I was tired and frustrated that we had gotten into one crisis after another, but most frustrated that the boys' life clocks were ticking away with every step we took.

Mount Dagger was surrounded by treacherous, unforgiving terrain; so treacherous Marylea and I had to make a stop to bind our sandals with leaves to protect our feet from being cut open. The hike was long and pricked with thorns, the climbs steep and slippery. The air stung out nostrils and lungs, and I huddled in my Caval to protect whatever body heat I had left. Marylea was bundled in a fur coat she'd brought from the Loki, which seemed to envelope her skinny frame so she resembled a walking marshmallow.

We pulled the boys on makeshift stretchers we made from tree branches and leaves. We swapped occasionally because Fabe was a lot lighter than Keenan, being only skin and bones. I recognized a glint of hurt in Marylea's eyes whenever she walked towards Keenan and picked his stretcher rope up, as if it was painful for her to get within one foot of the boy. I tried not to let my sympathy show through. Marylea would not appreciate sympathy, especially not from me, the girl who held Keenan's heart but didn't want it.

Because we did not have time to waste, the only food we ate was compact food bars. They provided us with enough energy to hike with two full-grown boys dragging behind us.

After a full day's trek, we arrived, feet sore and fingers stinging from rope burn, at the foot of Mount Dagger. Looking up at the peak, I immediately understood how it got its name. Shaped like a relentless dagger blade, the mountain zigzagged into the gray, overcast skies. The tip was covered in snow.

My heart plunged. It looked as hospitable as a roaring volcano. And where were the people? The mountain face was as empty as the lecture hall when Keenan was scheduled to talk about the Origins of Spriarweed.

"Where're the people?" asked Marylea, voicing the thoughts in my head.

"They must be here somewhere," I said. My breaths quickened. "Keenan told us to come here. Let's search the mountain face."

I heard faint hiccupping, like a baby fox that had gotten separated from its mama. I turned towards the direction of the sound, and was stunned to see tears running down Marylea's face.

"I'm - so - sorry," she said through hiccups. Her feet went on stomping through the thick brush, tears falling onto the soil. "This is all - hic - my fault. If I'd never come to - hic - Aragonia... now it's disappearing, and you'll be all gone..." Then she stopped, let the rope fall, and curled into a ball.

I dropped the rope tied to Fabe's stretcher. The frustration, fear and fatigue were getting to me. My patience was wearing thin. "Marylea, we need to keep going."

She kept hiccupping and peeked up at me with watering hazel eyes.

"I said stop," I said in a hard voice. "Get it together, Lea. We don't have time to play the blame game. The boys might be dying!"

"I – I'm sorry." She wiped her tears. "You're right. We've got to keep going..." She picked up the rope to Keenan's stretcher and started to pull it. Yet the tears continued their free fall down her cheeks, and she continued to shake with sobs.

That sad image brought my frustration crumbling down like a battered wall. What was I doing, snapping at her like that? She was only right to feel despair. She had to live with the idea that she was the reason a whole Kingdom was vanishing, yet instead of being curled up in a room dissolving in tears, here she was, traveling through the wilderness, pulling her ex-lover on a stretcher, fighting against all odds to retain hope. What was a moment of weakness?

I got to my knees and touched her shoulder. "Let it all out, Lea."

I let her sit and sob for the next few minutes, until finally all the emotion was drained out of her. Finally the hiccups ceased, and her breathing steadied. I wished I could cry, release the emotions I'd dammed up inside. But I was too far gone to even cry. My eyes were dry, yet I was dying inside.

"Lea," I said softly. "All that matters is you're doing the best you can. Aragonia has been through dreadful odds. She'll get through this all the same."

She sniffed and wiped her face clean. Then she laughed. "Now you're crying too."

I let out a bark of laughter and snorted. "It's what real women do."

Marylea smiled. "Thanks, Ash."

I smiled back and pat her shoulder. "Now let's find these people."

