entered the hall and motioned that they follow.

Marley caught Gideon and Nya each by the hand. “I can’t breathe,” she gasped. “Who knows how many pounds of dirt are over our heads right now—and these narrow, uniform hallways—branching off like a labyrinth off into forever! If not for those numbers, everything would look the same down here! We could get lost—never find our way out again!” She felt like the whole weight of the ceiling above was sinking down about her shoulders!

Gideon gave the giant a wary look. “Steady, Marley,” he said.

As if that would help! But she gave him a smile (though it was more of a grimace) for the attempt. Breathe, just breathe... I can breathe, there’s air down here... just breathe...

The only sounds to be heard in that vast chamber were their own footsteps clicking and echoing on the hard floor and the strange buzzing that the crystals made. “What makes zem glow, d’yeh zink?” Nya asked hopefully, trying to change Marley’s focus.

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” she said through clenched teeth, “But they make my head hurt.”

“Don’t talk,” Shadowshifter snapped from ahead without even looking back at them.

Gideon looked at him uneasily. Then he looked back at Marley. “Marley, what happened back there, with the Shadowsfalcon?” he whispered.

“I-I don’t know,” Marley whispered back. “I felt very strange when she looked into my eyes... like she was inside my head or something. Gah, but no, it wasn’t that... it was more than that... I can’t explain it.”

“Why did yeh look into her eyes at all, Marley?”

Marley’s eyes fell to the floor and her shoulders sank. “I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Then Shadowshifter stopped. For a moment their hearts stopped beating, fearing that he had heard their whispers. But he did not turn. Instead, he gestured to a door marked 320. “You’ll stay here together temporarily,” he told them, “After you have received your names, you will likely receive different rooms.”

“Received our—we have names, thank you very much!”

Irritably the Shadowshifter opened the door and shoved all three of them inside. There was another thud and a clang! as the door shut behind them, shutting them in a dark cell!

After a moment, Gideon checked the door. With dismay, he turned back to his friends. Judging he was out of the giant’s earshot now, he had no qualms with stating in his native tongue, “Locked.”

“Of course.” Marley sighed.

“At least zere are beds in here,” Nya said, noting that there was one on each side of the room. Betwixt them was a small wooden table with a single lit candle and some mouldy papers on it. “Just imagine zat it’s above ground, hey?”

Marley did not want to imagine anything about it. She could not—not without facing a panic attack. Instead she closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. In, out... playing words like breathe, open, and free in her head. Her heart was beating so hard she felt sick. I can breathe. There’s air in here. I actually want to stay in here, I’m not trapped. She was not fooling herself.

Nya looked around, and up at the damp ceiling anxiously while Marley slowly sank to the floor, hugging her knees. After a moment, she opened her eyes, though her gaze was glued sullenly to her boots. “Gideon, what is going on here?” she whimpered.

He looked at her. He drew in breath to speak, but ultimately only let it out as a long sigh. He shrugged and shook his head. “I wish I had the answers, Marley,” he said, “I really do.” He went over to kneel down at her side. “How’s your ankle?” he asked softly.

“Better,” she whispered. “After all that walking, I’m pretty sure now it’s just a bruise. It just aches.”

Gideon wrinkled his brow. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? It’s not your fault,” Marley said, looking up at him.

“We’ve got t’get out of here, somehow,” Nya said, testing the door again. The lock rattled from his attempt—they could hear gears deep within the wood of the door grinding together—but it did little else.

Marley squeezed her eyes shut again and started taking deep breaths.

“What are you trying to do?” Gideon asked, looking over his shoulder at him. “I told you it’s locked. It’s not going to magically swing open any time soon.”

Marley pulled a sideways smile. “Oh? And why not? A magic lock would hardly surprise me after everything else we’ve seen here so far.” She sighed. “Nya, come away from the door—last thing we need is for it to grow fangs and gobble you up or something. Nothing here makes a lick of sense and that, all the more, would not surprise me right now.”

Nya smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. His hand slipped off the door’s handle and he came to sit cross legged beside her and Gideon. “I wonder how long zey’ll keep us locked up here.”

Marley moaned quietly and bowed her head on her knees. “Augh, this all feels like a nightmare!”

“Münshirling, eh? Been a while since I heard or used the tongue, but let’s see if I can manage,” croaked an old voice from the shadows in the trade speak, followed by a string of Münshirling in a queer accent, “I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, lads, but this nightmare of yours is one you won’t be waking up from.”

The three Münshirlings startled right up to their feet and towards the bed on the left, where they now saw the bowed figure of a gnarled old man. He was not looking at them, he was just staring vacantly at the floor with his stringy shoulder-length steel grey hair concealing his face just well enough that they could not make out much more than that. He waved his hand absently. “But, come now, I’m sure you’ll make the most of it. Most of them do.”

“Who are you?” Gideon demanded, not quite having regained his composure from the surprise. “How long have you been there?”

The old man laughed in his deep, scratchy voice. “Oh, twelve years, give or take.”

“Of course you have,” Gideon said with a bit less assurance, his face flushing with embarrassment. He had not thought before he spoke. Trying to maintain his pride, he said louder, “But you did not give me your name.”

The old man chuckled and crawled off the bed to stand before them. He looked about in his mid forties, and much stronger and straighter of build than they had expected from seeing him a crumpled heap on the bed. His nose reminded Marley of an old raptor’s beak, and his thick squared jaw reminded her of King Aurelius. The King had a beard though, and some personal hygiene. This man looked like the type one would find lurking in the alleyways of New Münshir; ragged, roguish, and dirty. Only, he was not a Münshirling. His chiselled features and deep, dark bronze skin suggested he had more Galdan in his lineage than anything else, and his eyes were piercing yellow-green—almost to the point of seeming luminescent in the dark—which further complimented that notion. “What, me? In the trade speak I’m called Shadowscurse. And what about you, then, eh?”

