I WAS LEANING up against one of the cliffs around Loch Storn, watching the shadows stretch longer and longer. We had been there for hours, waiting for the Wight Knight to show up. Cristine was sitting by the water's edge, dangling her bare feet in the clear loch. Her heels were lying in the grass next to her. Nick was fingering the beads on his rosary without really looking at them. Erik was standing across the way, leaning up against another cliff. His little blonde faerie friend – in her weird pink-light form – was next to him. She had been jabbering on most of the time we'd been at the loch. If she'd been paying attention at all, she would have noticed that Erik looked like he wanted to murder her. I couldn't blame him, honestly. She seemed very annoying.

Another half hour passed, and nothing happened. As the sky darkened and the first stars came out, I saw the faerie pop into her full form and say, "Huh! Still no sign of him! What sort of knight would stand a lady in the lurch like this? Why don't we go back to Stornway? We should go back and tell the king the Wight Knight didn't turn up."

She started to flutter away. I shifted, thinking Erik would probably walk out after her. Then she stopped. "…Why do I get the feeling if I turn around he'll be standing right there?" she murmured.

Then she glanced at the top of my cliff and went white as a sheet. "Y-Y-Y-Yikes!" she stammered. "I w-was only flapping j-joking!"

Erik and I both looked up. I gasped. The Wight Knight was seated on a black horse at the top of the cliff, looking down at us. I scrambled out to the middle of the clearing by the loch as he jumped the horse down. The others ran over to us. Cristine was still barefoot.

"Who are you?" demanded the knight, looking us over. "I have no business with you. Where is the Princess?"

When we didn't answer, he drew his sword and pointed it at us. "Release the Princess!" he cried. "Release my beautiful Princess!"

His faceplate slid up, and my heart stopped for a second. Glowing red eyes set into a weathered skull glared down at us from on top of the black horse. The faerie yelped and scrambled away.

Erik slid down to the ground and kicked one of the horse's legs out from underneath it. I had to admire his grace as we all moved out of the way. The horse buckled, almost making the Wight Knight fall off of his seat.

Nick bashed the knight in the head with his staff, dazing him enough that when he tried to stab back, he missed. Nick dashed out of the way, and Cristine and I moved in.

We each whipped up a flame and fanned them at knight and horse from opposite sides. We skipped back as each other's flames roared across, keeping ourselves from being burnt. The horse whinnied, terrified, and the knight roared in anger and pain. We had aimed well – only the knight had been hit by the flames.

The four of us moved in together, parrying the knight's attacks and landing blows of our own. The night-time air was full of the sounds of battle – shouts in attack and of pain, the noises of weapons colliding with skin and armour and other weapons, the terrified neighing of the horse. Erik proved himself extremely clever, fighting without a weapon but still causing a lot of damage.

Finally, the poor horse had had enough. It was a beautiful stallion, but it wasn't used to battle – the Wight Knight had taken it from the man who ran the weapons shop in Stornway. It reared wildly, clipping Cristine in the head with one of its hooves and throwing the knight off its back, and galloped away from the loch.

I moved to check on Cristine. She waved me off. "It's fine," she said. "Just a little bump. Worry about the Wight Knight!"

We all looked around to where he was picking himself up off the ground. But he didn't look like he was ready to jump back into the battle. His faceplate had slid back down during the battle, but it wasn't hard to see that he seemed utterly defeated.

"I don't understand," he murmured, looking at us. "Why would the Princess send you in her place? Why has my beloved Mona forsaken me? Does our promise no longer mean anything to her?" He sounded like he was almost ready to cry.

The faerie girl fluttered back over to us. "Any idea what he's on about, Erik?" she asked. Erik pursed his lips and looked at the faerie out of the corners of his eyes. She ignored the hint – or just plain didn't see it, I couldn't tell which – and kept chattering. "Who's this Mona? The princess in Stornway's called Simona, right? Not Mona. This knight's got a nail loose, if you ask me."

The Wight Knight's head snapped around to look at her. "Is, is that really true?" he asked. I blinked. He can see the faerie, too?

The faerie seemed even more shocked. "Yikes!" she yelped. "How come you can see me? You gave me a right flapping shock there!"

