My apologies--my ability to be active is unfortunately very spotty during the summer. I was unexpectedly unable to get on for an entire week and after that only able to get on for five or ten minutes at a time, just long enough to pop in and claim my rightful throne on Last to Post. Feel free to replace my human charrie with somebody else's character!

Thanks! Yeah, I like writing description and enchanted-ish-sounding things. @Scuttles, Sterling Wytte can probably just take the place of your charrie, then.

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Part 3~Alice

Alice sank down on the hilltop, weariness overtaking her. She'd been walking for hours, and something inside her simply refused to go on any further. It was sunset anyway, wild, vibrant hues flaming in the west, strange and exciting. "I've had enough of exciting," Alice groaned aloud, tipping her head back to look at the soft white clouds overhead. Exciting was what had convinced her to come out to this wilderness of high, lonely, emerald hills wrapped in their own solitude - peaceful, yes, but not quite explaining to Alice why she had done what she did.

She pulled out the letter again. It was crumpled now, from spending she didn't know how long stuffed into her pocket; she straightened it out slowly, her gaze skimming the lines before she could stop herself. Alice, I'm sorry to disrupt your life like this, but there's more out there than you could ever dream... elements left unprotected... Guardians gone... set this right... You can do it... go east... maybe others will join you later. ??? Yet Alice had gone east anyway, facing the future with her usual freespirited recklessness. And now, here she was.

She sighed, stuffing the letter back into her pocket, and flopped over on her back. Some grayish bird flew over like a fleeting illusion, the sound of its wings coming quickly and then fading into nothing. The sky was a pale, pale blue, and the moon, almost full, was starting to show through it. "The lady of the night," Alice murmured to herself, meaning the moon; she yawned, and closed her eyes for a moment. An element of welcome, of peace, maybe of magic, stole out from the hills with the twilight to embrace her; and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

A very large, impertinent bird, perched on a tree a little way away from her, was what woke her up; she heard another one answer it from another hill, and a background of thousands of other birds weaving bright threads of song into a vibrant tapestry of melody. Alice yawned and sat up, her gaze drifting towards the rose and gold of the sunrise. The birds must haave been singing for hours now already, starting in the grayness after night and before day, in the fragile time when the world was drenched in hope and a new morning was beginning.

She stood up, because now was the wet time when the world was drenched in dew, and every blade of grass on the hillside was sparkling with a thousand colors. Fire contained in water, Alice thought, wandering on an impulse to the top of the hill. The sunrise was spread out before her, the tingling jewel-like droplets all around her. And she was hungry. She had brought along some food with unexpected practicality, and she ate it now on the hilltop, watching the sunrise and regretfully letting it slip away from her.

At last she stood up again, brushing a few criumbs onto the grass. Her weariness had disappeared, and she set off happily towards the east.

In a few minutes she found, as Daniel had, that the hills opened out into Eriltar. A building (it was the inn) was a little to her left, but, uncertain whether she should approach it, she went towards it a bit. She hesitated again as the door opened and several people came out.

"Off to Intaril!" one of the girls (Sterling) was exclaiming. "So - we're supposed to 'find out more' on the way?"

"That's what it said," Sonya pointed out.

"The Mysterious Person seems set on making out legs wear out walking too," Ronald said in a mock-complaining tone.

"No, Eriltar's long, but it's thin..." The first girl's voice trailed away as the group drew futher away from Alice.

"What are you doing here?"

Alice jumped and whirled around to see a girl, with ice blue eyes and a confident, fearless pose, standing behind her. It took Alice a second to collect herself, but she answered the question before the strange girl could speak again. "Doing everything and nothing, why?"

"Truly. What's your purpose?"

"Watching the sparkling jewels before they vanish, though they'll come again tomorrow." The familiar habit of speaking in riddles steadied Alice, and besides, the stranger looked younger than she was and probably wasn't here to do her harm - or she hoped so. "What are you doing here, and what's your name?"