As I knelt to pick up the ropes to Fabe's stretcher, I felt pain engulf me like fire. My chest ached so badly for Tem I couldn't breathe, and the thought of Aragonia vanishing loomed over me like a rogue black hole. My home land, my life, was walking a thin line of non-existence. At least Marylea would have the Other Place to return to, and a new Kingdom to rule. I would simply cease to exist. How did I remain so strong on the surface while I was crumbling inside?

Because Marylea needed me. We needed each other. And Aragonia needed us.

But first – the boys.

The trek to the base of Mt Dagger finally ended in a dense field of thorny shrubbery, and I spied a few woodland creatures scurrying in its midst. I left Marylea to watch the boys while I skirted it to make sure there wasn't an opening to the rumored dwelling in Mt Dagger. Finding nothing, I returned to Marylea and showed her what seemed like the easiest route, which wasn't very easy at all. The boys' stretchers dragged on the dirt and caught on jagged rocks. I wished with all my heart that they were awake and well.

Then an air-rumbling shriek shot through the air and sent disabling pain into our heads, fear into our hearts.

Marylea clasped her hands to her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Partridge," I whispered. "Their nests must be nearby." I was learning a lot about the Realm in a span of a few days.

Marylea shook her head. Her red hair, now straggly and matted, clung to the sides of her dirt-streaked face. "Trudge on," she said, with a faint smile. I felt a glimmer of pride for this girl who, less than an hour ago, had collapsed into a heaving pile of sobs.

We searched for signs of dwelling. Our moment of excitement and hope came when we spotted a burnt torch laying in a dry bush. It comprised of five tree branches wrapped with twine. Its head was charred, but had yet to disintegrate into ash.

With hopeful fire in our hearts, we searched the vicinity, and found a cave hidden behind thick vines. It wasn't much of a dwelling, as it was deep, dark and rank, and smelt like a Partridge had designated it as its latrine. But we decided to give it a shot anyway.

It wasn't the smell that bothered me, but rather how it reminded me of the mermaids' tunnel into their lair. Marylea and I looked at each other. Then, as if we'd communicated telepathically, we nodded and headed onward.

Tragedies either made or broke you. We'd chosen not to be broken, and our choice had bonded us tighter than ever.

A few paces in, we approached what seemed to be a pile of Partridge turd. The brown droppings were piled into a medium-sized, putrid mount in the middle of the tunnel floor, wrapped by a circle of small rocks.

"Someone was definitely here," Marylea said.

I pressed my lips together. Why build a pyramid out of turd?

We skirted around the mound, struggling to get the boys' stretchers around it without touching. We wrinkled our noses as the stench wove its way up our nostrils, but we managed to get the boys around it without a graze.

We continued down the tunnel, and the stench dissipated in a few paces. I did not speak. Inside, my heart soared. The turd mound, the lack of stench after it - all this pointed towards a possible dwelling ahead. I looked back at the boys who lay lifeless in the stretchers, and allowed myself a faint glimmer of relief.

The tunnel ended in a small chamber lit by fluorescent mushrooms. A dim, green glow lit the small, curved chamber. It seemed to be carved out by human hands, yet there were no humans in sight.

"This can't be it," Marylea said, her voice breaking. "There's barely room for a family of four."

Perhaps this belonged to only a family of four. Yet it seemed long abandoned. There was no fire pit or a trace of one. There were no food stores. It was cold, dark and the walls felt damp.

The faint glimmer of hope I allowed myself flickered to death.

Then it flickered on again.

"The turds were fresh," I said. "They were moist and pungent. This isn't abandoned. Look for traces of life."

Resting Fabe and Keenan on the stone floor, we scoured the chamber for evidence of human habitation. On the far end was a stone bed covered with straw, and that was it. By the bed lay a smattering of straw that seemed to have fallen off the bed.

"Nothing," said Marylea, her voice weak. "There's nothing here."

"No," I said, gritting my teeth. "There must be something. We mustn't give up, Lea."

Marylea swept her matted hair to one side. "But there's nothing here, Ash."

