-
CHAPTER 6

Moving on.

Ilye was looking down, and hadn't even noticed Jace slowing down to walk side-by-side with her.
"Ilye?"
She jumped "Huh?"
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost?" Jace asked.
"It's nothing, just not feeling well, I guess." She lied.
Jace shrugged, before adding "You're not half bad, y'know? I'm surprised you beat us to the shrine room back at Ruina Temple. I'm sure glad ya' did, Iris and I would've never heard you battling and probably would've gotten lost." Jace laughed "The way that Temple messes with your mind is awful. Though, next time, don't be so reckless! You could've been killed falling down that hole..."
"Sorry, I guess I got ahead of myself back there..." Ilye smirked.

The group was back in Yuriko Village, which was the hidden home of most of Termina's keatons. Silver Keaton was leading them into the Spirit Tree. But as they went on, Ilye eventually stopped... She slowly broke away from everyone and sat outside the tree on a root. She sighed and looked out toward the village. Looking up, she noticed the Twilight was no where to be seen, but it still baffled her as to how she ran into that Twili Beast back at Ruina Temple, in the light realm. "I'm so stupid..." She scolded herself. She reached in a small pouch on her side, and pulled out an object wrapped in a cloth.

Iris began to walk back out, as Jace and Keaton Elder had, unsurprisingly, began to fuss over Jace's supposed immaturity... The Elder expected Jace to bring his flame back, but alas, Jace didn't have the flame, which the argument started with the Keaton Elder yelling "You clumsy twit, you lost it!?", and Jace was sure he'd try and win this argument...
"Skits, I don't understand men sometimes... Always having that need to best each other..." Iris shook her head. Skits, being a male himself, didn't quite understand females, but shrugged anyway to keep from starting something with Iris. Iris twitched a leaf when she heard the sound of Ilye talking and had only just realized Ilye disappeared. So she walked out, and looked out on a root, and saw Ilye looking at the cloth in her hands. She smiled "Ilye, what're you doing out here?"
Ilye looked down at Iris. "Where's everyone else?"
"... They'll be out soon." Iris answered plainly, looking inside the tree. Ilye climbed down and brushed herself off, waiting for the boys as Iris was.

Iris cocked her head to the side a little. "What's that you got?"
Ilye looked down into her hands at the cloth and replied "Oh, it's nothing… It's all I have left of my home to be honest. I keep it with me for luck. It was a gift from my parents a long time ago, I miss them a lot." she held it out to Iris. It was a beautiful but mangled looking blue stone. It could be compared to a Moon's Tear, but Iris could tell it was of a different type of ore or stone…
Iris looked over it in awe. "Oooh, that's so pretty! I've never seen something like that before." she only paused, before adding "I just wonder how they got their hands on something so unique?"

The two continued to visit about the lovely stone. Before long, Jace and Silver Keaton came walking out. Jace was holding his head painfully and groaning.
The keaton shook his head "You foolish deku, you should know not to get in an argument with a keaton."
"The old coot didn't even let me explain! Try don't argue with crusty old dogs, the old man would probably forget he has nine tails if they weren't attached!" With that, a sharp headache hit Jace massively and he exclaimed in pain.
"You know he can still hear you, right?"
"I DO NOW!" He yelled into the tree. "It wasn't even my fault! All this over a dumb flame! I think he just hates me."
Iris chuckled and rolled her eyes at this. She patted Jace's back sarcastically soon after, "Oh poor, poor Jace… C'mon, let's go before you start a fight you can't win."
Jace gave a gruff "Hmpf!" as he fixed his vest.
Keaton gave a little mischievous laugh before turning to Ilye and Iris. "Well, with that done, I think it's best you all set out to Snowhead. The next vessel will be found there... The North Spirit, Hokubu. Twilight will surely be targeting the other regions of Termina."
Iris threw her arms in the air. "Since Minami, I just knew this was gonna be another one of those travel the country trips."
Keaton continued. "Y'see, our Light Spirits vanished from the open world long ago. Safe to say, without them, Termina is an easy victim to the dark. They need to have their vessels returned to them so they can return to power and bring true heavenly light back to Termina. This land is a cursed one, whether you can tell or not. The Twilight will be no more when the spirits are awakened once again. I must warn you though, the search for them will be perilous. But as Minami has said, Termina is in danger. If the others aren't found soon, Termina will surely meet its end..."

