* 65 * 1/13/13

Lily was running. She didn't know where she was going, couldn't even see more than a few meters in front of her, but she kept running. She briefly thought of going to where she and Bishop had sat down to eat rabbit, but then realized that would be the first place he'd look for her.

She managed to run fairly quickly for a good half hour or so before her legs cried for a rest. She figured she was far enough away by now that perhaps even Bishop would be unsure of how to find her.

As if to punish her for taking a break, the clouds suddenly began raining down torrents of water. Lily was able to protect herself from some of it by hiding under the trees, but after only a few seconds, she felt chilled to the bone. Knowing it would take all her energy just to get back, the elf started searching around her for some kind of cave, or at least more thorough cover: enough rain was hitting her chilled skin that she began sneezing.

After searching for a mere ten minutes, Lily couldn't take it anymore. She sat down on the wet forest floor and began crying, overwhelmed by fear and confusion. She wished Casavir were here to protect her. She wished Grobnar were here to comfort her.

Lily's head shot up. Grobnar!

She pulled out her communication mirror from the tattered slacks underneath her robe. Grobnar had given it to her as a present in the Keep basement after she witnessed Casavir's kiss with Blooden. It enabled her to call on the gnome in case there came a time she ever felt sad or in need of someone.

And now was that time. Slowly gathering another ounce of strength, she cast a simple spell on the mirror, turning it on. Immediately she was shown the basement of the Keep, and...and Ounce! Ounce was sleeping on the table with the mirror!

"Hi, Ounce!" Lily couldn't help but muster a torn smile. She cried harder, was reminded of the warm, dry walls of the Keep and the soft fur of her cat.

Ounce opened an eye. Hearing Lily, he lifted himself to his feet and pawed at the mirror curiously. He meowed. Then he meowed again. This continued until Lily heard Grobnar's yawn.

"What is it, kitty?" Grobnar looked where Ounce was pawing. "The mirror!" He scrambled over to the mirror and faced it. Seeing the state of the weather outside – or, rather, not being able to see hardly anything at all, but hearing it – he shouted, "Lily! Where are you?"

Lily didn't even know how to start. "Grobnar, I'm in the woods and..." She sniffed. "And I don't know where I am and I'm tired and it's really cold here..." The gnome couldn't see it, but Lily's sobs punctuating her words made it obvious that she was bawling.

Grobnar took in a breath as he came to understand the severity of the situation. "Alright, um... Aha!" He went off-screen for just a moment or two before returning with a crumbled up paper. It was the map the Sages of Yes and No had given them to find the Wendersnaven. "Okay, can you see this, Lily?" He held the map up close to the mirror so she could read the writing and make out the drawings scribbled on it. Luckily for her, there was sufficient light on the other side, unlike her own.

"Yes, Grobnar, I can see it," she affirmed, regaining a little hope.

"Good, good. Okay, can you give me any clues at all about where you might be?"

"Um..." She thought for a second. "I ran away from the tavern and I think I kind of turned right after sneaking past the guards." She sniffed. "But, Grobnar, I've probably turned so many times since then and I don't know where I could be... It's been dark out this whole time."

"Alright. Well... How long did you run?"

"I'm not sure." Another sniff. "I think maybe...half an hour or so? An hour?"

"Good, that's not too long. You can't have gotten very far. If you accidentally turned around at one point then you might actually be closer than that." Grobnar looked over the map for a moment, trying to pinpoint something. He then held it up to the mirror again, trying to position it correctly in front of the small circle. "Can you see where I'm pointing, Lily?"

"Yes," she nodded, her hope building.

"That's where the Keep is. If you ran a bit right from the main gate, you'd end up somewhere over here," he gestured, moving the map along with his finger so she could see. "This map is kind of large so you're probably near this area." He pointed to a spot that didn't seem very far from the Keep at all, but when she compared that spot with the location of the Sea of Swords, she quickly changed her mind.

"Okay, that makes me feel a little better," she acknowledged, albeit still feeling daunted.

"But that's not all!" He took the map away from her view for another moment, looked at it, then put it back. "Look here," he said, pointing, "If you're around where I think you are, there are mountains right next to you. You might be able to find some cover."

Lily sniffled, her spirits sinking again. "But that's...those might take another half hour to find in the dark. I might even move away from them without knowing it."

Grobnar heard the hopelessness in her voice and his heart sank. For a second time since she'd known him, he took on a gentle but serious tone. "I'll be right with you as you move, Lily. This mirror won't shut off until you tell it to."

Lily looked into his kind eyes for awhile. He was being patient, but was obviously worried about her staying in the pouring rain in the dark of night. Emboldened by his worry, Lily got to her feet and started marching instinctively to her right. Hopefully she would be able to close the loop of her path at Crossroad Keep, or at least a cave.

As the minutes wore on, Lily's mind began faltering once more the more her legs whined. She hadn't eaten since morning, and her energy was running low fast. She had only an hour ago been mentally reawakened, but her supply of sleep was still low. Each droplet of the downpour now felt like a one-tonne weight.

"Keep going," Grobnar encouraged in a whisper, Ounce right beside him on the table. He noted that his encouragement began falling on deaf ears, however.

Worried, the gnome resolved to try and think of a different plan to keep her moving, or she might just stop.

The harsh, cold, unforgiving rain continued to pour.