A/N: So, the past two weeks have been pretty event-rich, so I've been struggling to squeeze adequate writing time in, hence the delay. From now on, I think updates will come in more like every ten days or so, rather than every week.

CHAPTER 4

The Lion Lair

"C'mon 'Lena," Nate grumbled, pressing Call button for the umpteenth time.

Continuous long tone played on his exposed nerves; hope, hanging by a thin thread, fluttered each time there was pause between beeps. Nate grunted as the call rolled to voicemail, and paced anxiously about the cabin, brightly illuminated by surgically white ceiling light.

Green duffle bag lay on the side of a messy unmade bed, the few items Nate managed to unpack in the short days after his return to the ship, were ready to be packed back in again.

After another unsuccessful attempt, thrown angrily in the air, the phone made a brisk arch and landed safely by the pillow, which halted its perilous flight toward the wall behind.

Nate tiredly rubbed the bridge of his nose. The feeling that something like this was going to happen, had been haunting him ever since he met that guy at the airport. Why didn't he just go back home right away?!

Nate still harbored hope that Elena had simply fallen asleep with her phone in a different room. It was a simple explanation - believable and highly probable, but...by now, several hours later, she had to have woken up and called back! And if she didn't it only meant that…

The phone rang and Nate lunged toward it, but, seeing the caller ID, felt a pang of disappointment.

"Hey Sam, did you get there already?"

"I did, just pulled in - her car is here and I don't see any other vehicles other than your truck" his brother's voice came from the other end, "the gate was left open though."

"Maybe she just didn't tie it up- hey I don't think we hid a spare key anywhere just yet, in case she doesn't answer the door."

"When did I ever need a key?" came Sam's smug reply, accompanied by a sound of a car door being shut, "well let's see here...," Sam continued and Nate heard loud gravel-crunching steps, "the door is closed, but not locked," sound of door being open, "all right, got a room stacked full of shit, didn't you guys move in like two months ago?"

"Yeah well, been a bit preoccupied working, you know," Nate answered impatiently, "Sam, c'mon, I need you to concentrate."

"Okay, okay- sheesh- she probably just left for a little moonlit walk on the beach" Sam muttered in response and called out, "Elena?"

There was silence, interrupted only by the sound of footsteps and Nate held his breath.

"Well, there is a half-empty bowl of popcorn in the living room," Sam finally spoke and there was loud crunching that followed, "good popcorn!" came in between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, Elena's got a bit of addiction when it comes to popcorn, all the more weird she'd leave it unfinished and suddenly decide to go for a walk, this doesn't sound like her."

Helping himself to remaining popcorn, Sam continued his investigation until there was an abrupt pause in between the crunching and when he spoke again, something changed in his previously easy voice, which made Nate grow cold, "she's definitely not in the house and there is some…," Sam hesitated as if trying to pick the most tactful words, "disarray in the bedroom."

Nate covered his eyes, as his worst expectations materialized into reality.

"You there?" Sam's voice reached through avalanche of rushing emotions.

"Yeah," Nate responded weakly, trying to tame the crippling fear, "Yeah, I'm here. What kind of disarray?"

Sam sighed heavily.

"One of the bedside tables has its drawer pulled all the way out and stuff scattered around."

"Which drawer? One on the left?"

"Yep, that's the one."

"That's what I thought... it's where the gun was."

"Well I don't see it anywhere here now," Sam drew out thoughtfully, "hey Nate, what the hell is going on?"

Nate stared into nowhere as gears turned in his brain with lightning speed. At least it meant Elena would not be hurt. They needed her as leverage, so they needed her safe and sound. As comforting as that thought should have been, it provided little consolation.

Sam waited for his answer and Nate slowly sank down on the bed with another heavy sigh.
"So...I met this guy at the airport several days ago and he sort of tried to get me on a hunt for this one artifact - it sounded totally sketchy, so, of course, I said no. He didn't look dangerous, kind of nerdy and old, so I tried to shake it out of my head. But now...I had no idea he'd go as far as this..."

"Okay," Sam slowly said and it sounded as if the news made him sink down on the bed on the other side of the line, "So, you think that dude kidnapped Elena?"

"That's what it looks like."

"I wish you told me this right away, I would have taken it much more seriously. I just… thought you were overreacting, since you've been tense like a vibrator salesman at airport security lately."