With a small smirk, Jace crossed his arms- sounding smug in tone. "We were born for perilous journeys! I think Iris, Ilye, and I can handle a rushed roadtrip for the sake of all humanity."
Iris simply groaned with her face in her palm. Personally, she'd have rather Keaton leave out the "Termina will end" part… Having first-hand experience of the Twilight Realm, it's something she clearly wanted to avoid. He didn't have to state it for them to know.
Deep down, even Jace was scared of the Twilight, but it wasn't in his nature to let such things show. But it regularly flashed in his mind what would happen had they not been rescued by Minami. Luckily, it was partly his adventurous and danger-loving nature, and other part his fear and concern, that made him so willing to begin with.

Keaton knew this was actually burdening on the couple, whether Jace admitted or not. He could read minds, he knew how much they just wanted peace at the moment. But he didn't burst Jace's positive resolve. That resolve was just the attitude they needed right now anyway. He just feared the fact that both Ilye and Jace were teamed… Because they both are very much alike in terms of leaping before they think. The wise fox took a deep breath before replying. "I'd help, but I need to stay and guard Yuriko- seeing as it's one of the few safest places in Termina. It'd be the first the Twili would attempt to attack again."
"We understand." Jace answered as he walked to his fiancé. "First, we need to make a quick stop to the house, so we can really get set up for this journey... We're not exactly fully equipped. But uh... Since Minami just dropped us off here in the South Wildlands, I have no idea which way is home..." Jace chuckled nervously.
Before Keaton could speak, Ilye answered. "Oh! I know my way around the Wildlands!"
"You've got yourself a guide." Keaton added.
"Well then, Ilye, lead the way." Jace smiled.
Ilye gave a deku grin, delighted at being at the reins "Gladly!"
Iris smiled at Jace, having a little more trust in Ilye. Skits flew up to land on Iris' head and awaited their leave. Keaton watched as his old friends set off into the Floreana Provence once more. But as they walked away, he called out to them, sounding hopeful in tone through his telepathic ways.
"Stay strong and keep your heads high! This journey will be one for growth. Stay together and stay strong."

The walk back was long and the night continued on as the moon only rose higher into the sky upon the hours. Before long, Jace yawned and looked to the sky to check the time. "Sure wish I could go home and sleep, haha..."
Iris looked to his tired eyes, agreeing inwardly. "We can't…" Jace only gave a nod, knowing quite well that they couldn't. Iris held his hand and smiled at him. "I'm sure somewhere down the road we can catch some sleep."
The blond deku responded. "Y'know… Why is Termina always in a pickle? I'm all for a good world savin', but some times are just the worst." he said lowly, as if saving the world was a normal thing. Iris only shook her head before looking onward.

Ilye looked back at them, curious questions on her mind. "Hey, off topic, but… When exactly were you two planning on getting married?"
"Not exactly sure... But I WAS hoping soon." Jace responded.
Iris added, "I'm not exactly sure myself… Haven't even had time to plan."
Jace scoffed and sighed. "If we get that chance."

Ilye seemed to have a lot on her mind before answering, yet again off topic. "Well, we're almost back to the swamp forest, so it isn't much more of a walk."

Jace sighed in relief. Iris was relieved as well… Her legs were hurting, she need to sit down. She enjoyed walking through the forest at night however. The moonlight leaked through the branches of sky-scraping trees upon them, which was nice. The wind howled through the leaves, shaking them with the soothing lulls and howls of night. She looked at Jace smiling, but noticed he wasn't exactly paying attention to the sounds and views of the night. He was pretty driven to get where they were going, too driven to realize Iris was even looking at him.
Ilye looked back, almost as if the silence was killing her. She glanced at Jace, then ahead again. "Y'know? I think when we reach Termina Field after getting the things we need, we should camp out... I mean, I'm sure it'd be better to get to Snowhead in the morning anyway."
The blond lad didn't seem to like that idea. He began in protest- "But, the Twilight-"
"It's not going anywhere, and we have plenty enough time. We need our sleep for any danger we may find in Snowhead. I don't know if you know, Jace, but where we're going is far beyond where you've ever traveled in Snowhead. We're going beyond Snowhead to be exact, to a very dangerous and deathly cold place. And first thing's first- we have to find the Vessel Guardian for Hokubu, then we have to actually FIND Hokubu. There's a lot to be done."
"And how do you know all this…? How would you know where I have and haven't gone?" Jace asked, crossing his arms.
Her eyes widened a slight and she looked over him. "Well... Keaton told me."
Jace shrugged with cut eyes. "Whatever you say... I'm sure he would've told us something important like that first."
"Guess he forgot..." Ilye turned to look ahead.
"Keaton doesn't forget, believe me... But anyway, we should probably keep going, we'll make it." Jace replied for surely.

