onward, fellow readers, the end is in sight!

She was numb to everything. The wind (which felt cold despite the warm day) that whipped through the gaps in her clothes did not shake her out of the daze she fell into.

They had escaped. Barely.

But without Nod.

They had left him behind.

M.K. didn't know how long they flew, how far they went, or how fast they kept at it. She didn't care. Her tears were starting to soak Ross's shirt. Resting her head against his broad, muscled back, she bitterly regretted that it wasn't Nod guiding the bird. She should have felt guilt for wanting Nod and Ross to be in switched places, but she was numb to everything but the pain in her chest.

Maybe if she had been with him, it would have turned out differently. If she just hadn't let her fears take over, then that spider monster wouldn't have sniffed them out so easily. If she had fought harder, payed more attention, just reacted faster...if, if, if!

It was only when Ross shifted to dismount, did she realize that they had stopped. Lex had led them to a small creek. The water had worn away the bank for a long period of time, exposing the dirt caked, gnarled roots of a tree planted near the stream. The teenagers had flew below it and landed on the moist, sandy bank hidden underneath.

M.K. didn't move from her spot on Skeeter's saddle. Ross glanced up at her in sympathy and offered a hand to help her down. She was about to reject it, when she saw Thryn stalking toward them, anger lining her gait. Sensing her ire, Ross turned and tensed, raising his hackles in anticipation of a fight.

And a fight Thryn gave him. "What the hell happened down there?!" she spat, gray eyes flashing like a lightening storm.

"I could ask you the same thing!" he shot back. "The bastard was up there with you! Why didn't you take him out?"

"He had you guys playing hostage! So again, I ask, what the hell happened?!"

"Belladonna happened," Mason answered her, his tone even, hoping that would diffuse the aggression. "She killed one of the Leafmen and scared the others. She made sure that there wouldn't be a distraction. I think she smelled us out; she's too cunning to trick with those disguises anyway. Even without her nose, it would have been useless."

"And despite all that, you shouldn't have let Batlash have that much control over you!" Ross scoffed, not at all willing to extend the olive branch. He already possessed resentment towrd Thryn, held little trust for her focus since the wildfire incident, and now she was attacking him? "You should have carried out the mission regardless of our lives!"

"That spider freak had M.K. at her mercy! You really think I would attack him at the cost of her life? Nod would never have forgiven me!" she argued, gesturing angrily at M.K. The redhead still hadn't moved from her seat. She wasn't even listening to their heated spat.

"Nod wasn't even thinking clearly-"

Lex tried to interfere this time. Mason watched it all unfold helplessly. "Guys, please stop. This isn't the best time to be-"

Thryn ignored her friend's pleas. "Kind of like you right now!"

"And what about you in front of the fire?"

The crack echoed around them. Ross's cheek smarted at the blow. Thryn still had her hand up and look ready to slap him again or punch him in the throat. Her shoulders were shaking, from rage or shame, Jason didn't know. Lex and Mason had failed in the attempts of putting a stop to this. Now it was his turn,

Without hesitation, he stepped in and put both hands on Thryn's shoulders. She didn't try to shrug him off. Taking this as a good sign, he gently but firmly guided her away from Ross. At this, Thryn escaped his grip and walked away herself. She stopped several paces away from them and sat cross-legged in the sand. Jason was proud of her for not storming away from them. The group needed to stick together at the moment.

He may not be 'one of them,' not as much as M.K. was, but that didn't mean he was excused from straightening them out, something they all needed.

He turned the iciest glare he could muster on Ross. "You had the right to judge her when it happened. But now it's in the past and you should let it stay there. Right now, you have no right at all to accuse her of it and try to pin what happened on her."

The broad-shouldered youth looked away, his head slightly bowed. Good. He was realizing that what he said was a low blow. But that didn't mean their resident grouch wasn't in the wrong herself.

"Thryn, I know you tried your best to keep us all safe up there. But no one could have foreseen what Batlash was going to do. You can't try to pin the blame on others, cause it wasn't anyone's fault."

