Return to Aurora

The group trekked through the Blackmoor Mountains for the rest of the day, led mostly by Ginger as they bypassed New Zeplich in case they were being followed. Dust still hadn't regained consciousness, and so Sanjin, Taka and Kim took it in turns carrying him, Ginger still recovering from her stint in captivity.

"We were so close…" Ash mumbled, clutching her magic tome as close to her as she could as well as wrapping a shivering Fidget into her shawl. "We almost had it…"

"We can't dwell on it, Ashelin," Sanjin sighed mournfully. "We must press onwards." Fidget poked her head out into the evening blizzard, looking worriedly at the lifeless form on her friend slung over Sanjin's shoulders.

"Any sign of life?" she squeaked quietly.

"Not a peep," Jarin shook his head, trailing slightly behind the Moonblood engineer. Not for the first time since they'd entered the mountains, Taka shot a confused glare at the young marquess.

"You could have stayed out of all of this," she pointed out. "Why did you come with us?"

"Aren't you the Marky of Ivydale? Or whatever it's called?" Fidget remembered. Jarin spat into the snow and tensed visibly, in the growing blizzard.

"If being a marquess means following that monster…" he spat, referring to the king. "Then that's not what I want." He stood firm, hugging his coat around him as much as he could. "We discussed this. I'm helping you with this whether you like it or not. I wasn't able to help Dust this time but Overseers be damned if I can't do something now."

By this point, no one was particularly opposed to Jarin accompanying the team. He'd proven himself as good a shot as Kim with his bow, so the additional offensive and defensive support was welcomed now that Dust was out of action. To Taka and Fidget's relief, he'd also stopped acting so stuck up for the most part — clearly witnessing such tragedy at Everdawn Basin had had a profound impact on the boy, but Taka and Fidget's relief was short-lived in the knowledge that a boy not yet fifteen had already witnessed such horror in his life.

As the blizzard grew worse, the others began asking Ginger if they could find a cave to wait out the storm, but she seemed insistent that she knew where she was going.

"If they're looking for us, they won't think of looking here!" she shouted over the growing storm. Ash squinted through the snow and could make out shadows which vaguely resembled buildings. "We can rest here for the night and then make our way to Aurora tomorrow!"

Slowly, something that looked vaguely like a village came into sight, but through the blizzard it quickly became apparent that the village itself had not been lived in for quite some time. Nearly all of the houses were completely destroyed.

"Isn't this…?" Kim asked. Sanjin recognised the area.

"This is Zeplich Village," he realised. Of course Ginger would lead the team here. Destroyed sixteen years ago, it was the likely the last place that the Royal Army would think to look. There were bad memories here for Ginger, Sanjin knew that, but it was at least some form of sanctuary. Ginger brought the team to a house near the centre of town, one that looked remarkably intact save for a few broken windows and a ransacked interior.

"Well, it's more stable than your cottage on the Plains," Kim muttered to Taka who would have smacked him if she hadn't been boarding up the windows to keep out the cold.

"Is this where you used to live?" Ash asked as Ginger dug out some old, moth-eaten blankets, bringing them upstairs. The young Moonblood also summoned tiny flickering balls of flame, providing light and a small source of warmth.

"Yes," Ginger confirmed. "This is where my family lived before Zeplich was destroyed," she remembered. She called for everyone to come upstairs where she'd begun arranging old cushions and mattresses. The dresser in her room was still there, along with a faded photograph of herself as a younger Warmblood, in happier times, with her brother smiling at her side, waving at the camera. Sanjin brought Dust into the room where he and Ginger carefully lay him down on one of the mattresses, propping his head up on a pillow and covering him with the thickest blanket they could find. As the others entered the room, Fidget squirmed out of Ash's shawl and settled down right next to Dust's face, her face etched with concern as she tried shaking him awake.

"Come on, Dust…" she muttered. "Wake up, please…you're scaring the lot of us!" Ginger sat down at her son's side, gently brushing the matted strands of hair out of his face.