The girl's eyes flashed, and she took a step forward. "Not sure why I shouldn't talk in riddles all day too," she said. "But I'm Silver, and I'm here for - let's say, unexplainable reasons."

"For the Guardians?" The words leapt to Alice's lips before she could stop them, born of something that had stirred into a spark when she first saw Silver.

Silver took a step back. "Um - yes... how did you know?"

"I'm here for them," Alice explained. "And I just - thought you might be too."

"Do you have any kind of idea where we're supposed to go from here?" Silver asked, a bit bleakly. "And I don't even know your name."

"I'm Alice." Alice glanced towards the inn, and caught sight of something white gleaming on the ground. "What in the -?" She took off towards it, knowing without having to look that Silver was following - a little more slowly, but something was something.

She stooped and picked it up. It was a folded piece of paper, and, opening it, she saw that it was another letter, written in the same mystic hand as her other one.

"Why did you go rushing off like that?" Silver demanded in an annoyed voice, rejoining her.

For answer, Alice started reading the letter aloud. "Dear companions, Welcome to Eriltar and to your destinies, welcome to the inescapable magic that has found you at last. I think you know that you are here to save the ten Guardians of ten magical elements, elements that are in all worlds and enable all worlds to exist. The ten Guardians are now in Intaril, a land north of Eriltar. Go there, and attempt to break the enchantment that has separated them from their elements. The hour's come when evil must return to evil and good to good. You will learn all else you need to on your journey. And yes, if you are reading this it is meant for you, however you found it; and yes, I am the voice and the writer of the letters some of you may have; and you aren't likely to hear from me again for a while. Magic speed you!" Alice tilted the letter so that Silver could see the map underneath the writing, showing Eriltar and Intaril and the Hills, with a dot close to the Hills and the words "You are here!"

"There's writing on the back too," Silver pointed out.

Alice flipped it over, and she and Silver read the rest in silence. P.S. Alice and Silver, you'll come across a lake on your way to Intaril; you'll know it by the swallows. Stay there the night."

"Of all cryptic things," Silver said.

"I think those other people must have dropped the letter," Alice said slowly. "They mentioned Intaril. And... we're the companions?"

Silver's eyes had caught fire, and Alice could feel the spark in them light in her too. "The people who dropped it must also have been companions," Silver said. "How many were there?"

Alice hesitated for a second. The girl who had spoken first, that other person, the boy... and two other boys, it had looked like, and several other girls. "Seven or eight, I think," she said. She shrugged. "What does it matter? Off to Intaril!"

"Off to Intaril," Silver repeated very softly. They hesitated a moment, both looking at each other with glowing eyes. Then they set off to their left and to the north.

~

Yaaaay new part! you are such such a good writer. I love how Alice and Silver met! 

I'm glad you're enjoying it, Hawkstar :)

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Part 4~Avi

The night after Daniel had arrived at Fernglade Inn, Avi couldn't sleep. The window in her room was open, and cool night air was coming through it, silvered over with the sound of crickets chirping. Moonlight was lying across the floor with an ethereal, elusive radiance; Avi was surprised at how strong it was, out here beyond glaring electric lights that would have dimmed its power.

Finally Avi got up and slipped outside. Probably not the wisest thing to do in this magical land she knew virtually nothing about, she reflected as she dropped into the swinging bench on the inn's back porch. But the night was dreaming, filled with a glittering charm that Avi wanted to capture, and besides, she needed to think.

First of all, about the other people she was with. She was surprised and a little wary of how quickly she had trusted most of them. She was used to trusting no one, and going her own way, alone; but she seemed unable to distrust most of them. Not so much with Sterling or Sonya or Robin, for some reason - she hadn't been able to master her distrust of them; but the others - How could she distrust Rowan with his brown eyes and friendly smile, or Alyssa or Ronald or Daniel?

