by L. Itram and Ben Yackley Main * Story * Setting * Cast * Illustrations * About * Comment

Chapter 9: The Mountain of Words (Posted on 1/11/03 )

The late-morning sun shown down upon Glyphic Mountain as four figures toiled up the road that led from Estevas to the abandoned mine. With the morning sun shining directly on its face, the slope appeared covered in lines of writing: immense angular letters which, in reality, must have been formed of boulders and fissures tens of feet tall but which appeared from the distance as though some giant had decided to leave a memo to himself on the landscape.

"That would explain the name," said Luen. "'Glyphic' is derived from the Aezite word for 'writing'... Crazy culture. Even their landscape has writing on it."

"So what's it say?" asked Kinto.

"Do I look like an Aezite to you?"

"Yer sure grumpy t'day."

"In case you haven't noticed," retorted Luen, shifting his shoulder bag to a more comfortable position, "I'm not exactly built for mountain-climbing."

"Ye shoulda asked Kai fer his potion," joked Viola.

Luen hmphed at her. "I don't need to go putting extra limbs on myself, unlike---"

"I don't think that's Aezite," interrupted Kai loudly from the rear, effectively drowning out the rest of Luen's sentence.

There was silence as the other three scrutinized the mountain. "Aye, now that ye mention it, 'tis too blocky ta be Aezo glyphs," conceded Viola.

"So whose is it, then?" Kinto pressed.

"I think it's just scribbles," said Kai after a pause.

"Scribbles?" responded Kinto, "Who'd go scribbling on a mountain?"

The bartender in Estevas had given the impression that Glyphic Mountain was crawling with treasure-hunters, but they saw no sign of competition until around noon, as they were packing up after a hasty lunch.

"We've got company," said Kinto, pointing up the road at the trio of adventurers making their way down the path.

"Hey, she looks familiar," said Luen, "Wasn't that the girl you were oogling the other day, Kinto?"

"I was oglin' her armor, Luen," growled Kinto, sparing a warning glare for Viola and Kai before they could add anything.

Luen obligingly shut up, though in all honesty this was due less to his brotherly love for his fellow mage and more to his instinct of self-preservation which advised him against making fun of a well-armed Ertseti while she is within hearing range.

Viola had no such worries, however. "Leaving so soon? The day ha' barely begun."

The Ertseti woman glared at her but obviously had other problems on her mind. "You heading up there? Don't bother, it's impossible."

"Impassable?" asked Kai.

"No, impossible."

"Nothing but frustration," echoed her companion, a red-haired Aezite carrying an elementalists' staff. "We're heading back to town to plan."

"You mean to get drunk," corrected the third member of the group, a slender Manaqi armed with nothing but a pair of daggers.

"Maybe you plan on getting drunk -- " responded the mage.

"So do I," added the Ertseti fighter. "I don't know about you, Ni, but I could use a drink or three."

"I'm not carrying you back to your room, Taen."

"Fine with me." She turned back to the cluster of mages. "Anyway, go ahead if you want but you'd only be wasting time. Ta-ta."

"Hey," Kinto tugged on the mage's sleeve as the trio headed off again.

"What?"

"What's it say on the mountain?"

The mage gave him a blank look. "That look like Aezite writing to you?"

The foursome continued on their journey and eventually came to a rather odd scene. Kinto's first impression was that the "Tximisti village" section of Tenthys had packed up and migrated to Glyphic mountain. However, the campers clustered around the brightly colored tents were predominantly Aezite and all sported various forms of armor or rugged mountain-climbing gear. The center of attention was a stone archway, its shadowy entrance presumably leading into the abandoned mines.

"What an odd place fer a party," remarked Viola as they picked their way past the camps toward the arch.

Kai lagged behind. "'Scuse me," he said to a likely-looking adventurer. "But what's going on?"

"We're camping. Duh."

"But it's early afternoon," Kai pointed out.