If not for severity of the situation, Nate'd surely chuckle at the comparison, but at that moment he wasn't in the right state of mind to appreciate it.

"I see time spent with Sully laid its mark on you," he only commented.

"What can I say - a man is known by the company he keeps," Sam replied, but then his voice changed going back to the task at hand, "so...if they kidnapped Elena then..."

"Then all we need to do is wait," Nate confirmed and threw a bag with toiletries into his duffle, "They want me, so next step would be-"

Sudden vibration and intermittent tone filled his ear and cut him short mid-word.

"Hang on," Nate glanced at the display and seeing his wife's name, felt a rushing mixture of relief and fury.

"Hey Sam, got a call from 'Lena's number!"

"Speak of the devil- okay, I'll be here little brother."

Nate switched between the lines, finding himself holding a breath, "Hello?" he answered. He did not expect to hear Elena's voice on the other end and, sure enough, a soft male voice responded instead.

"Hello Nathan, this is James, we met at the airport couple days ago," followed the words as if the guy was calling to clarify details of an apple pie recipe, which pissed Nate off even more "pardon me using your wife's phone, but under the current circumstances..."

"Listen here, asshole," Nate snapped, "I thought I was pretty damn clear when I told you not to mess with me- if so much as a single hair falls off my wife's head, I'm gonna find you and your little boss-guy and you two are gonna regret the day you decided to get me involved in this against my will, did you get that right?!"

There was a pause filled with indistinguishable white noise in the background. Nate stood, burning a hole in something, or rather in someone, he could not see. A door opened and he turned around, his eyes dashing up at Hugh, who stood dumbfounded in the doorway.

"Hey mate, is everything okay?" He asked quietly and Nate shook his head and the look on his face must have convinced Hugh to shut the door and the Australian remained standing by, throwing worried looks Nate's way.

The man on the other end cleared his throat and said something off-the-line and the voice that responded was grumpy, comforting to Nate's ear and clearly Elena's.

"I think this would go far better if your wife is the one speaking, maybe that would set us up for collaboration," James finally said and before Nate could pinch in another cussing word...

"Nate!"

""Lena, oh thank God, are you okay?"

"I'm... I'm ok, these bastards here just showed up and barreled into the house, I tried to get the gun, but they got me, I- oh Nate," Elena voice broke for a moment, "I don't know what this is all about, he just said to tell you that you have to come to this place that he'll send you the address of and to not try and get cops involved."

Nate swallowed a heavy lump in his throat, "Okay honey, I know this is gonna sound crazy coming out of my mouth, but - just try to stay calm, don't try to escape or anything crazy like that, we can't afford it right now. Just stay put and I'll be there and we'll figure it out, okay? It will be all right."

There was a sigh and in it Nate sensed immeasurable exhaustion, tirade of unspoken words and tears buried under layers of concrete resolve.

"Nate, what is this all about again?"

"'Lena, I swear I have nothing to do with this, I-"

He was interrupted by James' low soft baritone, "Let's wrap this up now," there was shuffling sound and suddenly Elena's voice came through in galloping bursts.

"Nate, we crossed Lake Pontchartrain and heading north, the license plate number is T-R-N- hey!" her voice suddenly distanced and then abruptly stopped as if covered by something muffling any further sound.

"'Lena?" Nate screamed and paced about the room in an anxious, sporadic pattern.

There was another series of delicate diplomatic coughing.

"Nathan, as your lovely wife just mentioned, you will receive an address," James spoke into the phone in the same polite well-meaning tone, "Please don't tempt my employer with any unnecessary surprises – although a man of good values, he's been extremely impatient lately and I'm afraid he is capable of anything at this point. Please," he added, "I know we can still find a way to work together, this doesn't have to be hostile."

"Funny to hear that from a man who just kidnapped my wife!" Nate growled, but nothing seemed to phase the old man's subtle conduct.

"Nathan," he said tiredly, "I will see you soon."

Helpless, five hundred nautical miles away and unable to do anything but yell, Nate exploded and words enflamed by panic and encapsulating rage flowed freely out, like fireballs falling from the sky, burning everything in their way until there was nothing but blinding blurry white left in front of his eyes. He stopped, blinking it off, and belatedly realized James was long gone; the call was dropped; and he had been talking to himself all along with only Hugh's indistinct figure in his peripheral view.