Suddenly something flew overhead with a soft whir of wings, dropping something white into Avi's lap. After a moment she picked it up and unfolded it slowly; it was a piece of paper. "Dear companions," she read, and stopped. Something told her that this was for all the people she was with, not just her. And in that case, she wanted them all to read it together. She carefully folded it again, stayed a while longer on the porch swing, and then went inside.

The next morning, she encountered the others in the inn's main room. "Hey, guys," she said briefly. "Look."

"A letter?" Alyssa raised her eyes to Avi's. "Where - how did you get this?"

"It just dropped into my lap last night. I was outside." Avi shrugged. "Come on, let's open it."

"You open it," Robin said quietly, and after a second Avi did so and read it aloud. The postscript to Alice and Silver wasn't there; other than that, it was exactly the same as it would be later that morning.

For a moment after she had finished, silence held the little group. Then Avi looked around. "This is a piece of paper that appeared out of nowhere," she said. "Do we just follow its instructions?" She paused a second. "It could take it farther from our desination than ever. How do we know it can be trusted?"

Rowan looked straight into her eyes. "Because look at it, Avi," he said. "Feel it - everything about it. It isn't lying."

Avi let go of it just for the sake of watching it flutter to the floor, of watching something that wasn't the flicker or decision in Rowan's light brown eyes. She knew that he was right. Once he had said it, she could accept it: she could feel, as well as any of the others, that the letter was magical and came from whoever it was whose voice had sent them here. She nodded slowly. "Yes, you're right." She groped for something else to say, but for once in her life she couldn't think of anything, so she left it at that.

And why did I notice his eyes in that way?

They had breakfast and set out - the host assured them that there was nothing to pay - and started northwards. "If this Mysterious Person could supply us with a compass instead of Mysterious Letters," Alyssa said, "it might help."

"Never mind," Sterling said. "Off to Intaril! So - we're supposed to find out more on the way?"

"That's what it said," Sonya supplied with a shrug.

"The Mysterious Person seems set on making out legs wear out walking, too," Ronald said to Alyssa.

"No, Eriltar's long, but it's thin," Sterling interposed. "Remember the map? So going northwards would get us to Intaril in about a day and a half."

"All hail," Ronald remarked. "I hereby appoint you President of All Calculations."

"And I appoint you Emperor of the Kingdom of Silly Remarks," Sterling responded with a smile.

"Just make that witty remarks. I never waste time on being silly."

"Says the person who's being extremely silly right now?"

Avi discovered suddenly that Rowan was walking next to her. Their gazes met, and he smiled. "Could we talk a bit?" he asked softly, gesturing towards the back of the group.

"I -" Avi slowed, and in a moment they were walking a bit behind the others. "What's the matter?"

Rowan glanced ahead, then turned and looked directly at her. "Do you generally trust - um, people?" he asked quietly. "I shouldn't be asking that, probably; but more to the point, do you trust us?"

Avi tipped her head back, fixing her eyes on one silky white cloud floating in a light blue ocean. "Yeah, I'm really not sure you should be asking that," she said. But, glancing sideways at him, she felt suddenly that she could tell him; more than that, she truly could trust him. "I don't usually trust people," she said. "It's not who I am. But yes, I trust you -" idk, maybe not Sonya or Robin, but yes, I do trust you, Rowan. It was a strange feeling, to relax around someone who was ultimately a stranger to her, to not constantly be distrustful of everyone she was with. They were all companions, after all...

That day they paused at dusk. Fireflies flitted around them, rising, always rising, sparks of magical fire that blew around the little group. Daniel and Sterling contrived to build a proper fire, and everyone crowded around it, talking about the day and eating supper and laughing. Ronald, his head tilted at a cocky angle, remarked that they were having "the classic campground experience". "See?" Sterling said. "You are silly." "I'm not, only my remarks are," Ronald responded patiently. "Still," Sterling said, tossing him a peach.

Avi was content to watch them. She was dreamily tired, and it was wonderful to watch the stars appearing overhead; but she did catch the peach intended for Ronald and ate it herself, and gave him another one when he protested.

