A/N: Okay, well, I officially feel like a complete idiot. Part of the reason I didn't update was because I didn't have any ideas for how to keep going and still keep it interesting, partly because I now have something resembling a life. The other part is because even if I did have any ideas (and didn't have a life), I wouldn't be able to post any updates, because I had lost my disk that I use to transfer from my laptop where I write to my PC with the Internet. So here I am, having been looking for it for about two weeks, when I remember that I used it to transfer a picture to my PC to print for a birthday card for my friend back in September. So I went to look for it, and my mom was on the computer. I explained my problem and she goes, 'Did you look in the drawer'. I had, so she went, 'Did you look here?' and lifted up the keyboard. And, lo and behold, there it was. And I've been sitting at the computer twice a day for that whole time. So feel free to call me an idiot all you want.

Just wanted to explain why I haven't updated in pretty much forever. But I'm going to start trying for something like a chapter a month or something. Just bear with me, because I've got a lot going on right now. I'll explain after the chapter, since I'm sure you've already skipped this Author's Note anyways, lol.

Chapter Thirty-six: Rescue and Discovery

Without warning, I felt my arms and legs fall free from the rod that two pigmees were holding above their heads as pounding hoof beats rained down near my head and passed by. I opened my eyes.

To my surprise, Shean had come riding up and was going around, slashing pigmees left and right. He had apparently hacked off the hanging ropes that were attached to my hands and feet. He had nicked a bit of the rope on my hands with his sword and I manage to rub it on the 'sticking' knife of one of the dead pigmees that had fallen to the ground when it tried to attack Shean. I used my sword to cut my legs apart and ran to help Shean. The pigmees had tied Switchfoot behind their ponies, but he looked unhurt.

Shean sliced the ropes that had bound Switchfoot and wheeled Filly around on her haunches. Switchfoot ran over to me and I swung up in a move I had practiced practically since I could ride. The pigmees yelled and we could hear them pursuing, but even on their ponies, they weren't any match for two fit horses. We didn't even look back.

Once we were a safe distance away, I reined in, breathing hard and leaning on Switchfoot's neck.

"Well, that was quite a rescue," I commented somewhat sarcastic, joking tone to Shean, who had reined in too, but wasn't breathing as hard as I was, which annoyed me a bit.

"Yeah, well, try not to be so grateful."

I looked away. What was wrong with Shean? He would have usually laughed at my comment. I knew all this was hard on him, but he didn't have to come with me on this quest, and I had had a similar experience trying to adjust when I went to America. The thing is, I didn't remember being so irritable.

"Shean, what's the matter?" I asked, dismounting to let Switchfoot graze for a few minutes and catch his wind. Shean didn't move, but let his reins fall down onto Filly's neck so she could graze, too. He put his hands on his saddle horn and stared down at me, reminding me of some statue of a Greek hero, just with medieval clothes on and maybe not such… chiseled features (no pun intended).

"I… Val, I miss my family. I even miss Kaet, and trust me, I never thought that would happen. But…"

I eyed him. "But what?"

"But that's not the least of it. This whole 'magikk' thing is hard to swallow. I was brought up believing in science and that magic was something that you got by being a witch or something, and that most people who believed in, and 'used', magic didn't believe in God. But you believe in God, and yet you also believe in magikk."

"But Shean, I was brought up believing in magikk, and magikk is just a gift that God has given us to use for His glory, just like He gave us our music and stuff back home to use for Him. It's not going against the Bible to use magikk."

"But it's still hard to accept."

"No one's trying to force you to… but, Shean, sooner or later, you're going to have to make a choice to either accept that magikk exists and that God gave it to us for His purposes, or you're going to have to decide to go home."

"Then maybe I should go home."

I stared at him. I had thought that maybe earlier, he had just been angry and upset and hadn't thought about what he was saying. But now I was starting to think that maybe he really did want to go home.

"Shean, I –" I began, but couldn't think of anything that I could say that wouldn't make him even more upset. He didn't reply. "No, you know what? I'm tired of trying to talk to you when you're so moody and just blow up at me when I try to say anything. I'm just gonna go find Relakk and find food and a bed."