With time, they arrived at the swamp forest, and by here, Jace began leading till they reached the clearing where his home sat underground. Ilye broke away from Iris, Jace, and Skits to look around the clearing at the many training boards with sword slits and scuffs on them. She smiled and wowed under her breath, "These must be old..."

Inside, Jace was quick to grab his olive green-hilted sword and strap it around himself. Iris had a special sword of her own that had been lighter. It looked much like Jace's but was paled to a more yellow color rather than green. She switched her new sword with her old one, mainly for comfort reasons. She figured Jace would be better off using that new one in the future.
Jace left the den and headed to the storage room, with an "I'll be right back.". Iris nodded, and sat on the edge of the couch to rest her legs.

In the storage room, it was pretty much everything Jace ever needed or used on long travels. It had lots of shelves, trunks, and a few different weapons along the walls. Jace grabbed the twin to his dagger and held onto them till he was able to get his bag. They had hanging belts that he could hang on his belt, but he never wore them…
Jace then dug through a trunk of items and tools, before something he saw sparked his memory... He reached down, and pulled out his old rucksack that he'd used three years ago when he'd met Iris. It was so torn up and worn, it wouldn't hold much anymore... But he loved looking back on those memories of young love and adventure. They still had that young love, as they were only just now entering that state of marriage, but the puppy-dog love that they had after Iris stayed was something he never wanted to forget. It still didn't amount to what they have now. They were a little older and a tad bit wiser, and much, much closer. But the roughhousing, sarcastic part of the relationship hasn't changed.

He sat the rucksack back into the trunk and grabbed his new rucksack and began putting items in it, including his daggers. Two small blankets and air-compressed sleeping mats if needed- air compressed for storage reasons. He looked over and stood up straight. He reached up on the wall, grabbing the hookshot off a nail on the wall, as well as his old rope. He looked up and down for anything they may need and would grab it if he deemed it important. And then for once, he remembered his canteen. Of all things deku scrubs need, it's some water... But he realized he wouldn't be using it much in Snowhead, because the water would probably be frozen anyway... But he took it anyway for future needs.

The blond deku boy grabbed three pairs of thick warm gloves for Snowhead, and slipped a pair on after taking off and putting his fingerless gloves in the rucksack. And with one final preparation, he walked over to a tall closet and reached in, pulling out at least three thick pelt coats, as well as some thick pelt pants. Considering he himself wore some pretty thin animal pelt pants, they weren't going to keep him warm in several days of harsh, deku-killing cold weather... And walking around with an open vest without a shirt like it's Summer Vacation at Great Bay would've been down-right dumb. He stuffed the clothes into the rucksack, and finally, looked into the room's mirror and situated his vest, tightened his belt and gloves, and redid his ponytail before finally walking out of the room.

"Well, hey there, hot-stuff." Iris joked, "Took ya' long enough. You spent most of your time just fixing up your clothes, didn't you?"
Jace stifled a laugh and answered with, "Pfft- Haha, gotta keep up appearances, right?"
Iris rolled her eyes with a smile. "If you say so. Let's go, Ilye's out there waiting on us."
Jace dipped his head in reply and the couple began out. Jace began for the doorway, but stopped and looked back momentarily. He sighed at the sight of his once again empty house. He truly just wanted a bit more time home.

He walked out into the cool night air and closed up the door way to their home, then turned to see Ilye sitting on the hammock a ways off. "C'mon, Ilye, we're heading out." Jace called out.
Ilye groaned as she sat up, before jumping down and walking to Jace and Iris. Skits flew out of a tree and landed on Iris' head.
Ilye smiled "Let's go! I'm so excited!"
"Never seen another deku so excited to walk into the coldest parts of Termina." Jace chuckled "I like your attitude." He began on toward the Deku Village with Iris, Skits, and Ilye following behind.
Iris walked up next to him and smiled. "Like old times."
"Yeah, you could say that. Of course, that was back when you hated me." He responded, before adding "I knew from the start you were crazy about me."
Iris' spirit-lit orbs glanced at the blond boy, seeing that so-sure-of-himself smile, a smile only another deku would notice. She smirked back. "Only after I realized you weren't a complete boob."
Ilye glanced at Jace and Iris' swords, before saying. "Hey Iris, did you change swords?"
Iris spoke up, "I just changed swords cause that new one was a little too heavy for me, haha."