"Who has the letter?" she asked. "I'd like to see the map again."

"Didn't you have it?" Robin said.

"You had it last," Avi said to Sonya. "You wanted to look at it."

"I thought I gave it back," Sonya replied, frowning.

There was a few minutes' confusion, which resulted in the startling fact that no one had the letter.

"Someone must have dropped it," Daniel said with a shrug, staring into the fire. "I don't suppose there's much we can do about it."

"What does it matter anyway?" Avi said. "We saw what it said. We might never have been meant to keep it."

Still, the loss of the map and the letter made everyone quiet, and after a little they all went to sleep. Avi stayed awake a little longer than the others; she wanted to watch the wheeling stars and put her finger on the sly little word describing how she felt that kept escaping her. Equal. That was it. Among the other companions, she felt equal; she didn't have to distrust them because they had some power over her, and neither was she in charge of them, aside from the taking control that she had done naturally. They were all here together.

The next morning they went on, across a dazzling landscape of gentle hills and curving streams and crystal-clear skies. Towards afternoon, Avi paused, glancing again at the horizon. There was something there: a mound, maybe a flash, a vision of something that might just be a vision. "What is that?" Robin asked softly at her elbow.

"I don't know," Avi said, her eyes still fixed on it. "Come on."

As they neared it, the long ripples of grass gave way to orchards of tall trees with silver-green, whispering leaves. "These trees loook as if they know something we don't," Sonya said quietly, and Avi had to agree: they looked wise, kind, and somehow protecting. And not like any natural grove, either. People had put it there on purpose. The companions were following a path that led through the trees, and Avi glimpsed a stream up ahead; a strone bridge, delicate with curved railings, arched across it, and at the far end two rows of trees stood by the sides of a straight path. These were taller trees, growing more thickly, their branches twisted together over the path until you couldn't tell one tree from another. Avi, advancing down it, felt the air of quiet, strong enchantment that bound this place to memory and magic. And ahead of them - ahead of them was a castle, the place they had come to see.

"Whoa. What is this place?" Daniel said softly.

"I don't know." Avi stared up at the castle. It looked almost like a castle from medieval times, except a bit more like a palace than somewhere built for defence; she had glimpsed an ornamental lake through the trees, and the arched doorway just had a pair of graceful iron gates.

As the companions drew nearer, the gates opened and a boy hurried out towards them. He was tall, with quick light brown eyes, an open but friendly expression, and an untidy mass of dark hair. As soon as she got a good look at him, Avi gave a little shriek. Her world fell away for a second; she was sitting in the cafeteria of her school, glancing across at this boy because he'd always been oddly interesting to her. Not in a romantic way, but something about him had just seemed right to her.

"Tyron?!" she exclaimed.

He paused close to her, smiling. "Not really. Teryar, which isn't that different." His gaze flicked out over the others. "We're so glad you've come safely - I, and my family. Be our guests."

"But what are you doing here?" Avi demanded, her distrust struggling to reassert itself. Tyron didn't belong here - though, really, she had to admit that he seemed to fit in perfectly with his surroundings. He was wearing clothes fairly of her world - dark, fitted pants, a dark green shirt with strange designs at the tops of the sleeves, and a gray cloak - and, well, yes, an outsider would say he belonged here in front of a castle with dancing flecks of sunlight moving over him. But she knew that he didn't.

"Wait, - you guys know each other?" Daniel exclaimed.

Avi nodded, her gaze still fixed on the boy in front of her. "From school. So what are you doing here?"

Tyron, or Teryar, smiled again. "A long story. One that will only make you more confused if I try to tell it. Please, come in - my parents want to tell you about the Guardians."

Avi glanced at the others. Alyssa inclined her head slightly, and the others also agreed. Avi looked back at Tyron and sighed. "All right," she said.

