I floated down the tunnel, but it was farther than I had assumed it would be. It took ten minutes before I started to see another light besides the ones floating around me.

"What do you all want, and why have you brought the Beating Hearts in here? What are you trying to do?!" A deep grouchy voice called out to us.

​​

"I have someone that wants to meet you, and she comes bearing gifts, so wait to judge her, please," Maurice said as we entered a large cavern.

It was filled with operating tables of a sort, and some of them were covered with papers and empty ink bottles. The place was a disaster, but it kind of reminded me of Gamble; he had a special kind of organization in his mess.

"What is a Bee Folk… Are you a Beefolk? I have never seen any Bee with blue skin before, but what are you doing with the Scourge?" A massive Brown Bear asked me as I floated forward.

Helaina didn't flinch, but I didn't like the attitude of the grouchy bear.

"I am Ashia, and Helaina is with me, and that is how you will refer to her. I have these," I said and then stretched out my one hand to a table that was empty.

I selected the Blood Sacs from my inventory and then made them appear on the table. I floated down to the ground and then dropped the Nectar hexes on the ground.

"What is this for?" Bill asked me, scratching his bearded chin.

The man was large, and it was hard to tell if he was actually a vampire. Though, as he walked up to the Blood Sacs next to me, I could feel no pulse signs with my sensors.

There was also no warmth coming from his body, so this must be his ideal form or something like that. I had to stop grouping things from the last world as these new creatures, but it was really hard not to after having it engraved into your brain.

Not even evolution could take that away from me, but I no longer thought about the people there. Instead, I just had reflections on things that were happening with my life now, like the Vampires.

"I want a place to stay for the night, and the next, and then I want a guide to lead me out of the mountains. I would also like to talk to you about going about the ground permanently," I explained.

Bill nodded his head until I got to the part about going about the ground. When I reached that point, Bill stiffened and then turned away.

He walked over to a far table and then shuffled some papers around before finding one. He then turned back to me and held the paper up for me to see.

00:15

00:18

00:20

01:02

01:05

01:07

The paper was a list of timestamps, but the progression wasn't very good.

"These are records of all the times I have tried to go outside. The Nectar-infused blood works on my children and below, but it has only given me slight improvement. My children will not leave without me, so I don't think that the last part will work," Bill explained, and I nodded.

"If I had a way to make you stronger, smarter, and possibly resistant to the sun, and the rest of you children, would you do it?" I asked, and Bill raised one eyebrow to me after placing the note back on the table.

"How? Just who are you exactly?!" Bill asked, and the one eyebrow crawled up his face.

"My name is Ashia, Queen of my People. I was attacked by the Sky Folk in the central chamber of one of their ships after being set upon for erroneous reasons. I was transported from there to a cave in this mountain, and now I am trying to find my way out," I explained, and Bill nodded slowly, but then Hamble spoke up.

"She beat Kiliada and dodged his lightning, and the Queen moved so fast! Then, when were they done? She told Kiliada that she wasn't even trying! AND HE AGREED!?" Hamble explained but ended up shouting at the end, still blown away from what happened.

"WHAT?!" Bill roared, looking at me, now with both eyebrows trying to hide in his shaggy brown mop of hair.

"I saw it too… Well, I saw something; a blur of arms and flailing. Then the Queen was shot back, and dodged a bolt of Volcanic Magic, and smashed back into him. Then she jumped back after he burst with blades, and Kiliada gave up. Mind you, this happened after five full blinks," Maurice explained, with Hamble grabbing at his arm and nodding along so furiously I thought the shell was going to fly off his head.

"And you just made those Blood Sacs appear with the Nectar, but I wasn't really paying attention then… Hmmm," Bill said as he straightened.

The eyebrow dropped again, and his Bear forehead smoothed out from the wrinkled Wi-Fi symbol it was making before. He looked to be thinking about something, but I was starting to get tired.

"Do you think that we could continue this conversation after we have gotten some sleep? We are tired and would like somewhere to sleep if that's okay with you?" I asked as Helaina rested against me, and Bill nodded.

"Yes, but please, come back when you are awake so we can talk more. I think that there is something different about you, but I will say no more. Maurice, take your idiot brother with you and show the girls where to go. Everyone knows she is welcome now," Bill explained, and the two men nodded and then headed out of the cavern waving us to follow.

"See, I told you he likes me!" Hamble said after we got away back down the tunnel.

"What do you call it when he says something nice to you?" Maurice asked with a laugh.

"I don't know," Hamble said, shrugging. "When it happens, I'll let you know."