(Hey y'all! Tis I. Finally, FINALLY, I have this up...sorry for the delay. This chapter is one of my only sorry attempts at writing humor...I'm not really a 'humor' person, if you catch my drift. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! --Topaz Fox)

The next day was certainly a day of travel. Elga spurred the party on, although she was forbidden to drive. "With this kind of enthusiasm," muttered Caliphen, "she'd probably wreck the caravan completely."
"And kill us all," added Anne, who was still sore from the last driving incident.

Nevertheless, Elga forced the caravan onward, mainly by means of tantrums and loud, obnoxious threats (which would amount to nothing, everyone knew, but were annoying nonetheless). Ter Van found himself frustrated more than once. She's like a damn two-year-old! he thought irritably.

Hours passed slowly by. Just as Elga was getting on everyone's last nerve, another caravan appeared on the horizon. It appeared to be coming closer. As it clattered along in a cloud of dust, the sounds of clanking armor and loud, raucous talking could be heard. Ter Van looked toward it, squinting in the fiery morning light. It's the Alfitaria caravan…I think.

Sure enough, a squadron of metal-clad Lilties pulled to a halt in front of them. "Hail, caravanners!" one of them said, sweeping low in a bow. Another of them bowed as well. "Might you have any ointment or first aid equipment, friends? Some of us are suffering."

Elga and Caliphen vanished into the caravan. Even though they were gone only a moment, Ter Van couldn't help but feel awkward being alone with Anne. He examined her cautiously in his peripheral vision. The sunlight gilded her chocolate tresses and bounced along the bronze hairband she always wore. She was saying something to the Alfitarians, laughing, but Ter Van heard nothing of their conversation. His thoughts were drunkenly mixed in with his emotions, and he could no longer tell what was fact and what was not.

After what seemed like an hour, but was probably not even a minute, Elga and Caliphen returned with armloads of various medicines. The grateful Lilties wiggled off dented helmets and damaged gauntlets, revealing bruises, scrapes and even deep sticky gashes. Elga squirmed at the sight of all the blood. "What the heck happened to you guys, anyway?" she asked, tearing off a length of bandage with her teeth. One of the Alfitarians cleared his throat. "We were attacked. As you can see, we barely escaped!"

"Attacked by what, may I ask?"

"A fearsome flan. We…"

Elga dropped a tube of ointment in the dirt,obvious disbelief shining in her eyes."What? Excuse me? A flan?" The armored Lilties nodded vigorously. "Yes," one responded. "It was terrible and jiggly, with these disgusting eyes…"

At that very moment, what should burst forth from the underbrush but a yellow flan withits mouth wide. The Alfitarian Lilties surged back in a gleaming metal wave of shock. "It's back! Run away!" Elga rolled her eyes and said nothing. Quite unceremoniously, she strode up to the gelatinous beast and picked up a nearby stick. The flan roared, sounding much like gurgling water.

"Ha! Take this!" Elga then proceeded to hit the flan so hard that its top half was completely severed from the rest of its body. The bottom half, now eyeless, continued to roar. Elga laughed and struck it multiple times, finally reducing it to what looked like marmalade spread out on the ground.

The caravan of Lilties gaped in awe. The upper half of the flan, which was still more or less intact, began desperately trying to hop away. Elga noticed the clumsy movement immediately. "Caliphen!" she called. He turned around. "What? Oh. Yes. Fire."

He cast the spell quickly without even bothering to use his hammer. He simply raised one large hand and transferred a bit of his body heat through the air at the flan. The flan gave one last pitiful screech as phoenix-tongues of fire wrapped around it. The wiggly mass began to smoke and stink a little as it crackled and burned into a black muck.

Every Alfitarian caravanner was awestruck. One of them choked out, "A-amazing! That was incredible! Oh, please, teach us to fight like that, Lady Lilty!"

"Um, the name's Elga, and I don't really have time to…"

All of the Lilties clustered around Elga. She was lost in what looked like a vast sea of large metallic beetles, clicking and scraping against each other, all boggled together in a great mass. The air was thick with their pleas:

"Lady Elga, show us your fighting techniques!"

"Oh, you're so powerful!"

"Please, teach us to fight so we're not ridiculed by our city!"

Elga was trying to suppress her happiness at being practically worshipped. She crossed her arms across her chest and grinned. "Oh, so you're that desperate to learn, eh? Well, okay…I guess I could show you some stuff."

While he watched Elga demonstrate basic spear thrusts to the supposed "greatest warriors in the land", Ter Van grinned to himself. Elga's gotta be the toughest person I've ever seen. She could eat these poor saps for lunch. As the Selkie shook his head, still smiling, it dawned on him that he had not spoken much at all that day. If his memory was correct, the last thing he had said was "Pass the jam" at breakfast.

There's no doubt my mind is screwy today…or maybe it's just my heart.

Ter Van looked almost involuntarily at Anne. He couldn't help it; lately, his thoughts and memories had been jumbled blindly into each other. Ter Van found himself snared halfway between past and present. One moment, he would be dreaming about Ralthia, and the next moment, he would be gazing at Anne.

Now, as he peered over at the Clavat girl, her glowing amber eyes flicked over to meet his. They rested upon his consiousness for just a moment before darting away again. Ter Van's heart sank. Her attention was like a sparrow, refusing to be caught, yet returning suddenly when nobody was watching…and frankly, he was sick of it.

A vision of Ralthia pleaded with her "lover". The sight of her, the memory of her voice, forced Ter Van's eyes back on Elga's little fighting lesson. His love for the Yuke was still there. It ran river-like, unseen, under the vast, enticing land of current temptation.

Land or water…which matters more…?