“Do you think any of the time traps are attached to this part of the continent?” Sath was busy finishing a sketch in the dirt on the ground to help them remember where they had walked that day. A fallen tree was providing them both shelter and firewood that night, and he was working just to the left of the campfire that Gin’s magic had helped him build. It reminded Gin of the night they spent right after escaping the first of the Mother Dragon’s traps—when they were still sharing stories, and trying to find a way home was the top priority. Not so anymore.
“No. I don’t think the traps are attached to anything, exactly. There may be portals along the coast that take the unwary adventurer TO the traps, but -”
“So, we need to avoid the coast, most likely.” Sath’s voice was pinched with frustration. “Why is it always that when you and I get within arm’s length of home—and happiness—it is yanked back further away Gin?” She frowned. “I don’t mean it’s our fault, I just mean—well it would be nice if we could catch a break, is all.”
“Agreed.” Gin closed her eyes and sent her consciousness out in all directions to check for anyone nearby. She found nothing save a few small animals that were burrowing in for the night. It would not do to tell Sath that—it would be no time at all before the poor creatures were roasting on her campfire if she did. She opened her eyes to find Sath looking at her. “Seems we are the only ones for miles around—I don’t know if that is good or bad.”
“Me either,” Sath replied. He drew with a stick in the dirt and then indicated the top of the drawing. “Look, so this is where we have been, and I’m trying to add in what I remember of the first place after we left the prison.”
“J’yr Va’al.”
“Yes, that place. See, I’ve put it up here and to the right, because I remember Josiah saying he was from M’aanyr and I think he said ‘down’ in M’aanyr once or twice, indicating that it is south of—um—Jarvel.”
“J’yr Va’al.” Gin smothered a giggle behind her hand.
“YES.” A growl rumbled in Sath’s chest, but Gin ignored it. “So, if we can find some sort of boat and then some water in this direction -” He pointed to a spot along the continent he had marked with a large M, presumably for M’aanyr. “We put in there and then sail west, and we should eventually make it to Calder’s Port.”
“Sath, we can’t just leave.”
“Why not? Of course we can!”
“Taeben is controlling the golden dragon and will kill her if he tries to take her body permanently. He will have the orb if he doesn’t already. We have to stop him.” Gin got to her feet and looked down at him, her hands on her hips. “We cannot allow him to come back to life in our world, Sath.”
“We cannot do a lot to stop him, Gin.”
“Not alone, no, but if we can convince Sephine, the Mother Dragon, and Omerith to help us -”
“See, you’re just talking crazy. You need to go home, Gin, because you’ve clearly LOST YOUR MIND.” Sath chuckled for a moment, stopping when he noticed that Gin wasn’t smiling. “Come on, there is no way that Sephine and Kaerinth will work with each other, let alone her son or us—and don’t forget that Omerith is clearly under the control of Taeben via his daughter.”
“That’s it.”
“What’s it?” Gin grinned from ear to pointed ear. “Uh oh, I recognize that look, and I do not like it. What are you thinking, Gin?”
“We do what I used to do to my siblings when they were doing something wrong. We need to tattle on Omerith to his mother.”
“Right, I’m going to carry you to the coast. Too bad I don’t have the shackles from the palace dungeons.” He made a playful move toward her, but she jumped backward, raising a hand toward him.
“I’m not kidding, Sath. The Mother Dragon wants the orb as much as Taeben does, so we need to distract him long enough to break his hold on Omerith’s mind. What better way than to send the Mother Dragon after him?”
“Okay, I’m with you, but how? And we don’t know if Daelyth is still in there at all—what if the Mother Dragon kills her outright by attacking Taeben?”
Gin frowned for a moment, but her face soon relaxed into the smooth countenance Sath had seen before when she was acting in her official capacity as Nature Walker. “Then that will be a tragedy, no doubt, but if it keeps Taeben and Lord Taanyth safely in the Void—it’s a price we must be willing to pay.”
Sath sighed loudly. “This is not like you, Gin.”
“I know.” Gin’s voice was tinged with sadness. “But I cannot allow either of those two to walk among the other races of Orana ever again. It’s why we are Guardians—OH Sath, the Guardians, that’s it!”
“What’s it? Slow down there, Gin, I’m not following.”
“The other Guardians. Who are they? We have traveled in the name of the Guardians, but it has only ever been the two of us. The original Guardians had members from all the races, didn’t they?”
“No, not the races that live under the mountain, but the Rajah of Qatu’anari, the Nature Walker, the high king of the high elves, and a human were to make up the Guardians—is that right?”
“YES!” Gin was positively vibrating now. “We may be able to turn Omerith’s mind without having to resort to an alliance with the Mother Dragon. We just need to find out who the other two are, the high elf and the human.”
“But how?”
Perhaps I can be of help.
The two of them looked at each other. That was a new voice that neither of them recognized, but it was female and spoke with an Ikedrian accent. “Is that Elspethe?” Gin