The brunette didn't respond other than the smallest slump in her shoulders. Jason knew that was all he going to get out of her for now; she had fallen into absolute stony silence but she would come around eventually. They really had larger things at stake here than egos.

"Now can we all move on?" he addressed all of them, not expecting an answer as he approached the only member of their pack that hadn't said a word. Jason didn't offer M.K. a hand since she rejected Ross's. She gave no sign that she even knew that he was standing there. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

M.K.'s green eyes shifted to him, slack and expressionless, but with more than a little annoyance in them. Do I look like I'm okay?

"I didn't mean in that way," the blonde replied. "I meant your shoulders. They're still bleeding..."

Oh, right. She had forgotten that she was wounded. When Belladonna had pinned her to the ground, the spider's clawed feet had impaled her in the shoulders. She had twin holes leaking blood onto her clothes and down her arms. M.K. had been so numb to everything, only able to focus on her loss of Nod, that she hadn't even felt anything. Until now that is.

She stared dispassionately at the sticky blood that had found its way to her hands. The color reminded her of Nod's rose. The damned King's rose. The source of all this trouble and pain, the reason Nod was taken away from her. Just like the pod a year ago, she had been thrusted into a situation that wasn't really her's to deal with but affected her all the same. At least, the Queen's pod gave back in the end. It restored the balance, healed the forest, brought her closer to her dad, and because of it, she and Nod were together. But all the rose seem to be able to do was take.

Like how King Jori took away Queen Marise's joy and happiness. Even though he had protected her before like he was supposed to, just as she protected her people...

The pod. The Queen. The rose. The King.

A memory rushed to the forefront of her mind. It was after school. She was home and chatting to Nod on the webcam. They didn't have anything importnt to discuss beyond what their day had been like. Sometimes, M.K. just liked to ask any random questions about his world. For some reason, the redhead had been thinking about that fateful day they had first met and what happened after the battle with Mandrake.

"Hey Nod," she said. The boy tilted his head curiously, staring at her with slightly wide eyes. He always looked cute when he did that, like a brown-eyed puppy. "What happened to the pod after it chose Ariel as the Queen? I wasn't there to see it but I know it bloomed and glowed. But what happened to it afterwards?"

"You didn't see it?" he inquired. She scowled at him in answer, though there was nothing behind it. "It's still there actually, in the Moon Chamber. We just keep it in that pool of water right where the moon hits at its highest point."

"Really? How come?"

"Well, even when it no longer carries her magic, it's still connected to the Queen. So connected, that it lives as long as she does."

At her confusion, Nod explained further. "The day that Tara passed, the pod that had chosen her a hundred years before also died. With the new pod, even with the magic no longer a part of it, it kind of represents the Queen's life force. It will die when its chosen one dies, but not the other way around. So we just keep it in the Moon Chamber as a symbol. It wouldn't be right if we just got rid of it after it was done being a vessel for the Queen's magic."+

The pod represented the Queen and the rose did the same for the King. They had to be reunited. Even though something happened to sever Marise's and Jori's relationship, that sort of thing didn't matter to plants. They had to be restored to each other. The rose should have been planted with the pod, not on Nod, which meant that the rose would suck the energy out of him and anything else until it is once again with its partner.

"M.K.?" Jason's voice broke through her racing mind. The blonde youth was worried. She had fallen into a deep silence, just staring at her bloodstained hand.

"We have to go back," her voice croaked, scratchy from disuse. The girl cleared her throat and spoke louder, the conviction in her tone making her sound stronger, more certain. "We have to go back!"

"M.K.-"

"I've figured out where we have to plant the rose! We need to go back, get Nod out, and-"

"M.K., you're hurt!" Jason had to shout to make her pay attention to him.

The redhead narrowed her in eyes in anger. "That doesn't matter!"

"Yes, it does! Of course, we're going to go back for him, but we can't do that with you bleeding out! Let's bandage you up, then we'll discuss plans."