"Yuh-huh. Observant, arencha?"

"But ... why ... oh, never mind," he concluded as the man turned his back on him in favor of the stew his companion was cooking. Kai hurried to catch up with his own party which was milling around the entrance. Luen was in deep thought, Viola was impatient and Kinto was in pain.

"Now what?" asked Viola, directing her question at Luen. "Ye don't plan ta give up an' join tha party at tha tavern, do ye?"

"Of course not," Luen responded. "There must be some logical solution."

"What about checking inside?" asked Kai, once again stating the obvious.

"Go ahead an' check," sighed Viola.

Kai strode toward the entrance. "You didn't seem the type to be scared of the dark, but I guess everyone -- ow!" He stopped short and rubbed his nose.

"Kinto did tha same thing," said Viola, "only faster."

Kai poked at the space in front of him. "So how do we get in?"

"That's the question of the day," responded Luen. "I suspect this is what the lady with the spear was referring to." He curved downward and felt along the seam between the door frame and the invisible door.

"I say we throw somethin' at it," grumbled Kinto, rubbing his sore nose. "Be happy t'take the first shot."

"If a heavyweight with a spear and a quarterstaff couldn't budge it, I don't think we'll do much better," said Luen. "There must be some trick."

Kai cupped his hands against the barrier and peered through as though looking through a window. "It's just tunnel. Viola, can't you, you know, zap yourself in and look around? Maybe there's a switch or something."

"I canna teleport through walls, Kai. Even invisible ones."

"Really? You weren't sayin' that last year." Kinto smirked.

"T'was a mistake, Kinto," she responded coldly. "Even I make them on occasion."

"Well, what about doing a circle thing like you did for me at the inn?"

"Aye, that I could do ... If ye'll step inside an' make tha measurements fer me."

Kai shrugged. "Just trying to be helpful. Maybe there's a knob or something," he offered, running his hands along the surface.

"I wish I had Nhaal around, he would've eaten this up in ... no ... time..." Luen's voice trailed off.

"Somethin' wrong?" asked Kinto.

"No, nothing. I'm fine!" Luen shook his head quickly. "Look, if we can't break it or dispel it, we just have to find a way around it."

"What about readin' tha spell?" asked Viola, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What, you think they're just going to write the spell on the door?" snapped Luen, straightening up to glare at Viola. "If it was that easy -- oh." He looked in the direction she was pointing. "Guess they did."

"So what's it say?" asked Kinto for the third time that day.

There was a pause.

"Nobody here knows how t'read runes, huh?"

"Basic runes..." offered Luen.

"I was gonna take that class next summer," mumbled Viola. She narrowed her eyes at Kinto. "Ye can't, either, can ye?"

"I'm an elementalist! I throw lightnin' at stuff!"

Everyone looked at Kai. "I'm an herbalist, so don't ask me. Didn't anyone bring a dictionary?"

"Aye, a small one," said Viola, turning to the pile of luggage. "Somebody write tha runes down; I dunna want ta get a stiff neck translating them."

"Since when are you the language expert?" griped Luen, opening another bag to search as Kai and Kinto set about copying the runes.

"Ey, I know this one!" shouted Kinto.

"What, the squiggly one?" asked Kai.

"No, the one next to it," said Kinto. "That's the rune fer sunlight."

"You sure?"

"Course I'm sure." Kinto stood up straight -- or as straight as he could. "Light," he announced, "is my specialty."

"I thought his specialty was blowing things up," mumbled Viola, softly enough for only Luen to hear.

"And that one's east. Or maybe west," said Kai. "I've seen it on old maps."

Viola threw the book at him. "Look it up. There be a big difference twixt east an' west."

Several minutes and much arguing later, they had a rough translation.

"'Wall, something something,'" read Luen. "'Sunlight in the --'"

"'From the'."

"Sorry, 'from the east. Something something in the causative tense, mouths open. Something glyphic something.'"

