Lena didn't let herself cry for long. Once she was alone in the princess's room it was easier to process her own emotions. The king's anger, Kane's desperation, the guards' prejudice - it had been too much, too fast, on top of her own fear. It was frightening waking up to find those men in the room with her, but they were gone now, and it only took a few moments' focus to work through that fear and let it go at last. She changed out of the nightdress into what she had been planning to wear when they started their journey in the morning: a white hood, less fine than the one she'd worn to the ball earlier, over a nut-brown tunic and short pants. Among her supplies she found the iron hammer, a traditional white mage symbol, that Father Branford had given her on her visit to White Hall that morning and slipped it into her belt, checking her appearance in the mirror over the dressing table to be sure she didn't look as ragged as she felt.

Thadius stood in the hallway when she opened the door, hair disordered, eyes red, as though he too had been sleeping before the night had taken this unexpected turn. He yawned, but smiled when he saw her. "I'm supposed to escort you to the courtyard," he said, offering her his arm as he'd likely seen the older boys do. It was the wrong arm, but she took it anyway, enjoying how pleased it made him and soothed by his little boy chatter as they walked: what fun the ball had been, he said, and how great the food, but how stuffy and itchy the green velvet tunic he'd worn, and so on until they stepped out into the courtyard.

It was just as she had left it after the ball: lit by the full moon, the scent of roses in first bloom, the tall black mage near the fountain alongside her discarded dancing shoes. But Jack wasn't alone this time. Redden, Kane, and Orin were all there, watching as Jack performed a spell similar to the one he'd done in Sarah's room. He made a sign with his right hand, eyes lit from the aether within. He was wearing his black coat again, carrying the staff he'd had when she met him.

"Ah, Lena. You're just in time," Orin said. "Master Jack said it would only be a few minutes. He did suggest that you might like to sit by the fountain when you arrived, but try not to disturb him."

She wasn't sure what he was doing, and so didn't know what might disturb his work, but she did want to put her feet in the water again. She edged her way toward it, leaving as much space between her and the mage as she could without landing in the thorny rose bushes, and toed off her sandals beside the other shoes. She eased her feet into the water, which was at first as cold as it had been that morning, but then wasn't - it was pleasantly hot. She looked over her shoulder at Jack, but the mage hadn't moved, still staring off into the middle distance as he read the aether.

One of his glowing eyes might have winked at her, but it could have been her imagination. She turned back to the water, feeling it against her feet, luxuriating in the warmth, and let her mind wander.

She hadn't realized she had been able to feel Jack's casting until she felt its absence when he finished his work several minutes later. The air suddenly felt less stuffy, the night noises clearer.

"Well?" Kane asked him.

"We go north," said Jack.

Thad had never been to the countryside before. His journey from Pravoka to Cornelia had been by ship, from a captain who had owed Pappy a favor. He had always wondered what it would be like to visit a forest; now, more than an hour into the one that surrounded Cornelia, he wondered why the king hadn't cut it down. Thad had tripped over more roots, sticks, and leaf piles than he ever thought he would see in his life. Though the moon provided plenty of light, the trees obscured most of it.

Jack led them, his eyes shining in that disturbing way - less brightly than they had back in the courtyard while he worked his spell, but still noticeably, like a cat's eyes reflecting the moonlight. Kane walked beside him wearing the red leather armor all guards wore on patrol, hacking at the undergrowth with his sword, asking questions about Jack's "aether sight". Thad had walked beside them at first, listening intently to the mage's explanation, though he hadn't understood most of it. Then Kane had asked about reading the future in the stars and he lost the thread of the conversation altogether. What did stars have to do with anything?

When he tried to ask Jack a question, Kane had been snappy with him, saying, "The grown ups are talking, Shipman," so Thad had slowed his pace to walk with the others.

"You mustn't think badly of him," Lena said. "The princess is his friend, and he's worried about her. Just give him space."

As they walked, Lena pointed out the medicinal properties of various plants. Orin told him which mushrooms were edible and how to find them. He imagined himself lost in the woods, surviving on his wits alone with his trusty sword by his side, but then there was a chittering in the trees around him, and he was afraid. Lena must have been afraid too, for she grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Imps," Lord Redden said. The bard followed warily, in his silly feathered hat, looking often behind them and into the trees, which were thinning out now as they left the forest behind.

"Shall we risk a torch?" Orin asked him.

"I think so."

As Redden searched the undergrowth for a suitable branch, Orin explained, "There are things in the forest that might be attracted to the light, but imps fear fire. You needn't worry - they aren't skilled fighters, and are unlikely to attack a group as large as ours."

Lord Redden rejoined them, holding two large branches, one of which he handed to Thad. "Here you are, boy. Hold it up like this."

He did as instructed. Lord Redden said a strange word, something like "cheela", and suddenly the end of the branch caught fire making Thad jump in surprise.

"Steady on," Orin said, laughing as he took the torch before Thad could drop it.

"First black spell I've cast in nearly twenty years," the bard said. "I'm pleased it worked!"

"That was magic!" Thad said. "You can do magic?"

Redden chuckled, motioning for him to start walking again. Thad and Lena walked ahead of the two men. It was easier with the meager light of the torches. "Some. Though it's taken years to learn it."

"I want to learn it! Can anyone learn it?"

"Not everyone, but perhaps you can," said Redden. "Even those born with the power have to learn how to use it. Some born without, like myself, pick it up as they go."

"So can you read the aether like Jack does?"

"No, I'm what's called a red mage. I can control the aether but can't see it."

Thad looked at Lena, who must have found the torchlight comforting, for her hold on his hand had lessened. "Can a white mage do it?" he asked.

She stepped carefully over a cluster of tree roots. "Not quite. White mages can only see the aether in living things. I can read your aura to see if you're in need of healing, but I can't see the traces of aether you leave behind."