“What does that matter to you?” Marley asked sharply.

“Same as my name meant to you. Reckon we'll all feel a bit more comfortable in each others' company if we at least know what to call each other, yeah?” he said, seeming amused.

“Shadowscurse is not a name!” Marley said, “It's nothing more than a hodgepodge of trade speak words! Shadows-this, shadows-that—is there not one among you here with a real name? Until you give us yours, we’ll not be giving you ours!”

“Well, you see—” Shadowscurse paused and looked at them strangely. There was something hidden in his startling eyes, something that spoke of nobility and strength... but something in them was also frightening. His thick black and white brows knitted as he looked the children over carefully and considered them. Finally he came to his conclusion. “Well, that ‘splains it,” he said, “You haven’t been given the ol’ hidy-ho yet then, have you? Of course you haven’t. You’d have a Shadow’s Name too, if you had.”

“Pardon, what is a Shadow’s Name?” Gideon asked.

“Feh, they haven’t told you?” Shadowscurse asked with a callous, sarcastic edge. “Surely they must have mentioned it! They give you a fancy naming ceremony when ye first come upon the island. See, it’s like this; they gave you all that horsetail about the shards, right? Yes, yes, of course they did. I see that way you’re looking at me. Well, just as to be sure ye don’t never forget it, they also give you a Shadow’s Name. That’s what the uniform’s for too, mark me. It’s loud and clear what they mean by that; you’re theirs, you’re one of them, and you leave everything else that you were behind right quick, yeah?”

“Well I didn’t leave everything behind,” Marley declared. “If these ratty uniforms are all they provide us for raiment, so be it, but they can’t make me one of them just for that.” Marley rolled up her sleeve and produced her red scarf, which she had wrapped around her arm.

The old man’s eyes widened as she uncoiled it and proceeded to draw it over her head to wrap around her neck. “Where... where did you get that?” he asked in a voice just above a whisper.

Marley was a little perturbed by his reaction, but still proud. She stuck out her chin and stated, “It was my father’s.”

“You can’t wear that—no, jest don’t let them see you wear it. Keep it secret, hidden from them. They will take it from you. Don’t... don’t lose it, no, you can’t lose it... not for petty pride’s sake or any other reason. Memories. Yes, that’ll do it. You need happy memories to keep you alive here... keep it, keep it secret...” There was such sincerity, even desperation, in his face as to rattle even Marley. “That was smart of you, keeping it wrapped beneath your sleeve,” he went on, almost sounding friendly, “Keep it there for now, and the first chance you get, hide it away some place that they won’t find it, do you understand me? There’s a clever girl.”

“I’ll do as I please, thank you,” Marley said, a lot slower and with a great deal less conviction than her friends would have expected of her. She looked down at the scarf and was thoughtful. Wordlessly she wrapped it back around her arm and pulled her sleeve over it. She said nothing more, and she did not look at the old man again.

He nodded silently. For a moment he seemed lost in thought. Then he looked up again and said seriously, “They don’t play games here, kiddies. Do what you’re told, or they’ll put you away, and by that I mean sure as anything that they’ll kill you. Understood? Just... do as you’re told. There may be a chance for you to get back home yet... just... wait for the right moment. You’ll know it when you see it. Just, play along until then, eh?”

“What do you mean?” Gideon asked. “What is this place? Who are they?”

Gruffly, the man turned away and sat down at the table with a grunt. “They told you, I’m sure.”

“They told us a dubious tale, that this is Izlair, that we’re somehow connected to their Snake Queen, and that we’re part of this ‘Black Diamond’,” Gideon said.

“Well they didn’t lie about any of that.”

Marley scoffed. “Really. Why, it’s simply ridiculous!”

“Izlair is nothing more than a child’s story!”

The old man swivelled about to face them, a most unbelieving and almost mocking expression on his face. “Oh, is it?” he asked. “And I suppose all those mums and dads crying out in the night after their stolen littl’uns are just some sort of fancy? The disappearances faked? The wee lass of a sister tryin’ to tell her mates why lil’ Jaki is never comin’ back to play again just joshin’?”

The Münshirlings stared at him aghast.

“What are you talking about?” Marley asked after a moment.

Shadowscurse leaned back in his chair and scratched his scruffy chin, his brow deeply creased and his piercing eyes trained on them as though they were transparent. “They really don’t know, do they? ...How is it that they don’t know?” he asked, seemingly to himself.

“Augh! Don’t know what?!” Gideon exclaimed.

“Izlair is real, my lad. Real as you and me, you seen it. It’s no trick. So’s the Snake Queen and all the stories about her, mark me. That mark there,” and he jabbed his index finger at Gideon’s exposed shoulder, “That’s the curse. Call it magic, superstition, or whatever you’d like. No one knows how or why it comes upon the littl’uns, but sure as anything, it means they’re chosen by the Snake Queen—even if the wee thing were born off in the middle o’ nowhere and no one heard tell of it—even if its parents keep its very existence secret from all the world—it’ll be whisked off here. Every single one of ‘em. She doesn’t forget. Once the mark is there, she’ll take ‘em. You don’t get a say. No one gets a say, ‘cept the Snake Queen herself. For most it’s done while they’re still young, two or three years of age—old enough to be weaned, that is. But others, like yourselves, are taken at an older age. Usually those taken at an older age are those who’d be missed, someone of importance—and I suppose you’re of that ilk, eh? You’re the ones that everyone’ll think was killed. She makes it look like you were killed, see? Some sort of accident.”

“She didn’t have to with us; our ship was attacked,” Marley muttered. “A monster from the depths attacked us. We washed ashore.”

Shadowscurse gave her another funny look. “Or that,” he said. “Sometimes the fates work for her, they say.”

“But how did she find us? What I mean is, how’d zey know we were comin’?” Nya asked quietly. “How did we get here?”

