Kun'nuk'kles awoke an hour later, when Menshi kicked him in the ribs. "Ow! All right, all right, I'm up!"

He sat up, and looked at her. "No need for violence, ma'am."

"The feast is about to star, but we can't without you there!"

"Ah, yes. I'd better get over there, then."

Kun'nuk'kles stood up, and went out to the feast, pretty much ignoring Menshi following him. Every single member of the village was sitting at a huge table, with flaming torches to light the feast. They were chatting and laughing and generally having a good time. "He's finally here!" Menshi shouted over the din. "We can eat!"

The noise abruptly faded into a busy silence, in which the villagers loaded up plates and started in. The noise gradually built back up to its previous level, but in the meantime, Kun'nuk'kles found a seat at the table next to the end, where Mentaka was sitting. He took a plate, and some food, and started eating. Menshi sat next to him, and Jakki next to her. And then, someone came up to Mentaka, and said, "Elder, may I present my congratulations upon your fortuitous recovery."

Mentaka glared at the supplicating Echidna. "Mar'tenn, you weasel! You're the one who slipped the poison in my food… if I had any proof, you'd be imprisoned right alongside Uroth!"

The other's eyes narrowed as he bowed stiffly and walked away. Kun'nuk'kles looked at him with mild amusement. "I didn't know you were the real Elder here…" he remarked.

Mentaka looked at Kun'nuk'kles, astonished. "You didn't? Why did you help me, then?"

"Your granddaughter asked me to. That's reason enough."

Mentaka then looked at Jakki. "Did she now…" he murmured, fire in his eyes.

"Don't be angry at her!" Kun'nuk'kles snapped. "She gave me my staff, in the prison, so that I could escape! It was the very least I could do, to heal one person at her request!"

Mentaka's eyes shifted back to Kun'nuk'kles. "I am amazed," he said. "You did not act solely out of greed, or thought of personal gain. You actually practice what you preach. Unlike those priests, who abandoned us when the Tri-fold Spirit did not answer."

"The Tri-fold Spirit did answer," Kun'nuk'kles disagreed. "It sent ME."

Mentaka laughed. "My, you lift the spirits of this old man…" he said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "But the truth now still faces us; this village will not trust the words of the priests for a very long time…"

Kun'nuk'kles nodded. Such abandonment would take some time to heal. About an hour and a half later, the feast was winding down. "Thank you for the hospitality, and for the food, revered Elder," he told Mentaka. "But I must be going. I must Bind the other four Chaos Spirits."

"Must you? The creeping death has stopped! Our way of life is preserved."

Kun'nuk'kles shook his head. "No. If I stop now, the creeping death will return. The only way to stop the world from dying is by Binding each of the seven Chaos Spirits."

"Then… I suppose you must. But at least stay the night-"

"No. I must leave immediately," Kun'nuk'kles interrupted, and walked off into the dark woods surrounding the village.

The next Chaos Spirit was Chaos Violet… and it would be found on the peak of the highest mountain in the area. Of course, no one had bothered to try and name the mountain. It probably had a name for itself, and using another to refer to it would be rude.

Soon, the dark forests gave way to sparse and rocky hills, which became cliffs. This was as good a place as any to start up. But it would have to wait until morning. The large meal had made him tired, and the Chaos Spirit wasn't going anywhere. It was still engrossed with whatever it had been doing. Kun'nuk'kles looked up. Indeed, there was a huge thunderhead at the peak of the mountain, but it looked like no rain was falling. Just lightning, periodically striking the peak.

He shrugged, and curled up in a ball around the Chaos Emeralds and his staff, confident that such a foreboding place would keep local wildlife at bay, and slept.

Why did he pass up their offer? Why didn't he spend the night with them? Only about an hour and a half would have been lost.

Because time was of the essence. If he had stayed, he might have been tempted to stay another night, and another, until he forgot his mission, and even his wife. That is how Heroes fall to the Ages.

I… see…