M.K. opened her mouth to argue further, to protest that she was fine and Nod was the real one in danger of dying, but the desperate look in Jason's eyes made her voice stop working. He was really worried about her. They all were. And there she was, moping in grief and silence. A little guilty, she nodded in acquiescence. She was done moping anyway; none of that was going to get anything done, it certainly wouldn't help Nod.

M.K. shed off her brown jacket, trying to hide the wince as she aggravated her injuries. Blood had stained the white tank top underneath but the flow had slowed, already beginning to clot. Lex approached, with a pack of first aid equipment. Sitting in the sand, the grasshopper girl examined her wounds while M.K. explained her epiphany to all of them. By now, even Thryn was drawn out of her funk by curiosity. Sterling (showing up again as miraculously as he disappeared) had settled on the brown-haired girl's lap. She seemed to lighten a little with his presence as she stroked his head and wings.

They all listened quietly as M.K. talked. When she was done, none of them disagreed. It all made sense and they really didn't have any other ideas. This seemed to be the only way, and M.K. was confident that she was right.

"Done," Lex stated. She had been cleaning away the blood from the puncture wounds with a cloth as the redhead was talking. M.K. could see the crease in her forehead; whatever she was going to say, the girl wouldn't like. "The wounds are pretty deep. They're going to need stitches."

M.K. shuddered. "Great." She absolutely hated needles.

"Sorry," Lex said in sympathy. "I don't like them either..."

"I'll do them," Mason offered unexpectedly. Lex was more than a little relieved, handing Mason the needle and spool of thread like she passing him hot coals. "My folks are healers so they made me practice stitches on dolls at home. I'm pretty good at them if I do say so myself. Here." the dark-eyed boy fished out a small bottle from the pack and handed it to M.K. "This will help with the pain. But you'll still feel the thread unfortunately."

"Thanks," the redhead replied, downing the bitter tonic in one gulp. In only a few minutes, it took its effect and Mason started pushing in the needle with deft skill. M.K. gritted her teeth and pointedly looked away from his work.

"So how are we going to find Nod, break him out, and get him to the Moon Chamber without getting killed or captured by Boggans?" Thryn threw out to the group, absentmindedly braiding her dark hair.

"Too bad Patamon isn't here," Lex pointed out sadly. "He'd be great for scouting and stealth and diversions and...a lot of stuff actually."

Ross kicked his foot, scattering sand."Things were easier when you had an invisible, air spirit with you."

"They'll be keeping Nod in one of the strong rooms in the east side, under heavy guard no doubt," M.K. said. The forest-dwellers' heads shot up to look at her like she'd grown a second head.

"How do you know that?" Ross's voice rose an octave, scandalized.

"Nod and I talked everyday over the webcam for more than a year. I had a lot of questions about his life and Monnhaven, although, it was really my Dad who was interested in the details. I asked him one day if the palace had dungeons."

"And now I feel stupid for not thinking of it first," Mason piped up. He finished of the last stitch and snipped the thread. "No wonder Nod loves you. You're beautiful and smart."

M.K. rolled her eyes at Mason's flirting, knowing it was all in jest, but couldn't hide her blush at the 'Nod loves you' comment. God, they hadn't said anything like that to each other. They said it in hasty farewells, and they hinted at it through cheesy compliments (all coming from Nod), but they had never stated it openly, with intimate words and pure emotions. Every time, M.K. tried, her tongue would twist up and leap to the back of her throat, making it impossible to speak. Now, she wished she had used that time- that painfully short time- to just say it to his face. And then kiss him afterwards.

Ugh, she really needed to think about all this later. When they weren't pressed for time. Besides, she would get more time to tell Nod that she loved him; she refused to believe otherwise. They needed a plan and fast. M.K. had the feeling that this was the last night they had to save Nod from the rose. Tonight, it would all come to a head. The question was, who will win first?