It was hours passed midnight when they arrived in Termina Field. Ilye was a little overwhelmed by the field. Poor thing couldn't stay calm.
"It's so bare, I mean, you can see all the way to Snowhead, and look! You can see Stone Tower in the East!"
"I thought you'd seen Termina Field before, Ilye?" Iris asked "You act like you've never been here..."
Ilye paused and chuckled. "W-Well. I... Was a little younger when I last saw it. I must've not been able to see all this..."
"Uhh-huhh... Well, don't get too caught up in the sights, cause we're passing straight through and going North." Jace added. "Thanks to the keaton's explanative advice," Jace paused, having a sarcastic tone on explanative "I have no idea where we're supposed to find the next vessel, or this Hokubu guy."
"Maybe the gorons will know? You could always ask Darmorn, babe." Iris suggested.
Jace answered with interest "I guess we could. There's a chance he may know something." Jace paused, before looking at Iris. "You just called me babe"
"And?"
Jace laughed "So used to hearing idiot…"

Ilye looked out as she saw the tall walls of Clocktown and its town's lights. She wasn't really paying much mind to Iris and Jace changing subjects. She wanted to explore a little, but the task ahead kept her on track.
"Anyway... So, Ilye, do you happen to know who Darmorn is?" Jace asked.
"Yeah, he's the leader of the goron clan."
Jace added. "Have you and him met before?"
Ilye shook her head no, "Nah, I've only heard of him. I've wanted to meet him, though! I heard he's an excellent blacksmith!"
"You bet he is! He makes all of our weapons. And he's made weapons for many famous fighters, as well. He even made the legendary-"
"Iron-edge sword!" They both said at the same time. It didn't take them long to get into a conversation on weaponry and some of its history. Their shared interests kept them going on and on. During this, Iris and Skits simply walked behind them. The Hyrulean-gone-Terminan rolled her eyes with a smirk. "You'd think they were related, huh, Skits? Ugh, this is gonna be a long trip."
Skits nonchalantly waved a wing at them, before sticking his tongue out.

About half the way, Ilye and Jace conversed about several different things. Iris pretty much just remained silent aside from throwing in occasional "Yeah"'s and "Uh-huh"'s.
They all reached a bridge that crossed over the large canyon-like wall that separated Snowhead's mountain feet from Termina Field.
"What were the dragalfos like, Jace? Were they like the lizalfos?"
"No, they were much stronger." Jace laughed.
Iris added in, "They were still pretty dumb, though... Almost everything they did that was smart were orders from Majora. If they improvised a plan, it'd cause them to end up failing."
"And what about that Majora guy? Who was he?" Ilye asked with intrigue.
The blond boy answered. "Well... He was no dragalfos... He was a… Demon of some kind."
Iris shuddered at the memories. "He was terrible... He possessed Jace before he was defeated for good, and he almost had Jace kill me. Long story short, he was an old demon who was desperate for revenge on the world he wanted to destroy, and Jace and I got dragged into it."
"Wow." Ilye uttered. "Amazing..."
The blond boy looked to Ilye with an oncoming question in mind. "... I've got a few things I've been wondering about you, though... How do you know so much about the Twilight? And don't say Keaton, there's gotta be some personal experience that you had to deal with for you to know so much."
"Well... Like Keaton said before, they attacked my village and took it over. I had to fight a few Twili myself, but my only chance of survival was to find help..."
"Wait... Keaton mentioned you had to save your family. Why didn't you bring them with you?" Jace asked.
Ilye looked ahead for a moment, before glancing at Jace, Iris, and Skits. Her eyes fell to the ground upon some thought. "Well... Truth is... There is no chance to save them. They got killed by the Twili. The whole village was fighting them off, but my father and mother died before they could act. I was the only person left of my family. It was my fault. I wandered off when the attack happened to… Do something for a friend." She rubbed her head lightly. "A-anyway. But, I'm going to make things right... I'm going to help you guys stop the Twilight. I know it'd make my father and mother proud." She gazed hopefully at Jace and Iris, feeling inspired by them. "I'm going to prove I could be a hero in their eyes, just like you guys were to the Deku Kingdom. I know my father and mother are watching me, so I'm going to do my best. I wanted to make them proud."
Jace smiled. Though, he was deeply curious as to why Keaton would lie, saying Ilye needed to save her family… Maybe he knew that Ilye didn't want to talk about it at the time- being personal and painful information and all. But he greatly admired her drive. "Well... I can tell you, if I were them, I'd be extremely proud."
Iris nodded, "We'll help you the best we can, Ilye. We're all in it together. Twilight will fall, one way or another."
The wildlands girl seemed very touched by their words. "Thank you."
Iris nodded. She soon held a look of concern. "... So, what of your friend? Were they taken in battle back home...?"
"Well… Kind of? He wasn't so lucky either. I wish to Hylia that I can turn all this around, maybe then-... Anyway, everything we were wont matter when all this is over."
Iris was a little confused on her mention of the Hylian Goddess, Hylia, considering Ilye was supposedly born in Termina, but ignored it for the moment.
Jace added solemnly. "Sounds to me like y'all were more than just friends... Did something happen between you two for y'all to be just friends?"
"Uh-... No, it's just that he's-... Well I... I-It's not important. It was complicated."
Iris nudged Jace in the arm. "... It's fine... Relationships don't always work out."
"I'm just saying, if something were to happen to me in-... During this journey, there wont be an us anyway. But if I succeed, there probably wont be an us after then either. There used to be an us, but..."
Jace and Iris were growing confused. They could tell Ilye was having a hard time, so didn't pry...
"Like I said, don't worry about it, it's not important." Ilye looked ahead, it growing a bit cold as they climbed higher on the mountain trail. Skits glanced at Iris, hoping for an explanation that'd make sense, but they just dropped the subject where it was, realizing it was only hard on Ilye. And it wasn't really anyone else' business anyway...

