Chapter Fourteen

"Sometimes, I wonder if I'm dreaming," Liz read aloud. I know right, a few weeks ago, if someone told me this would happen, I wouldn't have believed it, she wrote.

Liz and Linaria were playing a game that was like texting on paper, right next to each other, passing the notepad back and forth.

Lina grimaced, same. Do you really think Istelle and Gwanwyn will come back with an army big enough to defeat the Akeefa?

Liz shook her head Of course not! They'll be combining armies with the Lette!

"Oh yeah…" Lina said out loud. I want to go home, she wrote.

That's understandable, was the reply. Lina was surprised, Well, don't you?

Liz rolled her eyes, of course.

"Oh."

Lina put down the notepad, "can we just talk normally for now?"

"Sure."

"So…"

"What's up?"

"When do you think it'll be?"

"When do I think what will be?"

"When will we go home?"

"Why do you guys keep asking me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Jude asked me too, and I don't know the answer!"

"Oh…"

"So why don't you ask someone who does know?"

"Like who?"

"I dunno...Evan?"

"I doubt he knows."

"If you don't think he knows, why'd you ask me?"

"Jeez, calm down okay? I'll go ask the wizard."

Lina stood up and went inside the cabin, leaving Liz behind, leaning against the cabin wall with the notepad.

Below the hill behind the cabin, Jude, Arin, and Adalyn were swinging on grapevines. Alistair watched them from the base of the hill, eating some meat Evan had cooked for him; he wouldn't eat raw meat because he was a human boy inside.

While Jude just swung on a vine, talking non-stop about the planet Mars, Addie was climbing her vine, while Arin listened to Jude and watched Addie at the same time, playing with the vine's flaky bark.

After a little while, Arin decided to copy her friend and began trying to climb her vine, when suddenly— "help!" she slipped and fell, her right hand still trying to hold onto the vine, sliding down its rough bark, at the bottom she suddenly let go, falling backward and catching herself with her hands on the ground, her right leg still on the vine.

When Jude and Addie helped her put her right foot down and stand up, Arin was fighting back tears.

Her right leg was scraped, though not as bad as her right hand. Both her hands were also dirty, and the blood and dirt mixed on her right hand, a horrible sight.

Just as Lina came out of the cabin and told Liz that Evan had no idea when they would get home and that the only one who could was the Amazara, Jude and Addie arrived, with Arin on Alistair's back, looking rather scraped up.

They called Evan over and he took Arin from them as they plopped down on the ground together outside, wondering what to do next.

"After everything, if we don't find Istelle at the caves, I don't know what I'll do," said Jake to Zavier the next morning, "that was a miserable night."

Zavier nodded in agreement, taking a bite out of a hard, soggy piece of bread that had been cooked in the forest fire yesterday, then been soaked by the rain.

Jake had conjured a magic fire to dry and keep the boys from freezing during the night, but neither had gotten much sleep.

"But who knows? Maybe we will find her and you'll be able to talk again!"

Zavier perked up a little at this thought, but it didn't help the dark circles under his eyes.

With the few remaining things they had left, the friends began the short hike that was left to reach the caves.

Lacking the energy to walk, they lifted off the ground and skidded to the caves, arriving there in only twenty minutes.

"Woah," Jake breathed, "this place is neat."

Zavier frowned, walking off a little ways and writing on the ground: There are 100's of hiding places here, how'll we find her?

Jake thought for a moment. "Split up?"

Zavier shook his head. Can't communicate.

"Hmm, we'll just have to go together then. We can start at the Eastern side and search West."

They searched hard and still hadn't gotten very far by noon, inspecting every little opening in the rocks, going into the dark caves then back out, disappointed.

They decided to have a lunch break, but because their food was limited, their meal was a quick one.

They resumed the search, becoming more bored and hopeless, finding larger caves, exploring deeper. They saw many crystals and bats a few times but no humans. A couple of times rocks or crystals would fall, just narrowly missing a mage, and water dripped on them from the cave ceilings.

It was very slow-going, though it helped a bit that there were two of them, they would explore each new cave together, Zavier after Jake. Once, Jake suggested he go into one and Zavier explore another, but the silent mage shook his head. "Why not? We'll be right near each other." But all he got was another headshake.

"This. Is. Going. To. Take. Us. Days."

It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the mages were exiting a particularly large cave, somewhere in towards the middle of the Aquent Caves.

"Let's do two more big ones, then camp for the night again."

Zavier nodded grimly and followed his friend to the next cave.

"Here's a small-ish opening, but it looks pretty big inside," Jake called out, then scooted in, closely followed by Zavier.

Occasionally, Jake would comment, "This one's got a really drippy ceiling."

"A deep one isn't it."

"Think we should turn around yet?"

He turned to see his friend shaking his head.

"Okay. Just a little more then."

Zavier shrugged.

Two minutes later, Zavier suddenly grabbed Jake and put his hand over his friend's mouth from behind, pointing ahead with his left hand.

A spot of light from the high ceiling in the shape of a lopsided star.

And behind it, a human figure, leaning against the cave wall.

The stranger turned and leaned towards the mages, the spot of light coming through the ceiling illuminating his pale-as-a-ghost face, cracked lips, and oily black hair.

A young man dressed all in black.

He spoke, his voice hoarse "long have I awaited your arrival, my friends."

The makes stood, frozen. Slowly, Alekzavier removed his hand from Jake's mouth.

"A-are you a ghost?"

"Not yet."

"...Human? You look kinda awful."

"Yes. I am Soren."

"What the heck are you doing in here?"

"Waiting for two mages, Jake. And Zavier, though that second one cannot speak because he's bound by Servadem."

Both mages gaped. "That's us" said Jake, "what do you want?"

"I have news for you. Istelle has died."

It took them a second to process the information.

"How would you know?"

Then Jake remembered what the woman back at Atzigul had said. Soren, her lover, vanished as well.

"Because I watched her die."

"Wait a second! You're not just Soren, you're Soren Istelle's lover!"

"Congratulations."

"But...you said Istelle was dead. How do you even know so much?"

There was silence.

"I guess you'd be the next person to reveal the last words to then, huh?"

"Don't bother."

"Why not?"

"Save it for Istelle."

"But you just said Istelle-"

"No. Istelle died but she isn't dead."

"How is that even possible?"

"You'll see."

Soren stood up and started towards the mages, motioning for them to turn around the other way.

"It is time to go now."