I have officially fixed my formatting. Go me! And Edris/Vedris has been appropriately rectified...double go me's!

Thanks to those who've reviewed...you've no idea (or you might) how much that encourages me!

Short chapter...gonna rework a little bit of the plot. It started doing the one thing allauthors should fear:

Meandering.

On to story!

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Briar was hopping up and down slightly on his seat, thinking of the girls faces when they saw his presents. Of course Tris would be all weepy and Sandry would try to hug him, but he thought Daja would probably be alright about it.

At least, he hoped so.

"Will you stop that? You're giving me a headache." Rosethorn snapped irritably at him from her place. Briar smiled back at her sweetly, and then bounced extra hard. Rosethorn glared at him, but then he heard a great commotion ahead of them, and the driver was forced to stop behind the crowd of people.

"Hey! What's going on?" Briar leaned over and called to a passerby.

"Dunno!" the man called back.

Briar felt a wave of cold strike him, and he shivered. He looked at Rosethorn, but she did not seem worried. He hopped out of the cart, pushing into the crowd. He was in a hurry to get home, and if some low-life Bag had stopped his carriage in the middle of the road, Briar was going to make him pay.

"What's happening?" he asked someone as he pushed through.

"She got in an accident!" The woman replied worriedly, as though anything counted as gossip, even if someone was hurt.

Briar groaned and kept forcing his way through the concerned and interested crowd. Probably some Skirt who decided to go for a joyride on one of her daddy's horses.

But then why do all these people look so sober?

Another wave of cold air touched his spine, and he grimaced. Why was he feeling so…

And then he pushed the last onlooker out of the way, and he saw the shining brown hair, and the grey cloth she was so fond of, and his heart froze inside his chest.

"MOVE!" He screamed, and ran forward to gather Sandry in his arms. She was pale, and her eyes were shut. "Sandry? Sandry, wake up!" He shook her lightly, his whole world within this moment.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then her eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes.

"Briar?" she mouthed, but no sound came out. Fear lanced through Briar mind, and he reached behiind her head, touching her neck. There was an indentation there, but the bone was not broken. He sighed and shifted so her head was straight from her neck.

"Shh, Sandry, it's alright."

She opened her mouth again and again, but no sound came out. Briar's heart raced as he thought of the possibilities.

Briar…what happened?

He felt her voice in his mind, and a million emotions came crashing down on him. "You just fell from your horse. It's alright."

His own voice betrayed him.

"What's goin' on? What's happening?"

The crowd pressed in on them, interest warring with caution. Briar felt their weight pressing about him, and his breath came heavily. He lifted Sandry, cradling her in his arms.

"Get out of my way!" he called, but no one heard him over their own noise.

"MOVE!" he screamed. They all looked at him, but stayed motionless. His fury began to build. Sandry was lying in his arms, perhaps dying, and all they were worried about was staring at them.

His anger raged in his breast, winning out over his worry and fear. He pushed out with his power, calling all the dormant life beneath the soil of the road, summoning it to grow, to push up out of it's cold sleep. Joyfully, they answered the call, rushing up from the ground to break through the trampled dirt, reaching for the sun they had been denied for too long. His anger strengthened them, and they shoved man and beast out of their rising path, clearing a small pathway for him to come through.

He shifted Sandry a bit, noticing that her eyes were closed again, and began to run through the vines, heading back for the wagon.

He reached it and leaped into it, careful not to jar Sandry to much.

"What-" Rosethorn started, and Briar shook his head.

"We have to get to Winding Circle. Hurry!" He cried, and Rosethorn nodded to the driver. They pushed through the viney road, the plants already dying from lack of water and the crowds beginning to press back in.

Hurry. He thought. Faster.

He looked down at the still figure in his arms, and another bolt of fear lanced through his heart.

"C'mon, Sandry, you gotta stay awake. Come on, girl, wake up!"

Sandry blinked at him. I'm tired, she said in his mind.

Her voice was very faint. Panic gripped him. "No! No, you have to stay awake! I want you to see your present! It's beautiful."

Her attention was back on him. What? she asked.

"It took me forever to find it. I looked everywhere." He was babbling, but he didn't care. So long as she stayed awake, he would do whatever necessary.

That's so sweet…Sandry murmured, her eyes drifting shut again.

"No! You can't sleep! Listen…um, did you know that Daja will be here today? Tris is on her way too. We're all coming home again!" his voice was strained, near tears.