Ignoring her – probably the best choice – the knight looked around at us. "You have to tell me," he said. "Is the girl in the castle really not Princess Mona?"

Nick shook his head. "No," he said. "She's Simona."

The Wight Knight bowed his head. "Oh, woe is me!" he moaned. "So she wasn't my princess after all." He sighed. "Now you mention it," he murmured, "she wasn't wearing the royal necklace of Brigadoom…"

He raised his head, turning away to face the loch.

"…I was in a very deep sleep…" he said, probably to himself. "Then the earthquake happened, and I woke up in this strange land feeling as if I had been released from some kind of…prison… I'd completely lost my memory, so much so that I didn't even remember who I was any more. Then I saw that princess and it brought it all back to me. Memories of Mona and I."

He turned back to us. "I remembered that I am the Wight Knight. And I remembered that Mona is the princess of my homeland of Brigadoom. Princess Mona and I had sworn undying love for each other and were to be wed."

"So he went and confused Princess Simona for Princess Mona?" the faerie said. "Blimey! They must be the splitting imago of each other…"

Erik made a noise of assent. Nick and Cristine gave him odd looks, and then glanced at me. I shrugged.

"Hmm…" said the knight. "I must do the honourable thing. I must return to the castle and apologise for my mistake."

"Uh-oh," said the faerie. "I'd try and talk him down from that if I were you, Erik. It'll probably just make things worse."

The Wight Knight looked at her. "Make things worse? Yes, I fear you may be correct. Then perhaps you could take a message on my behalf?" He looked around at us. Four heads nodded.

"Tell them I won't go near the place again. I'm sure the real Princess Mona will be waiting for me back in Brigadoom. All I have to do now is find my way home."

He picked up his sword and slid it back into his sheath as he walked away.

We all looked at each other.

"Back to Stornway, then?" asked Nick. "I'm sure we can all use a night's sleep."

"I'll second that motion," Cristine said. We had fought well, but it hadn't saved us from getting battered. "They won't let us into the castle after dark anyway."

Erik was silent for a moment, looking us over. It was hard to tell in the dark, but I thought I saw his brows draw together like he was thinking about something. Then he shook his head like he was clearing his thoughts. "Very well," he said. "Let us go sleep."

And, true to form, he turned and headed off without waiting for the rest of us.

The next morning, we met in the common room for breakfast and then headed off to the castle. As we reached the top of the stairs before the throne room, I realised that another confrontation was preparing to happen.

"Mother, Father…" Simona said. "I've decided that I'm going to answer to the knight's demands."

We got to the door of the throne room and saw the queen put her head in her hands and sob, "Oh, no, Simona, please!" She sobbed again, her thin shoulders shaking.

Schott looked at her, seeming annoyed. "There's nothing to be crying over, you silly besom!" he said. "I'll never allow her to go! Ach, they'll be the death of me, these two…"

As his gaze drifted away, he spotted the four of us waiting in the doorway. Simona and the queen followed his gaze.

"Ah!" Schott said. "It's you! I've been waiting on the edge of my throne for you to come back. Hurry closer, now!"

We approached the throne and bowed. As we rose, Schott said, "It's good to see you back with us. So tell me, what news is there of the Wight Knight?"

Erik told the story shortly. "He lost his memory. He realised he had made a mistake in coming here – it was his belief that your daughter was his fiancée, Mona of Brigadoom. He left to find her. He will not be bothering you again."

Schott looked at Erik, and then at each of the rest of us. Then he stood up, expression thunderous. "And you believed him!?" he boomed. "Sounds like a ham-a-haddie to me. That blethering skite can't be trusted!"

"Father!" Simona exclaimed, indignant. "Why do you have such a low opinion of him? What did he ever do to you?"

Schott sat back down, folding his arms stubbornly. "Hmph!" he said. "I've never even heard of Brigadoom for one thing. That proves he must be lying."

He looked at us, and harrumphed again at the disbelieving expressions on our faces. "Here's the situation," he said in a voice that said don't you dare argue. "I'm sure that miscreant will be back here before long after my Simona again. So until you put a stop to him once and for all, you can forget about trying to collect any reward!"

