"That little wretched thief!" Gonzeelda hissed through her teeth, as she roughly pulled the blue child along behind her.

"W-who?" Tricia asked.

"That damn Monkeytoes!" Gonzeelda grumbled, shoving an elven man out of the way. He cursed at her, but she could've cared less.

"But Ramona Monkeytoes was nice!" Tricia whimpered. "Please don't hurt her!"

Gonzeelda stopped and looked back at the young hag. For a moment, she wanted to smack her across her pretty little face. But in their short time together, Gonzeelda had grown fond of the little runt. Plus, she needed her nice and happy so she would use magic at her command—And that command would be to strike the Halfling thief with a bolt of lightning.

"You won't hurt her, will you?" Tricia asked, pulling on Gonzeelda's wrist.

The orcess growled and shook her head, looking away. Her urge to smack the child was rising. But she bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood.

"Mommy?" Tricia asked again.

"I won't hurt her on one condition!" Gonzeelda finally grumbled. "If she gives my Beauty back without a missing piece!"

"What's a Beauty?" Tricia asked.

Gonzeelda rolled her eyes. "My coin pouch." She lied. "I named her Beauty."

"Okay! Yay!" Tricia cheered, jumping up and down.

The orc woman didn't share in her joy however, because she spotted something strange in the crowd of the street. A tall man with a top hat was standing near a merchant's stand, but he wasn't looking over the seller's wares; he was staring straight at Gonzeelda and wasn't trying to hide it.

"Fetter." The orc rogue said under her breath. "Come on, Tricia."

Gonzeelda yanked Tricia so hard, she flew off her feet and landed hard on the dirt-crusted road. Immediately, the girl turned on her waterworks, drawing stares from all directions.

"That orc just hurt that little girl!" Came a man's outraged bark.

Another person cried out. "Why that orc is kidnapping her, isn't she?"

"That girl's blue, mommy!" A child's voice rang above the rest. "What does that make her?"

"I think she's a hag! A hag has entered Skeanda!"

"Someone do something!"

"Get the guards!"

"Guards! There's an orc and a hag causing trouble in Merchant's Row!"

Gonzeelda slapped her palm over her face and sighed. "Torchwood, why do you do this to me?"

The orcess duckced down and swooped Tricia off the ground, who still was crying. And taking a step back, she burst into a sprint towards the western edge of town.

Cries followed them, and it was all Gonzeelda could do to run. It didn't help the blue girl was crying her eyes out. There would be no place to hide as long as she continued.

"Shh!" Gonzeelda pulled Tricia close to her chest. "Please keep your crying down. These people mean to hurt us!"

That caught Tricia's attention, who sniffled.

"Run mommy, run!" She whined.

The orcess didn't need told by Tricia, she knew what danger they were in. If the guard caught them, they'd be held long enough until Gus the Walking God showed up to claim her—Then what would happen to Tricia? From the sounds of the townsfolk and their anger at a hag being in their city, it wouldn't be good.

***

The forge stared at the desert galleon, the mighty sand ship. He didn't understand the magic behind such a vessel, but according to the man at the edge of Windale Forest, it would sail the sand dunes like a normal ship would sail the sea—But then again, Angon didn't understand that magic either.

Angon sat in the grass, just a hundred feet from the ship, and waited as Gavin and Buster haggled the price they would need to pay to board the ship and sail it specifically out of its way to Kendobul. From what Angon understood, the desert city was only halfway to the northern part of Helopia, where Angel's outpost was hidden.

"It's so bright here." Angon whispered, shielding his eyes from the glaring noontime sun.

Glancing to his side, he thought he saw something moving in the trees. Angon took little care to find out what it was. He knew the faeries and tree spirits were likely still watching them; and at the very least it was not a creature of ill intent, or it couldn't have entered Windale Forest to begin with.

"How much longer?" Angon shouted across the small field. "I'm bored!"

Buster was hanging his head to his chest, and slumping his shoulders. Gavin still was giving it his all, and moving his mouth at a mile a minute. The captain of the sand ship was a race known as a fire dwarf. They had a beard that was actually made of living, and magical flames. Again, Angon did not understand; and he feared without Lavina around there would be many things he never would.

Finally the fire beard nodded, and Gavin shook hands with the short man.

Buster looked at Gavin with his jaw hanging open. After a few more words, Buster stomped his way over to Angon.

"Are we going on board?" Angon asked the fuming blue beard.

"Aye, we be doing so." Buster grumbled. "But not with a deal to me liking."

"What did you decide?" Angon stood up, and joined Buster in walking to the ship.

Buster cursed, and shook his head. "Yer derned elf friend told Captain Gutfist that he'd give him a thousand gold pieces!"

"A thousand?" Angon cocked his head. "Is that a lot?"

"Aye!" Buster cried. "I don't know where he be thinking to get so much currency, but even King Belltower wouldn't be offering up that much to save the world!"

"Maybe we should ask him." Angon shrugged.