Shadowscurse shrugged. “I’m sure I don’t know, not more than’s been told to you a’ready. Feh.”

Gideon shifted uncomfortably. “When do we get an audience with her?”

“What, with the Queen?” Shadowscurse scoffed. “No one sees the Queen, and lives to tell about it, that is. Being called to her presence is practically a formal execution. Shadowshifter and Shadowsfalcon ‘re the ones she uses to run errands with the people. They’re sorta like the head honchos around here, bullying and doing what they will, so long as they have her permission.”

“How can anyone be loyal to such a monarch as that?” Marley asked. “Hasn’t anyone here a sense of pride?”

“Like I said before, lass, you were born to a life without choices. You don’t get your say,” Shadowscurse replied darkly. “But I’ll say this: don’t try to force the issue... you’ll not be the first one they’ve disposed of, sure as I live...” His eyes fell as he considered what he had said. He scoffed bitterly. “Sure as I live.”

Thairyn’s eyes opened suddenly. It was still dark. Her heart was pounding. Where am I? she wondered. She pushed herself up from Meiikii’s soft, warm back and looked around. It was dark, but she could still see. The cave and everything in it seemed to her shades of dark blue. She saw the forms of Meyjey, Annota, Kazen, and Vamele sleeping on their bed mats to her left. The mouth of the cave was open still; outside she could see the clear night sky, filled with glittering pale stars.

She felt anxious. An awful fear and urgency felt pinched tight in her chest, like she had just remembered that she had forgotten to do something important, and now it might be too late... days too late. How could she possibly have forgotten? I have to get to Sylvahna! I have to get to Sylvahna! Mama told me to go there; Mama said... Neyhira! She had to see if Neyhira was all right! She climbed down off of Meiikii’s back, as quietly as she could, and crept towards the mouth of the cave.

“Wawk?” Meiikii squeaked softly, lifted his head and focusing his great big ears towards her.

The sound had not been loud, but it had startled her. She turned and looked at him. “Shh,” she hushed, drawing her forefinger to her lips. She softly padded back to his side and brushed his forehead.

The irwyn closed his eyes and started purring softly.

“Come on, boy.”

“Wawk?” he squawked again questioningly, and he tilted his head to the side.

“Shh!” she hissed harshly.

amele moaned quietly, and rolled over. Thairyn watched her with wide eyes, but she soon settled and continued to sleep.

Turning back to Meiikii, Thairyn whispered, “We don’t want to wake anyone up. Come on.”

The intelligent creature seemed to understand, for he silently leapt up to his feet and looked at her curiously. Thairyn reached up, caught a lock of his mane, and carefully led him out of the cave. There she paused.

She had no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar. All around her, or rather, below her, were forests and uneven rocky landscapes sloping downward; the cave was situated in the peak of a mountain. But which mountain? Thairyn thought hopelessly. A terrible feeling gripped her heart; Where is Neyhira? What if I can’t find her? What if the Sylvahna Siorans didn’t find her!? What if she’s all alone, and scared, and lost?! She could not remember if she had gotten her sister to Sylvahna as her mother had directed or not! How long had it been since the attack, anyway? Tears leapt to her eyes, blurring her vision. Angrily she swiped them away. No, I will find her! Think, Thairyn, think! Papa taught me how to find out where I

am if I’m lost; find the Guardian of Direction. She looked up at the sky. Clearly the familiar constellations of the Star Guardians glinted down at her; Manairus, Telae’ah... there! Tyrnah, the Guardian of Direction. In the four-star diamond shaped constellation, Thairyn could see the Northern Star, hanging in the right corner. The mouth of the cave had opened up nearly due north, and Thairyn could make out the peak of yet another mountain under the Northern Star. She remembered that there had been a mountain range northeast and east of the Forest of Gems; she had seen it before from the hills. Surely she could not be too far from the Forest now, especially if Annota meant to go back there.

“Kwawk...” Meiikii croaked boredly behind her. He bowed and butted his great head into her shoulder.

Thairyn sniffled and rubbed her nose with the back of her wrist. Pressing the bandages against her burned skin stung, and she jumped. “Stop it! I’m trying to find out where we are, just a minute.”

“Waaw?”

Thairyn got back to her reckoning. If Tyrnah is there, and I’m facing north... then the Forest must be... She looked a little towards the left, where she could make out the silhouette of the Jag on the distant horizon, sandwiched between the nearer forms of the northern mountain and either another mountain or a canyon to the west. Yes, the Jag—it encircled the Moon Clan Lands—that was a landmark she was familiar with! The Forest would be directly south of it, and if she had been able to work it out correctly, that meant that the Forest of Gems was west of her current position, behind the canyon. Her heart leapt; she was close to the Sylvahna Forest! Very close! “Come on, Meiikii,” she whispered urgently. She climbed up onto his back and pointed down the mountain. “Let’s go.”

“Rrrreeek!” he whistled softly. He stretched out his magnificent silver wings and broke into a run down the slope; Thairyn was not prepared for it—his lithe, versatile body rippled under her almost like liquid and his sudden thrust nearly made her fly backwards off his back! Her hand shot forward and caught a fistful of his mane, saving herself from the fall, but her wings instinctively jerked in preparation for impact—the movement caused her tender, burned skin to brush against the bandages, and it seared excruciatingly! It took everything in her not to cry out from the pain! Still gripping his fur in her fist, she clenched her teeth and pulled herself up. Then she leaned down and hugged close to the irwyn’s back to ride his fluid movements more easily.

