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The mystic was not what I’d expected.  Where Findlay was tall and muscular – as muscular as a chunk of ice could be, anyways – this mystic was short and stubby.  One of his arms was missing, and instead of being wholly made of ice, he had water flowing that held his joints together.  I took a few steps towards him.

“I’m here for the second rune,” I announced as I approached him.

He stared down at me, and he looked like he was considering something.  He knew why I was here.  He had to.  No one could just cross the water that easily.

“Bring me five trees’ worth of wood.”

I blinked up at him.  That was it?  I wasn’t supposed to fight the creatures or something?

He handed me a sword. “You’re going to need this.”

Great.  More weapons.  I headed back to the forest of trees I’d left behind me.  Would this blade dull before I could even cut down that many trees?  I swung it at a tree, and to my surprise, it sliced straight through it in one shot.  I shoved at the trunk, and it rolled into the open field.  I did the same with the next tree.  Pretty soon, I’d rolled five trees into the open field.  I stood over them scratching my head.  There was no way this was all I needed to do.

“What next?” I asked him.

“Can you chop them up into smaller pieces?”

A few swings from my sword had that task done.

“Thank you!  You came for the rune, you said?”

I nodded, and he handed me a little green gem to put in my pendant.

“Don’t let the elves have it.  They’re greedy.”

I nodded, assuming he was referring to the little creatures.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Zhaleh.”

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I figured the best course of action would be to go around the island as opposed to cutting across it and running into the elves again.  I was sure they’d notice my pendant this time and try to take it.

I reached the shore soon enough, and Lumi was waiting for me.

“Did you get the second rune?”

“I did!” I exclaimed. “This one is green,” I informed her as I held the necklace out to her.

She grasped it with a smile. “Good job.  Have you looked at the map?”

I pulled it out.  The dot over the ocean was gone, but there was another dot in Gelid.  The one that had been once in Eira was gone.

“Tae was right.  This dot is following us,” I informed her, pointing at the spot on the map.

“It is?  Odd.”

I could tell she had more to say, but she didn’t say anymore, so I put the map back in my bag. “Do we need to head back to Eira now?”

“We should.  There are other dots on the map we need to head to, though.  We can’t head back tonight, so we’ll have to stay in the village.”

I wasn’t sure Lumi should go anywhere near Crystal again, but it seemed we had no choice because of how dark it was already.

☀☀☀☀☀

We ended up staying with Indra’s family that night.  Her mother was very chatty, and her aunt had traveled just as much as she had, so there were many stories told that evening.

“I was up in Himesh last week and they’ve been hunting for a monster!  He’s been in one of their caves along the mountain, but they can’t find him now.”

“What does he look like?” I asked.

“Oh, I have no idea.  No one’s been able to see him yet.”

Lumi raised an eyebrow. “How are you sure he even exists, then?  Maybe it’s just a rumor.”

Indra’s aunt grumbled at this. “It was true all right!”

I nudged Lumi. “That could be the next mystic!  There’s a dot over Himesh.”

Lumi considered this for a moment. “I suppose it might be.”

“Do you think we can head to Himesh in the morning?”

She shook her head. “I have to head back to Eira.  You can go to Himesh on your own, though if you’d like.”

I blinked at her.  Go to Himesh alone?  I’d barely been in Alba for five days, and she wanted me to travel the country alone?  It didn’t really seem like I had much of a choice, though.  I had no idea how long I had to complete all these quests, and time was already ticking by.

Before I went to bed that night, I pulled out the map and tried to map out how I’d get there.  It appeared that Himesh was essentially just a mountain, but I knew nothing of the three cities I might have to pass through on my way there.  We’d avoided Bora on our journey here for some reason I couldn’t explain, and I’d never even heard of Kari or Alpin.  I’d have to ask Lumi in the morning before we left.

I laid down in my bed that night and pondered everything that had happened so far.  I’d been away from home for barely six days but so much had happened already.  I’d met so many new people, and I’d seen so many new places it was almost overwhelming.

Tomorrow would be another day on this wild adventure, and part of me couldn’t wait to see it.  On the other hand, it was completely terrifying to face tomorrow alone.