Branchala, upon his decent back to Seler, was unsure of how much time had passed in the world. His meeting with Paladine had been brief, but that meant nothing in a realm of endless time. And so, he tried to make a good guess as to his coordinates in space and time instead. He supposed that Dreamflight was either near Panthalas or Solace by now, and picked a spot in between. Then he slowly traversed on foot in the direction of Panthalas – stopping in intervals during the day and long into the night so that Dreamflight would have ample opportunity to catch up to him.

Strumming his lute idly, reveling in this brief reprieve of worry and cares, his keen eyes spotted a kender in the distance coming his way. He couldn't distinguish who it was, though, and this roused his suspicions. All the gods had excellent vision. Why couldn't he see the kender's face? Every time he looked it was as if heat from the earth wavered and distorted the vision. Branchala halted and sat down his things under the shade of a low tree. He would lay a type of trap for this mysterious kender. What kender could resist stopping to inspect any sleeping travelers that they may chance upon? It was flawless. He sprawled out amongst his things, conjuring up a hat that he put over his face to hide it, and feigned sleep.

After a wait, the kender did catch up to him. Branchala squinted out of a corner of his hat, but couldn't see the kender at this angle. Even more curiously was that he couldn't reach into the small thing's mind and scan for an identity. Something was wrong, but he couldn't yet reveal his face and settled on being patient and waiting to see more. That is, until he sensed a sudden danger and rolled to the side quickly. A gleaming silver dagger was buried in the ground where his head had been.

"Good gods!" he gasped, jumping up and whirling around to face his attacker. He swore again at what he saw. "Tasslehoff? Good gods!" Tasslehoff didn't even bat an eyelash as he dropped to the ground, rolled, and snatched up the knife again.

Branchala could only gape, amazed and appalled with the fluidity, grace, and speed his former friend possessed. He was also confused and disgusted. "You could have killed me!" Tasslehoff sprung back up to his feet, frowning at the elven bard in such a way as to freeze the god's golden blood cold.

"Yes, I could have. Perhaps this time I won't miss." Branchala had barely enough time to step out of the way to save himself from a killing blow that seemed to have come at him from nowhere, but the dagger bit deeply into his right arm. The wound was small and inconsequential looking, but it was agonizing – it felt both burning hot and freezing cold simultaneously. He clapped a hand over it and eyed the kender, now measuring him up as an opponent. He would need magic to protect him in this fight, for in melee, Tasslehoff would trump him with his sudden superior speed. For now, though, he needed to voice a question. Let the divine fire strike soon after.

"Why are you attacking me? I'm your friend, Tas!"

Tasslehoff growled a sound that didn't match the diminutive figure. "You are no friend of mine. You lie just as glibly as Hiddukel, wife stealer." Branchala narrowly sidestepped another lunge from the enraged kender. The insult stung his heart, but he pushed that aside for now. It was obvious that Tas was not in his right mind, and he wouldn't be so quick to pass judgment.

"What are you talking about? I haven't stolen your wife. Dreamflight is heading for Panthalas right now to see your son. She's worried to death about you; she will not rest until she's confident about where and how all of her family is, including you!"

Tas circled around, looking for the best spot to strike. "Save your honey coated words for someone else. I saw it all in the Abyss, that wretched place." The kender spat in hatred as he spoke the name of his prison. "I allowed myself to be captive to protect everyone, and this is what happens!"

"The Abyss!" Branchala gasped. "Is that where you've been? With Takhisis and her consorts?" He vividly remembered the laughter he'd heard while with Paladine. "That scaly bitch! This has been her plan this whole time! Everything else was a ruse!"

Branchala's moment of epiphany, while accurate, was ill timed and Tas came at him again. Branchala's reflexes were no match this time for the honed and, unknowingly, enchanted adversary. He cried out in pain as the dagger of Chaos tore deeply into his side.

"And so comes an end to the song," Tas sneered. Branchala's eyes widened in horror – the voice that spoke to him was not the kender's own.

"Chaos!" Branchala would not falter and let the tyrant win. He regained his willpower, gathering up his shaken and tattered nerves, though his complexion continued to pale. "Let him go! Free Tasslehoff from your spell!" The dagger cut deeper and the bard god blanched. He knew his breathes were limited and he had not enough to banter with. With numb lips he muttered song lyrics and blew Tasslehoff back. The kender completely disappeared. Surprised and wary, Branchala struggled off his knees and waited tensely. After moments of still silence, the elf turned and stumbled towards Panthalas, clutching his side.

Branchala's assumptions on the location of Dreamflight were inaccurate. As he was gradually approaching Panthalas, Dreamflight had already arrived at the gates. She had spurred herself to great speed with a sense of urgency. As soldiers do before the breaking of an important battle, Dreamflight felt that there was precious little time left before some monumental occurrence.