Jace cleared his throat before reaching in his rucksack to pull out three folded coats. "Here. Put these on, we're getting higher onto the mountain."
Ilye nodded and took a coat and put it on. Iris put hers on as well. Jace put his on and began to lead everyone on up the mountain. Skits' beak began chattering, and he flew up and hid in Iris' hood.
Quiet time passed and they moved on through the cold. Jace was starting to wonder if he should've taken Ilye's advice on camping out and moving on in the morning... The weather was starting to look bad. The wind howled around the four and snow was being blown in their faces. "Honey, are you alright?" Jace called towards Iris as she shivered. Her warm spirit-lit eyes were closed slightly, for they were burning from the wind.
"Jace, I'm freezing..." Iris muttered. "We need to stop somewhere..." she coughed. A jolt of concern struck Jace when she coughed. The mountainous region of Termina never usually got so cold before they reached the mountain village, but they never traveled it at night, either.
"I agree." Ilye called back, "It's too dangerous to move on in this weather in the dark..."
Iris slowed down and covered her face.
"Iris, sweetheart, we need to keep moving... C'mon, there's gotta be a place to stay somewhere around here..." Jace gently folded his arms around Iris and kept her moving. Over the three years Jace had lived with Iris, he's learned that she's not well-adaptive to harshly-cold weather. Harsh, harsh cold can do a larger number on her than most. And this weather was bad enough that it was starting to make Iris weak.
"Ilye, are you alright?" Jace asked.
"I'm fine. Is Iris gonna be okay?"
Jace held her close to him. "She's never really been able to handle the cold like us. I wasn't expecting things to get this bad."
Ilye thought for a moment. "Jace, there's a cavern a ways from here, follow me!"
Jace nodded. "C'mon, Iris..."
They followed Ilye, and sure enough, Ilye uncovered a large cavern under a mid-sized rock. Ilye had Jace help her roll it out of the way. Jace lead Iris down there, and Ilye followed close behind.
"How'd you know this was here, Ilye?" Jace asked.
"The stone covering it looked a bit strange, like there was a hole under it… Or something." She answered quickly and took off her coat.
Not even really hearing Ilye, Jace had Iris sit down next to the wall "Iris; You, Ilye, and Skits stay here and keep warm. I'll be back with some fire wood, goodness willing it'll actually start a spark..."

Jace went out in a hurry.
Since she no longer needed it, Ilye gave Iris her coat. "Here, let me put this over you."
"Thank you." Iris thanked lowly.
"You're welcome." Ilye spoke.