~

Avi glanced around at the room. It was magnificent; stone walls, warm and soft-colored; diamond-paned windows through which the evening sunlight fell like blazing amber; stone arches lining one side of the room, through which she caught glimpses of a vaulted corridor and stained glass windows and a tiny, shell-shaped fountain. But what really drew her attention was the old man sitting at the far end of the room. He was tall, with unwavering dark eyes - the eyes of a hawk - and silver hair, and a vibrant wine-red cloak that seemed to match the strength radiating out from him. He turned and rose at their approach, coming towards them. "Companions of Intaril," he said kindly. "Welcome to this border-castle, between Eriltar and the Guardians' land. We've been waiting for you to come. Oh, and I should introduce myself. I'm Eviton Sivel. I think you've met my son Teryar?"

"Yes, and I'm afraid I still don't understand," Avi said. "I knew him in the - in my own world. What's he doing here?"

Eviton smiled. "That was never his world. There is evil in most worlds, I'm afraid, my children, and I sent him there to guard you from it with his magic - until the day should come when the Guardians' magic called you. At some point or another he was watching over each one of you."

Teryar smiled apologetically at them, and Alyssa blew out a breath. "But - magic," she said. "I thought you were human?"

"Mostly human," Eviton told her. "We are partly magical, though."

"Believe me, I'm enjoying this conversation no end," Sterling interposed. "But Teryar told us that you had something to say about the Guardians."

Eviton nodded. "Yes. The Guardians..."

~

Glad you're liking it, Moon Wolf :) And eek, there's been hardly any action so far. It takes forever to get the companions all together in the border-castle :/ Never mind, hopefully the action should really take off in Part 6.

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Part 5~Silver

If Alice could stop talking in riddles we might get somewhere, Silver thought, but she didn't really mean it. A while ago, she had had that thought and been irritated; now, the anger had gone out of it. As soon as she grew used to Alice's odd ways, Silver had slowly let down her fierce barrier and started accepting the older girl. There was something about Alice that made her seem to be in some different world, but at the same time she was steady and oddly comforting to have around.

It was getting towards evening. More correctly, it was evening. Alice and Silver had been traveling northwards since they found the letter; the landlord of Fernglade had given them food, and so they'd rested and eaten at midday. Silver paused, sighing. "Alice, I'm stopping. No point in going any further." And I'm exhausted.

"Just a little further," Alice insisted. "There's something ahead..." And she was off, her small figure gliding softly through the golden swaths of sunlight. Silver sighed again. That was Alice all over: impractical, instantly wrapped up in anything that intrigued her. But after a moment she followed.

Alice had stopped, and Silver pushed past a few murmuring rushes to stand behind her. And there it was. The lake. More like a pond, almost; circular, with calm agate water flowing away through the encircling reeds in hundreds of tiny channels. Silver and Alice were standing on a smooth ledge of rock a few inches above the water.

"Wow. What...?" Silver said softly.

"I don't know," Alice replied, also quietly.

And then, out of nowhere, a swallow appeared. Its wings flashing in the sunlight, its small body curving to every current of air, it skimmed low over the water. For one instant it touched the calm surface of the lake; then it broke away again into the sky, leaving behind a myriad of confused ripples. Before the water could grow still again, another swallow had appeared, repeating the same procedure; flicking the surface of the lake before darting away.

"It must be that lake mentioned in the letter," Silver said. "It said 'You'll come across a lake...' Could you give me the letter for a moment?"

Alice took out the letter, and Silver reached for it. She was never sure exactly what happened then, but the letter half-twisted, half-fell out of Alice's grasp as Silver's fingers touched it. Silently it fluttered into the lake, and before Silver or Alice could recover it, it was whirled away by some current. In a few seconds it had floated away into one of the channels branching off the lake.

There was a stunned silence. But even while Silver was trying to grasp the idea that the letter was gone - gone - another part of her was realizing that it was just fate. Or destiny. Or some other force; it didn't really matter what, but she and Alice had just not been meant to keep the letter. Whatever had first let them read it was taking it back to its rightful place.