I blocked her words from my mind. Instead, I got to my knees and started feeling the floor. I rapped it with my knuckles, pressed my ears to the cool surface to listen for air movements, and swept aside prickly straw.

Then, as I was sweeping aside the straw that lay on the floor by the stone bed, my fingers found air.

My heart skipped. "Marylea, look." My fingers swept the layers of straw aside to reveal a hole in the ground. It was wide enough to fit three people. One side of the hole was smooth and curved downwards, like a slide.

Marylea's face lit up. "A slide!" She fell to her knees to examine it with me. Then she looked at me, her brows knotted together. "Is it safe, do you think?"

I grabbed a pebble and let it go over the hole. It tumbled down the slide into pitch darkness. We held our breaths and listened to its journey down the slide. It bounced off smooth walls and rattled further down until we could no longer pick up any sound.

"Seems safe," I said. We didn't have any other option. I sat by the edge of the hole so my feet dangled into the hole. "Ladies first, right?"

Marylea broke into an awkward grin. "Right."

I swallowed. "I'll shout if it's safe or not, if you can hear me. Send the boys one by one after."

Marylea nodded, her face clouded with apprehension.

"See you at the bottom." I gave a little wave and pushed myself off the side.

I felt like I was hurtling down a bottomless pit. I saw nothing, smelt nothing, and heard nothing but the rush of air and the skirt of my Caval rubbing against smooth stone. The air grew colder, and I imagined frost forming on my fingertips. I kept my arms crossed before my chest, afraid to reach out lest my fingers got chopped off.

The slide curved left and right. It dipped occasionally, but not so much that my back bent backwards or that I hit the ceiling. It was a smooth, albeit terrifying ride. I wished I had a firefly lamp with me, or one of those glowing pearls in the mermaids' den. On hindsight, I should've pried one of those out for emergency situations like this, though, in fairness, we did have a horde of angry mermaids on our tail.

Just as I decided the slide was never going to end, a flicker of light appeared ahead. I held my breath, not knowing what to expect. Then the light wrapped around the edges of the slide. All of a sudden, light blinded me and the slide gave way. I fell for less than a second before landing in a bed of pillows.

It took a second for me to grasp what had just happened. A quick scan of my surroundings told me I was in a bright-colored room, lit by none other than firefly lamps. Where'd they get firefly lamps? I thought they were exclusive to Aragonia. The room was occupied by a large pit of pillows, which I lay nestled in. There was an arched wooden door ahead. It was closed, though I could hear muffled voices and music from behind it.

Then I remembered I had to signal Marylea. I got to my feet as quickly as I could in a deep pit of pillows, then turned around and poked my head up the slide. I listened for any movement, heard none, and shouted at the top of my voice: "It's safe! Send them down!"

I repeated the message a couple more times before clearing the slide. Then I squatted in the pillow pit and waited.

I was about to get up and shout another time when a whistling sound came from the slide mouth. I crossed my fingers and waited.

In a few seconds, the limp body of Keenan came hurtling through the slide mouth. He slid off the slide and was immediately enveloped by a mound of cushions.

"I got you, Keenan," I muttered. I wrapped my arms around his chest and was pleased to feel that it was still warm. Then I felt his forehead and my heart sank; it was still hot enough to fry an egg. Stumbling over pillows, I pulled him backwards, away from the slide mouth. I propped him in a sitting-up position, hoped he was comfortable, and called for Marylea to send Fabe down. Then I squatted by the side to wait for Fabe's arrival.

Fabe was easier to move because he was so light. I lined the two boys up side-by-side and called for Marylea to come down. Soon enough, Marylea landed in the cushion pit, gasping and flailing.

"It was so dark," she sputtered. She looked around. "Hey. This is nice."

"It sure is an improvement from what we've been through," I replied. "Though I wouldn't let my guard down just yet."

Marylea's gaze fixed on the wooden door. "You think there'll be people behind that door?"

I bit my lip. "If there are, I sure hope they're friendly."

Just then, the door knob turned. I moved protectively before the two boys and steeled myself in the fluffy pillow pit. Marylea froze.