It took Jace quite a while, but he returned with some wood. "Sorry it took so long... It's kinda hard to find firewood in a blizzard..."
"It's fine." Ilye answered. She took the wood from Jace and laid it in the middle of the room.
"Now to start a fire..." Jace muttered.
Ilye stopped him "Don't worry about it. I got it."
Jace looked puzzled when Ilye stood over the firewood, making strange gestures with her hands. "... Ilye, what're you doing?"
Iris watched with curiosity as well.
She remained silent. She stood over the firewood, before leaning down and placing her hands over the wood. She mumbled some small words, and her hands started glowing purple faintly. Jace, Iris, and Skits jumped in shock when a strange colored fire engulfed the wood, which had sparked from Ilye's hands. "Whoo!" she cried out, falling on her butt in front of it. Her leaves drooped tiredly and she sighed. "Wipes me out… But, ta-da! Fire! Completely safe to be near." She smiled proudly.
"How did you-!?" Jace couldn't believe his eyes. He stared at it in awe- Ilye just poofed a fire out of her hands!
Ilye laid down by it. "It's a… Special kind of magic taught to me by Keaton. Unfortunately, it's the only thing I know with magic, and wipes me plum out… I'm not fully built to be a magic user, I just use it to keep warm. Not really enough to use in battle, but hey, makes for a nice campfire." She laughed. "A lot of practice and a good mentor is the only reason I know this."
"And it's… And it's safe…?" Iris muttered.
Ilye stuck her hand literally in the fire to move a piece of wood back into place. Jace and Iris looked at her like she was crazy and jolted in shock, their leaves standing on end. Ilye laughed at their response. "It's like the elder's foxfire, it can't burn you if you don't want it to."
The couple were just about on the verge of fainting at the sight in pure disbelief. The purple flame crackled and popped, keeping the room warm. But they didn't understand how it worked, exactly.

Time passed... Jace had set up sleeping quarters for everyone to sleep. Iris was still shivering, bundled warmly in the blanket and coats. Jace felt guilty for having rushed into the cold the way he did- he should've listened to Ilye. He'd laid down by Iris and shared his blanket with her, hoping to keep her warm. He pulled her to himself and snuggled close. Skits looked at him momentarily, before puffing up in a warm ball of feathers. Ilye had already laid down and was presumed to be asleep.
"Good night... Stay warm..." Jace spoke lovingly, close to Iris.
She smiled lightly. "Thank you... Good night..." She snuggled close to him.

Ilye simply lay with her eyes closed. She couldn't sleep, however. She opened her eyes to watch the light of the fire flicker on the walls. She laid there for a long time... Long enough for Jace and Iris to fall asleep. After clearing thoughts from her mind, she eventually drifted to sleep's embrace.

... Ilye opened her eyes to find herself standing in darkness. She looked around, not a soul was in sight. No Jace, no Iris, no Skits. She took a step, shadows moving around her legs. It gave her the creeps and she called out "Hello?"
"Welcome, maiden." called a very deep voice. Ilye trembled at the mighty, godly tone.
"Who is this!? Show yourself!" Ilye unsheathed her sword and pointed it into the black nothingness. "I'm no weakling, I can put up a fight! If you don't come out, I'll find you myself!"

"It is wise not to start a fight with a god." the voice thundered across the darkness. "If I show myself, you would only know me by one name."
Ilye became scared. A god? She continued to hold her sword up, looking for movement in every direction. When a light began shining from above, she looked up… She was in awe. The moon shone marvelously down straight upon her. She then glanced around now that the area was lit. Buildings and ruins sat crumbled to the ground around her. The dried and dead earth beneath her feet carried no life. She then screamed when she saw redead's arms bursting from the ground. Some were already standing around her. They stayed out of bounds of the light however, staring at her as if they wanted something. Ilye calmed down when noticing this- though, she was still internally shaken as they all stood tall and looked over her lifelessly. She looked back up, whispering under her breath. "The moon?"

"The moon… That is only one of my names… Another lost in time would be Lunerius." the voice thundered again. "Follow my light… At this place. When the South, North, and West lights have awakened, find me here."

"B-but, I know not what you're talking about! Meet you where!? Who are you!? Show your true form to me, please!"
The moon began to fade. "Search for me…"
Ilye then responded with a shout, "Where can I find you!?"

"Who are you...?! Why am I h-..." Ilye opened her eyes. She was back in the fire-lit cavern. She began to feel her face and gasped... She was breathing like she'd just run a mile... "That wasn't a dream... That couldn't have been a dream... It was too real... I didn't even sleep."

To Be Continued...