A/N Two in one day. Actually, most of them are already written...but whatever. This is just because I feel bad posting only the dinky little prologue. End A/N

The Leave-Taking

How quickly things can happen, Matthew mused. How fast things can change. Just this morning he was on a simple shopping trip with his father, trying to get the things they would need for the next month. Now he was leaving, with no idea when he would be coming back.

He supposed he should be angry with Tyrell for forcing this upon him. It wasn't his carelessness that had broken the soarwing, so why should he go out and fix it? But he couldn't find the anger in him.

Adventure was something he'd grown up hearing about. His mother enjoyed telling him about her travels, when she could, and Uncle Garet always had a funny tale or two. Sometimes his father would pitch in and tell of something truly spectacular, like the lighthouses. Sometimes one of the others would come, like Uncle Piers, and he would hear a tale that no one else had, ever. He'd practically lived off of stories of adventure for sixteen years.

Now it was time for his own adventure, and he wasn't sure he wanted to go.

In fact, he wished he were anywhere but on this so-called adventure. He wanted to be helping Uncle Garet cook dinner, or taking a hoe to the ground outside, where they would soon be planting the small assortment of vegetables they had.

He couldn't resist smirking rather cynically. He was homesick and he wasn't even at the bottom of the plateau. He wondered vaguely if his father had felt the same way.

His father…His father hadn't come down to see him off. Instead he'd stood on the far fencepost, staring off into the distance—the same thing he did whenever something was troubling him. It worried Matthew more then he'd like to admit, that his father had not even turned around or raised a hand in farewell.

And then a little djinni appeared before him.

He recognized that djinni—Flint was always about, trying to help in his own way. Flint was a steadfast supporter of whatever Isaac did—Matthew could have sworn that the djinni had forgotten how to live without the man.

As he listened quietly to Flint's explanation, he couldn't help but smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Good-bye, Father. I'll be back before you know it.