The door swung open slowly, so slowly it was painful.

Behind it stood a man with a white beard that covered nearly his whole face. He wore a fatherly smile.

"Santa Claus?" Marylea whispered.

I'd heard of that jolly old man the Others called Santa Claus, who was supposedly the reason behind gifts under a decorated pine tree on Christmas mornings in the Other World. Aragonian children mocked this tradition, partly because - really, Santa Claus? - but mainly because we secretly wished we celebrated Christmas too.

The bearded man raised his eyebrows, and his smile cracked wider. "Name's Jud," he said, his voice cheery and loud. "Welcome to the Tavern." He stepped away from the door, allowing us a glimpse through the doorway.

"Nice place," said Marylea. I agreed. From what little window we had into the Tavern, we could see that it was a large cavern, apparently carved into the heart of Mount Dagger. It was bustling with people walking in a large market place set in a pit below us. Elevated corridors, carved into rock, were lined with curtained rooms decorated with bright cloths and furniture.

"Come on out. We're friendly," Jud said. His eyebrows waggled like furry caterpillars. "Who's that behind you?"

When we hauled the boys out of the pillow pit, Jud's cheerful exterior dissipated.

"Oh no," he said gravely. "The Merfolk."

Hope had sprung to life in me. "You know what happened to them?"

"We've seen this before," said Jud. "Come. Hurry." He eyed us with newfound respect. "How did you get them out of there?"

"Nesseria helped," I said.

Jud cracked a grin. "I don't know how you did it, but great job."

"Can you save them?" I asked, as Marylea and I hoisted the two boys towards the door.

"We have tried," Jud said. "And we were close."

My hope died. "Close?"

Jud was quiet for a bit. "The previous ones got to use too late. Maybe we'll succeed this time. Come. Lerickel will tend to them. Lerickel's my wife." There was a lilt of affection in his voice as he said his wife's name. I felt a surge of envy, and my mind shot towards Tem.

I shook the resulting pain out of my system. Now wasn't the time.

As we emerged from the pillow chamber, all eyes turned to us. The citizens of the Tavern froze in the middle of their everyday lives.

"Don't worry about them," Jud said to us. "They're just wary of new arrivals. With good reason. We've had a few hoodlums come by recently."

I paused. "Aren't you worried about us?" I asked.

"Naw. You seem like good people," he said, smiling so stars twinkled in his eyes. "I like to think I'm a good reader of character."

"What happened to those hoodlums?" Marylea asked. "Did you chase them away?"

Jud laughed. "They were looking for the Keeper. We simply sent them on their way. Let the Serpeople deal with them."

"We're on our way to the Keeper too," I said, and immediately regretted it when I saw the expression on Jud's face.

He stopped in his tracks, which happened to be in the middle of a steep stairway curving from the pillow chamber to the marketplace-pit. I tried not to think about falling off.

He put his arms on his thick waist. "What business do you have with the Keeper?"

Jud blocked the entire stairway, so we had no choice but to explain ourselves while on the narrow steps, each dragging an unconscious boy behind us. We left out the part about Marylea being the Shaper and me being the Princess, though. We didn't know if we could trust him yet.

"Aragonia, huh?" Jud scratched his beard. "And they finally got a new Shaper. Good for them."

Something inside me rejected that comment, but it wasn't about to argue that in front of Marylea.

"And this new Shaper is causing the Kingdom to refresh."

"Yes," said Marylea grimly.

Jud eyed Marylea with suspicion. "Let me guess. You're the new Shaper."

Marylea's surprised expression betrayed the answer.

Jud guffawed. "You can trust me, you know. Trust us. We're good people. We won't harm you." His expression turned grave. "The way to the Keeper is not safe. Perhaps there's another way."

"There isn't," I said. "Why isn't it safe?"

Jud shook his head and continued down the stairs. "Creatures. Worse than those Merfolk. And that's saying something." He looked over his shoulder briefly. "We were glad to send the hoodlums to them, but you..." He began muttering inaudibly to himself.