After a few seconds Alice turned toward her. "It doesn't matter so much," she said softly. "I know what it said: that we were to spend the night at a lake, which we would know 'by the swallows'. And, well -" she swept an arm towards the lake - "this is it."

Silver shrugged, turning back to reality: the letter was gone, and they had to do the best they could. "Supper, then," she suggested.

They ate supper there, Silver dangling one leg over the rocky ledge; and then she lay back, her arms behind her head to pillow it, watching the endless dance of the swallows as twilight deepened and the moon started to light up the scene. All through the night the swallows skimmed and dove and fluttered; Silver probably slept a little, though afterwards she could never remember doing so. That part of the night was spun together into one everlastingly lovely image that she would remember all her life: the silver-white ripples, glittering with dazzling radiance in the moonlight; the softly sighing reeds all around her and the dark sky overhead, somehow contributing to a feeling of peace and perfection; the large, calm moon, and the swallows soaring, dipping, wavering, casting the lake's surface into thousands of frenzied sparkles.

But that was all there was until sometime in the night; Silver pushed herself up suddenly. Alice, beside her, had tensed. There had been a slight sound behind them - one that didn't fit in with the other night sounds, not quite.

Silver rose silently to her feet, still looking down the path through the reeds. Somehow, she had no feeling of oncoming danger; maybe it was just the purity of the night, but she couldn't imagine that whatever was coming towards them was evil.

Then a small, old man pushed through the reeds. When he first saw them, he looked startled; then a kind, wise smile spread over his face, and he came towards them. "Children of the Guardians," he murmured, his eyes alight with joy. "Oh, the Guardians... How would they be faring now, in magic lands beyond the horizons?" He paused, shaking his head, and finally addressed the two girls. "I see that you are linked to the Guardians," he said. "I once knew the Guardians and played with the elements. Long, long ago... and I knew spells and enchantment, and I saw Idyrn sometimes. What are you doing here, now when the Guardians are gone?"

"Looking for them," Alice replied simply. Glancing at her, Silver saw that she trusted this man completely, and Silver had to admit that she felt no reserve towards him either. "But we're not sure exactly what we're looking for."

Silver swiftly understood what Alice was thinking; it was what the letter had said - "You will learn all else you need to on your journey." This old man could tell them about the Guardians and the spell surrounding them.

"I can tell you that, companions," the man said. "But not here; not by Swallow Lake. Come instead to my place in the forest."

Look out, Silver warned herself, but she still couldn't summon any distrust of the old man; so, though warily, she followed him and Alice.

He led them away from the lake and into a small forest close to it; Silver found herself in a small clearing surrounded by pines and seeming to be woven of moonbeams. Pausing to drink in its silver beauty, she discovered that the old man had stopped too and was frowning gently at a heap of sticks interspersed with glowing, ruby-red embers. "This fire always seems to go out," he said with a sigh. "Pardon me for a moment, companions, while I build it up again. Make yourselves at home."

Silver hesitated, then half-defiantly sat down on a fallen log. The old man was skillful with a fire; his deft fingers stirred it to life, and soon the wavering, flaring flames were dancing upwards. The old man sat down on another part of a log and stretched his fingers contentedly. Then he glanced upwards, meeting Silver's glance with a questing look that seemed to see straight into her heart. He nodded quietly. "My name is Orilon," he said, "and my father was a king of the mountain-lands far from Eriltar. He had the mountain magic in him, and he knew the Guardians, so I did too. After my father died and the mountain-lands changed, all I had left was memories of the Guardians; so I went forth to look for them, and finally settled here, as close as I could get to the land of Intaril where the Guardians were. And so I can tell you about the Guardians."

There was a little smoke from the fire, drifting upwards with the mystic scent of burning pine. The old man nodded, looking upwards at the stars. He was a little man now, leaning forward with his arms on his knees and his bright eyes never fixed on one place, his silver hair falling into his eyes a little; but Silver saw suddenly how he might once have been a great lord, a wild princeling of wild mountains, a man who she might have died for if she had known him then.