Before any of the rest of us could object – I could see on their faces that I wasn't the only one who thought this whole thing was stupid – Simona said, "Why do you refuse to believe his story, Father? If he really is all on his own miles away from home, it must be terrible for him."

Schott looked at her, seeming pained. "Och, lassie," he said. "I'm doing all of this to protect you, you know. Do try to understand."

Simona looked like she was about to argue back, but then she stopped dead with an expression like she had just remembered something important. Without saying anything else to her father, she turned and sprinted past the guards and out of the throne room.

"Simona!" Schott yelled.

We hurried out before he could turn on us.

Outside the throne room, I heard Simona's voice. "Erik!" she said. "Nick, Cristine, Tammy."

We looked around and spotted her hovering beside the door.

"There's something I need to talk to you about," she said, forestalling our questions. "I don't want anyone to overhear. My room's through that door –" she pointed – "and to the east. Could we talk there? It's about Brigadoom."

"Of course," Erik said. We followed Simona out to her room.

When we got there, she closed the door behind us. "Sorry to ask you to come here like this," she said. "Father would just try to interfere if he overheard. You see, I have actually heard of Brigadoom."

"You have?" Cristine asked.

Simona nodded. "I remember it from a nursery rhyme one of the maids used to sing me when I was a wee girl. Maybe that song can give us a clue as to how we can help to fix all this!" Her pretty blue eyes were bright with excitement. "The maid's gone back to live in Zere now. It's a tiny village just to the west of Loch Storn." She smiled, and then sighed. "The Wight Knight isn't the evil character that Father thinks he is, I just know it. He needs help. Please do whatever you can."

"We will," Nick told her, touching her shoulder sympathetically. She blinked in thanks, and I thought for a second that I saw a tear. But it was gone a second later.

Then we slipped out of the castle and headed up north to Zere.

"This place really is tiny," Nick said as we approached the village. "I swear that tree is bigger than anything else here."

"Not quite," I said. "Close enough, though. They treat the thing like it's their Guardian." Cristine and I had been to Zere a few times to perform. They didn't have a lot of money to spare, but I loved performing there. The village was so tiny that anything new was wonderful. They always loved the acts.

At my words, Erik gave a soft snort.

"What's that for?" I asked, giving him a look.

"A tree as a Guardian?" he asked, raising his eyebrows disdainfully. "That is among the most idiotic things I have ever heard."

I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore him. If he wanted to be a prat about it, I wasn't going to stop him. What on earth is his problem, anyhow?

It wasn't hard to find Simona's old maid in a town so little. Less than five minutes later, we were knocking on her door. The conversation from inside paused and I heard a chair moving back. A moment later, the door was opened by a tall old woman with an aquiline nose.

"Och, we've company!" exclaimed the other old woman in the room, who was shorter and rounder than the other. "Welcome, welcome!"

"Erm, hello," Cristine said.

Erik got directly to the point. "One of you used to be the Princess Simona's maid, did you not?"

"Aye, that's right," said the tall woman. "I used to look after Princess Simona. Why do you ask?"

"We wanted to hear the rhyme you used to sing her," I explained. "The one about Brigadoom."

The old maid smiled. "Well, I can't deny a request like that now, can I?" She looked at the other woman. "You'll sing along with me, won't you, Petra?"

"The Right Knight ditty?" asked Petra. "Aye, I could sing that in my sleep."

They both turned to face us. Petra started it off.

"Giddy up, giddy up, and away he goes!"

"The Right Knight sets off on his steed, in search of evil he rides," continued the tall woman. "If he can defeat the terrible beast, he'll be home to wed his bride. The town is filled with laughter, preparing a feast fit for a queen,"

"Och!" sang Petra. "But then disaster, the Right Knight's nowhere to be seen!"

They alternated the two final lines.

"Bird, north, Brigadoomward on, tell her that her knight is gone,"

"Bird, north, Brigadoomward on, tell her that her knight is goooone!"

The old maid cleared her throat. "Well, that's the song, dearie," she said. "I hope it was to your likings. I hope you don't mind me asking, but why would you come all this way just to hear an old nursery rhyme?"

"We're looking for Brigadoom," Nick said.

The old maid nodded. "In that case, I'd pay attention to the part about the bird flying north. Why don't you try heading north yourselves and see what you can find?"