Nod knew there was cool stone beneath his cheek but he couldn't feel it. He knew that he was in a dimly lit room with little furniture, but he couldn't see it. His eyelids refused to open. It was the worst feeling in the world. To be utterly prone and unable to protect yourself against anything. To have all your senses shut down, leaving you literally in the dark. To have everything you depend on your body to do abandon your control. To be forced to just wait until his doom arrived and did what it wanted with him.

It was awful.

They hadn't returned him to Ronin. It really sucked cause he would kill for someone who cared about to be with him. Instead of being alone in the dark. That was the point though; Batlash wanted to break his spirit, make him easier to control.

Never let it be said that Nod ever completely submitted himself to a higher authority. His instincts were wired against that sort of thing, and they reared up more than ever before to fight whoever wanted to cow him into subservience. Yet, his body and mind were tired. Nod was tired. And it was only half of the rose's fault.

He wanted everything to go back to the way it was. He wanted to feel the wind through his hair as he raced his old sparrow Cricket through the trees and sunlight and sky. He wanted Ronin to be there, pushing him beyond his limits in training, knocking him upside the head when he wasn't listening to him, putting a hand on his shoulder that almost always calmed him down when he was stressed. He wanted to tell M.K. that he loved her. Had wanted to for a long time actually. Nod thought of all the ways he could tell her: bring her flowers from the meadow, trace the letters in the dirt for her to read, sweep her off her feet and kiss her (that was a more recent fantasy). All the chances he had to tell her...and he just didn't.

God, he was a coward.

"Nod."

He missed M.K. so much, and now he was going to die before he could tell her how she had found a way into his heart, and had rooted there as deeply as the rose of his arm.

"Nod, get up."

I can't, he wanted to say. He couldn't though. He couldn't do anything right. Not even save the people he loved.

"Yes, you can. The rose is fighting back the toxins in your system."

….Wait...What?

The pads of his fingers on his right hand were tingling, like new skin exposed to the air. Though he could not feel the sensation, there was a dull throbbing reverberating through his arm. The arm with the rose, he realized.

"Try to move something."

Nod's eyelids still remained closed, so he focused on his fingers. C'mon, he urged them. Move, twitch, do something!

They heeded his command. His fingers twitched ever so slightly, but he felt it. He felt something. Spurred on, he slowly closed his fingers into a fist. The movement took longer than it should have, but he didn't let it discourage him. The throbbing was increasing in force, feeling more and more prominent by the second.

"Good. Now to try to open your eyes."

This took more effort. If eyelids could get drunk then his died with a hangover. They were heavy, weighted, slow, and not listening to his internal commands to open. But he kept at it, focusing everything into the simple act of opening them.

Slowly, they began to crack open. The room was mostly dark and his vision blurry, but he knew that he was seeing with his own eyes. He only managed to get them half open, but it was enough, and he waited impatiently for the blurry film to fade.

"Just wait now. The rose will only be able to do so much to keep the paralysis under control. You'll still feel the effects, but you will have enough strength in you to complete the task ahead."

Oh, yeah, there was something he hadn't acknowledged yet until now. Who was the talking, disembodied voice? It sounded way too real to be his conscience. Had he finally gone insane? Wasn't hearing voices a symptom of dehydration? He couldn't remember. And what task was it talking about exactly? He opened his mouth to ask these questions, but it felt like his throat was stuffed with a rag doused in oil, the nasty taste settling in the bottom of his mouth. There wasn't even enough to moan in frustration.

Time passed as he gathered enough willpower to turn over onto his back. Even more passed as he struggled to sit his back up against a wall. Nod listened for the voice, wondering if it would give him more instructions or encouragement, but it remained silent. It was all too much to get to his feet. The wall was smooth and devoid of handholds, but the friction on his palms was enough to keep him steady. Like a waterlogged bird, he fought to get to his feet, nausea threatening to overcome him. Swallowing the bile, Nod managed to get to his feet, though standing up straight would be pushing it too far. His legs visibly shook from the effort, and even propped against the wall, he would keel over if someone just breathed on him hard enough.