"So he's looking at… dead aether?" Thad asked, gazing ahead of him at the mage's back in both fascination and horror.

Lord Redden shook his head, making his hat feather wave in a funny way. "Aether doesn't die. It just is. Sometimes it dwells within a living soul, sometimes it flows through the countryside. It's all the same aether. That's what a black mage sees."

They passed one last stand of trees and were free of the forest at last. Thad looked out over a sea of tall grass, eerily silent, with only a soft whisper from the breeze that rippled the stalks. Jack and Kane were farther ahead of them on the open ground.

"What do-" Thad started to say, but before he could finish the question, Orin grabbed his shoulder.

"Hush," the monk hissed. He seemed to be listening for something. "Come along quietly."

Ahead of them, the other two had stopped on a small rise. Kane stood, sword ready, looking into the waist-high grass just ahead of them. "Did you hear that?" he asked when Thad and the others caught up with him.

Orin nodded. Thad hadn't heard anything. Then, he realized the chittering had stopped. He felt his hand in Lena's again, gripped it tight.

"Slowly," said Kane. "Stick together." He took one step.

A scream ripped through the night, high and sharp like a sea bird's call. Something small, no bigger than Thad himself, launched into Kane. The guardsman roared in pain, bringing his sword around in an arc that flung creature away. It landed in the clearing at their feet, its belly slashed open, blood glistening by the torch light.

Others appeared, surrounding them. Thad couldn't move. Kane fended them off with his sword, Jack fought skillfully with his staff, and Thad could hear Redden and Orin fighting behind him, but still he couldn't move. Without thinking, he'd dropped to his knees, covering his head, trying to make himself smaller.

Lena knelt over him, wrapped her arms around him. "Stop!" he heard her call. "Please stop!"

But the noises of battle went on and on, tapering off as the escaping imps' chittering faded into the trees behind them. Finally, there was only the sound of weeping, Lena's and his own.

"They were afraid of us!" Lena said, releasing her hold on Thad. "They were only trying to get away! It needn't have come to this!"

"They attacked me first!" Kane protested. He growled as he turned his sword arm to inspect the small, jagged cut the first imp had left there.

"Let me get that," Redden said, placing a glowing hand on his son. "I'm surprised they attacked us at all. They aren't usually so bold."

Kane shuddered as his father's magic flowed through him. "Maybe they'll think twice next time. The sooner they learn not to attack humans, the better it will go for them."

Orin helped Thad to his feet, but Thad couldn't stop shaking.

"Were you hurt?" the monk asked.

Thad shook his head. "I couldn't do anything." He looked down at the sword on his belt, the sword he hadn't even thought to draw.

"You will learn." He led Thad over to where Kane and Redden stood, looking out into the grasslands below, which glittered in the moonlight like a starry sky - puddles, Thad realized. They had come upon a marsh.

"I know where we are," Redden said. "Gods help us, I think I know where we're going."

"My lady?"

Jack stood over her, hand extended to help her up, but Lena was too heartsick to stand. She shook her head. "Could you step away?" she said. "I need a moment, please."

He said nothing, but gave her her privacy.

On the ground in front of her, the poor creature Kane had struck struggled for breath in an ever widening pool of its own blood. It had been afraid - and acted out of fear - when Kane had nearly stepped on it in its hiding place, but its fear was fading now as it faced death. In the tall grass nearby, she could sense others watching, sensed their sadness. They were only animals, but they could still feel. Perhaps this one was a father, or brother, or son to the silent watchers. She didn't know.

What she did know was that a creature lay dying in front of her, and she was a white mage. She glanced toward her companions - the five of them waited for her on the hilltop, but none were looking her way. Her power was still weak from the dark mage attack earlier, but she had enough for this.

Even when she touched the imp, it didn't fear her. It watched her curiously, eyes dazed. She thought she might be too late, but then that tiny, wild soul opened up and greedily drank in the Cure as she cast it. The wound in the creature's belly knitted together.

The imp tensed, and she backed away on hands and knees, never breaking eye contact. She had no more than taken her hands off the creature when it sprang up, baring its teeth at her. She scrambled back, falling onto her bottom when her knees pinned her white robe beneath her, but the imp made no move toward her. It stood, glaring, confused and frightened, waiting, and when she did nothing but stare back at it, it vaulted into the grass and was gone.

She pushed to her feet and made her way unsteadily toward her companions, sure they would be able to hear the thundering of her heart. Thadius reached for her hand once more, and they began their journey again, following Jack into the marsh ahead. She knew the imps were still there, watching them, for she could feel them. Their sadness was gone. They will think twice before they attack humans again, she thought. As she left the tall grass behind, the breeze rustled the field, carrying with it one last quiet chittering and the gratitude of the imps.

Author's Note: O.M.G. Imps. I hate them. In the original game, they're everywhere. You can't take two steps out of Cornelia without encountering a group of 85* of them. Not only that, but in the NES version (thought they changed this in later versions) you had to select your targets in a fight carefully: if your fighter killed the imp before your thief took a turn, the game would not automatically switch your thief to another target and your thief's turn was wasted. Screw every bit of that noise, people. Ugh.

Let's talk about the map: when my brother and I got this game (many) years ago, it came with a poster of the world map (with dungeon maps on the back) and I consult the map often as I write, but, well, I'm taking a few liberties with it. A lot of liberties. All the liberties, really. For example, on the trip from Cornelia to, um, the place we're going (I assume you're here because you played the game and you already know, but no spoilers) we pass through a forest, a field, another forest, a marsh, and, for a delightful change of pace, a forest. Yeah, I don't want to write about all of that landscape and you probably don't want to read it. So here's your FDA warning: Map subject to change.

*This is an exaggeration, but only just.