"We will," Cristine said. "Thank you. The song was pretty."

"Thank you, dear," Petra said. We left.

I pulled my map out of my bag. "North," I murmured, looking for Zere. "Okay, here we are." I put my finger on the little dot that represented the town. "But I don't see anything recorded north of here except Doomingale Forest."

"It is our only clue," Erik said. "I suggest we follow it. Perhaps your map is lacking."

I looked at him from under my brows. "There's no need to take a tone. I'm perfectly aware that this map may be missing a thing or two. But I'll be less likely to admit it if you're going to be rude every time something's not up to your standards."

"I am never rude," Erik said.

I folded up the map and put it back in my bag. "No," I agreed. "Just condescending. And disrespectful. And a prat. But rude? Never!"

He narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything, Nick stepped between us. "And onwards to the north we go," he said pointedly. "Come on. Let's not argue."

I crossed my arms and looked away from Erik. "All right," I said. "Let's go, then."

Cristine inserted herself next to Nick, distinctly adding another person between Erik and me. I threw her a look. She gave me one right back.

As we rounded the tree, I heard a scream.

"S-Somebody help me!"

A plump man sprinted into town, breathing heavily. The Wight Knight rode in after him.

"Aargh!" yelped the man. "We're done for! Help! Heelp!"

"Why do you run from me?" demanded the Wight Knight, sounding annoyed. "I just want to talk with you. I mean you no harm."

"Dinnae gie me that!" spluttered the man. "I saw that witch in the woods out lookin' for ye, so I did! I real piece o' work, she was, red eyes a-blazin' an' all! Asked me if I'd seen her slave the Wight Knight, so she did! That's you, I'd wager. Ye're her slave, are ye not?"

"Do I look like a witch's slave to you?" the Wight Knight asked, offended. "I've never heard anything so ridiculous!" He rolled his eyes hugely, making his whole head go with the motion, and then spotted us.

"It's Erik, is it not?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"We have been trying to find out more about Brigadoom," Erik replied.

"You really didn't need to go to such trouble on my account," said the Wight Knight, sounding a little embarrassed. He hesitated. "So…were you able to learn anything?"

"The Right Knight," Nick said simply. The knight looked at him, head cocked to the side.

"The Right Knight?" he asked. "Yes, that's what they called me back in Brigadoom. However did you find that out?"

"A song," I said. "It's mostly about you, but there are a couple lines about Brigadoom. 'Bird, north, Brigadoomward on' – that's all there was."

The Wight Knight looked away. "Surely not!" he exclaimed. "There's a song about me!? This is all very odd. Surely I'm not just the figment of a storyteller's imagination?"

He looked back at us. "'Bird, north, Brigadoomward on'?" he asked then. "That's the only clue there was in the song?

We nodded. He pulled the horse around. "Then I suppose there's nothing for it but to follow the bird's example. Northward ho!"

With that, he tapped his heels to the horse's sides and galloped off.

"Shoot," I muttered. "Now how do we catch up?"

We followed the horse's tracks up north, through Doomingale Forest. The place was creepy. The trees were growing so closely together that none of them could get enough light, so they were all stunted and wrapped around each other, competing for what little sunshine they could get. Pools of murky, acidic water lay in the shadows, burning my skin when a ram raider splashed through a pool next to me. A chilly wind, one of the dying gasps of winter, blew through the trees. It was bringing heavy clouds with it.

Even though we were able to follow directly after the Wight Knight, it still took us a while to find him. It felt like we'd been trekking through the forest for hours by the time we came into a clearing. The wind seemed to pick up as soon as we left the trees, and I could see a storm moving towards us.

The Wight Knight was sitting still on his horse, looking over what looked to me like the ruins of a castle. Slowly, we joined him.

"No!" the knight said. "This can't be Brigadoom. I don't understand. How can I have been away for so long that it's fallen into such disrepair?"

He was silent for a second. I shivered as I saw a flash of lightning in the storm clouds. The thunder came a few seconds later.

"And where is my beloved Mona?" whispered the Wight Knight. "Princess Mona! Mona!"

He spurred his horse on and galloped into the ruins, still crying out Mona's name. We ran after him.