Nate shot a quick wounded glance at the Australian, who looked away just as quickly as Nate did.

Suddenly, another voice came from the phone and Nate remembered of Sam waiting on the other line.

"Nathan, hey, Nathan, calm down, okay? I'm here with you, just tell me what they said?" Sam said soothingly, but firmly, as if speaking to his little brother of ten years old and capable to solve all of his little problems, which was hardly true back then and definitely far from reality now almost thirty years later.

Nate took a deep breath, his jaw set in a tight line and tried to tuck the loose impeding emotions as far and as deeply in as he could. His phone dinged with a new message and Nate saw the promised address sent from Elena's phone. She'll be there and he'll sort this mess out like he promised her. He had been in situations far worse than this and somehow came out on top, or at least alive. Why would this go any other way?

"Sam," he finally said – surprised at how calm his voice came out, "It looks like I'm gonna have to disturb your vacation plans."

Night traffic blinked and flashed and mixed into one continues vibrant line of light behind the tinted windows of the polished black sedan, the occupants of which remained surrounded by tense, crackling silence. This silence had not been interrupted ever since the abductors dropped the call and the abductee was granted the ability to talk again.

No hand covered Elena's mouth anymore, but after profusely expressing exactly what she thought about the three men surrounding her - down to their mothers and the distant cousins twice removed – the adrenaline concentration in her blood plummeted and Elena found herself in deep brooding, as the buried emotions surfaced and finally caught up with her.

In the spacious leather backseat, Elena was stuck between the James guy and one of his sidekicks, whose nervous glances kept skidding her way as if she would attempt a car escape out of the two blocked doors on either side of them. She wasn't that reckless. To be fair, back in the day, she would strongly consider such possibility, but... not now.

With nasty aftertaste of stranger's hand on her lips, mixing with overpowering smell of leather, Elena stared at the dark road in front of her, which was now empty and desolate, except for two beams of headlights cutting their way through the night. For abductors these guys sure didn't seem to care whether she knew where they were going. Elena was not sure if it was a simple novice mistake on their part or if it was related to the fact that she had no source of communication to share her latest whereabouts through anyway. And then she wondered at what point in her life did she suddenly turn into such an expert on the matters of criminal mind psychology? Was it before or after she got married to Nathan Drake? Regardless, this line of thinking was definitely in big part due to her husband's influence. Nate...

While not at all being a damsel-in-distress kind of girl, but, unfortunately, finding herself in that position in the current light of things; realizing there was little wiggle room to change it, Elena knew she was married to just the right kind of guy to get them both out of this safe and sound just like he did many times before.

... even if he - Elena couldn't shake that feeling - might had, in part, been responsible for getting her in this mess to begin with. Because suspicious pursuers as much as sudden explosions and tanks barreling through tight city streets - all of the aforementioned had her husband's name written all over (if she learned anything from all those years they'd been together).

The driver fumbled over the dashboard and music poured out of the speakers filling the silence of the salon with casual saxophone jazz and he hummed along to the tune, apparently starting to relax and get used to Elena's presence. He and the other sidekick seemed to be in their early to mid-twenties - both bearing Middle Eastern features and, when they spoke to each other, their speech reminded Elena of the trip to Turkey she, Nate and Sully took many years ago and during which Nate proposed marriage.

James – the older man with basset hound eyes - seemed to hold no more than a gram or two of authority in the group - when he gave orders, the other two seemed to obey not out of respect or fear, but in the way which suggested they were told to do so by someone else with more power and influence. Unlike his slim and fit companions and despite his height and broadness of shoulders, he appeared frail and a bit drab - the qualities which seemed to radiate from within and convinced his body to act the part. There was a tattoo on the back of his wrist - an hourglass, full on top, with letters C and M on either side of it - and when James noticed her gaze, he pulled the sleeve of his grey overshirt over it.

Elena kept observing the little details in the appearance of her captors, trying to secure them in her memory in case she needed to describe them to police if it came to that. She doubted she would, as much as she doubted any of those details and/or body parts would survive the meeting with Nate.

"It's not gonna be long now," James said with a soft encouraging smile, but Elena ignored his words and he looked away into the window on his side of the car.

The black sedan turned onto a smaller road, dark masses of trees hovering on either side of it. They drove for good ten minutes until Elena noticed bright white light trying to escape through the leaves. Soon the even smooth surface of the road became rough and bumpy and the driver slowed down. The light approached and as they drove toward tall metal fencing in the distance, suddenly burst into a brightly-lit open field within.