Whoosh! Meiikii kicked off from the slope and swooped up above the oncoming tree line. Wind rushed into Thairyn’s face and through her clothes and hair; her knuckles were white from clinging to the irwyn’s fur so tightly. He was so fast! She could see the tops of tree branches racing past under his wing, the nearest ones so quickly that they were just a mere blur! Then he tilted his wings slightly upward, decreasing his speed and increasing his lift. Thairyn waited a moment or two before sitting upright to have a look around. Meiikii swayed to the side and squawked uncomfortably as he had to reposition his wings to compensate for the drag she caused—Thairyn thought this was almost just deserts for his pitching her backward unexpectedly before, and she wrinkled her nose at him. Besides, the view was breathtaking! The peak of the northern mountain still loomed ahead, mysterious and dark against the glittering indigo skies. Alongside her, the large rocky wall of the canyon rose up to her left; covered in large trees, most growing at an awkward tilt and twisting in strange contortions skyward. She could see several ledges and pathways up there, hidden away behind thick vegetation. Just about anything could be hiding up there, she thought with a shudder.

Meiikii felt her body become tense on his back. He did not lift his head or his ears, but he did tilt his head a little in her direction, so that she could see his golden eyes glance back towards her, up at the canyon, and to her again. “Waaaah...” he squawked, and the noise rolled deep in his throat. He shifted his wings and began to drift more towards the right, away from the canyon. His rumbling purrs started again, so loudly that his body began to vibrate from them.

Thairyn smiled and scratched his shoulder fondly. “You’re a good boy, Meiikii.”

Thairyn and Meiikii flew on for a few hours more, following the canyon northward until the sky was a faint pale blue overhead. Then the range of the canyon turned westward; they left it behind in favour of the northern mountain still a few miles ahead. It was there that Thairyn had set her heart; she was sure she would find the Sylvahna Forest upon the western foot and, she hoped desperately within herself, Neyhira too.

She had thought about it and played it in her head over and over again. Had she gotten Neyhira to Sylvahna? She thought she had... she seemed to recall some blurry memory of doing so... but how could she, if she had gone back into the Forest of Gems before passing out? The Sylvahna Forest was at least a day’s journey from the Forest of Gems. “Auch! Why can’t I remember?!” Thairyn cried out in frustration.

Meiikii chirped inquisitively, glancing back at her.

“I’m okay, boy. I just hope Neyhira’s okay—I hope, I hope!” Thairyn tensed her jaw. She looked anxiously towards the mountain; a mighty towering giant to her view. She patted Meiikii’s shoulder. “Fly around down now, to the left of it,” she said, pointing. “There should be a forest just beyond that slope.”

Meiikii made a sort of chortling noise. He adjusted his wings accordingly and swooped swiftly down as she directed. The wind raced through Thairyn’s earfins and she felt her stomach do a lurch and a flip! She gripped his fur tighter and ducked down close against his back! Meiikii drew his wings and legs in closer to his body, so that he was a virtual speeding arrow swooping down towards the foot of the mountain! Thairyn clenched his fur as tightly as she could and squeezed her eyes shut—she felt sure that they were falling; her heart was pounding clean out of her chest! She clenched her jaws, refusing to scream or laugh or make any of the other strangled fearful noises that were threatening to burst from inside her!

Suddenly, Meiikii stretched his wings out again; Thairyn opened her eyes wide for the sensation of the sudden force made her think for a moment that they had hit the ground. This was not so; she found that Meiikii was airborne still. Looking over her shoulder, she could see that his once long bushy tail had splayed out nearly flat; he was tilting and waving it slightly this way and that to govern the air like a biireo’s tail of feathers! It was the strangest thing Thairyn had ever seen—but something else detracted her attention from it. Meiikii’s body lurched up steeply; she had to catch hold of his neck and grip him tight to keep from falling off! Meiikii flapped his wings hard, touched his hind legs on the ground, bounced forward onto his front legs and continued at a bit of a run before slowing his pace to something of a trot

and ultimately stopping entirely. He drew his wings up to his sides and lifted his head and ears to look at Thairyn clutching still desperately to his back.

Panting, Thairyn looked up at him with wide eyes. She had never seen such a self-satisfied expression on an animal before. His eyes met her own expectantly, pupils large and black in vivid contrast against his great golden irises. Thairyn looked at her own reflection in those eyes and started laughing. She did not know why she was laughing; nothing seemed particularly funny at the moment, but she could not stop!

Meiikii twittered pleasantly. Laughing was not what he had expected, but he translated it into a positive response—virtual praise—nonetheless.

When Thairyn was finally able to regain her composure, she sat upright on his back and had a look around. They were in a forest, though clearly not Sylvahna, and the mountain loomed up tall still above them. “Well’p,” she said. “Come on, boy, we’re not there yet.” She shook her head and muttered under her breath, “I said down and around, not just down, pfft.”

Meiikii started again at a trot towards the mountain. The trees were tall alongside Thairyn’s path; their wide branches sometimes crossed together over the path high above her head. And yet, to her they seemed small, for they were nothing to compare with the mighty giants of the Forest of Gems.

Meiikii’s great shoulder blades rose and sank under his sleek coat as he walked; Thairyn would sway smoothly to the left and right behind them each in turn. Riding him was nothing like riding Gideon’s horse. The irwyn’s gait was light, fluid, and steady. Every fibre of his being seemed to glide along after the other in perfect harmony, effortlessly. His movements felt like those of an animal that could easily skip into flight at any moment, regardless of his incredible size. Erepods were trilling and clicking loudly in the trees and tall grasses along the path. Most would hush as her irwyn trekked past them, only to resume determinedly as he left their immediate vicinity. To the erepods, the songs were eager promises, boasting of the musician’s worth to unseen females as each tried feverishly to outshine his rivals. That they would not sing when something was amiss had long been engrained in Thairyn’s mind, so their songs subconsciously granted her a sense of security. But her thoughts wandered. Mama and Papa might be at Sylvahna too. That’s where we were supposed to go. ...Why didn’t they come find me? Why was I with Annota and Meyjey, and not the Siorans, not Mama? If the Siorans didn’t find me... did they find Neyhira?

