Hello Readers!

I know I haven't been updating or anything, and I'm really sorry. And I'm also sorry that I'm such a horrible writer. TT

Thanks to the people who said that my story was good and encouraged me:

Jo

KB

El

Niphi

Lil'

again, thanks so much!

"Taja," Haovign said slowly. Taja laughed. The trees rustled at the foreign sound. She stopped abruptly and stared at the trees. Everyone continued onwards.

"How long is it?" Raine asked, urging her horse to go faster to catch up to Aries. He was staring off into space, but at the sound of her voice, he came back to earth. "

To the temple?" He asked. Raine rolled her eyes.

"Obviously."

"We can make it there in good time, maybe half a week if we hurry." Raine nodded. The sound of laughter reached her ears and she looked back to see her sister joking around with their new companions. Raine straightened and returned her gaze before her once more. Her stern façade didn't betray any emotion, but inside, an uneasy feeling clenched and unclenched at the bottom of her stomach. Aries seemed to notice, nonetheless. "Something wrong?" He asked. Raine pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Nothing's wrong," she muttered, her hands tightening on her reins. Her knuckles were white as she clenched her grip. She saw this as she looked down and loosen her hand. She didn't even know why she was feeling so angry.

"Well, if you're sure," he said. Her anger flared at this simple comment. Why does he have to be so nosy? She always took care of herself, and always will.

"Yes I'm sure," She said stiffly. When she dared to steal a look at him, he was staring straight ahead, thoughtfully. Raine sighed inwardly, and relaxed her tense shoulders. It was silent now, as the sky grew steadily darker. All was quiet except for the whispered conversation behind her.

Isabel didn't know why they were whispering. As the light grew dimmer and they began to rely on the moonlight, the air around them seemed choked. They whispered as if they were afraid that the trees would hear them. She turned and listened to her sister, Taja, who was now talking in hushed tones.

"So far I've only managed to hover a few feet in the air for a couple minutes. Sometimes less. I tire easily," she said. Taja added, a smile on her face, "Believe it or not."

"That's still remarkable," Haovign murmured, his fascination gleaming in his greenish-brownish eyes.

"Yes, it is," Adiean added. "All elves have magical gifts of their own, but this is the first time I had met someone with the talent of levitation." Taja blushed slightly at all this interest.

"Isabel's gift is also pretty amazing," she said, changing the subject and steering the attention away from her. "Thought, it scares me at times. She always can tell when I'm lying." Taja laughed. "I'm a terrible liar, and I hate lying. I always feel nervous when I try to fib." Adiean looked at Isabel.

"So you can read minds?" he asked. Isabel looked startled.

"No, not minds, thank goodness. I don't know if I can handle that much power," she said. "I can feel your emotion if it's strong enough. I can't if you mask it extremely well." Haovign nodded.

"Impressive, even so," he said. Taja shrugged.

"I guess elves are just lucky," she laughed quietly.

"Time to stop," Aries said, butting into their conversation. "Sorry to interrupt or anything, but it's getting kind of difficult to see." Isabel looked up at the sky in surprise. It had grown darker and even the moonlight was faint. She nodded, but realizing that they couldn't see her gesture, she spoke.

"Let's set camp." Isabel descended from her horse gracefully, her elvish feet hardly making a sound on the dirt ground. She couldn't see her friends or sisters clearly, but registered their outline. She turned to her horse and started to unpack some food and blankets.

Soon afterwards, they had a small fire going and they were eating a small dinner before the comforting light. The trees surrounding them had not like the fire, and seem to shrink away from the flickering flames. They took no notice of this and ate their meal hungrily.

Raine's eyelids were beginning to feel heavier as she struggled to stay awake. She refused to fall asleep. Taja wasn't afraid of being attacked because they were still considered near Crescent Realm. But Raine, being the pessimistic sister, wasn't taking any chances. She almost nodded off, but sat up straight, blinking rapidly. A chuckle came from next to her and she looked up to see Aries looking down at her.

"I'll take over," he said. His face was partially cast in shadow, but she can still see his usual smile. She shook her head.

"I'm not tired," she said, yawning. He shook his head too.

