A/N: I'm baaaaaack (again)! School started out kicking my butt, and now it's gotten a little easier, but I still need to get into a routine of studying, so this will be the only update for a while :( Sorry for the short one, but the bell's about to ring for school., and I know that if I don't put this out now, I won't for another two months :)

When I wake up the next morning, I roll over to kiss Ren good morning, but my lips meet with cold, moist dirt, instead of my husband's warm, soft lips. I am puzzled for a moment, but then I remember our fight from last night. I sniff, and then turn to take Nik out of his basket, but he's not there.

I jump out of my tent, and see Kishan, Nilima, and Sunil sitting around a fire talking over breakfast.

"Kishan, please tell me Ren has Nik."

Kishan looks over at me worriedly. "I don't think so... He's not in your tent?"

"Yes, Kishan, Nik is sleeping in there. I just wanted to make sure there isn't two of him wandering around. Of course he's not inside," I snap.

"Okay, okay," Kishan says, backing away from me. "Just making sure. I'm not one-hundred percent positive that Ren doesn't have him, so he might. I'll go find him."

Kishan morphs into a tiger and trots away, but not before I see the worry in his eyes.

~TR~

Ten minutes later, Kishan runs back into camp, quickly followed by a white tiger. Both morph into men, and I run into Ren's arms.

"Oh, Ren," I sob. "I'm so sorry. If I hadn't argued with you this never would have happened."

"Shh, rajkumari," Ren says into my hair, rocking me back and forth. "It's not your fault. I should have listened to you."

"No, Ren," I sniffle. "You always want what's best for me and Nik, and now some supernatural creature has kidnapped my baby," I cry into his chest.

"We'll get him back, Kells, I promise," Ren says steadily. I look up into his eyes, and see that the blue is very troubled. I hug him tightly, and start walking toward the campfire.

Kishan is sitting on one side of the fire, with Nilima wrapped in Sunil's arms, and Ren and I sit right in the middle. I lean my head on my husband's shoulder, and he wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"Well, we all know the problem here," Kishan says seriously, "so I won't make it worse by telling it over. Does anyone have any ideas?"

We all sit silently for a few seconds, and the Sunil says something.

"The prophecy said something about a guarded child. Maybe we have to fight for him?" Sunil suggests.

Ren's arms tighten around me, and I cringe into him.

Kishan glances our way and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"I know that it's not exactly what you want to hear, but he has a point. I think Sunil's right," Kishan says softly.

"But what could he do, good or bad?" I question. "He's only ten months old."

"But Kelsey," Sunil reasons, "Anyone who knows anything about you knows that you would do anything to save a child, and do even more for your own son. Whoever took him could be planning to use him as a bargaining chip."

"Again, bilauta, he is most likely correct," Kishan says.

"Well," I say as I stand up. "What are we waiting for?"

~TR~

Twenty minutes later, after packing up camp, we are hiking through the jungle. Again.

The boys are slightly ahead of Nilima and me, strategizing, I assume.

I can hear them whispering, but I can't make out the words, so I chat uselessly with Nilima.

"So," I say quietly. "Do you want to have your wedding right after we get back?"

Nilima glances at me, and then continues looking at the ground to make sure she doesn't trip.

"I haven't really thought about it. I suppose so," she answers cautiously. "I do want a winter wedding, so it depends on what day it is when we get back into the real world."

I smile slightly. "Do you know where on the grounds you want to have it?" I ask.

"Not exactly," Nilima says. "Kelsey, you don't have to be... not sad, I suppose. Your son was... taken. That gives you a right to be upset."

I look up ahead at Ren just as he turns behind to check on me. Our eyes meet, and I can feel the electricity crackling between us. Though it is not as strong as it was before we left for this quest, which I assume is because of our arguments, the miscarriage, and now Nik being gone, it is still very strong.

I smile slightly, and Ren smiles back. Nilima looks at both of us, and then looks ahead at Sunil. Kishan turns around, and then his face falls. I smile at him, and he smiles slightly, but I can see that he isn't happy.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"I just miss home," he says sadly. "Mika told me that she's pregnant again, and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to miss it being born."

"Oh, Kishan," I say, reaching out to hug him. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," he says. "I won't be gone for too long, I don't think."

Ren looks at Kishan with something akin to pity, but I can't totally identify it. It's almost angry, but then it disappears. I sigh, and trot up to take Ren's hand. He grips mine tightly and I lean my head on his shoulder for a moment.

"Where could he be?" I ask Ren in a whisper.

His hand tightens even more around mine. "I don't know where he could be, Kells," he admits. "And that scares me more than anything ever has, except when you were injured on a quest and… a few months ago. But I promise you," he says fiercely, and I can just picture him storming a castle and rescuing a damsel in distress, "we will find him. Our family will be put together again."

~TR~

We trek through the jungle for another twenty minutes before we come up to the walls of the grey city. The monkey calls that Kishan and Ren heard earlier are now clear to all of us, and this makes me even more worried.

"Ren… could there be monkeys in there with Nik?" I whisper.

"I… think so," Ren says, pain very clear in his voice. "I wish I didn't, but it makes sense."

Kishan walks up to the edge of the cliff that we are standing on, and then looks up at the wall surrounding the city.

"There's a drawbridge. I'm not sure how to open it though" he says wonderingly.

"We could just ask," Sunil suggests.

We all shrug, so Sunil calls up to the top of the wall. "Hey! We would like to enter your city! We are missing something and would like to find it!"

Kishan elbows him. "What?" Sunil asks.

"You just told them that we think they stole something from us. That is not a good way to make a first impression," he explains.

"But if they knew enough to take Anik then we have already made a first impression," Sunil justifies.

Kishan smiles. "Oh, well. I guess you already said it; it can't be undone."

"And it didn't work," Sunil says wryly. "I don't know what else to do."

Suddenly, a slab of grey stone falls to ground in front of us, and it is about to fall right on top of me.

"Kelsey!" Ren yells as he darts towards me. "Move!"

I am rooted to the spot, and I feel Ren's body knock mine out of the way. I hear the slab crash to the ground, just where I was standing before, and I don't see Ren when I turn back.