The first few drops of rain were falling when we came across his horse, tethered at the base of a staircase. I led the way up, pulling my hood up over my head. He doesn't know, I thought sadly. He doesn't know he's a skeleton underneath that armour. He doesn't know that he and Brigadoom have been gone so long that they've all but faded from memory. He doesn't know that Mona's probably long dead… Almighty, it'll kill him. I don't know if I can help him. He's a good bloke. Help him, please. Do what we can't.

Down a flight of stairs and around a hallway, I spotted the Wight Knight going through a doorway. We hurried to catch up and peered around the doorframe.

The Wight Knight had his sword out and was facing someone sitting at the far end of the room. I couldn't see anything of her, but I knew she was there, because she was laughing.

"Ka ha ha!" she cackled. "Welcome home, ma love. I've been lookin' eve'rywhere for ye. Ye wernae hidin' from me, were ye, ye naughty boy?"

I leaned around, trying to catch a glimpse of the woman. All I could manage to see was a bony bluish arm. I snuck around, trying not to catch her eye. The others followed me into the room.

Then I saw her. She had long purplish hair, blue-and-purple bat wings, and bluish skin. Her eyes were red pits.

"…Morag!" snarled the Wight Knight. "Now I understand. Now I remember everything. I left Brigadoom in search of you, so that I could destroy you."

Morag rose and stepped towards the knight. "Ka ha ha! But it was I who defeated you, an' wrapped ye in mah sweet, sweet embrace… An' I had ye all tae maself there for a century or two, in oor own private wee world o' darkness. Ye're all mine, an' dinnae forget it. Ye're my Wight Knight in shinin' armour…"

She smiled down at him. The knight settled into a fighting stance. "Enough!" he cried. "This is all your doing! What have you done with her? Where is my Mona?"

He leapt at Morag, whose eyes flashed darkly. Blasts of dark light from each eye struck the knight mid-leap and sent him tumbling to the floor. The light looked eerily like what I'd seen the night of the earthquake.

The Wight Knight struggled to his feet as purple and black energy crackled around him. "Graaaagh!" he screamed.

"Ka ha ha!" laughed Morag. "Ye silly nyaff! The earthquake broke the spell I placed on ye, but there's nothing can stand in the way o' true love! I'll put another spell of ye, and we'll be all alone together in the darkness again before ye know it. Just the two of us…"

The knight was writhing, and I didn't need an expression or a scream for me to be able to tell that he was in pain. I strode up onto the carpet in front of Morag, glaring. The others joined me.

"An' who might ye be, hm?" Morag asked, regarding us thoughtfully. "Ye're not here tae steal mah beloved Wight Knight away from me, are ye? Ha! Well, ye're a fool if ye are. Can ye not feel the strength of the curse I've put on mah poor wee darling? It's pure dead powerful!"

I hadn't needed her to tell me that. I could feel the thing from five feet away, wrapping its stranglehold around the knight.

"Dinnae worry yer pretty wee heid if ye cannae, though," said Morag, leering at me banefully. "Ye'll find out soon enough for yourself! Ka ha ha!"

Her eyes flashed again. I heard shouts from the others, but all I had time to do was curl in on myself and pray I wouldn't die.

Then the curse hit me, and I screamed. Electricity arced through my veins and danced on my skin, flickering between utter black and blindingly white behind my eyelids. I could hear the others yelling my name, but it seemed distant. The pain of the curse was all I could think about.

I curled in even more, my nails digging into the bare skin of my arms. Let me go! I thought. Let me go, let me –

"LET ME GOOO!" I screamed, straightening and flinging my arms out. Suddenly the pain dissipated. The fingers of electricity hissed and crackled, fizzing out.

I stood there shaking, my mind blank from shock. What in the…?

Morag was staring at me in shock. "Wh-what…?" she said. "I've the cruellest, most crippling curses known tae mortalkind…how could they not work…?" She peered at me suspiciously. "Just what exactly are ye?"

Don't I wish I knew…

"If ye were mortal," Morag continued, "my curse couldnae have failed…" Then her eyes went wide. "…Wait, ye're not…one of them, are ye?"

I blinked. One of who?