"He didn't deserve this," she whispered angrily. " I never wanted this for him…"

"No one did, Ginger," Sanjin reassured. "We're going to find a way to help him. I promise." As Ginger swallowed her tears, Taka offered to take watch downstairs along with Sanjin. Kim also joined them, leaving Ash and Jarin upstairs to keep Ginger and Fidget company.

"What happened out there?" Jarin asked.

"Wouldn't we all like to know?" Ash mumbled.

"The King has an artefact called the Eye of the Life Thread," Ginger explained. "Using it, he was able to summon forth the souls of the dead…and take control of Dust."

"So…he could take control of any of us at any point?" Jarin wondered nervously.

"No," Ginger shook her head. "The…the Elder told me a bit about it, years ago. He'd come to check on Dust as he sometimes did and was warning me about what might happen if…" She broke off. She was about to continue when something interrupted her.

"Master…? Master…please…answer me…" a softer voice sounded. Fidget yelped in shock when she noticed that the Blade of Ahrah, being held by Jarin, had blinked back to life ("AH! Talking sword!"). The runes, however, were faint and flickering weakly.

"Ahrah!" she cried. "When did you wake up?"

"Moments ago," the sword replied as Jarin recovered from the shock. "I have been trying to contact Dust, but he will not answer."

"How?" Ash asked.

"My power is linked to Dust's very being," Ahrah explained. "But he is silent…I cannot even reach out to his soul. It is as if it is not even there…"

"No…" Ginger whispered pleadingly. She squeezed Dust's hand, but no response came. "Come on, Scamp…wake up…"

"Elder Grey-Eyes said that Lady Tethys will be able to help," Fidget said. "Do we even have any idea what's wrong with him?"

"As soon as Cassius' name was spoken, his soul awakened within Dust…I felt his pain when we confronted King Julius," Ahrah explained, its voice wavering with concern. "When Dust fell under the Eye's control, I lost contact with him. I was unaware of all that happened until he was suddenly brought back to his senses."

"Was that when Ginger called out that name?" Jarin frowned. "Jin?"

"It must have been," Ahrah surmised. "Dust fought the power of the Life Thread itself…I could feel his struggle. All of a sudden…he went quiet, as if he vanished."

"The Eye can't remove souls, can it?" Ash wondered nervously.

"No magic save that of Elysium itself can remove a soul from a living body," the Blade of Ahrah said. "No…whatever happened to silence Dust's soul likely originated from Dust himself. He most likely acted in self-defence, to protect his soul from once again being controlled against his will."

"Can someone do that?" Fidget blinked.

"I could not say," Ahrah said. "There are powers that even I do not have explanations for. As Elder Grey-Eyes said…our best chance to help Dust is to seek out Lady Tethys."

"Hopefully she hasn't moved since the last we saw her," Fidget gulped. "I know we were told to head to the Cirromon Caverns but she is a deity and all."

"Lady Tethys is the Guardian Deity of the Waters of Life, right?" Ash remembered.

"There's a mouthful," Jarin mumbled.

"Well, those waters originate in the Caverns, don't they?" Ash pointed out, ignoring Jarin's comment. "If she controls the waters I don't see much of a reason for her to move." Fidget admitted that the girl had a fair point.

"This blizzard should have passed by the morning," Ginger said quietly. "Get some rest," she instructed. "We'll travel to Aurora tomorrow."

Ginger hummed a gentle lullaby to try lulling the younger party members to sleep, as well as an attempt to sooth her own wracked nerves, never for a moment taking her eyes of her son.

"Don't give up on us, sweetheart," she whispered. "Hang in there."

Dawn broke with a pink-orange glow over the ruins of Zeplich Village. Snow half-buried the long destroyed huts and shacks, leaving little evidence to any passerby that a village had ever stood there at all. A shuffling noise sounded from near the centre of the ruined settlement as the snow was cleared in front of one of the houses, as Taka and Sanjin began leading the effort to leave the village and head back to Aurora.

"Doesn't Ash had a spell that could make this faster?" Jarin chattered.

"That's Ashelin to you," Ash snapped. She didn't feel like she knew this kid well enough for him to call her 'Ash' yet — Dust was a special case. "And I'm still recovering from yesterday. I can only manage small spells at a time." Jared muttered something about the girl making excuses but Fidget hovering nearby with lightning flickering threateningly at her paw-tips made sure that he didn't raise his voice to an audible level.

