Jonas' Wandering Thoughts

Jonas could only gasp for breath as the pressure was over. He'd expected something like that when they reached the edge, but he hadn't expected it to have been so intense.

He couldn't help but wonder if Elin and Ember had escaped as well or if the fact he'd made it out meant that one or both of them were still trapped. He considered it a reasonable possibility, but unless he could find evidence that's what happened, then he figured that he should go with the assumption that they'd made it out.

He certainly wasn't going to walk back in that rocky area to verify. Especially with how much smaller the area looked now. He knew that it had appeared to go on in the distance when he'd first seen it, but now it hardly seemed to be a mile across.

Although, despite that fact, he wasn't able to see either the falcon or Elin in the distance, even with how close the edges were and his enhanced vision. Which meant either that he'd taken too long to examine the area after he'd gotten out or there was more to what was going on than he'd realized.

However, what he needed to do first was to locate Elin. He didn't want to give Douglas an opening larger than absolutely necessary. At least if he could help it. Even though he couldn't be confident that Elin was really a target of his rather than a piece of bait he was using.

As far as he knew, Ember was and if they handed Ember over to him that he'd leave them alone. After all, if that's what he wanted, then there would be no reason for him to continue going after them.

Though, the primary problem with that idea, aside from any moral or ethical issues, was the fact that there wasn't a reason Jonas knew about why Elin would be bait that would draw in Ember. Or at least that he could think of at least.

Though, it was possible that Elin had met Ember before, though he wasn't sure how or when that might have occurred , unless that had occurred when he wasn't around, such as while he and the others were dealing with the giant bear that had been the stellar bear.

Only, it wasn't that long an amount of time, and it didn't explain why Douglas would have thought that Elin would draw in Ember.

Jonas felt like screaming out his frustrations. So much didn't make sense and so much was clearly being kept secret. Even the memories of those that had been left behind with Elin had been altered so that he couldn't check with them to see what might have been likely and what was more likely just speculation rather than a real threat.

While meeting up with Elin was a first step, now that they were out of that trap that could potentially have lasted forever, if not just for the rest of their lives, Jonas knew that there was more to get done. He wasn't quite sure just yet what all of that would entail, but if he didn't meet up with Elin before Douglas did, then he couldn't say what might happen then.

Although, before he started to walk around the area that he'd just escaped to see if he could find Ember or Elin, he glanced back at the rocky area. Before, when he'd seen it, the rocky area covered a lot more than what he saw before him now. He wasn't sure if it was because the trap hadn't been defeated then, if the magic had been depleted somehow since then, if there was some other reason unrelated to him or Elin, or if the issue was any number of those he could think of combined.

When he'd first seen it, he wouldn't have been able to make out the wagon clearly without the aid of his enhanced sight, but now it hardly felt like there'd be any issue with seeing that it was empty.

With what he could see, he would have assumed that Elin and Ember weren't in there still. However, because he could see so much more now, he wasn't sure if he was able to see as much as he thought he could. Or that it appeared he could. At least not if it turned out that Elin and/or Ember were still in that trap somehow.

Shaking his head, Jonas forced himself to turn away. In a sense, this was another trap, though one that Douglas likely hadn't created, but rather one of Jonas' own making. In that if he allowed himself to think so much about the reasons behind the changes, then he might get caught off guard should Douglas appear during then.

Not to mention the amount of time he'd likely waste if he let himself think too much about it.

As Jonas started to walk away, he suddenly noticed movement in the distance where Ember should have come out of the area. However, the movement didn't come from a bird, but rather a girl. Or what he assumed was a girl.

With only seeing the back, he could see long hair, the same color as the bird's feathers as well as the same color as the stranger in the camp where Sonya was resting. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he wasn't able to really make out anything more than that before the person was out of sight.

Jonas thought for a brief moment about if he should head in that direction or not, but after a quick glance at the sun, he decided to try and find Elin instead. If the girl was Ember, and could turn into a bird as she chose, or in essence could turn into a human as she chose, then Jonas was pretty sure she could take care of herself. He wasn't sure about all the details regarding Ember, but Elin was more of a concern for him. Especially since she didn't really have much offensive power when it came to her system.

Although, he hadn't quite had time to discuss her system with her, so he probably should assume that she had forgotten about that as well. Though, he wouldn't be surprised if she used some of her skills reflexively if something happened.

He hoped nothing would, but it wasn't like he really knew what might happen if things came to that. Besides, Elin definitely had a strong will to live. So, even if she didn't know about her system or any of her spells she had from that system, she likely would be able to do something about any threat, even if it was in regards to running away, since there wasn't any reason Jonas could think of that Elin would have escaping as an early option rather than a later one.

By the time Jonas made it around to where Elin should have exited, she wasn't able to locate any sign of her. Not anything that would stand out to him, but rather there wasn't anywhere that he could expect to see such things. While the ground wasn't bare rock, it still wasn't the kind that would hold tracks like bare dirt would.

However, Jonas didn't let that deter him from seeking out Elin. Largely because he knew that if he let himself get distracted, then that would just give another advantage to Douglas. An advantage that would be as big as Jonas essentially chose to make it. Which wasn't something that he'd prefer doing if he could help it.

Suddenly, the area around him was cast in shadow as the sun started to set. Jonas hadn't realized that it was getting that late, but had a feeling that finding Elin might not be for her benefit as much as it would be for his.

He knew that he had been able to spend a couple days without sleep before. That he'd only been in trouble those times when he had to fight at the end of that time period. However, this time he hadn't been awake for a full day yet and he was starting to find that he wasn't able to go as much as he had. Which made him wonder if maybe he'd either caught an illness or if he'd been hit with an enchantment or something. Something that would seem similar to a disease.

As Jonas stopped for a moment, trying to calm his thoughts down, he thought he heard a trickling sound. He wasn't sure what might have been causing it, but it did come from just over the rise next to him. So, he continued to climb the rocky slope, and as he reached the top, he felt stunned to see a river.

The river almost seemed to sparkle in the shade as much as it would in the sunlight. Near the bank, Jonas could see a bundle of something, but his mind was being very cooperative at the moment, so it wasn't like he could make out what it was.

Jonas was about to step forward and start walking down the slope towards the river when he saw Elin almost jump out of the water, water flying from her hair as she swung her head. She was clearly enjoying herself, though Jonas was stunned to see her fully naked body. He could see from her hips upward out of the water.

Though the sight was barely a

moment before she sunk back into the water, he had a feeling that the sight

would stay with him for a while yet. Despite the fact that she really didn't

interest him in that way. Even as everything else around him went dark and he

couldn't say why that happened.