She looked up at the mountain. I’ll know soon... I’ll know soon... Some part of her, the aching part inside her chest, recoiled from the thought; it did not want to know. It knew already. But she banished this thought nearly as soon as it came. They might be there. They might be waiting. Just the word “might” caused that horrible empty ache to rear its ugly head again—she corrected herself. They will be there. They’re waiting. They’re waiting for me... Tears leapt to her eyes and blurred her vision. “They’re waiting for me, they are,” she whispered fiercely.

The ground gradually became rocky and uneven again as the irwyn began his ascent up the mountain. The fluidity of Meiikii’s stride became a great discomfort as he picked his way up the slope; at times, the path he decided was most convenient was not the most convenient for his little rider. She bounced and swayed precariously, for he was always changing his stride and direction quickly and unpredictably according to his fancy. Thairyn was glad that the top of the mountain was not their goal, and that he soon discovered a well worn path along the ridge that seemed to be going in the direction they wanted to go around the mountain. This path meandered around to the west, going more down than up, and a little before noon they rounded a bend and Thairyn caught sight of the forest she had been seeking. It was impossible to mistake; the Sylvinar trees for which the forest had been named were tall, lithe things, white of bark, with unique star-shaped silvery leaves that were their signature. Some of these trees dotted the hills around Novangärd, but Thairyn was sure that so magnificent and pure a forest as Sylvahna existed nowhere else on the face of Sjoria. Thrills coursed through her as she gazed down upon it; excited for the joys and reunion she anticipated, and yet she was afraid—no, terrified—of disappointment in this precious, vulnerable hope. It was a delicate thing... she wanted to protect it... but she was desperate. Exposing it now was dangerous—but it would be filled and healed as soon as she was wrapped once more in her family’s embrace. “They have to be here, Meiikii...” she whispered, “They have to.”

“I’m starving,” Gideon muttered. It had been hours since the Shadowshifter had locked them away. The prince did not know exactly what time of day it was, but he guessed it was probably about noon now. The old man grunted. He was lying in his bed now with his back towards them. They had thought him asleep as he had not answered their continuing questions, nor had he breathed a word since his conversation with them earlier. It was for this reason that the three of them startled and looked at him with wide eyes when he made the noise. His form was still, but for his ragged breathing. Gideon had just decided to chalk it up to a snore, when the old voice croaked quietly, “You’ll not be eating today.”

“What?” Marley and Gideon asked in unison.

Without turning still, the old man repeated, “They won’t feed you today.”

Gideon, Marley, and Nya all looked at each other. Gideon looked at the old man and asked, “Why not?”

“That’s just the way of it, lad. Just the way.”

“But we haven’t eaten since before the attack on The Whisperwinds,” Marley said. “And who knows how long ago that was! Surely they don’t mean to starve us to death?”

The old man did not reply, and they were left to suppose that he had drifted to sleep again. Then, at length, he said, “No... Not to death, at any rate.”

Just then there was sharp click and a grinding at the door; Gideon and his friends shot to their feet just as the door creaked loudly and flew open! They had to squint under the sudden glare of the pale green light; but sure enough there stood the imposing figure of Shadowshifter in the doorway. “The meeting is beginning,” he said loudly, “Come.”

“What meeting?” Marley asked.

Either Shadowshifter did not hear her, or he simply ignored what she had said. The old man had sat up

in his bed when the door opened. The giant looked at him and said, “You will stay here, until your detention is carried out, do you understand?”

Shadowscurse ducked his head and did not meet his eye. “Yes sir,” he mumbled, “My punishment is merciful.”

What is he being punished for? Gideon wondered. But he was not to learn; the door closed and Shadowshifter led them away back to the centre of Karton’s Village.

The village looked very changed since the time that they had visited it that morning; it seemed... more alive, though even less pleasant than it had been before. The streets were busy with people coming to and fro as Shadowshifter led the youths towards the plaza once more. The noise of talking and cackling filled the air, as did the twanging of the most unrefined music Gideon had ever heard. Hooded figures would bow and scurry from the giant’s path, but towards the neck of the road that would open into the plaza, it became too choked with life for them to get out of the way in time. The giant had no aversion to shoving them out of the way and pushing his way through the crowds. Those shoved made communication to others, and the crowds began to part to allow Shadowshifter and his sport through to the statue. The plaza was full of people; all kinds of people. There were Dracoens, Münshirlings, La’Karnians, Galdans—even Vüls! All of them wore the same uniforms as had been provided to Gideon and his friends, though with hoods and capes. They chattered and laughed in ways that were not pleasant as Gideon and his friends passed them, poking and jeering along the way. Gideon flinched back, but there was no end to the hands to poke and pinch. He glared scornfully at them. He had never been so treated in his life; he had never had cause to feel so small and vulnerable—it was a very bad feeling.

Thus it was in tight and insecure array that the three Münshirlings made it to the pedestal door. Only Shadowshifter followed them in, and the doors were closed behind them, temporarily barring out the prodding hands and shouted insults and laughs.

Again they were marched up the stairs to the Hand. Outside, they were met once more with the ruckus of the crowds below; they were cheering now, loudly and fiercely, and Gideon could see the Shadowsfalcon stood above them with four hideous wings outstretched. The Hand was better lit; eight torches were lit there now rather than just the two they had seen before.

Shadowsfalcon issued a fell cry; it echoed out over the plaza and made Gideon and his friends feel like their hearts had withered—they felt sick to the pits of their stomachs. The crowds were only further invigorated; they screamed, laughed, cursed, and cheered all the fiercer!

Shadowshifter ushered the Münshirlings on up to the Hand. There were two other figures with Shadowsfalcon there; Dracoens. They stood alongside her, looking down emptily upon the crowds. Gideon had only his meetings with the Gem Princesses to go by, so he did not consider himself much of an expert when it came to Dracoen age, but judging by their stature he guessed they were adolescent boys. They were each at least a head and shoulders taller than he was, if not a bit more. Their uniforms were different; the Dracoen version was backless to accommodate their wings, but for a strap at the hips and a strap about the neck. Instead of boots the boys wore a leather piece of apparel that only covered the top of the foot and the calves, each with a strap to hold them on once at the middle toe and once just below the knee.