"Ach, no!" cried Morag, not waiting for an answer. "We cannae be havin' this!" She readied her long-bladed knife. "Why couldn't ye just leave us in peace, eh? Now I'm goin' tae have to make yer pretty face a whole lot less lovely!"

She sprang at me.

"Cristine, pull her away!" snapped Erik, dodging in front of me and jabbing his elbow into Morag's stomach. Cristine grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. She looked me in the eyes, her thin brown eyebrows knotted up in concern.

"Are you okay, Tammy?" she asked quietly. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I admitted quietly. "And I have no idea what Morag was talking about, when she was saying things about not being 'mortal'."

Cristine looked at me for a moment longer, and then touched my shoulder. "Come on," she said. "Let's help the Wight Knight."

We joined Nick and Erik in the developing fight against Morag. Erik glanced at me sidelong as I flicked my whip into Morag's arm.

"May I ask why you are staring at me?" I whispered as I backed towards him.

He gave me a look. "I believe you know, insolent girl."

"Yeah, call me that again," I said. "You're not changing your reputation as a condescending, disrespectful prat, you know."

He snorted softly and returned to the battle.

When Morag's eyes gleamed, I knew something bad was about to happen. I ducked behind my shield, hoping it would be enough. When I glanced up, I realised that the others were paralysed. Oh, no…

Morag grinned at me. "Now it's just me and you, mah pretty," she said. "And ye'll not win out over mah curse twice, no matter what ye are!"

Before she could strike, though, I flung out my whip, catching her across the chest and sending her reeling back. She stumbled into the throne at the end of the room and fell over. Before she could stand back up, I fanned a jet of flames her direction. She collapsed onto the ground and leaned against the throne, breathing heavily.

"No…" she moaned, "ma Wight Knight…oor eternal world together…no more…" She lifted her head to look at the Wight Knight. He was still struggling against the curse, but it was obviously losing power. "But, ma love…" she said, "ye must ken that ye cannae turn back the centuries. Yer beloved Mona is no more… Ka…ha ha… Now ye're doomed tae walk alone in eternal despair… Ka ha ha ha ha…!"

Her head drooped, and she faded away into mist. There was a flutter of motion around me as her paralysing spell vanished. I turned to look at the Wight Knight. The curse binding him had disappeared, but he had fallen to his knees.

"Princess Mona!" he cried. "It can't be true!"

Slowly, he looked at us. "With your help," he said, "I finally returned to Brigadoom. And yet…the passing of time has destroyed my homeland. And my beloved Mona is no longer here to welcome me." He bowed his head. "I came home at last…but alas, I was too late…"

The end of my nose started to sting like it always did when I was about to cry. This had to be the absolute worst way for him to have found this out.

"You are not too late."

All of us looked towards the door, where the voice had come from. A slender girl with light brown hair and pretty blue eyes stood in the doorway. She was wearing a white dress and a golden necklace with a ruby pendant.

"That necklace!" said the Wight Knight.

Simona – or was it Mona? – walked into the room and stopped in front of the knight.

"Princess Mona!" he said. "I don't…aren't you…?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I made you a promise," she said. "I swore I would wait for you, no matter how long it took." Then she held out her hand. "My beloved Right Knight…take my hand and dance with me! The first dance we would have had as man and wife…"

Slowly, the Wight Knight stood. "Princess Mona…" he murmured, looking down at her, "you forgive me?"

The princess just smiled.

The knight took her hand and they pulled each other close. As they began to dance around the room, I moved to join the others. Cristine had started to hum.

"Sing," I whispered. "I'll join you."

So we started to sing a simple duet. Nick looked at us, and then back at the dancing couple. He began humming along with us. Then, to my shock, even Erik started humming quietly - out of tune, but it was definitely a hum.

Our song echoed around the room as the princess and the knight danced together, too elegant for the ruined throne room. Then, as they paused, the Wight Knight began to glow. They looked at each other. Cristine and I stopped singing.

"Thank you, Princess," said the Wight Knight. "I know now that you are not my Mona. But…without you, I would have been doomed to wander forever in eternal despair."

Simona smiled. "I knew you were the Right Knight from the old stories," she said. "I just knew it. I knew there was a connection between us the moment you appeared."