"No seriously, you go rest. I'm not sleepy at all." Raine stood up reluctantly and winced at the stiffness in her back. She rubbed it, cursing the boulder she had been leaning on. Aries took her space and sat down. Raine looked at him for a few moments before making a make shift bed out of her blankets. The last thing she saw before she dozed off was the flickering flame of the fire.

When they woke up, it was still dark. Taja helped the rest bundle up their belongings and they soon set off. They were pretty quiet for a while, and the only sounds were the hooves of their horses. As the sky began to lighten, Taja thought she saw something ahead of her. She had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining it. "Is that light?" she asked, pointing ahead of her.

Adiean squinted and nodded. "Yes, I think it's a way out." The trees were beginning to be sparse in this area and the air didn't seem to choke them as much. Isabel breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in her saddle. She turned to look at Raine, who was riding beside her.

Raine heard her sister sigh, and she too shared her relief. She loved trees, but the trees here were dark and seem to watch them. She shook her head and made her horse trot faster. It didn't matter, she would soon be out of this forest.

The light at the end of the trail grew bigger, and finally, they found themselves leaving the forest behind them. Raine's eyes were unaccustomed to the light and she shaded her eyes from the bright sunshine. She realized suddenly that she was famished. Had time really flown by that fast?

"We stop here and eat," Aries said, looking up at the sun. "It's nearly noon." Raine blinked again in surprise. Time had really flown. Raine unmounted with the rest of her friends. She tied her horse's reins to a small tree and spoke soothingly to it. She turned to find her companions already settling down on the grassy slope. She sat down a next to Isabel and farther away from the others. She still didn't feel comfortable around other people, even after 4 years had passed. Isabel passed her some lembas and Raine nodded her thanks. Her hands unwrapped the leaf wrappings carefully and she quickly took a bite. They all ate in silence, but they were all thinking of the same thing.

'The amulet" Taja thought as she plucked absent-mindedly at the grass beneath her. She was aware of future dangers, but the gravity of the matter hadn't really sunk into her yet. The matter of destroying the amulet seemed to be years and years away, when the reality was that they would reach the temple in a week, or even less. "How do we know how to get into the temple?" she asked suddenly, voicing a sudden thought. They all looked up at her, shaken out of their own thoughts. "It's underground, isn't it?" she continued, "And isn't it locked with some spell or curse?" Adiean nodded.

"Yes, with an ancient curse. It was said that whoever entered never returned." Raine thought back to their departure. No wonder everyone was so solemn. Their beloved ruler and her three sisters were going on a quest that no one had ever completed.

'They must've been planning funerals for us after we left,' Raine thought grimly. Raine sat back, leaning against the tree. The scratchy bark was rough against her back, but she gave it no notice. She was too immersed in the conversation that was continuing before her.

"But we know how to break this curse?" Isabel questioned, tucking the empty leaf wrappings into her bag. Adiean and Haovign exchanged guilty looks. Raine was immediately attentive.

"You don't know the counter curse," she said in her usual hard voice. They started slightly and turned to look at the middle sister as though they had just realized that she was there.

""My lady," Haovign said. "The truth is, no one knows how to break the curse. We only know where the location of the temple, and even that is vague." Raine shot them a look of disbelief.

"What?" she asked sharply, her eyes flashing. She was sure she had heard incorrectly. They didn't know how to break the curse, and where the temple truly lies? "You mean to say that we've left Crescent Realm without truly knowing where we were going?" A hand alighted onto her shoulder. Surprised, she looked at Isabel. Raine realized that she had been raising her voice. She relaxed her back again, the knots in the wood once again digging into her back.

"A thousand pardons," Haovign apologized, his eyes showing remorse. Adiean nodded his sorry too.

"I understand that it was wrong to not inform you before our departure, but time is short and we must make haste. And since you insisted on coming…" He trailed off, realizing how rude he sounded to the Lady. He bowed his head, ashamed.

Isabel cleared her throat, making him look up. "We came of our own free will, it's true," she said to him. "It's not your fault." Isabel smiled to show that she wasn't the least offended. "We were aware of the dangers that had laid before us, and we know that they still loom in our paths. Nevertheless, Raine, Taja, and I had still decided to come." Taja nodded earnestly.

"But if we don't know where it is and how to break the curse, how do you expect us to get to the amulet in time?" Haovign nodded grimly. "That is our current problem."