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eina very slowly picked her way down the gentle slope of the gully step by step. She was rewarded with stabbing pain in her knees and hip as she placed each footstep. Her arms trembled as she jabbed the ground with her staff. Without the extra support, her path would have been impossible.

The leaves, twigs and small stones made a relatively rugged and unpredictable surface. Reina’s feet slipped on almost every step, and her legs trembled each time she managed to avoid losing her balance. Her breath came in short gasps. The gloom of the Mudwood forest made her task far more difficult, but she could not risk attracting any unfortunate wildlife with a bright light.

Finally she stopped near where Cici had fallen and very slowly began to crouch down. Using her staff for support, she allowed her hands to slide down the smooth twisted wood bit by bit. She winced and groaned in pain several times before coming to rest on her knees. The Vicereine sat hunched over for a moment as if exhausted, clutching her staff to the side of her head and trying to catch her breath. Her cowl hung down, covering her face. So far, Reina knew she had only succeeded in stranding herself at the bottom of the gully. Ascent would be impossible, even with Cici’s help, and none of Reina’s alternate forms could carry the weight of another human being.

Cici tried again to stop crying, but her ankle was very swollen by now, and her shoe was beginning to hurt her foot.

After a few moments, Reina finally placed the staff flat on the ground next to her. Cici felt a hand under her own and turned her head. She gasped as she saw a grayish slender hand with jewel-encrusted rings on all four fingers reach down and take her by the wrist. Cici sniffled and looked up. The woman seemed to be busy concentrating on something.

“Do not pull against the tree trunk.” Reina said.

Cici sniffled again. She didn’t know what to think. She was sure the robed woman was really mean, but now she sounded different. Reina looked at Cici’s dirt-streaked and astonished face. The woman’s gold-colored eyes and pleasant expression made Cici feel better, even though her skin was a strange grayish color. Maybe she wasn’t an old witch like Cici had feared. She looked like she wasn’t much older than Alanna!

“I am not your enemy,” Reina said. “Sit up.”

Cici realized she wasn’t really stuck. She was just snagged on the tree and had been pulling in the wrong direction. She stopped and gradually crawled sideways far enough that she could push herself up. The moment she tried to move her foot, however, a stab of pain rushed through her ankle. Cici yelped and pulled her foot up to her hands and immediately started crying again.

“Will you help me cast a healing spell?” Reina asked. Cici looked down through the blur of tears at her right foot. Her ankle was swollen and the skin around it was darker. She sniffled and looked up at Reina, then nodded.

“Sit up slowly this time,” Reina said. “Place your foot flat against the Earth. Gently.” Cici gingerly pushed herself up with one hand as Reina reached over and retrieved the Chronicler’s Lantern lying sideways on the ground.

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ecilia Daichi had no idea where she was going or why. All she knew was that her friends were in trouble, and she didn’t know how to help them or even if she could help them. She ran and ran into the Gacenar night, her arms wrapped around her Lantern, passing through a sprawling stand of thin trees and scattered brush seemingly extending for miles in every direction. It was a crisp and chilly night, and Cici knew she couldn’t run for long.

She slowed down as she looked back several times to be sure nobody was chasing her. Then she began to walk. The glow of the Chronicler’s Lantern provided plenty of light and the sounds of katydids and crickets surrounded her. Overhead, the stars looked like fine grains of glowing sand scattered across still water. The moon had not yet risen, yet it was bright enough that the light of the Lantern was almost unnecessary.

“We have much to discuss,” a woman’s voice said. Cici froze. Standing there in the forest in front of Cici was the same robed woman from the dock. Cici was frightened, but tried her best to be brave.

“I know how to make lightning and you can’t hurt me!” Cici shouted. “I… I can make fire appear and stuff too!”

“What a worthy opponent,” Reina said.

“You better not follow me!” Cici said as she darted off in another direction. She ran and ran, hoping the robed woman would not be able to keep up. Her breathing was frantic and she was afraid she was being chased. She looked back as she ran further into the dark forest.

She did not see the gully.

Reina walked as quickly as she was able, using her staff to mark her steps. It was a painful affair, but she couldn’t take on other forms to perform this task. She was following a trail through the forest that only she could see. To the Vicereine, the astral echo of the Lantern looked like a long ghostly scarf floating in the air and winding through the trees. As she reached the spot where the trail seemed to disappear into the ground, she could hear the sound of Cici crying.

Cici lay face down in the damp leafy dirt. Her left shoulder was wedged under a fallen tree trunk, and her Lantern had landed out of her reach further up the steep side of the shallow muddy valley. Her ankle was already swelling. Cici was trying to stop crying, but every time she moved, her ankle hurt her more. She was stuck and afraid.

Reina stood at the edge of the gully and contemplated the torturous descent. Halfway down, a large fallen tree was supported on one side by the bank of the gully and on the other side by a tangle of other trees that had apparently been crushed by the first one. Unfortunately it would provide her no support in climbing down the grade.

The Chronicler’s Lantern lay on its side near Cici’s beret. It’s light reached far enough so Cici’s head and one arm could be seen. Reina concluded she had fallen down the side of the gully and slid under the tree. She could tell Cici was injured, but was too far away to see how serious it was.

Lacking time, the Vicereine of Kulnas made the decision to attempt a rescue on her own, something she was sure her Chamberlain and at least two dozen Kulnas nobles would have dispatched an armed company of infantry to prevent. Even navigating a few wooden steps was extraordinarily dangerous for Reina, as she did not have the strength or the reflexes to recover from even a slight loss of balance. If she slipped, the resulting injuries could be very serious.

Continue to Chapter Fourteen