No doubt he was in a locked room. With too many Boggan guards for him to fight, especially in his condition. Even armed, he wouldn't be able to hold a blade up. The rose had never felt so heavy before. Vaguely, he observed that it had gotten bigger when he was paralyzed, the bud about to explode into a fan on red petals, twice as large as before. The uneven weight made it even more of a challenge to keep upright.

"I can't fight like this," he croaked, voice dry and raspy from the lack of moisture.

"Let me handle that."

Nod was getting fed up with all the mystery, but a Boggan's grunting yelp silenced whatever sarcastic comment he was going to throw out. Dully, he registered the sounds of a scuffle happening right outside his prison door. It was over in a few seconds, making the weakened teenager wonder if it actually happened.

Something pushed on the reinforced, wooden door. It broke the bolt with a resounding crack, splintering the hinges. The door swung open with a final push and Nod finally met the source of the voice.

The hulking figure couldn't fit through the door, its broad chest and shoulders too large for the narrow opening. It extended its long, thick neck into the room, peering at him with glowing green eyes that twinkled in amusement and concern.

Nod gasped, though it came out as another whispery rasp. "Wanikiy?"

"It's good to see you again, Nod. You certainly looked better last time I saw you." The tree dragon replied. Correction, he was now a stone dragon. The same shape and size but now made of smooth, gray stone, rough on some patches and smooth as marble on others. His body now made a grinding noise when he moved, instead of the old creaking sounds of pine branches.

Slowly, Nod formed a coherent thought. "This is where...you've been...the entire-"

"I'll explain, you just keep your strength for what lies ahead. The spider madam mustn't have injected more toxin in you than I thought," the old spirit interrupted gently. "Yes, when the salamanders burned the pine, I had to find a new earth element to craft my form from. The advantages of connecting with the rock that makes up Moonhaven was too tempting to pass up."

Crafty bastard, Nod thought and would have chuckled if he had the energy. This made things so much easier.

"Can you walk to me?" the gnome inquired. "I'm too large to reach you and re-crafting my stone would make too much noise."

"I'll try." The distance between him and the door would have been easy if he was in fit condition; right now it looked like a gaping abyss that he couldn't see the other side from. Swallowing in an attempt to clear his head, he took one tentative step away from the back wall. He pushed away the dizziness and gently removed his palm from the wall.

Without the support, his sense of balance went haywire. His plan was to take it slow but he panicked and stumbled forward, hoping to reach Wanikiy before he fell. Nod ended up tripping over his own feet and prepared himself for the agonizing impact of hitting hard rock.

Which he did, but the rock caught him instead of mercilessly slamming into him. Nod realized he had reached Wanikiy enough for the dragon to catch him with his head. The stone on his face and powerful neck was smooth enough for the teen to avoid scraping the skin off his palms.

"I got you," Wanikiy said assuredly. Indeed, he carried all of Nod's weight. The dragon backed up into the hallway, pulling the boy with him until they were cleared from the room. The hall was dark, just how Boggans like it, and Nod was grateful he didn't have light piercing his sensitive eyes. "Can you climb on my back? It'll make travel much quicker."

The earth spirit lowered his body to the floor. Using the neck as a guide, Nod stumbled to his back, grabbing the stone spikes that ran along the spine for support. When he hefted himself up, the dragon's cracked wing assisted him. Idly, he noted that every time Wanikiy extended his stone wings, cracks splintered along the membranes. Rock was definitely less flexible and yielding than pine wood.

The weary young man rested his head against the cool stone neck, more than willing to let someone else do the work for awhile. "Don't fall asleep. I'm sure you know what will happen if you do."

"Where are we going?"

"To the Moon chamber. It is high time the rose was put in its rightful place."

so i dont feel too good about the first half of the chapter, but i tried my best and i dont think erasing it would have fixed it. originally, nod was not going to show up in this update but then i realized you guys were worried about him. heck, i was worried about him! (nah, jk, i know exactly what's going to happen to him, mwahaha!) i'd be a jerk if i kept you guys waiting.

leave a review and ill work as fast as i can on the next update. until next time!

~FIAF