I remounted and rode back towards where I knew Relakk must be, since I could see the smoke from houses curling up in the far distance, even with the sun starting to set. It took a couple minutes before I heard Filly's hoof beats following me.

I had barely spoken to Shean since the night before. We had restocked our supplies in silence while Relakk was in another part of the town getting supplies that we'd need for some of the magikk he needed to teach us or something.

We rode out just a little after nine. I let Switchfoot follow Filly and Shade and studied the map of the area surrounding the Syulikhung Mountains. We were definitely getting closer. By late tomorrow morning, we should reach the first obstacle: a bramble hedge that surrounded the whole mountain range, providing no place where we could get through easily, at least nothing that was indicated on the map.

"Relakk, what can we do about this? There's no way around it or through it as far as I can see," I complained, dismounting and pointing out the barrier. The other two dismounted too, following suit.

"Hm, that does put a damper on our quest. But no worries, Val, we'll find a way. Are you still interested in a sword Tool?" I nodded. "Well, Tools usually work better when they're made by their user or when their user puts some of their magikk into them while they are being made, but I think I can make a makeshift Tool for you out of your sword for now," Relakk offered. I grinned.

"That would be great."

"All right, then, give me your sword. I want you to hold it by the hilt with one hand and rest the flat edge between your thumb and your fingers."

I did as he instructed.

"Now, close your eyes. I want you to try to channel your magikk into the sword while I open the sword and bind the magikk there. You may feel very slightly drained, but you'll be back up in less than an hour."

I closed my eyes and let my magikk slowly flow out of me and into the sword. I lost track of time: it could have been a minute that I stood there with my sword in my hands, or it could have been five hours. I finally felt a hand prying my fingers open and I looked up to see Shean's impassive face looking at me as he pulled the sword hilt from me. I took a deep breath as I let it go.

"What was the point of that if it works better if it was made by me or at least had magikk put in it by me while it was made, Relakk?"

"Well, now you can put magikk into the sword without any effort, and with the extra strength, it can cut through the brambles," he explained as Shean handed me my sword and I put it away.

"Ah." I now felt a bit weak and started to sink to the ground after putting my sword back in its scabbard, but Shean caught me and gave me a boost onto Switchfoot's saddle. "Let's just make for that village that's on the map right near the hedge and see what we can do about it in the morning," I suggested as I tried not to nod off.

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A/N: Okay, first off, I'd like to apologize for being so darn late (again). I've gotten really busy with my job, and I may get a second job, too. I've been working on outlining a screenplay and I was cast in a fantasy audio drama called Weapons & Warfare (http/www . freewebs . com/ coteaudioproductions/ weaponswarfare . htm, just without the spaces). I've been trying to save up for the movie I'm working on the aforementioned screenplay for and come up with a sponsorship plan so that I can get funding so I can actually get good equipment and stuff. So, as you can see, I've finally gotten something resembling a life, as I said before. So don't worry: if I don't update for a couple weeks, I didn't die, I just got EXTRA busy, that's all.

Just a quick poll in bold: If I started a free monthly or bi-monthly newsletter for Fast Forward/writing/reading (like fantasy and YA fic and stuff), would anyone be interested in subscribing to it? If there's enough interest, I may do it.

Okay, on to the comments:

maria deluca – First: thank you, I'm EXTREMELY flattered that you'd like to 'kill' and/or 'maim' me and really, REALLY flattered that you've been skipping homework to read this. Just try to keep in mind that I have homework too, even if I don't have to do school twice since I'm homeschooled, but I do have a bit of a life, too, as I said in my above Author's Note. I can't write constantly, and even if I could, I don't always have ideas to continue the story. However, I do have one that will keep me going for at least a while, and comments like yours always make me try harder. So tell all your friends about the story and tell them to review it, and I may just post a new chapter sooner. ;)

watrfairie – Thanks for the review. I love you. You're so reliable for reviews! huggles

e-anaid – Yes, I'm a Christian, as you may be able to tell from some of the stuff in the story. In fact, at the moment, I'm working on outlining a Christian screenplay that I'm rather proud of. Thanks for the review.

Twist130 – Okay, so maybe this isn't 'soon', but it's an update, right? ;)

pussycat doll – Don't worry, I don't think I could stop writing if I wanted to.