"Mouths?" asked Kinto.

Luen shrugged. "Probably being poetic. If you're going to put the runes where everyone can see them, you'd better make them rhyme."

"Tha door faces east," Viola pointed out.

Kai looked up. "Yeah, but it's also under a pretty large overhang. I don't think this place gets much sunlight, even in the morning. I mean, the light would have to be coming in horizontally --". He stopped, realization dawning.

The four mages looked at each other, then out at the eastern horizon. It was very nearly flat, with only the tops of trees interrupting the vista before the land gave way to the flat glassy surface of the circular lake and the tall spire of the Astronomers' Tower piercing the clouds toward the southeast. Due east, however, happened to line up with a pass between two distant hills.

"Lemme guess," said Kinto finally. "We camp?"

"And wait for sunrise," Luen agreed.

"Do we really have to set a guard?" asked Kai as they prepared for bed. "I can't imagine anything sneaking up on us with so many people around."

"Not wild animals," explained Kinto, "but what about people tryin' t'steal our luggage? Or worse?"

"Oh." After a pause. "You don't mind staying up all night?"

"Nah. I'll just make Luen take watch tomorrow if he keeps complainin'."

A bustling city in Levend. Note the snug wooden houses, the narrow shuttered windows designed to let light in without letting heat out, the steeply pointed roofs that shed the winter snow and summer rains. The streets are filled with carts and pedestrians, most hurrying to and fro but occasionally a leisurely stroller out enjoying the spring thaw. We make our way down a long avenue to a square dominated by a grand palace. Like everything else in the city, it is built of wood, but wood ornately carved into curlicues and plantlike designs. Its sloping tiled roof and turrets gleam in the misty morning sunlight and its massive doors are half open to let in fresh air and petitioners.

Rather than enter the palace, however, we turn onto a side street, and then down another, racing through ever-narrower streets and alleys so that it seems we cover miles in a matter of minutes. Now we are in the less prosperous section of town -- the slums, to use the uncharitable term. Some of the houses are deserted, with doors boarded up but broken windows open, their dark interiors sheltering spiders, small animals and the last of the winter snow. The buildings which are still occupied show signs of neglect, as though their tenants were more interested in paying for food than for a new paint job. We come to a halt on an anonymous street corner whose most notable features are a small cobbler's shop and a large two-story house which may have belonged to someone quite wealthy a century or two ago. Packs of ragged teenagers loiter about, looking for mischief. None of them pay attention to the two men - one Vadhan, the other Ertseti, and neither dressed for the cool spring weather - who are looking around in an extremely bewildered fashion.

"Luen?"

"Kai?"

"What are you doing in my dream?" asked Kai.

"I thought this was my dream until you showed up," responded Luen.

"This is a dream, right? Last I remember was talking to Kinto and then getting ready for bed. Then all of a sudden I'm taking a whirlwind tour of someplace that looks like Levend."

"Verguston, judging by the royal palace."

"Oh, you saw that, too?"

"Yes, I -- hang on, someone's coming."

A young woman walked slowly down the street toward them. She was plainly but carefully dressed in an ankle length navy-blue frock and a short brown jacket. Behind her trailed a line of small fuzzy children between the ages of six and twelve. Each child held tightly to the tail of the one ahead and the smaller ones looked around with wide eyes. The nanny, if such she was, passed Luen and Kai without acknowledging them and turned the corner. A tiny girl near the end of the row, with tan fur and a slender fox-like face, stopped and stared back at them before being pushed along by the girl behind her. The procession vanished into the large house.

Kai blinked. "Well, that was random."

"We should have asked for directions," mused Luen. He headed toward the house.

"Cute kid, though," said Kai, trailing along. "Almost looked like she recognized us. Wonder what she's doing in our dream."

"The Gryphon and the Dragon: Conflicts and Causality in the Great War."

Luen examined the titles in the stack next to her. "These are all about the war, too. Looks like we've got ourselves a history buff."