"If you want to get moving faster, Rich-Kid," Taka huffed. "You can pull your weight and help us out."

"I gave up my title! Stop calling me 'Rich Kid'!" Jarin protested.

"Would you rather I call you 'Brat'?" Taka suggested snidely. Jarin shut up. "Right. You going to help, or what? Shovels are right there." Grumbling under his breath, Jarin grabbed a shovel and began helping out. In the house, Ginger finished tending to Kim's wounds from the day before.

"Just be sure to tell me if it starts flaring up again," she said calmly, tying a bandaged around the young Moonblood's midriff where a small gash had been torn. It wasn't serious enough to be deadly, but had drained Kim's strength significantly the previous day.

"Thanks, Ginger," Kim nodded in gratitude. He glanced at Dust, who hadn't moved on the mattress. The only indication that he was still alive was the steady rising and falling of his chest. "The kid's lucky to have you as a mother," he noted sympathetically.

"I did my best," Ginger sighed. "But there were just some things I couldn't protect him from."

"He's a strong kid," Kim reassured. "He'll pull through. You'll see." Ginger smiled in thanks for the reassurance — she had only gotten to know Kim over the last few years but she knew the pain of losing family, just like he did. The two had bonded over that, and now Ginger couldn't help but see Kim as a second son, and she had no doubt that after Kim had gotten over his previously-held grudge towards Sen-Mithrarin he'd become the big brother that Dust had never had.

Once the all clear had been given in terms of the snow clear up, the group set off, heading south back down the mountains towards Roan Pass, and beyond that, the valley where Aurora Village was situated.

As it turned out, traversing down a mountainside with an unconscious thirteen-year-old in tow was even harder than travelling up a mountain. Wolves, Frites and other monsters made the descent bad enough, but having to constantly keep an eye on Dust to make sure nobody dropped him or that he wasn't dragged away as a wolf's lunch…that grew very old very fast.

"I swear…one more wolf pack tries to pinch Dust while our backs are turned and I'm setting off an avalanche," Ash grumbled, having sent another pack running with smoking tails and heavily singed behinds. Another had left whining with an arrow in the eye courtesy of Jarin who'd proven useful in getting food for everyone at mealtimes.

"We sure we can't stuff him in your pocket dimension?" Fidget asked. Ash shook her head.

"If I could, I would have already," she sighed. "Non-living things only, I'm afraid." Sanjin vouched for the excuse — Ash had tried putting a field mouse in her pocket dimension as a very young child still learning the basics of magic. When she retrieved it…well, it wasn't exactly pretty. Fidget thus ruled out the possibility of Dust having had a similar spell on his inventory during their last adventure on account of the sheep.

"We can always stop over in Archer's Pass on the way," Kim suggested. "If it starts getting too dark, it will be safer than…"

"No," Ginger said firmly. "We're not stopping." Everyone flinched — they all knew how concerned Ginger was for Dust, but no one was brave enough to remind her that the entire group's safety was at stake for as long as they were travelling.

"Ginger, we know you're worried." Except Taka. "But it won't help Dust if we get ambushed at nighttime and end up leaving him defenceless."

"We don't know if he can last for long like this!" Ginger snapped. Taka frowned dryly at the woman — she was the one with Dust currently slung over her shoulders, and he was still breathing, thank you very much. "I won't waste anymore time…!"

"We haven't wasted time," Taka huffed. "We're taking every step we can to make sure we get Dust back as soon as humanely possible, while keeping ourselves alive in the process." Ginger opened her mouth to protest but Taka, sharp tongued twenty-year-old that she was, cut across before she had a chance. "Fidget kept warning Dust that you would flail her if he did something stupidly reckless. Well, I'm fairly sure that Dust wouldn't appreciate you throwing yourself headfirst into danger either, regardless of whether it's for his sake or not."