Looking at them, Gideon wondered if they were ill. Their faces were blank, their eyes dark, and their scales dull to compare to the vibrant Thairyn and Neyhira—and he found this incredibly odd, as Thairyn and Neyhira’s scales had been simply black and iridescent white with some blue markings. These two boys were certainly more colourful than that. The first had scales that were deep blood-red, and Gideon could see his wings, exposed back, tail, and bare left arm all displayed rosettes, the outer spotting black while the centre of each spot glinted a subtle orange-then-blue iridescence depending on the angle, and his face had black stripes, similar to a meeroh’s. The other Dracoen had dark blue scales with even darker blue stripes on his wings and tail. Were those his only markings, he would not have been particularly attention-grabbing to compare to his companion, but this was not so. He also displayed a striking red flame pattern going up his left arm and tail, as Gideon assumed he had on his other arm and legs; his right hand and both feet were also red. His face was tattooed with silver markings; a crescent under his left eye with the horns pointing up towards the eye, and an oddly shaped patch over his right.

The blue one looked up as the Shadowshifter shoved Gideon and his friends forward; his bright, fiery orange eyes met Gideon’s own like daggers. He had no idea why, for the Dracoen displayed absolutely no expression on his face, but Gideon felt sure he was angry—furious, even—and pained.

“Followers of the Black Diamond, listen here!” Shadowsfalcon shouted above the noise of the crowds, and they hushed. She waited until the noise had completely died away, and she continued; “Our Snake Queen, Shadowsjade, has today summoned five new members to our mighty bond!”

The crowds roared in violent cheering. These were not joyful cries; they were menacing and vile. Gideon felt sick. He glanced at Marley to his side. She was pale, staring wide-eyed down at the crowds.

“Tonight,” Shadowsfalcon declared over the noise, hushing them once more, “Tonight they receive the names by which they shall be known to you and to the Snake Queen—they will be your brothers and soon, once they learn of their true power and potential, they will join you in serving your mighty Queen!”

Another torrent of violent cheers roared up from below, fiercer still than before.

“And so to you I present—” Shadowsfalcon shouted, taking a step back. She raised her dangerously bladed left tail, whipped it behind Gideon, and with intimidating gentleness pushed him forward in front of her upon the Hand’s fingertips—“Shadowscrest!”

Cheers.

Shadowsfalcon pushed Marley forward. “Shadowsfang!”

More cheers.

Shadowshifter pushed Nya to stand alongside his friends. “Shadowsleaf!”

The blue-scaled Dracoen was pushed forward. “Shadowsrogue!”

His companion was also shoved forward to stand by the rest of them. “And Shadowswrath!”

“They will be your brothers in the Black Diamond! And they will learn our ways quickly, or suffer the consequences!” Shadowsfalcon shouted. The way she said it sent chills up Gideon’s spine, but worse was

the crowds’ reaction to it. They laughed, hollered, and jeered louder than ever before. Shadowsfalcon closed her eyes and smiled, as if savouring their fiendish noise.

After a moment, Shadowshifter gave a quiet order, “Step back.”

The youths obeyed. Then the Shadowsfalcon opened her eyes and stepped forward again. “You all know what is required—see that they do not fall out of line, and any unruly conduct on the behalf of these is to be reported immediately to myself or Shadowshifter. Failure to do so will result in punishment. That is all; you are all dismissed back to your merriment!”

The crowds cheered loudly again below and began to depart. Shadowsfalcon stepped down and turned towards her new inductees. She smiled. “This is, after all,” she said softly, “An occasion to celebrate, is it not? Unfortunately, you each have something to do before you can partake in any such frivolity...” Her burning eyes passed over their line up once, and then again... almost like she was searching for something specific amongst them. Suddenly her head snapped up. “Shadowshifter,” she said, “Take the children to the head of the Sekivres-Vorcipet-Helcid to start their training, and then meet me back at the Black Tower.”

The giant bowed. “Yes, my sister.”

Shadowsfalcon gave him a satisfied nod. She turned and approached the fingertips of the Hand again. Then she spread her four wings; her feathers between each pair snapped and shattered from the movement. Nya saw that there was a putrid smelling black liquid oozing from ugly wounds where her sharp feathers and wings had come into conflict many times before. In spite of himself, he winced. But the beast paid no heed to any pain she might be experiencing, and she leapt with a fierce cry from her perch into a heavy and awkward flight.

How she manages to support her girth and remain airborne with those conflicting wings and ratty tails I’m sure I’ll never know, Gideon thought, disappointed that the vile creature had not plummeted to the ground. He decided it was a phenomenon like her ability to speak without lips, or the Kiirlight never coming to this land... perhaps some sort of foul sorcery made it so, in stark defiance of reality.

They exited Karton’s Village by a different way than they had entered it. By now, Gideon and his friends had lost any sense of direction they might have ever had, but he recognized the ugly sentinels they passed under to leave the city—they were the same two that had greeted him that nightmarish morning when first he had set his eyes upon Karton’s Village.

They followed Shadowshifter down the cobblestone road for a few miles until they came to a place where it forked. The left path was paved in dark stones, the same as the road they now stood on. But the right path was different. Under the glow of the violet mists, Gideon could see it looked a deep, dark red.

“Behold, the Red Road,” said Shadowshifter.

Unlike the other, perhaps more important faculties of Izlair, Gideon knew what this one was. How could he not? How many times had Mistress Goss told him and his nursery mates the haunting legend of the Red Road? The Traitor had come. She had destroyed and left desolate. She took of the blood of her loved, her friends and her rulers, whom she had destroyed, and she painted a path through the Dark Land to mark her conquest. The Red Road it was called, and the disobedient soul who follows it surely chooses own demise... He had thought it just a story then, to make him behave. Could it really be real? Everything else so far had seemed so. He looked at Nya and Marley; both met his eyes and returned fearful expressions.