"It is not unbelievable that you, who inherited the memories of my beloved Mona, would have felt so…" the knight said.

Simona's eyes went wide. "So I am Princess Mona's…!" she whispered.

The knight turned to us, and I realised that his feet were above the floor.

"Thank you, all of you," he said. "Without you, I would never have uncovered the truth. Now I have no regrets. Only gratitude…"

I knew what was coming next. The glow from the Wight Knight grew until I couldn't bear to look at it any more, but I couldn't look away. When the light vanished, he was gone.

After a pause, Simona tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked at us. "I know I was supposed to have left it all up to you, but I couldn't help myself and I just had to come along," she said, smiling sheepishly. Then she paused. "It's really very odd. When I was dancing with him, I heard a voice… A woman's voice… She was saying 'thank you'…"

She sighed. "Anyway, I must hurry back to the castle and tell everyone the news," she said. "I'll be sure to have your reward ready for you, so do stop by the castle as soon as you can." She smiled at us, and then turned and left.

The city was different when we got back. The atmosphere, which had been so tense and worried since the earthquake, had relaxed. Something felt like it was building, but not in a bad way. It was like I could sense the gratitude in the air.

"Ah!" said Schott when we got to the throne room. "It's you! Good to see you! Simona's told me everything." He shifted uncomfortably. "Sounds like that Wight Knight was having a tough old time of it. I felt a wee bit guilty in hindsight. Still, all's well as ends well. You did a braw job there. I'm impressed! Aye, and you more than deserve that reward I promised. I'll have them open up the treasure chamber. You just help yourselves. Take it all if you want to. Just climb the stairs behind the throne and go outside. East from there you'll see the treasure chamber."

"Thank you, sir," said Erik. I was surprised to see how willingly he bowed with us.

"Crivvens!" exclaimed Schott then. "I almost forgot! I've opened up the eastern checkpoint again. It was closed while all that stramash with the knight was going on. There's a big town beyond the checkpoint. Could be an interesting place for you to visit on your travels."

Cristine smiled. The town beyond the checkpoint was Coffinwell, where she'd lived until the two of us had met and teamed up.

"Aye, well…" Schott said, looking around the room.

Simona smiled and bowed to us. Then Schott said, "I hope you have a safe journey. And maybe you'll stop in Stornway again sometime? You'll always be welcome here!"

We thanked him and headed upstairs. Inside the treasure chamber, though, we stopped. I stared around at the room full of gold and jewels and other treasures, taking it in. I'd done this to help people out, I thought, not to earn a reward.

"I can't do it," I said quietly, and laughed. "I can't take anything out of here."

All of us paused.

"No," Nick agreed. "I don't think we can take it."

So we turned around and left.

Outside of the castle gates, I looked around the city, and my eyes went wide. The gratitude that had been building up in the air was gone, but there were glowing bluish crystals lying everywhere. I could sense them. They felt like gratitude, like it had coalesced into these crystals. But none of the others seemed like they could see them.

The little glowing light that was the faerie girl expanded to her full size. "Nice one, Erik!" she cheered. "Looks like everyone here things you're the flea's knees now! See! Check it out! Benevolessence as far as the eye can see!"

Benevolessence. I had heard her talk about that before we'd gone off to fight the Wight Knight. Was that what these crystals were?

Erik looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"Oops!" said the faerie then, almost seeming a little flustered. "I forgot you can't see it. What a flapping idiot!" She smacked a hand to her face. Then she let it fall and said, "I'm sure the Almighty will notice what we've been up to now, anyway. We'll be back in the Observatory in no time, you'll see."

The Observatory…?

"We'd best flat-foot it back to the Starflight Express, then," the faerie continued. "Ready to rumble and roll, Erik?"

He nodded very slightly and then looked at the rest of us. "Go back to the Quester's Rest," he told us. "There is something I must attend to."

"What?" Cristine asked.

"It is of no importance," Erik said. "Go. And perhaps you ought to think of where it is you wish to go next. I may take some time. If I do, simply go on without me." He nodded to each of us. His eyes lingered on me half a second longer, and then he walked away. The faerie fluttered away next to him, saying, "Next stop, the Starflight Express!"