Kai was still leaning over, his neck craned at an awkward angle as he tried to read the text. The girl turned a page and he straightened up and stretched. "That stuff is dense... How does she keep from falling asleep? She can't be older than twelve."

The girl looked up at him. "Shhh." She turned back to her book. The scenery faded again.

The telescope glowed, and suddenly the alchemist, his patient, the apparatus and the rest of the room were all awash in purple light. Through that light, the dreamers caught a brief glimpse of a new silhouette in the room - a graceful multilimbed shape, a spidery shadow against a background that was a perfectly uniform shade of pure, royal purple. Eyes like liquid moonlight stared at Kai and Luen for an instant before the creature darted toward - and, seemingly, into - the prone woman.

That moment, Luen, Kai, and Viola woke up all at once.

"Y'mind tellin' me what I missed?" asked Kinto.

"Wha?" responded Luen intelligently.

"Here I am keepin' watch while you snore an' all of a sudden you wake up at the exact same time."

Kai glanced at Luen. "I had a weird dream, that's all."

"That's not all," corrected Kinto. "Same thing's been goin' on all over the camp. Groups'll just suddenly wake up all together an' start shoutin' at each other. So what gives?"

"Did it involve Levend?" asked Luen, ignoring Kinto.

"Yeah. And you were in it."

"Levend?" Viola looked from one to the other. "Why would ye dream about -- but ye both were in my dream..."

"I think Kinto's getting impatient," said Kai. He looked at Viola.

"Nae, I want ta hear yer story first."

Kai explained the dream briefly, pausing for occasional corrections and interruptions from the others.

"I was nae a tiny child!"

"I didn't mean it that way, Viola! You were a really cute kid."

"Hmph!"

"Let him continue," said Luen.

"Fine, go on. But just ye wait. Some day we'll be sittin' in on yer life history and ye'll see how ye like that!"

"So it wasn't really a dream?" asked Kinto at the end.

"'Twas a memory," said Viola. "Ye were seein' memories o' me past."

"Wow. I didn't actually believe any of that was true," said Kai.

"What, that too-nice-fer-her-own-good Viola was a thief? Aye, t'was all true." She held her head up as if daring any of them to criticize her for her actions.

"You did it to get Instilled, didn't you?"

"Aye. That and more. T'was nae tha only one who broke tha law, either. Th'orphanage had a habit o' lookin' th'other way, letting us raise money as we liked. Even if we were less than honorable about it. But I have nae regrets. Me past made me what I am today."

"Now I see why you were so mad about that potion. I just transformed myself temporarily out of convenience. For you it was much more important."

Viola nodded silently.

"Eh, we've all done some pretty low things in our lives," said Kinto.

"-- except maybe Kai, here," interrupted Luen with a grin. Kai cowered slightly.

"Like I was sayin'," continued Kinto, "it ain't like any of us are perfect and all that's in th'past anyway. I'm wonderin' what th'other people saw."

"What, you think they were exposed to their friends' deep dark guilty secrets?" inquired Luen.

"Yeah, somethin' like that, judgin' by th'yellin'."

Viola frowned. "Are ye sayin' that I'm bein' blackmailed with me own dreams?"

"Who knows?" Luen shrugged. "Like Kinto said, it's all in the past anyway and you had reasons for what you did. We're not going to go ship you off to the Verguston penitentiary, if that's what you're worried about."

"'Course not," agreed Kinto. "I wanna hear more about th'adventures of little tiny Viola!"

"Anyone want coffee?" interrupted Kai quickly.

As the eastern sky brightened the camp became suddenly quiet, all members gazing expectantly toward the stone arch. There were fewer now than the previous afternoon; the "dreams" had caused more than one team to split apart as members were either kicked out or left in disgust. Of the hundred or so adventurers, only a few dozen remained.