"As a priest of a goodly god, I don't think swindlin' is a good thing, but in this case, maybe we should keep our lips sealed, eh?"

"I don't understand." Angon said.

Buster grumbled. "Ye never do, forge. Ye never do."

Before walking up the boarding plank, Angon took one last look at the forest, wishing Lavina was there—And he could almost swore he saw her auburn hair blowing from behind a tree. He sighed, and climbed the ramp, and walked up to the deck.

***

Ramona's griffin landed just beyond the edge of Kendobul, just behind a group of palm trees, and a small oasis.

"Goodbye, griffin." Ramona whispered into the magnificent creature's ear.

The bird vanished in a burst of feathers that popped like bubbles upon touching the ground. In its place was the small griffin effigy that she had stolen from the orc noble back in Skeanda. The Halfling scooped it up, and deposited it into one of her three belt pouches. Before walking into town, she felt the pouch containing the mighty magic weapon and nodded. If she could get it repaired, she would be able to cure her obsession, she was sure.

As the thief came from behind the oasis, she bumped into a trio of elven children, two boys and one girl. Ramona's hand snapped out and grabbed the boy on her left, and on her right. Both children had placed a hand on her belt pouches in an attempt to swipe her belongings.

"Not today, children. Not today." Ramona leaned into each of their faces, grinning.

The boys, looking embarrassed, pulled back their hands and edge their way around her, and ran for the pools.

The little girl looked up at Ramona and shook her head. "Are you the mastermind?"

With a blushing grin, the girl nodded.

"I'll tell you some secrets to a good pick pocketing technique." The halfing promised. "But the whole bumping into someone thing—It's overdone, love."

The girl nodded, with a gap-toothed smile, and rushed past, tearing off her over clothes to go swimming with her friends.

Ramona turned to watch the three children in their small clothes, swimming about and splashing each other.

"Hopefully you'll never need to steal to survive." She whispered. "I know if I had the choice, I wouldn't have chosen this life."

Ramona turned back to the town gates and strolled through, past the guards who paid her little mind. Here they knew who she was, and they wouldn't arrest her unless she did something much worse than stealing a trinket here and there. For more than once, the thief had lined their pockets with gold from a noble or two or three—Closer to ten.

The Halfling girl skipped through town and made her way to a house in the grungiest part of town. When she came to the door, she found a bill nailed to it. With a gasp, she pulled down the parchment and read it over.

"How dare they!" Ramona growled. "They can't evict someone who is paying their rent!"

Ramona had paid rent on this building for six of her sixteen years, and had paid off enough in advance to allow it to be left alone for another six.

She rolled up the parchment and shoved it in her back pocket. She would have to deal with it after her visit with her mom.

Ramona gave four quick knocks on the door before picking the lock and entering the dark building. She carefully closed the door, to preserve the traps that would attack any who dared entered without care.

Satisfied that her traps were in place, she walked into the dusty home and towards the stairs.

"Mother, I'm home!" Ramona called up.

She carefully climbed the stairs, stepping over trip wires that would project spikes from the side wall, skewering any intruders.

"Mother?" Ramona called. "Are you awake?"

She entered the second bedroom, and walked over, sitting down on the edge of her mother's bed.

"Hello, Mom." Ramona said, reaching over, and stroking her mother's forehead.

It was cold as stone—Because it was stone.

Lying under the blankets of the canopy bed, was a Halfling woman, that looked akin to a statue. Little would anyone else know, that she had been petrified by a gorgon gang that had broken in demanding she pay more rent—Rent that Ramona had been paying for those six years.

"Oh, Mom." Ramona whispered, staring at the woman's frozen face. "I'll find a cure for you. I have a magic item of great power with me. It's broken... but once I get it repaired, I'll save you, I promise. Then we can get out of Kendobul, and move to Sencia... and then I'll never have to steal again."

***

Lavina leaned back against her pack trying to get comfortable. But with every sand dune that the sea ship sailed over, her stomach lurched and she wanted to vomit all over.

"Ugh..." She whimpered quietly. "The things I do for knowledge... and my friends."

Just before the sand ship had taken off from the edge of Windale Forest, she had made her way up the anchor chain and climbed through a small porthole that she barely fit through.

The half-elf, Half-Barbarian child knew that she couldn't show her face just yet. She had to wait until the journey was at least half over, otherwise Gavin would likely have the ship turned around and have her returned home.

As much as Lavina wanted to take up her father's offer to marry Daneel, she knew this journey was more important. Daneel would be in Windale when she got back, and when she did, she would talk to him for the first time, and everything would be wonderful.

But until then, Lavina knew that she had a duty to uphold. She needed to get Angon to Angel's Outpost and find out what his true purpose was, and how to protect him from the Blood Tomb. If she didn't, what kind of friend would she be?

"Don't worry Angon." Lavina said, looking out the porthole and into the desert. "I will never abandon you, as long as I shall live."