"Guys, go wherever," I said, watching Erik and the faerie leave. "I've got to go do something, too."

Cristine rolled her eyes. "Have fun, weirdo," she told me. "Nick, do you want to go back to the inn? Or shall we visit your father? He's back to work, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is," Nick said. "Come on."

The two of them turned around and headed back inside the castle. Nick's father was the corporal of Schott's guards, and he had been injured fighting against the Wight Knight.

I headed down the road out of town. Erik had paused by the gate, waiting for the faerie. She was darting around, grabbing the crystals – benevolessence – and bringing them back to him so he could put them in his bag. Then the two of them left. I followed at a distance.

Outside of the city, they turned west and headed for the mountain pass leading to Angel Falls. I pulled my cloak over my shoulders. The wind was blowing from the north, and far off I could see the edge of the clouds that had brought the storm to Brigadoom. If the wind didn't change, Stornway would be seeing some rain soon.

I followed Erik and the faerie through the pass and down the road. As we came around a curve, I stopped, my eyes wide.

A gold train was sitting in the clearing.

What on earth!?

"Hang on a minute!" exclaimed the faerie. "The Starflight looks exactly the flapping same! I was sure we'd have given it a new release of life by now. If the Almighty had noticed all our good work and decided to help out, it'd be all glowing… I can't have gotten the wrong end of the gearstick on this one, can I?"

"That is always a possibility, Stella," Erik said. He folded his arms. "This is rather disappointing."

Stella didn't seem to be paying him any mind. "No, of course not!" she said. "What am I saying? Come on, I'm sure it'll perk up once we get inside."

She fluttered up the stairs and into the train. Erik mounted the stairs but paused in the doorway. I moved around so that I could see better. The inside of the train was a bit dark.

"I don't believe it!" said Stella then. I could see her looking around inside. "It all looks exactly the flapping same! And after we went to all that trouble…has the Almighty decided to turn a blind ear on us or something?"

Erik sighed and stepped inside. The instant he did, there was a muted flash from the bag with the benevolessence, and the whole train lurched a bit.

"Yikes!" Stella yelped. I could see around Erik enough to see that her skinny little arms and legs were flailing wildly. I wished I could see his expression. "What was that? The whole thing moved when you came in just then…" She froze mid-flail. "When you came in! That's it! That's it, Erik! The benevolessence you got from helping that knight has given you back some of your Celestrian powers!"

My breath caught. I'd only heard that word the day we'd gotten to Stornway, when I'd spoken to Cygnus. Erik is a Guardian!?

It explained a lot, if it was true. Why he acted so weird, why he seemed to look down on everyone and everything, just like Cygnus had looked down on me… Almighty!

Stella had crossed her arms, a smug grin on her face. "It looks like my first instinct didn't stink after all! The Starflight will fly if she has a Celestrian on board!" Then she turned away. "But first you need to help people so you can get your powers back…" she murmured. "Get back all of your powers, and we'll have the old girl flying like a dream again!" She turned back to Erik, a triumphant look on her face. I shrank into the shadows behind a tree. "We'd better flat-foot it over to that town beyond the checkpoint. I bet it's cram-packed with people in need of our help!"

I didn't hear the rest of what she said, though, because I turned and ran back towards the pass and Stornway. Safely back inside the city, I slumped down against one of the walls, breathing heavily, my head in my hands.

Of all the strange situations I'd managed to get myself and Cristine into before, whether because of my freakish ability to see things no one else could or just out of stupid decisions, this was the strangest. Travelling with a faerie no one else could see except for our companion, the wingless, visible Celestrian and me…nothing else came close.

And travelling with them had already led into more freakish situations. Already we'd met a knight whose body had died centuries ago and the evil witch who had imprisoned him. There was a lot more world to travel through, and lots more benevolessence for them to find.

What new surprises lay in wait for us when Erik and Stella returned?


Wow, okay...I was expecting this chapter to take a lot longer, honestly! But I was a little obsessive over it this weekend, I guess. Which is probably a good thing - the way my schedule's been recently, I probably won't get a chance to get on a computer that can access this site until next Saturday!

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying Song of the Souls so far. I know I'm having fun writing it!

May all the bodies of the heavens watch over you!