After Gaines passed out the first thing I thought of was "who is that man trying to stand up with the green hair" and the second thing I thought of was "grab the devisor."

So as Martha dealt with the green haired man who she somehow knew, and Andor with his ability so someone reach through Mianite's warding, we were able to scratch off optioned one. Now we moved on to option two.

We kidnapped the Devisor, and as Tom had him lurched over his shoulder and Tucker held his legs the conversation got gruesome. We all really just had a thirst for revenge at this point.

"We need information out of him," Tom said, his voice was weak because he was using up a lot of strength. I guess the Devisor was a lot stronger than we thought at the time. "You all might not like my methods, so why don't we just let the talking to me."

"We need his in one piece Thomas," Wag spoke. He had been more angry about the fact that he couldn't brake Mianite's warding, but the kid prince could. It was a big loss for him and I felt terrible.

Hope for once was silent, and she looked ashen and grey, almost a greenish tint. She glanced up at the world no longer with curiosity, but with some glazed off look. I almost had to worry.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. I tried to have my voice stay as calm as possible, like I would when she was a little kid and I would have to insist that she actually did brake her arm or leg or back.

"Hope are you okay?" I asked.

Her eyes unglued from the tree tops above us, and she looked over to me. Her eyes glossy and weak. "Hm," she asked, shrugging, like she didn't even hear me.

"You?" I questioned more. "You look like something is bothering you." And by something I meant everything.

Her frame was a lot stronger than it was when we landed here, but her smile wasn't as bright and her eyes weren't as curious. She had lost all of her luster in only a couple of weeks. Before she would have been telling Tom to "suck an egg" or something.

She shook her head. "I think I'm just tired."

I simply glared at her because I couldn't have made up bullshit better myself. She even forced herself to smile, and that was the final straw. "Stop lying to us. What is wrong?"

"Nothing!" She snapped. And everyone stopped deadpan on the trail. "I am fine! Leave me alone!" Some color had come back into her cheeks, but they were only red from anger. Then she pulled her pony tail tighter, and pressed upward the trail and didn't look back.

I glanced back up the trail, and all the boys were staring at me. This would be Jordan in this situation if he did his job and was a good teammate instead of running around with Ianite.

Why doesn't Matthew Gaines wake up and judge me too!

"What?" I raised my eyebrows, and as much as I tried to keep my tone polite it still came out rude. At least it was rude enough that the boys stopped staring and continued walking down the trail.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, except for Wag and Jordan mumbling about machines and chemistry and smart shit like that. I was at the edge of my rope with my arms crossed like an angry teenager. I just got so angry for some reason and I could even pinpoint it. Even Tom's snapping made me want to snap his fingers.

When we got to Tom's house Hope was sitting at the door. Her bobby pin was wedged into the lock so she had tried to get in without Tom's help. Tom saw and just kinda gave her a "proud but annoyed" look.

Tom had to give the key to Jordan so he could open the door. Since Tucker and Tom were carrying our captive that would have been a difficult job.

Jordan opened the door with a creak, and instead of being greeted by a kitchen chair or a houseplant or a welcome mat, we were greeted by a bunch of baby Ianite'sz

We hadn't seen the baby Ianite's in a while. We just kinda assumed they had joined the wild and became a new species. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that has happened.

But there they were, all waiting for us at Tom's door step.

"Oh bloody hell!" Tom let out. If Tom wouldn't have had Matthew Gaines in his hands he would have probably swooshed all of the baby Ianite's out like a heard of wild crows.

"What the fuck are they doing in your house?" Tucker asked with a strange look on his face.

"I don't bloody know!" Tom bellowed. "They just show up and they don't leave."

Tom then gave out a hearty sigh and looked down to the baby Ianite's. They all just stared out at him with a straight face, blinking a few times.

"Go to your MUM or MASTER or whatever the hell you call her." Tom said, and I'm surprised he didn't grab a broom and forcefully kick them all out.

Then as soft as hiccups, and as high pitched as the child of birds they spoke words. The whole crowd started as an uproar. The hundreds of them chanted the same thing over and over again.

"Momma is sick," it started slow and quiet. "Momma is sick. Momma is sick." It got louder and louder. "Momma got sick. Momma got sick. Momma got sick." Now a thousand little roars bummed and echoed in Tom's kitchen. We were all to flabbergasted to move.

Except for Jordan. His face frozen in fear, but his legs ready to run.

He screamed. "I'M COMING IANITE!" He ran down the trail almost out of breath and sanity.

And Hope, who couldn't be shocked with anything during her current mood, ran after him just as fast.

It couldn't have been possible. My mind wouldn't have allowed in. My mind couldn't let Ianite be hurt.

At first I checked the castle and nothing was their. Then as I was running back to Tom's house, Hope trailing behind me, I thought of several different places Ianite could be. The only place that I knew she would be was the one place we had found her.

The old house in the red oak forest. The place paved with pale sand and an auburn sky during mid day. She went their when she couldn't deal with the commotion of her own head.

So then I shook Wag until he made the teleportation spell for me and Hope.

Hope still had this strange bland look on his face that wouldn't leave. I was to upset to notice.

As soon as the teleportation spell worked and my feet hit the pale sand, I ran off to the direction of south east. I almost hit a few red oak trees and the lack of light in the sky made it difficult for me to dodge loose rocks. Hope was able to run through the brush at a normal sprinting pace without freaking out.

I stopped deadpan, a statue looming in front of me. Where Ianite's house should have stood was a stone figure. It looked like a larger version of Ianite.

I know it sounds stupid and unrealistic, but it was her. I knew it was her. I had lost another one, and she hadn't even gotten to be mine.

I could feel her presence in the rock, but her life was gone. Her soul had left and died off, and she become what she created - the raw core of nature - rock. The life had been sucked out of her and flew in the wind. It was taken.

But what did she die off? Old age?

I heard Hope walk up to me. Instead of consoling me, she had to hold back a laugh. "Good luck trying to cuddle your girlfriend." She mumbled something that I probably wasn't supposed to hear.

The statue cracked and shattered. All that stood in front of us was gravel.