AN: I decided to take a break from Saiben and finish up on Coron. This is the last bit of him in this book. The next book (if I ever get around to it) will have a LOT more of him in it and I think you can tell why. Anyway, here you go and hope you like this mini-climax!

Chapter Fifteen: No Place Like Home

Argent stood where he was with his mouth hanging open in unbelieving shock. He fell to his knees, his eyes still refusing to believe what they saw. Coron was coping a little better and was using a tree for support. They had seen what happened if one of the more powerful spirits decided to bully one of the smaller ones, which was an extremely rare occurrence in itself, but Gredeer had never done anything to provoke anyone. She was quite and minded her own business.

Coron recovered a good deal faster than Argent and started to try and find a way to get to Gredeer. No matter where he looked, there didn't seem to be away. The stones were covered with green slime that looked slippery and Coron didn't want to take any chances around the black crap that had replaced the water. He thought of using some of the fallen trees to get closer, but they were too weak to even support themselves. Every few minutes you heard one of the once great trees fall beneath its own weight and crash into the filth surrounding it.

Argent recovered a good few minutes later and came to the same conclusions as Coron, but Gredeer was more important to him than she was to Coron so Argent decided to chance it and stepped onto one of the slimy rocks. Much to his surprise, it wasn't slippery at all. Instead, it stuck to his shoe and refused to come off. It only separated from the shoe when he took a step backward and back onto the only healthy looking root that was left, the one they had come through.

A thought popped into Coron's head and he decided to run it past Argent before he tried it, "Argent, I think the slime stops you from moving forward. It didn't budge an inch except when you moved backwards."

"Great idea, Coron! All we have to do is walk backwards!" Before Coron could try to explain what he actually meant Argent stepped back onto the rock backwards and tried to take another step and almost lost his balance.

"It was a good idea Coron, but I think the slime just stops you from moving towards Gredeer."

"That's what I meant!"

"Oh, sorry. If that's the case then give me your shoes." Argent stepped forward off the rock and held out his hand until Coron complied.

"Argent, you're going to have to take more than four steps to get there."

"I know that, I'm wearing socks! That makes six!" Despite Coron telling him that there were more than six stones between him and Gredeer Argent continued to prepare. He walked past Coron and managed to break off part of the root behind them with much grunting.

The stick was abut Argent's height and as he continued to walk towards the stone Coron finally figured out what he was doing. He was forced to cringe because if Argent was off by even a little, he would be in the black sludge, without his vaulting stick and not enough steps to get back.

Despite this, he got as much of a running start as he could and launched himself forward. Coron closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable splash that would come when Argent missed. It didn't though and when he opened them Argent had replaced the shoe he had used to land and was preparing for his next jump.

"Thought I would miss, didn't you?" Argent asked.

"Yeah, to be quite honest." Coron yelled back.

"I won a race around my village on hand stilts before I found out I was the avatar you know!" Argent bragged as he flew through the air for the second time. Coron guessed that was what had made him become all uptight. When he found out he was the avatar the responsibility had made him forget his childhood.

Argent completed his last jump and was in front of Gredeer, just a few feet to low to reach the sword. He took his foot out of the sock and carefully placed the stick into the water. He then flipped himself onto the stick and continued forward until his legs were locked around the sword. Coron couldn't believe his eyes. The uptight man who had been training him was now balancing on one hand on a stick that was shoved into the water.

Argent threw his weight forward and almost lost his balance on the stick. The movement did what it was supposed to though, and the sword moved out a little. He continued these motions until the sword came free and Gredeer's arms shot out just in time to save Argent from falling into the black.

"You really don't want to fall into that stuff." Gredeer said with her musical voice more off key than Coron had ever heard it. There was still a hole where the sword had gone through, but wood fibres were already stitching it closed and it was gone in no time at all.

Coron wanted to let the reunion go on but a question was pressing his mind, "Gredeer, do you mind explaining what happened here!"