But that was a long time ago. Right now, she was too desparate to know about the present.

"Yes," Orilon began, his quavering voice low to make no disturbance in the peaceful night, "there used to be ten Guardians; Guardians of Liritar they were called - 'Liritar', all that is good... there was Kalisse, Guardian of Pines and protector of nature; Vaytern, Guardian of Earth - Baiji, who guarded the water, and her opposite, Guardian of Fire, Riltava; Luna, Guardian of Night, Lilly, Guardian of Air, Wylie, Guardian of Light, and then the three who guarded more spiritual things. Sol, Solstice, was Guardian of Love (not that I've ever heard of her loving deeply herself); Irtana was the keeper of promises; Acheros, or Ros, trusting in the future, was the protector of the hope that we all need. They made sure that the elements were protected from any evil that might have wanted to use them for different ends. But about a year ago, Ivkatorr, a man with some magic and a wish for power, stumbled across a spell that could separate the Guardians from their elements. Thank goodness, it can only be used once, and up until then Idyrn had been guarding it herself; but somehow Ivkatorr managed to find it, and used it, and now the Guardians are in Intaril, separated from their land and their elements by an enchantment that only you can break.

"You, I think, are the companions that were prophecied to come at some point. They said that there were to be ten companions, one companion for each Guardian. In all these lands, there is no one who doesn't have some magic; but you, coming from your world, have none, and that's why you can break the enchatment. No magical being can break it, I assure you."

Silver had been listening intently, some sleeping part of her finally stirring in response to the words. They felt so right. And Idyrn - she knew, with an unwavering certainty, that it had been Idyrn who called her here. "Who is Idyrn?" she asked.

Orilon spread his hands. "Who knows? Not I, that is for certain. She's the maker and keeper of prophecies; the guardian of magic; or a figure born of the mists... I hope you find out, someday; but I can't tell you."

There was silence for a while. Silver, staring into the eddying, rising smoke, let those ideas sink in. Then Orilon suggested sleeping, and Silver, who could no longer summon any distrust of the old man, agreed. The sharp, mystic scent of pine needles was all around her, the stars above her, and something in her was finally contented.

The next morning she woke up early, to find the fire crackling and Orilon cooking fish over it. "It's a fair day for your traveling," he said, glancing up at the pale rose sky. "I caught some elf-fish in the stream beyond those trees; they're good for breakfast."

Silver wasn't used to eating fish in the early dawn-light, sitting close to a fire in the dew with two people she knew little about; but the fish was good, and she felt strangely free. After she and Alice had done, they regretfully parted from the old man and went eastwards again.

~

By evening they had reached Eviton's palace, where Eviton had just finished explaining to the others what they had heard from Orilon. There was a flood of welcomes and introductions, and a thrill moved through Silver as she looked around at all the excited, laughing faces surrounding her.

There were ten of them now. They were the companions, united, ready to face the future.

~

Thanks, Amethyst :)

~\\/\/\//~

Part 6~Vaytern

"Ros wants to talk to us," Lilly told Vaytern, coming up beside him.

Vaytern raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Ros does? The world has changed. What about?"

Lilly shrugged, falling into step with him. "He didn't say. And you know he does have good ideas, so don't be so surprised. Are you coming?"

"He wants to talk to us now?" Ros was never like this. "I wonder what in elements he wants to say."

"Yes, he wants to talk to us now. Out by the Hollow," Lilly said. "The others are going there."

At least they were all together now. When the companions arrived in Eriltar, the first part of the spell had broken, and the Guardians had found each other. They were living at Riltava's present palace, which was the largest.