The driver rolled the window down when they reached a booth by the gate and shared brief words with a balding man in it. Elena shifted on the leather seat, but the sidekick on the left lazily shuffled a gun in his hand, discouraging her from further actions. Electric gate opened and the car pulled in. Behind bouts of saxophone, Elena heard the loud sound of chopper blades slicing through the air, so it didn't come as a surprise to her when, after passing rows of small planes, they stopped next to another helicopter.

"Dinner and warm bed are not that far ahead now," James expressed another friendly attempt at initiating a conversation, as he got out of the car and offered Elena a helping hand.

"So accommodating as kidnappers go," Elena left him hanging and climbed out, stepping onto pressed grass of the landing pad. Sidekick who used to seat on the other side of Elena (she called him sidekick#1) giggled and his tanned charismatic face lit up for a short moment, twisting the big old scratch Elena's nails left on his cheek during the scuffle earlier. She aimed for the eyes and now felt almost ashamed seeing how young, bright and innocent they looked. Whatever kind of kidnappers were these three polite Santa's little helpers?

"Right this way lady," sidekick#2 extended his arms in the direction of the chopper and, escorted by the trio, Elena followed inside.

Thirty-six hours later.

Remote road in the heart of the Smoky Mountains.

Sunshine fell softly over a quiet forest meadow drowned in vibrant shades of green. It streamed through the light smoky haze of vapor, dancing on every leaf, reflecting through the prism of myriads of dewdrops and glaring brightly off of the spits and rapids of a bubbling river cascading down the mountain. A lone serpentine road wrapped around the curve of a mountain - the only hint of occasional human presence in the heart of this ancient mountain range. Birds peacefully glided from tree to tree, adding melodic chirping to the overall idyllic atmosphere of a picturesque morning scene.

The sky was clear. There was a sound of distant thunder in the air. It steadily approached. A graceful young buck raised its head of intricately curved antlers from the river stream. Alerted by the noise, the deer froze in place, watching the road.

Just as quickly as it emerged, the sound of thunder turned from distant to deafening, as silver UTV sped down to the apex of a hill and descended down with an angry rumble of the motor, forcing birds to soar up above the treetops and the buck to prance away into the thicket.

The vehicle shook upon landing as suspension stabilized its contact with the road, before revving up a storm as it started climbing up yet another steep ascend.

"Heck yeah baby! Don't you just love these things?" Samuel Drake cheered, gripping the steering wheel tightly in his hands and shooting a sideways look at his brother occupying the passenger seat.

Sullen and short, for the most part, after two separate flights reunited them in the small local airport, Nate raised his eyes, which briefly sparked with excitement and gave a rare smile.
"Yeah, that was pretty damn cool," he had to admit.

His eyes went back down to his phone and he dialed the number one more time. Expecting another series of long tones, Nate was met with a quick drop of call and vanished reception bars.

"Dammit, where the hell is Sully when he's needed most? Must be sitting around some smoke-filled bar, trying to flirt bra off some waitress," Nate grumbled.

"Not a bad way to pass the time," Sam smirked not taking his eyes off the snaking road.

"Well the reception is gone, let's see if we can make this thing work," Nate tapped on the monitor mounted to the dashboard and typed in the address from his phone, "Well, I gotta say you were right about insisting on getting the model with all bells and whistles, this baby works just fine with no internet or reception attached, " he patted Sam on the shoulder as the address popped up in the navigation system.

"Buy cheap, buy twice," Sam shrugged, "and you're one stubborn mule counting every penny - embarrassing stuff," he shook his head.

"Hey, that's what happens when you've got bills to pay."

"Hey, that's what happens when you get too attached to cute little blond girls and let them tie you down," Sam countered with a wink and they shared a chuckle.

Nate watched the miles decrease on GPS screen as they cut down on distance toward their destination.

"Speaking of cute girls," Sam took his phone out of the pocket of his blue jeans and, glancing cautiously at the road, tapped away before offering the phone to Nate, "check out my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Nate chuckled incredulously, "That's a pretty high rank there. It's not Elena's sister, is it?" he added suspiciously, taking the phone.

"Nah, that was just... well, you know," Sam grinned.

"Yeah-yeah, I think I do."