“I see that you recognize it,” Shadowshifter said, looking down at Gideon and his friends. “Perhaps you are not quite as naive as before I thought.” He was quiet for a moment, perhaps anticipating a denial or a comeback as Marley had been so freely giving him before. But this did not come, so he went on in a brisk tone, “The Sekivres-Vorcipet-Helcid is up this road. Come along.”

The Dracoens went without any hesitation, and while they did not seem any the worse for it, Gideon and his friends hesitated still.

Shadowshifter rolled his eyes and pushed Nya so that he stumbled and had to step on it in order to catch himself. The moment his feet made contact with the red stones, to the surprise of both Gideon and Marley—even Shadowshifter—his body jolted and stiffened, he screamed in pain and fell to his knees as if struck by lightning! Marley and Gideon tried to dash to their friend’s side, but Shadowshifter caught them each by the shoulder and would not allow them to help him!

“Let me go!” Marley screamed, clawing at the giant’s mechanical hand.

Shadowshifter did not comply, but watched Nya with a detached and somewhat curious expression.

“Nya, get off the road!” Gideon yelled, pulling free of the Shifter's grasp. When he stepped on the Red Road, he felt sick to his stomach, but no pain! What was happening to Nya?! He lifted Nya’s arm over his neck and dragged him off of the Red Road.

Nya gasped sharply as soon as he was off the crimson pavement. He felt as though all the strength had been drained from his limbs, but the pain was gone. If he tried to rest, he was sure he would lose consciousness, so he determinedly kept tense and continued to shake.

Gideon did not see any wounds—no physical evidence to his friend’s distress—furiously he looked up at Shadowshifter. “What did you do to him?!”

Shadowshifter let go of Marley’s shoulder and she rushed immediately to Nya’s side. She fell to her knees and caught his face in her hands. “Nya! Nya look at me—are you all right?”

Panting, Nya nodded weakly, his eyes only half-open. He could not manage a reply... he was exhausted!

“Well, that was... unusual,” Shadowshifter commented casually. He did, however, look genuinely confused. “I’ve never seen anything like—” he cut off suddenly. There was a look of surprise in his face, but this was replaced by a sense of recognition. He looked at Nya with a renewed expression of curiosity, even resentment, but he did not elaborate on his feelings. “Let us not remain here idle for the rest of the day,” he said. “We must continue. Shadowsleaf, you and you alone will be permitted to walk alongside the Red Road. The others must tread upon it.”

Gideon, Marley, and Nya each exchanged glances. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Marley whispered to Nya.

He nodded again. “I do not know what happened t’me, but I’m feelin’ better now... just... so tired.”

“Hm... Interesting... very interesting,” Shadowshifter muttered. “Come along now.”

Carefully, Gideon and Marley helped Nya to his feet and steadied him. Then, hesitantly, they left his side and came to Shadowshifter’s side on the Red Road. Again Gideon felt that overwhelming and almost numbing sorrow, Marley sort of gasped as she stepped on the scarlet stones, experiencing that emotional anguish for the first time. It was a debilitating feeling; a sickly, powerful sorrow and hopelessness—she felt defeated, betrayed, lost—ultimately forlorn. But she felt nothing that would account for Nya’s reaction—not physically, anyway.

Shadowshifter briskly resumed the pace, and Nya continued after them, slowly feeling his strength return. Marley and Gideon, however, began to feel something else. Emotionally, mentally—they began to feel muddled and confused. Gradually, this sensation would intensify until they began to be dulled entirely. Nya, walking alongside, watched his friends become more and more despondent as they continued.

“Ho there,” Nya called to them warily, “Gideon, Marley—what’s ze matter wiz yeh?”

They did not even look at him.

“Gideon,” Nya said seriously, furrowing his brow. “Marley? Hoy!”

“They can’t hear you,” Shadowshifter stated calmly, looking on ahead down the road.

“Eh?” Nya asked, looking up at him. “Why’s zat? What’re yeh doin’ to zem?”

“I am not doing anything,” Shadowshifter said, sparing him only a short resentful glance. “The Red Road is preparing them, strengthening them for what is to come.”

“Strengthening zem? Zey look like walkin’ corpses, an’ it certainly did me no good a’zat!”

“If they are to survive, they must continue to the end of the road.”

“Why must zey?” Nya asked. “You didn’t force me t’walk it.”

“You have been told. Though I know not yet why, the Red Road sought to destroy you. I have been given no order to dispose of you as of yet. The Snake Queen still has use of you, therefore I cannot allow the Red Road to take the blood it so desires.”

Nya caught an odd look in his eye as he spoke. Shadowshifter looked at Nya almost like he expected to see someone else, someone who he feared and despised. Too, Nya noticed that Shadowshifter positioned himself as well as Marley and Gideon in the centre of the road, almost guardedly, as though this would protect them from his reach. He looked between his friends. “Gideon, Marley—snap out o’it!”

They did not respond, and Shadowshifter glared ahead, annoyed by his attempted interference. “I told you: they cannot hear you.”

Thairyn climbed down from Meiikii’s back and looked wistfully at the silver forest. A soft, cool breeze whistled past her, catching a few locks of her short blue hair as it swirled past her face. She could smell the faint trace of rain on the air from a coming storm as of yet unseen. Unconsciously she reached up, swept the trailing wisps of hair out of her face, and tucked them behind her earfin; her eyes trained solely on the forest below.

Meiikii twittered softly.

She looked up at him, and patted his side fondly. “Stay here, Meiikii.”

The irwyn tilted his head to one side. “Prrreeak?”