Fear pinched at my insides as we made our way down the steps. A few days ago, I would've never dreamt the Realm, our home, harbored dangerous creatures out of human blood. Now I was hardly surprised to hear that more awaited us.

Lerickel and Jud's room was in the first floor, just across the marketplace. The citizens of Tavern had decided we weren't a threat, nor anything of interest, and went on with their daily activities, which involved making clothes, running with yipping dogs, baking in clay furnaces, and haggling at stalls laden with fruits and vegetables.

"Where d'you get your food?" I asked Jud.

"Buy 'em from a nearby town," he said. "We have underground tunnels leading to other market places. Of course we don't venture out much. It isn't safe out there. Not with what's been happening lately."

"What's been happening?" Marylea asked.

Jud shrugged his shoulders draped with tan leather. "We don't know. But something is creeping in from the Killi Swamp."

Marylea looked at me blankly.

"The Killi Swamp is located north of Ellis," I explained. "It's a barren land, full of sickness, poverty -"

"And corrupt people," said Jud. "I heard it used to be a pleasant place. A couple of decades ago. Tragic how things have changed. Look - here we are. Lerickel and my room is up ahead."

Lerickel and Jud's room was draped with earth-toned quilts and lit by flickering candles. Lerickel had olive skin, dark wavy hair, and even darker almond-shaped eyes. The walls were stacked with cabinets and shelves adorned with knick-knacks.

"Lerickel," said Jud. "These two boys need your help."

Lerickel, who'd been reclining in a wood chair reading a book, sprang to action. "Set them on the carpet."

We set the stretchers on the woven red carpet and sat by them. My heart was beating its way out of my chest. "Do you know what's wrong with them?" I asked.

Lerickel's voice was low, soothing, and had a magical tone to it. "They're trapped in their own minds. Hallucinating, if you will. I will enter their minds and tell them to wake up."

"How long will that take?" Marylea said, locking and unlocking her fingers. "The mermaids said they'd be dead in twelve hours, and that was this morning."

"Then we need to hurry," said Lerickel. "Jud, if you would please fetch the ingredients from the cabinets."

The couple got to work, swiftly and without so much as a grunt. Marylea and I sat on our heels, afraid that a single movement or squeak would disrupt them. We watched as Lerickel ground herbs and flowers in a mortar, tossed them into an iron pot, and stirred while chanting. Clockwise twice, anti-clockwise thrice, clockwise... I lost count halfway. I just wanted her to be successful. The herbs blended into a thick liquid the color of the sun.

Finally, Lerickel produced a flask of golden liquid and kneeled next to Fabe. "We'll give him some of this, then I'll drink some and go to sleep. When I wake, he should wake too."

I swallowed. "Is it dangerous?"

Lerickel shook her head. "Not if we do it within the time limit." She smiled at us. "Here goes."

"I realize I haven't thanked you yet," I said hurriedly before she fell asleep.

Lerickel gave me a small smile. "My pleasure." Then her eyelids wafted closed and she fell backwards. Jud caught her in time before she bumped her cranium on the carpet.

"Now we wait," said Jud calmly. He sat on the stone bed and folded his arms.

As the three snoozed, Marylea and I sat fidgeting. My feet starting tingling after awhile, so I stood up and stretched.

Then Fabe jolted upright, coughing and spluttering like a cat with a hairball.

"Fabe!" I cried, falling to my knees next to him. "You all right?"

Fabe coughed and spluttered some more before he looked up at me with dazed eyes. "Whaaaat...?"

Lerickel's eyelids fluttered open and she pushed herself upright. Her eyes crinkled by the sides when she saw Fabe coughing and heaving. "This boy is safe now."

I burst out laughing. "That's great! Fabe, you're not gonna die!"

Fabe grinned weakly, then his grin faded. "I was going to die?"

"You were under the mermaids' spell," explained Lerickel. "Trapped in a hallucination. You would've died in a couple of hours if I hadn't gotten you. Their hallucinations are powerful, so powerful your brain is over-stimulated until it stops working altogether."