The mountain rose out of the shadows as the first rays of sun hit its peak and gradually flowed down the slope. The adventurers held their breaths and their packed bags as light touched the top of the arch. The runes along the arch glowed golden and a brief golden haze appeared in the entrance. The adventuring parties rushed toward the cave in unison.

The cavern was dark but immense - large enough to fit the crowd of adventurers several times over. The bright rays of early morning sunlight illuminated a second archway in the opposite wall and plunged everything else into blackness. However, a second glance proved that the "exit" was a false door, etched into the rock but not actually leading anywhere.

"So now what?" asked someone.

The bright spotlight slunk away as the sun rose and gradually the occupants' eyes adjusted to the dimness. The room was roughly circular, with two arches (one real, one false) at opposite ends. Apart from that it was completely bare. The second archway did not even have the explanatory runes carved on the outer entrance.

"A dead end," said someone else.

"Not quite," said Kai. "Look."

A cluster of silver sparkles had formed in front of the false arch. They lined themselves up into a row - six little points floating in the air. Glassy contours formed around each pair of points, then darkened to a metallic grey until three disembodied serpent heads floated before the crowd, their necks fading to transparency.

"All those who come seeking the Shard shall be tested," said the leftmost head.

"Some who are tested do not pass," added the right.

"Therefore," concluded the middle, "some who have come seeking the Shard do not pass."

"So the Shard's still here?" shouted someone in the back.

"The Shard is past a series of challenges," explained the middle head.

"None have yet met every challenge," added the left.

"Therefore," concluded the right, "the Shard has not yet been taken."

A soft murmur swept through the crowd. Apparently some members had not even considered the possibility that their goal might be missing.

"What makes you think we're all here for the Shard?" asked Luen.

The heads turned toward him. This time there was a pause before they answered.

"Those who climb the mountain put their lives in danger," explained the right.

"You are here to climb the mountain," added the middle.

"Therefore, you put your lives in danger," concluded the left.

"That doesn't --" said Luen.

The left head interrupted him. "The Shard is the most valuable thing on the mountain," it continued.

"Nobody would put their lives in danger for that which is second in value," added the middle.

"Therefore you must be have come for the Shard," concluded the right.

"...Can't argue with that logic," mumbled Luen.

"Who are you?" Kinto called out.

The heads thought about this. "One in this room does not seek the Shard," said the middle head. The other two were silent.

The adventurers all looked around at each other.

"They must be guardians," said Viola.

"One who does not pass the last challenge will not reach the Shard," announced the middle head after a pause.

"One who does not pass the penultimate challenge will not reach the last challenge." added the left.

"One who does not pass a challenge will not reach the challenge after," agreed the right.

"Therefore," concluded the middle head, "Those who do not pass the first challenge will not reach the Shard."

"So what's the first challenge already?" shouted someone in the back.

The heads shifted into a triangular formation -- one directly above the false arch, the other two, slightly lower, flanking to either side.

"The first challenge is the Labyrinth," announced the left head, fading away until nothing was left but a pair of sparkling eyes.

"The nature of labyrinths is to disorient," added the right, likewise vanishing.

The middle head scanned the crowd, then nodded to itself. "Therefore those who are not careful will not pass." It, too, disappeared. The six eyes lined themselves along the upper edge of the arch. As they faded away, so did the stone beneath. This time, however, the crowd did not rush the entrance.

"I guess we'll have to be careful."

"Duh."

"I don' like this talk about a series of challenges. This ain't no game we're playin'."

"The snakes think it is."

"Well, let's prove the snakes wrong!" The rest of the crowd turned to look at the speaker -- a Levendish barely out of his teens with blond fur and a great-sword strapped to his back. "We all passed the first test, right?! We didn't let the dreams destroy our hopes or our friendships! Right now we're in more danger from those creatures than from each other! If we stick together, we'll make it through this mountain!"

"And then what?" asked someone else - a middle aged Zemrin sorceress in a flowing cloak.