“I’ll be right back,” she said reassuringly. Again her gaze wandered to the forest, and that wistful, frightened look found its way back onto her face. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Then she clenched her hands into fists and let it out determinedly. “I’ll be right back,” she said again. She gave the irwyn a serious look. “Stay here, I mean it.”

Meiikii started purring loudly, so she decided he knew what she meant.

She carefully started her descent down the last rocky slope that parted her from Sylvahna, looking up frequently to be sure Meiikii had not wandered. That little delicate thing inside her hated to be parted from him—it was afraid she would not see him again. But she wanted to see her family more, so to appease the little delicate thing she made sure that Meiikii was always in sight.

The irwyn did not move from his place. He sat down on his haunches and watched her pick her way down the slope curiously, sometimes twittering and tilting his head in a way that made Thairyn think he was asking, “Now why did you go and do that?” Sometimes she would chuckle under her breath at this, and other times, usually when she saw a better way to go down only after she had slipped and scuffed her knee, she would try to ignore him.

Towards the bottom of the slope, a clump of very large green trees was growing. They leaned at a peculiar angle towards the slope, so that their highest branches were brushing up against the mountain side, and one in particular was leaning against a very large boulder jutting out of the side, just below her. Thairyn climbed down on top of the boulder and rested for a few minutes. It was a very smooth, pale stone, worn down perhaps by years of wind and rain before it had gradually slipped to its current position. The surface was very warm to the touch. If she had a blanket handy, Thairyn fancied it would have made a nice place for an afternoon nap.

Above, Meiikii whistled and cawed inquisitively. She looked up and smiled at him. He was lying down now, with his large four-fingered hands rested one on top of the other as he patiently looked down at her with those great golden eyes.

Thairyn turned around and eased herself off of the boulder. Gripping the stone as tightly as she could, she felt around in the air for the branches with her feet and eased herself just a little lower. Once she figured she had found her footing, she let go of the boulder and disappeared from Meiikii’s view in the tree’s thick growth.

A few smaller branches snapped under Thairyn’s weight, but she had calculated her position correctly and landed softly on both hands and feet upon a nice thick branch—this bent under her sudden impact, but presently swung back to its proper position. Agilely, she made her way down the branch, hopped down to a

lower, thicker branch, and from there meandered her way down the trunk. Once she was low enough, she hopped down and landed with a pitter-pat in the grass. It was there that she discovered a little brook running along by in a little ditch alongside the foot of the mountain.

“Meiikii? You still there, boy?”

“Chereee!”

“Good, stay there.”

“Chereeek kee-kee!”

Thairyn brushed the tiny pieces of loose bark off her bandages and clothes. She winced as she brushed her bandages, for the movement stung. Ultimately, she left a few splinters embedded in them, reasoning that they would not do much where they were. Then her earfins involuntarily perked up and flicked back. She had heard something. Curiously, she turned in the direction she had heard the noise. It had sounded like a squeal, a shrill cry—though whether it was a pleasant or fearful noise, she could not tell. At first, her searching eyes found nothing—then there was movement in the Sylvahna Forest; a little bouncing figure which quickly disappeared from view behind a slender Sylvinar. Then there was another, and another, leaping between the trees so quickly she almost could not spot them before they were gone again.

Another shrill cry sounded, and suddenly fifteen or more of those teasing figures came bounding out of the woods and into the clearing before the Sylvahna Forest! Startled, Thairyn darted behind her large tree so that they would not see her, though she peered out at them.

They almost looked like little Münshirling children at a first glance, but their hair was long and wild, and they were much more varied in colour... well, pattern, at least. Like the Münshirlings, they were all shades of brown, but there was also some white, black, and grey amongst them—and the Sylvahna version of brown was richer and redder. Some of them were dark brown-skinned with agouti-coloured hair, some even darker with nearly black skin and black hair. Some were white, others white with black spots or patches. Some were a very light tan with black hair. Some had almost-Münshirling coloured skin and yellow or brown hair. One looked an iron grey, with white hair and a white stripe down his face. All of them had long, bushy tails and large pointed ears, somewhat like Meiikii’s. They wore very simple garments, thin tan trousers and gowns, girt about their bodies with vines. But there were other differences from Münshirlings, noticed at first chiefly because of the strange movements these differences caused. These children had much longer legs than Münshirlings, legs that ended in hooves instead of feet. It was on these hooves that they pranced and bounded like boinzi wawas on two legs, engaged in some game of chase.

Carefully and quietly, Thairyn climbed back up into her tree and peered down at them from the lower branches. It seemed clear to her now that they were laughing and playing, but she still did not want to be seen. Not yet, anyway. Suddenly Thairyn had a thought—it was a very strange and random thought, and she almost thought she heard Neyhira say it; Kelna! Kelna, please! Wait up for me!

She looked around. She did not see Neyhira, and none of the children seemed to have noticed it. They continued chasing and jumping about happily in circles, squealing and giggling. Then one of them turned and looked back at the forest. He seemed to be looking for something, but a little yellow girl with white hair leapt at him and made a motion as if she meant to grab him. He sprang back from her and laughed—then he ran, and the others followed him, leaping and springing across the field, down a hill and out of Thairyn’s sight. Thairyn was hesitant. She knew that they were Siorans. She knew that they were the friends Mama had told her to find. But the little delicate thing inside her was scared. It was horribly scared. The Siorans’ flat faces reminded her of the Münshirlings, and that frightened the little delicate thing. She was angry at the little delicate thing for that; it was stupid. But it was too close to her heart, too close and too vulnerable. Her limbs felt cold and stiff, unwilling to move down the tree and go after them or even into the Forest from whence they had come in search of her family. “I can’t go to them, I can’t,” she whispered to herself with a quivering voice. “I’m sorry, Mama—I can’t!”

She was about to retreat further into the tree and return to Meiikii, when suddenly she spotted a little white figure standing alone just before the forest, looking breathless and disappointed. Her heart leapt to her throat; it was Neyhira!