She drifted over and put Argent back on the ground, "Syh Shen came through here with a bit of a bad mood. He asked me how to get to Nersh Ming and I declined to tell him."

"Wait, you stood up to DEATH!" Coron asked in horror.

"Yes, because in that state he could do something stupid and I don't think you want a world without life or death. When two spirits that are opposites like they are come together they cancel each other out most times and only a void is left."

"So if the spirit of fire and water came together they would cancel out and there would be no more of that bending?"

"No, because they aren't opposites. One can be one, the other, neither or both. Though the last one hasn't happened yet. You are either alive or dead, there is no middle ground."

"What am I then?"

"You're alive because you haven't gone to see Syh Shen yet. He doesn't think that way though. He counts people in your situation as being neither. That's why he thinks he can go to see Nersh Ming. They aren't absolutes any more. I don't think that and didn't want to risk it."

"Speaking of life and death and the middle ground, could you show us where Nersh Ming is? I finally convinced Argent to send me back."

Gredeer gave Argent a disproving look before answering, "Yes, and it's about time. I thought you were more persuasive than that." Gredeer picked Coron up like he weighed nothing at all and drifted across the water. With Gredeer freed the bog was slowly returning to its natural state. The slime was turning into moss, and the water was clearing. The trees would take longer to heal Gredeer explained when Coron asked her why they weren't changing too.

They reached another seemingly unobtrusive part of the bog and Gredeer dropped Coron into the water then began to explain, "Do you remember how you came here?"

"Yeah, I got launched through the bottom of your bog."

"Well, Nersh Ming's spring is so close to the mortal plane that that's how you're going to go there. Hold your breath."

Okay, but whyyyyyyyy!" Coron felt roots take hold around his legs and plunged him through a hole in the ground and eventually shot him out of the water and then some. Only the fact that he was in the presence of a great spirit kept him from screaming out like he had when he first came there. He looked around and saw what he was looking for. Nersh Ming was sitting on a great throne of wood that seemed to give off a pale light. Nersh Ming had the form of an old woman with hair that was the aquamarine and she wore clothes that were white with gold and brown designs on them.

She tried to raise her voice and speak which made her voice crack when she spoke, "You have come back to me."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could lend me some of your power and send me back to my body great one."

"But you are so much freer now without it. Besides, I grow weaker by the minute. More like you are happening every week and I lose strength because of them."

"That's one of the reasons I was hoping to go back. I want to find out why it's happening. I also need to help the avatar. He's in trouble right now and without his help this will continue to happen. Please, listen to my plea and send me back so I can help you recover great one."

"Very well, but you must hurry because I am growing weak and I fear Syh Shen will make Gredeer bend to his will next time." She raised her hands and a ball of light appeared in between them. It drifted lazily towards Coron and enveloped him. Moments after that he was forced to his knees by an invisible force that was crushing him into a single point. His eyes were closed and he was rolled into the smallest ball he could make himself into.

Just when he though he couldn't take it anymore, the feeling disappeared and he only felt mildly cramped up. He opened his eyes and couldn't tell the difference. Happiness surged up through him like bile sometimes did after he took his medicine fifteen long years ago.

Set Change!

Gredeer came through the hole and floated to beside Nersh Ming to ask her question, "Didn't he ask why he couldn't taste the medicine?"

"No, he was too anxious to go back. He shouldn't have survived though."

"You put that much pressure on him?"

"No, I mean the trip here. Even with the avatar spirit he should have been torn to bits and scattered across our world. We're in big trouble because if they're sticking their hands into this world again something really big is coming and I don't trust either side."

"You're over reacting. That hasn't happened since the dawn and it won't ever happen again."

"You were young then and didn't see the full scale of it. It could happen again. Let's hope you're right though."

AN: Do NOT PM me about the last bit! I probably shouldn't have put the last bit in but I couldn't help it! When you actually get the whole picture will be sometime in book eight, IF I get that far. Let's just say it has something to do with why some spirits left their world to come to ours. That's all I'm saying and that's that. Don't forget to R&R!