"We'll figure that out when we get there! That creature is expecting us to turn on each other! If we do that, then it's the only one who wins! Are you with me?!"

A few half-hearted cheers could be heard here and there, and more of the assorted adventurers nodded in agreement.

"The kid's got a point," said Luen to his own team. "We can't fight over the treasure if none of us ever reach it."

"Can we assume ye have some plan ta steal away that treasure once we do find it?"

"I'll think of something."

Slowly and cautiously, the adventurers filed into the Labyrinth.

The Labyrinth proved quite a disappointment, however. It was a maze, no more and no less. On the advice of the Zemrin sorceress, the party sent armed scouts down each side-passage to take careful notes of the twists and turns. But no monsters, spike-lined pits or trip-wires appeared and in the end they had to conclude that this "challenge" was simply a series of stairs and interchangeable twisty passages.

"We must be nearing the end!" exclaimed the Levendish fighter as they trekked down one extremely long corridor.

"He said that two hours ago," mumbled Luen.

"According to tha map, we are moving parallel to a section we've already explored," said Viola, who had been part of the cartography crew. "'Tis either tha way out or a bridge to another part o' tha maze."

"Not another maze," groaned Kai, who had been one of the scouts.

"It's a dead end," grumbled someone, as the wall at the end of the corridor became visible.

"No, it's not! The tunnel turns left!"

Indeed it did, and a yellow light came from around that corner. The adventuring party turned left as well and ran headlong into a wall of words.

Figuratively speaking.

"That's the next challenge?"

They were in as square room which would certainly have been called an antechamber if there was anything for it to be ante to. But on the far wall, instead of the expected exit, was a question. Four large words written in glowing golden script.

"Great, a psychology question," grumbled Luen.

"But why's it written in Levendish?" asked Kinto.

"Levendish?" echoed another adventurer. "That's obviously Aezite."

"More mind games," commented Viola. "T'is probably written in our language o' choice."

"So all we have to do," asked someone, "is answer that?"

"Looks like."

"'Why are you here?!' That's not very difficult! We're all here for the Shard!"

The letters dimmed momentarily.

"Obviously not the right answer," said the sorceress, patting the boy on the shoulder. "Try again."

"Why are we here for tha shard?" asked Viola to the crowd. "More precisely, why are we risking our lives in tha first place instead o' stayin' home like good lads and lasses?"

The blond Levendish's ears drooped. "Oh...Gotta think about that one!"

"I don't." Luen approached the wall. "My companions and I were sent on a quest for the shard. Should we succeed, we shall all be full mages. No more studying, no more rules, no more useless chores, no more being pushed around.

"I'm here because that Shard will give me the freedom to do what I want and go where I want." He took a breath. "And if you don't like that answer --"

The letters glowed brightly. Luen was surrounded by a similar glow as an invisible force picked him up and pulled him through the wall, though a hole that opened briefly only to shut smoothly closed behind him.

Seeing this, several other people spoke up in turn, each getting whisked through the wall one by one as they finished their pronouncements.

"I'm here to get the Shard so I can have money to take care of my family."

"So that my name will go down in history as the woman who defeated Glyphic mountain!"

"I'm here for the sparkly gems, what else?"

Viola stepped up to the wall after composing herself. "If we succeed, we shall be full mages. No more studying, no more bein' left in second place. Why am I here? Because I'm sick and tired o' bein' overlooked an' pushed around. Because I want tae be respected fer tha person I know I am."

"For the power," added the scaly sorceress, who clearly had given this some thought beforehand.

"The money. Duh."

"So I'll never have to work for my stupid boss again!"

"Knowledge!"

And so on.

"Kinto, you okay?" asked Kai.

"Wha?" Kinto looked up. Half the adventurers had left already and there were increasingly longer pauses between announcements. "Yeah, fine. Just thinkin'. Go on ahead if yer ready."

"Yeah, okay. I'll wait for you on the other side." Kai stepped forward.