Really? When?

"Oh, they'll be here really soon, but you have to stay awake to see them, right?"

Sandry nodded slowly, and her eyes blinked again, and she winced, obviously in pain.

"Just stay awake, girl, just until we get there. Just stay awake."

He rubbed her shoulders, trying to keep his own fear at bay as they rushed towards Winding Circle.

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Daja stood up on the stirrups of her horse, standing tall to see the gates rapidly coming into view.

"Sit down, girl, you're making my stomach roll."

Daja grinned over at Frostpine, but she leaned back into her saddle, obedient. She thought she could almost see the Hub, way over on the island. In her mind, she felt the comforting presence of Briar resonating as she neared. She had tried to send a thought to him recently, but he had closed her off. Sandry, too, was as silent as the grave, despite Daja's many attempts at contacting her.

Frostpine kicked his horse forward a little, coming up beside her.

"Happy to be home?" he asked.

She grinned. "It's warm!"

Frostpine laughed his deep, belly laugh, his shaggy head wagging up and down. "It is that! Just the right temperature for nails!" he added wickedly.

Daja groaned and shook her head, laughing along with him as they trotted side by side. Their jollity died out after a time, and the friendly silence returned, interrupted only by the clip-clop of the horses' hooves.

Daja turned her head out to the sea, so close to her again, and her thoughts wandered.

"What's on your mind?" Frostpine asked softly, watching her dark eyes turn vague in the fading evening light. Daja turned to look at him, her face light and happy.

"I'm just glad I'll be with the others again. Especially Sandry."

Frostpine smiled. He knew, better than most, how close Daja had been to Sandry and Tris and Briar. They had been bound by fate and power, pulled together in a bond closer than family. He had seen how it tore at her heart to be separated from the others, even for the short year they had been gone. And he had seen that overwhelming energy that had been so much a part of her early days finally return to her. It made his heart swell with joy.

"I, myself am looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces. And a little sunlight," he added. As he was usually the resident smith-mage at Winding Circle, he had been close friends with Dedicates Lark and Rosethorn, both of whom were back at the Temple now.

Daja grinned over at him and felt herself buoyed up on the strength of her joy. Her best friends in the whole world were going to be there, with her; finally, once more as they should be.

She let out a whooping laugh and kicked her horse into full gallop, dashing past the startled guards at the gate and recklessly swooping through the city, her eyes alight and her heart on fire as she came hurtling down the last stretch, finally coming back.

Finally, she was coming home.

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Duke Vedris smiled at the townsperson in front of him, trying to put the poor man at ease.

"S-sir…I- I need to ask a f-f-favor of you, please-…sir…"

The Duke had made a secret practice of his to personally interview those of the town that needed more help than others. He had done this to keep from feeling useless: it was secret because Sandry would have had a fit had she known. The only problem he had had was that people seemed to be overly in awe of his shaved head.

Vedris nodded politely, and the man gulped and stood straight.

"If you pl-please, sir, I have f-found that m-my shop has been-"

A pounding at the door interrupted the stutterer. Vedris nodded at the guard, and the latch swung open, admitting a panting and shaking watchman.

"Alder. What is it?" The duke acknowledged the watchman, and the man straightened quickly and snapped a salute. But when he tried to talk, he began to cough uncontrollably, and Vedris signaled to his guard.

"Quick! Go get this man some water!" He helped the watchman to a seat, nodding to the terrified townsman. "Excuse me, but I have some pressing business. If you come back tomorrow, we can try to solve your problem."

The man nodded and dashed from the room, eager to be gone. The guard Vedris had sent for water returned, and Vedris gave the gasping messenger a drink. The duke gestured to the guard to shut the door, and then turned back to the watchman, waiting.

"Sir!" the man gasped out, clearly exhausted. "Something's happened, sir!"

Vedris frowned. "Well? What is it?"

The man took another gulp of water and responded. "It's your niece, sir! She's been hurt!"

Vedris went pale, then red. He took one step forward and grabbed the man roughly by the shoulders, shaking him. "What? Where is she? What happened!"

The man gasped and panted, trying to answer. "She was thrown from her horse in the market! Some easterner boy took her to the temple."

Vedris shoved the man out of his way, running for the door, shouting for his horse. He hurtled down the steps, and fifteen minutes later was at the gate leading to Winding Circle, and forever.