In the middle of the night, Dreamflight approached the shut gates of the glittering city. It was, she noted grimly, quickly becoming the landmark of life changing events for her. First her hometown where she grew as a normal mortal – slowly awakening to the knowledge of her true self; then the place that she admitted her love to the man she'd crossed worlds to be with. It was the birthplace of her firstborn son, and now the place she knew she'd have to say goodbye to him – perhaps forever. A lump rose in the distressed kendermaiden's throat. She longed for the simplicity and serenity of life before. The price of goddesshood ran high, and even more so for someone trying to play mortal and much more simultaneously. Had it been worth it?"

"Who goes?" a guard called down from the watchtower. "We've closed!"

Dreamflight scowled and called back, "By the gods you won't turn me away!"

The guards glanced at each other in perplexed manners. A kender had never spoken to them like that before. "Be gone. Come back on the morrow."

Dreamflight knew she had surprised them slightly with her straightforward approach. She'd finish the job in the way she'd learned best how to – a guilt administered by a mother. "Now you look here! Fifteen years ago my husband and I saved this city from the insect army of Takhisis. And this is how you repay us? I'm going to get into that city and see my son if it's the last thing I do, or my name isn't Dreamflight Burrfoot!"

There was a settled hush which was broken only by the quiet whispers of the two guards upon the gate towers. They conferred a moment and one called down, hesitantly, "Did you say Burrfoot?"

Dreamflight heaved a sigh of great exasperated and rolled her eyes. "YES!"

The two guards met once again. Dreamflight stood on her tiptoes, leaning forward so her pointed ears might catch a word or two.

She heard, "Burrfoot… New recruit… Kin… Wake him."

Dreamflight wasn't sure what they were talking about, but she was pleased that at least she'd gotten a reaction. She folded her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels, wings fanning gently, smiling pleasantly at the big iron gates that barred her.

A few moments later, a torch was lit upon the watch tower that the guards were stationed in. Firespice looked down at his mother, peeping over the wall of the observatory. With a grin and a wave, she shouted, "Hey Mom! Mom! Look at me!" Before she could even reply, the excited kender hopped out of the tower, grabbed the ledge, swung around, and slid nimbly to the tower base. The gates opened a crack to allow them admittance, but Dreamflight hadn't noticed. Her breath had caught in her throat in surprise – Firespice was dressed as a guard of Panthalas!

They sat sitting in a quiet office, Dreamflight nibbling on a sugar cookie they found. She'd expected that when this moment came, it'd be her telling a story. The tables had turned.

"It all began as a misunderstanding," Firespice said, shrugging casually and sipping a warm drink. The non-kender part in Dreamflight's mind whispered, 'jailed'. "The guard was a nice man – a bit frazzled from a long day I suppose. He kept cursing and asking me how I stayed in the chase for so long. I answered him, but he must not have heard me because the exchange repeated itself several times. Eventually he caught on to what I was saying. I told him it was because I'd been abandoned in Panthalas and really had nothing better to do than learn the city inside and out. It was the least I could do, considering that this was my birth town. He didn't seem too interested in that last bit. He was awfully interested in what I had to say about the not-so-nice parts of the city. He got very excited in fact, and gave me a bowl of soup in the jail, then hustled away. Not long after, Jonathan – that's the guard's name- returned with Sergeant Drinnin. They asked me more questions about the not-so-nice places, gave me some candy, and left me for the night." Here he paused to sip his drink. Dreamflight moved over to his seat and squeezed into it with him, gently draping a wing over his shoulder. He smiled and snuggled up to his mother.

"Where was I? Oh yes. When Sergeant returned, he asked more personal questions – where was I from? Why was I here? Where were my parents? He didn't like it when I told him a god had brought me here." Firespice fidgeted and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I had to lie. I said I was on Wanderlust with my parents, and we'd gotten separated." He gave his mother a sheepish grin. "It wasn't all a lie at least. Anyway, Sergeant said he was impressed with my 'prowess at navigating the city'. He said it was an interesting idea to maybe have a kender on the force – that we were inconspicuous, good at finding things, and great at getting out and into tight spots, both literally and figuratively. There was a lot of complaints about the idea, but I was all for it. A long story short, I got the job!" His story concluded, Firespice looked to his mother for approval. Dreamflight hugged him until he couldn't breathe.

"My son is all grown up," she sighed, eyes misting over. "I'm so proud of you, and I'm sure Tas would have been a well." The happy atmosphere waned as Firespice stared sadly at Dreamflight while she told her story.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked at length. "Where will you go? Do you need me? I like it here, but I'd leave if you needed me." Dreamflight stroked his topknot.

"I love you, son," was all she said for a long, long time. After consoling each other, Firespice began to fall asleep. She roused him. "You better go to sleep in your bed. Don't worry about me. My next step is to wait for Branchala to reach me again. From there, we'll just have to wait and see." She kissed his forehead. "I'll be at the Temple if you need me." With a sleepy murmur, Firespice bid his mother goodnight and stumbled off to bed, leaving Dreamflight to slowly walk the streets alone.

A thief in the night, trying to pry open a window, was startled by a sudden voice that cried out in the darkness, "It was worth it!"