"I'm here because ... well, I guess I'm here to study rare and new plants."

The letters dimmed momentarily.

"Okay, that's not quite accurate. I didn't come to Glyphic mountain specifically for the plants. I came because a friend was searching for the Shard and I wanted to help her ... I guess that's really the answer: I came to help." Kai paused a moment. "Come to think of it, that's why I went to Featherglass in the first place and became an herbalist and ended up in the forests of Aezo working on a botany project. I want to help people."

Apparently that was a good enough answer.

"Kai, ye made it."

"Yeah, eventually," said Kai after regaining his balance. "I'm not used to being carried through walls."

"So where's Kinto?" asked Luen.

"Said he was still thinking."

"Well I hope he hurries up. There are at least five parties ahead of us now."

"Revenge for my family!"

"Justice!"

The letters dimmed again.

"Getting the Shard means I will have the power to fight for Justice! To protect the innocent! To punish Evil! To -- "

The letters stayed dim, but the same golden glow shoved the Levendish boy through the wall. Even spells have limited patience.

Kinto looked around. There were only three or four people left now and their faces wore the thoughtful panicked expressions of students halfway through an exam who have just discovered that the book they forgot to buy was the instructor's favorite reference.

The others are waiting for me, thought Kinto. But I don't know what the right answer is! Why am I after the Shard? To become a mage, just like Luen and Viola. But they had other reasons, too; what is mine? Why do I want to become a mage? Power? No, that's not right. I've been over this already. Think, Kinto. This is the same thing Uxul wanted to know ... but was the answer I gave her the right one? Is it still? I said I wanted to face my tribe again, but is that what I'm doing here?

"He didn't give up, did he?"

"Viola, he wouldn't do that!" exclaimed Kai. "He's ... probably still thinking."

"T'was nae a hard question."

"Maybe not for you. It took me some time to puzzle out."

"We're not going on without him," said Luen firmly.

"I would never ha' suggested such a thing, Luen," responded Viola, who had been thinking just that but would rather die than admit it.

Do I want to face my tribe again? Do I want to go back home? Do I want to become a shaman? Why am I here anyway? Kinto looked at the one remaining person - a small skinny Vadhan girl wrapped in white silk and wearing a glittering pendant on a chain.

"I don't know," she whispered, wide-eyed. "I was ready to fight monsters and bad weather and even puzzling spells, but I never thought about why ... Now what?"

Kinto nodded. "That makes two of us." He stepped up to the wall. "But I ain't gonna give up now."

"You wanna know why I'm here? I'm lookin' fer that Shard you've got. If I get it, I'll become a mage an' I'll be able t'face my family without dishonor."

The letters dimmed.

"I know, that's just part of it. Why do I want to become a mage? At first I thought it was fer th'power an' th'respect an' didn't need any more reason. People would look up t'me an' I wouldn't have t'explain my actions t'anyone, ever again. But then I talked to a -- a wise person an' realized there was more for me than just goin' home an' bein' one of th'crowd. The truth is, I dunno why I'm here 'cause I dunno what I want or what's important. But I'm gonna find out somehow."

"Kinto, you made it!" exclaimed Kai.

"Yeah. Took me a while but I made it."

"I'll say," sniffed Viola. "How many are still in there?"

Kinto oofed as someone stumbled into him. "Oh. Hi again." The girl still looked slightly worried, but the fear and panic were gone. "Um, did you see a group led by a guy with a sword and an ego both several sizes too big for him?"

"Yeah," said Luen, "They went up that path. You should be able to catch 'em if you hurry."

"Thanks!" But instead of heading in the direction Luen pointed, she closed her eyes and whispered something. A pale blue glow surrounded her. "Flight!" She lifted off the ground and glided swiftly up the path.

"Uh, none now." said Kinto.

"So we're in last place now? ... Right then," said Luen. "Let's get going. I want to spend as few nights here as possible."