"We still chat every once in a while, but nothing serious."

"Good, cause we're already related," Nate jabbed and looked at the picture of a petite smiling girl with light brown hair and appetizing cleavage before he passed the phone back to Sam, "pretty girl, she's over eighteen, right?"

"Aaah - age is just a number," Sam brushed it off with a devilish expression.

"Yeah, and prison cell is just four walls," Nate shook his head and gave his brother a look full of sarcasm.

"Oh c'mon Goodie Two-Shoes, of course she's over eighteen."

They approached a fork in the road and Sam guided the UTV down a small stone bridge and onto an even smaller side road that led deeper into the woods and higher up the fern covered slopes.

"So... why won't we just try to get her out of there the good old way?" Sam asked, seeing as his brother began closing up inward again, "thought you said the guy looked harmless?"

"Yeah, I did but- if I learned anything in this business is that sometimes still waters run deep and I'm just not willing to risk Elena's life off of assumptions that it may go well. Maybe I would back in the day but-," Nate hesitated.

"The baby?" Sam raised his brow.

"Yeah... the baby."

There was pause as wheels rolled over asphalt and wind rustled leaves, while the river whispered somewhere in the distance.

"So...," Sam finally disturbed the silence, "about this whole baby thing-"

He didn't finish, as hugging another curve of the treacherous road, the UTV suddenly faced a wide monumental gate, towering above them. Its wrought iron loops laced in intricate patterns; roaring lions - one on each side - guarded the entrance, rearing their bodies up and clawing at the air.

Sam whistled, "Well meow there kitty-kitty."

"Talk about grand entryway," Nate chuckled and, as they approached the gate, pointed at something in the distance, "look out, the butler is coming."

"Yeah, with a whole procession of servants by the looks of it," Sam frowned, swerving the vehicle to the left side of the road and coming to a complete stop.

On the other side of the gate, in the blurry haze of intensifying heat, several ATVs drove toward them. They sprawled outward in the shape of pointing arrow and the gate creaked as it began to open.

At the ready, two Drake brothers shared a look and instinctively their hands clung closer to the guns, securely holstered on their belts. Just in case.

They watched and waited and... stared in confusion as the roaring pack nonchalantly flew right past them and quickly disappeared behind the corner, leaving subsiding noise behind.

"Well that's strange - were we supposed to hold a sign or something?" Sam threw a guess in the air.

As Nate was about to answer, they heard more revving and noticed another ATV heading in their direction. This time, when it neared the gate, it slowed down to stop in front of them.

"Nathan Drake?" asked a young middle eastern man with a long scratch down his tan cheek, looking suspiciously at the two of them and then lifting his chin up at Sam, "who's that?"

"A bat in a hat," Sam muttered.

"My brother," Nate said firmly, "and if your big boss guy wants me, then he's coming too."
The guy measured them with a long look, after which seemingly conceded and, with a turn of the handle, turned his ATV back to life, "Follow me."

Down the straight impeccably paved road, lined with candles of cypress trees and a narrow line of trimmed grass that slowly rose and mixed up with the woods beyond, they followed their guide to another curve, which suddenly revealed an imposing white brick colonial-style mansion on top of the hill ahead. It stood above the clearing like a giant observing its domain. The river, which accompanied them along the way, widened into a raging gurgling current of unstoppable force, losing its temper as it broke off a cliff a small distance behind and above the house.

As they climbed up the slope, the road split into two, with a large garage hiding in the small section of flowering trees and bushes down the road on the left. But they took the other road, which kept leading straight and morphed into a giant circular driveway with a grand fountain in the middle, spewing water out of the roaring jaws of yet more lion figures.

A man, standing at the foot of the stairs, and apparently playing the role of a valley, took the keys of their UTV, as the young guy with a scratched face, led them up towards the dark brown double doors, which reflected the sun with the shiny stained glass incased within the wood.

"Don't scratch it," Nate told the valley before ascending the steps. He and Sam shared a tense look as they passed a set of lofty white columns and walked through the doors, held open by their convoyer.

They walked into the spacious hall – bright and sparkling with polished taupe of the marble floor - wings of curved stairs led to the second floor, but the guy extending his arm to the side.

"Right this way," the man said and passing several corridors, they stood before another set of double doors where he briefly knocked and, after hearing a muffled "come in", pulled on the handle.