Vaytern's thoughts drifted to the Hollow, a circular cup with small hills, cut into about five grassy steps, surrounding it. He liked to spend his time there; it was secluded, seeming to be hidden away from the rest of Intaril, and when he was there he felt as if he had almost regained the link with the earth that had broken when the enchantment was cast. The other Guardians seemed to like the place too; it was the safest place in Intaril they had yet come across.

Ros was sitting on the top of the slope, one leg swinging easily as he looked out at the far-reaching swaths of grass visible from there. Vaytern, leaving Lilly, came up beside him. "It's a nice day," he said quietly; he knew that nothing would induce Ros to say something until he was ready.

"True enough." Ros glanced around, then rose. The other Guardians had gathered.

"Thank you for coming," Ros started; Vaytern, glancing at him, saw this his eye was a dark, decided, intense blue. "There's just this. We know the companions are in this world; I'm guessing they'd be at Eviton's border-castle. We know that; obviously Ivkatorr does too. And he'll be after them. Last thing he wants is ten humans spoiling his plans. Without magic, they don't stand a chance."

"Very interesting," Riltava said shortly. "But there's hardly anything we can do about it, is there?"

Ros gave her a stony look. "Yes, there is something, actually," he said coldly.

Riltava raised her eyebrows. "Well, go ahead."

Ros turned towards the others. "We've always had side powers as well as the elements. Right?" He shot a glance at Riltava, but she didn't reply, so he went on. "Who says we can't reconnect to those?"

The idea caught Vaytern off balance. To have the side powers again would be something incredible. "And to have the side powers would be to protect the companions," he said.

"The side powers wouldn't work here in Intaril," Luna said.

"It might. The spell never said anything about them," Irtana countered.

"But elements, look at reality!" Riltava exclaimed. "Intaril is entirely separated from our elements, from us, from all our magic. How do you expect the side powers to work?"

To Vaytern's surprise, it was Lilly who spoke. "We could argue about this all day," she said softly. "But none of us know whether it would work. The only thing we can do is try."

"True, cousin," Wylie said quietly.

"She's right," Baiji said. "We can't sit here arguing forever."

"There's no harm in trying," Sol added, slipping her arm around Lilly. "We could try reclaiming them close to the border with Eriltar. We have the best chances there."

So they set out to the border. They were already fairly close to it, and as the sunset was fading in the sky Vaytern felt an invisible barrier rising up before him. He had gone as far as he could, and, turning, he saw that the other Guardians had also stopped.

"It will have to be here," Kalisse said; her eyes were shining with returning hope, and Vaytern saw suddenly how things had gotten better. Even though Ros was no longer guarding hope, it hadn't disappeared.

The Guardians had started forming a circle when some sinister feeling made Vaytern turn. It was twilight, and the shadows made everything look confusing, but even so he recognized the shape coming towards him. Ivkatorr.

"Yes, it's me." The tall man was closer now, and for the hundredth time Vaytern compared him to a crow, with his harsh features and black hair. "I suppose you're surprised to see me?"

His tone maddened Vaytern. "Oh, yes, what a charming surprise," he said with icy sarcasm. "Will his Majesty have some tea?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Ivkatorr's gaze flicked out over the others - they had turned toward him by now - then returned to Vaytern. "Not if I were you. No, I wouldn't say things like that, my boy. Now this is what I have to say." His voice had changed; suddenly it was hard and full of menace. "I know what you're up to. Don't even try it. Not if you have the least regard for your lives. I'll settle my scores with you later." His voice lowered slightly. "But first, I'm settling those fine friends of yours - and Eviton, too."

"You fool." Vaytern moved forward a step. "Do you think you'll ever get away with attacking the border-castle? It's unconquerable."

The harsh lines on Ivkatorr's face deepened, and his mouth settled into a grim line probably meant to be a smile. "My dear Guardians. Do you really think that worries me?" And with that he was gone, into the night that had gathered swiftly since his arrival.

Baiji was furious, furious with a quiet, storming anger that swept everything else before it. Her eyes, in the darkness, were flashing. "He's not getting away with this," she said.

~