She stood and picked up the flask of golden liquid again. "Next."

Marylea cleared her spot to allow for Lerickel to lie down next to Keenan. Her eyes were frantic, confused and hurt at the same time. I was full of sympathy for the poor girl, as well as eagerness for Keenan to wake up safely. I couldn't love him as a lover, but I loved him as a kung-fu disciple loved his mentor.

Lerickel fed Keenan the potion, then took a gulp of it herself and lay down. Her eyelids slid shut. The second wait began.

A minute in, Marylea reached over and took my hand. I squeezed it and looked at her. "It's going to be okay," I whispered. She nodded, her eyes reddened and watery.

The time stretched on. Fabe, huddled in a blanket, asked, "Did I take this long?"

"No," I said, worry creeping into my voice. My shoulders tensed. I could hardly breathe.

Marylea's hand twitched in mine.

Then, movement. Lerickel's eyelids opened and she sat up.

I waited, breath caught in my throat, for Keenan to do the same.

He didn't stir.

"What's going on?" asked Marylea. "Why isn't he waking up?"

Lerickel shook her head wearily. "He's too caught up in his hallucination. He won't listen to me."

Marylea's hand went limp. "You have to save him. You have to!"

"Don't worry, child. I will." She looked at Marylea with a focused expression. "But I'll need your help."

Marylea's face went blank. "What?"

"Normally I wouldn't reveal a hallucination, as it reveals the hallucinator's deepest soul, their strongest wanting - but I have to." Lerickel took a small breath. "He's in a library, really dark, damp, cold. Sitting by a fire. And you -" she stared squarely at Marylea. "- are wailing and beating yourself up about something. He feels terrible - I see it etched in his face - but he can't do anything about it." Lerickel paused. "I need you to enter the hallucination with me and tell him it's not real. Tell him to wake up."

It was like the air in the room had turned into ice. I looked at Marylea, my heart still. Her face was ashen.

"It's the only way," said Lerickel in a soft, soothing voice.

Marylea's eyes had grown visibly redder. She lowered her head to the ground and blinked furiously. Then she looked up and said in a raspy voice, "Okay. I'll do it."

"Good," said Lerickel. She handed the flask of golden liquid to Marylea. "Drink this, then hand it back to me. I'll see you in the hallucination."

Marylea took the flask, swallowed, and without taking her eyes off the flask, took a hearty gulp. She avoided my gaze as she handed the flask to Lerickel. Then she lay down and closed her eyes.

Lerickel fed Keenan more potion, took a sip, and lay down on the red carpet.

I exchanged a nervous look with Fabe. He gave me a small smile. "It'll be all right."

Minutes passed, and the three still did not stir.

"Wanna hear something funny?" said Fabe. "My hallucination was that I was the head chef in the Aragonian kitchens. Ellisian chefs were clamoring to get my autograph." He gave a strained bark of laughter. "When that lady told me I was dreaming, oh boy did it crush me. But I listened, and here I am."

"Thanks for telling me, Fabe," I said softly, and forced a smile. It was hard to laugh when Keenan's life on the line, and I knew that it was killing Marylea to be in there, trying to save him.

Minutes ticked by, and even Jud started fidgeting. I had to will my lungs to remember to breathe. The air seemed to grow thick as quicksand.

Then Keenan sprung into a sitting up position and started hacking like he had a fish bone stuck in his throat.

I was nearly bowled over by how happy I felt. I laughed. Happy tears sprung in my eyes.

When he stopped hacking, he looked up at my gleeful face. "Ash," he said, his voice still weak.

"Yay, you're all right," I said, beaming.

He coughed some more. "I feel like I should be dead." He pressed a fist against his chest, as if something hurt inside.

Lerickel sat up and smiled. "My work here is done," she said.

Last to get up was Marylea, who looked dazed, hurt and confused, if one could feel so much at one moment. She got to her feet, wobbled a little and touched my shoulder for support.

Then she turned to Keenan and said softly, "I forgive you," before heading out of the room.