Ginger sighed in defeat and reluctantly agreed to stop over by the blacksmith's in Archer's Pass if it got too dark to travel safely before they reached Aurora. She needn't have worried in the end, though, as once the group had successfully made it down the mountains, the going was a lot easier from there on out. In fact, after a brief stop for food, Aurora became visible through Abadis Forest just as the evening was starting to close in.

"Please tell me that's the place…" Jarin grumbled. "My feet are killing me…" Another snap from Taka to stop his whining was all he received in reply, but Ginger did offer to put together a potion once she had the ingredients. After all, it was very much by her insistence that they had been walking nearly all day.

The party nearly reached the village boundaries before someone saw them. Aurora still looked as if it was in shambles, still reeling from the attack by the Royal Guard days before. There were no Moonbloods in sight, and the few guards that were patrolling on duty were wearing bandages and bearing crutches. Ginger knew she had much to do, and luckily a shout brought her out of her thoughts before she became torn with helping the village and saving her son.

"GINGER!" It was Kalyn. "He did it! Ginger's back!"

The young, purple rabbit Warmblood raced over, her shout drawing the attention of every villager she passed. Before Ginger and the others could even fathom what was going on, all of Aurora had turned into a welcome wagon. Kalyn pushed to the front of the cheering crowd and flung her arms around Ginger.

"Ginger! You're okay!" she cried.

"Hi, Kalyn," Ginger greeted wearily, hugging the girl gently back.

"I knew he could do it!" Kalyn grinned. "I knew Dust would be able to save you!"

"Well, he had help," Fidget pointed out, slumped over Ginger's shoulder.

"I see you brought company," Old Bram noticed as he approached Ginger. The rest of the party gave weary greetings. "You have our thanks," Bram smiled. "And I'm sure you have Dust's too."

"Speaking of Dust, where is he?" Kalyn asked, noticing the apparent absence of her best friend.

"Oh, my word!" someone near the back of the group shouted. The voice belonged to Colleen, and she just so happened to be standing by Sanjin. "What's happened to him?!"

…who just so happened to be carrying Dust.

Kalyn let out a cry of disbelief as she pushed through the group towards Sanjin — she screamed when she saw Dust.

"Dust!" she yelled. "Oh, no! What happened?!"

"We're going to help him, Kalyn!" Fidget quickly cut in. "We don't know exactly what happened, but whatever it was, it was bad."

"We have to get to the Cirromon Caverns," Ginger explained firmly. "There is someone there who may be able to help Dust."

"Miss Ginger…surely you'll be staying in Aurora?" Corbin asked nervously. "You must have been through a lot…and you could all use the rest…"

"I've been through just as much as the rest of my friends here," Ginger protested with a tone of absoluteness in her voice. "I'm not leaving Dust's side until he wakes up."

"As late as it's getting, she's right," Taka agreed. "Things are worse than perhaps you people realise out there, and we need Dust back in the game as soon as possible."

"Very well," Old Bram nodded. "I shall grant you clearance into the Caverns."

"I'll get you all some Rings of Sight from the shop," Kalyn offered. "You'll need them down there."

"More freebies, Kalyn?" Fidget squeaked in amazement. "You're going to lose your job, you realise?"

"Mordecai will know that this is for a good reason," Kalyn insisted. "Besides…it's the least I can do for friends of Dust. Any friend of his is a friend of mine."

"Thank you, Kalyn," Ginger smiled. "We all appreciate it."

Kalyn raced to the shop and back in record time, hands stuffed with all the Rings of Sight she could carry. Once all of the party had been properly equipped and their energy replenished, they began heading towards the centre of town where the only known entrance to the Cirromon Caverns existed. As they prepared to enter the Caverns, Kalyn stood nearby. Ash paused before entering the caverns, turning back to face the girl.

"We'll get him back, I promise," she said gently. Kalyn nodded, her eyes starting to well with tears.

"Please…do what you can for him," she asked. "I just want my friend to come home safely." Ash reached out a hand, taking Kalyn's and squeezing it gently as a way of reassurance. Her bright yellow eyes seemed to shine in the dimming light of sunset.

"He will," she smiled warmly. "I'll make sure of it."

With that, Ash let go of Kalyn's hand and disappeared into the darkness of the Cirromon Caverns.