The door opened into a big, equally bright room, the right wall of which consisted fully of floor to ceiling French windows with doors, leading outside toward the river. A line of couches and armchairs, drowning in pillows, formed a U shape in front of an impressive stone fireplace on the left.

Two men were sitting in armchairs, separated by a small table - the older one, which Nate recognized as James, tapped his foot on the ornate freckled rug and, as the guests stepped over the threshold, held Nate's gaze for only a moment, before it dashed over to Sam's figure and shirked away to investigate the entangled patterns of the rug. The second one lounged leisurely, as the door opened, he, without a hurry, put a glass of whiskey down on the table and every move of his stout body spoke of power and dominance. All those lions, which escorted them down the length of the estate, instantly came to mind and suddenly made somewhat of sense other than simply being used as pretentious pieces of decor.

Nate looked around, but no soft surface in the room hid Elena in its embrace.

"Gentlemen," the man greeted them with a slight nod of his head and deep low voice filled the room, "please have a seat," he gestured at the couch in front of him.

Weary of unnecessary pleasantries, Nate measured the host with a squint of his blue eyes, "Hospitable as kidnappers go, huh?" Nate made his way toward the couch as Sam followed behind.

Black eyes slid over the older Drake brother with curiosity and he raised a heavy stare at the man with a scratched face.

"He insisted that his brother is present," the guy shrugged and hurriedly added, "Abbas, there's some news, I need to-"

"Now-now Emir, let us leave all that for later. Mr. Drake and I have a lot to discuss and I don't want anything else to cloud my mind during this conversation. It can wait."

"But it's about-"

"Emir," Abbas put more pressure into his voice and, although with great struggle, Emir pursed his lips, closed the door behind him and took a sit in the armchair by the French doors.

"Now," Abbas picked up a glass of whiskey again and looked attentively at the two men in front of him, "My name is Abbas Zorlu and I am the man responsible for your presence here today. I would offer you gentlemen both handshakes and a selection of drinks before we begin, but I have a feeling you won't be inclined to either."

"Some Macallan whiskey would be-," Sam started but was outvoiced by his brother who leaned forward on the couch.

"You got that right, asshole," Nate's nostrils flared and the whole profile of his face tightened, "Where is my wife?"

Emir shuffled uncomfortably in his armchair with evident concern, but Abbas' expression stayed unmoved and only a flare of fire flickered in the embers of his eyes.

"Your wife is safe and sound Nathan and she will stay that way for as long as we manage to find amicable terms of cooperation," Abbas threw a brief look at Emir with a sudden humor surfacing in his voice, "She is the one who graced my nephew there with his first battle wound – one fiery woman," he chuckled with approval.

"Where is sh-,"

"Nathan," Abbas thundered, shaking his head and Nate found himself gritting his teeth, "I am sorry we have to meet under such forcing circumstances, I really am, but I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice. It is a matter of life and death and I will not let another month go by in fruitless search. Let me be clear – I have no intentions of hurting your wife, I am a man of peace. However, someone very dear to me will die if the artifact is not found. From what I've heard of you – finding ancient civilizations and artifacts is just another boring old Monday for you. I need your assistance and if you refuse to cooperate I will have to apply more pressure, however unpleasant that may be for both of us," Abbas finished ominously.

Two swords of steel clashed as the two men stared each other down. Nate wondered what would happen if he took his gun out and ended the problem at its source. Then combination of logic and fear made him scrap the idea - what orders did Abbas put in place in the case of something like that happening? Where was Elena? Why weren't he and Sam stripped off their guns as soon as they arrived at the estate?

His silence spoke louder than words and Abbas sat back in his chair, "The Hourglass," he spoke importantly, "did my friend James fill you in on enough detail when you first met or do I need to recap?"

Another long pause fell as Nate was torn between contradicting emotions. Any idea of escape met with inevitable checkmate. Finally he came to an unfavorable conclusion and a decision formed – it was not satisfying, it filled his heart with rage and indignation at being so shamelessly manipulated, but it was the safest of all options, so…it was the one he went with.

"My brother doesn't know all the details," Nate said gravely in the end, "What was it about Hyperborea again?"

A/N: Well, I know I've been dropping hints and clues here and there, but enough beating around the bush! I promise, in the next chapter we're finally going to learn what's so special about this Hourglass and the whole story surrounding it ;-)