Celeste didn't remember her bed being as hard as a rock. As stiff as a wooden board, yes. She also didn't recall kicking her covers completely off the bed. But since they weren't on her, she could only conclude they were bunched up on the floor. But despite her clearly restless sleep, she felt energized. She just hoped she hadn't overslept. There was a lot to do in the jewelry store today.

When she opened her eyes, she wondered if she woke up before sunrise as complete darkness flooded her vision. Celeste placed her hands against the bed to push herself up. She froze once her hands touched a rough and coarse surface. No wonder her bed felt like a rock, she was lying on top of one, which meant she wasn't in her bed.

That thought prompted her to roll off the slab. Her feet touched cold stone and a chill ran up her spine. If she had been able to see anything around her, she would've started running.

She had heard about the abductions happening around the city, but none of them had been in the Artisans' District where she lived. And she doubted that a noble, the usual perpetrators of the abductions, took her. She would've woken up in a mansion instead of a cave. A slaver (which was only slightly worse) must’ve grabbed her, though she didn’t remember being stopped by anyone. Celeste didn’t even remember leaving the shop. All she could recall was lying down for a nap. Had someone come in and taken her in broad daylight? But she wasn’t that sound of a sleeper...

Whatever happened, she needed to get out before the slaver came back and shipped her somewhere. No one would be able to pick up her trail if that happened. Celeste groped around in the dark until her hands met a rough surface. As long as she went forward, it would lead her somewhere.

The wall seemed to go on forever. She picked up her pace the further she went. Either the slavers were gone for the moment or they had dumped for some unknown reason. But she wasn't waiting around for her good luck to run out. At one point, she found herself sprinting. The darkness encroached on her, threatening to swallow her up.

The wall made a turn and she stumbled, not expecting it. She felt the skin on her hand tear as she attempted to grab the wall to keep from falling. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from crying out and alerting anyone who might be around.

Her hand bled. She took her thumb and probed the injury the best she could, hissing when she hit tender flesh. She didn’t feel any deep cuts, but bits of torn skin and a few spots that bled. From what she could determine, she had only scraped her hand. Hopefully, that was all that happened.

Celeste stood back up and looked at the direction the wall turned. In the distance, she spotted a speck of light. Her heart jumped for joy and she ran toward it as fast as she could.

If her brother were here, he would've chided her for her hastiness in a possibly hostile situation. Derrick was probably worried about her and was tearing up the whole city looking for her. She hoped he was making sure to not compromise his position in the Guard to do it. His superiors didn't like the fact that he came from lowly stock and would use any excuse to get rid of him. He'd worked so hard to get in it that she didn’t want to be the reason why he got kicked out of it.

Not that Owain would be slouching in the search. Her other brother might not be a warrior like Derrick, but being a scribe in training, he had access to several important people and had a way of getting the information he needed without anyone knowing. She hoped he was being careful too. A misstep on his part could end in his death.

The thought of them possibly getting into trouble because of her spurred her on. The sooner she got home, the sooner things could settle down. She refused to be a burden to them.

Fortunately, the cave floor wasn't as rough like the walls or her bare feet would be cut up like her hand. Derrick told her that slavers often removed their victims' shoes to make it harder for them to escape. Even if her feet weren't cut up, she felt discomfort as her feet hit the floor.

Just when she thought she would have to stop for a rest, she saw the exit illuminated in sunlight. She did one last burst of speed and felt the warm rays of the sun on her skin as she left the cave.

The prairie of Cyrac stretched before her, the tall grass gently swaying in the cool spring breeze. She closed her eyes as spots started to appear in them. Maybe it had been a bad idea to go from the dark cave to the bright outside so suddenly. Once her eyes adjusted, she took a look around.

Having never gone far from the city before, she didn’t recognize the surrounding area. But there was only one direction to go, forward. As long as she did that, she was sure that she would be able to see the Earth Tower and use that to guide her back home.

The structure that hosted the crystal could be seen almost anywhere in Cyrac and the human kingdom of Feon had been built around it. While there were some people that lived outside the city's borders, most lived in the city itself. Whenever they ran low on space, they just added another ring. There were to nine rings to the city.

The Artisan District where she lived was located in one of the middle rings. Most of the shops were located in those rings, so there was a lot of travel between there and the lower and upper rings. Most people found there on a daily basis didn’t live there. Derrick's post was in one of the lower rings, but he came to visit often. Owain's job was in the upper rings, but he rented a place in the mid-rings. As a beginner scribe, he couldn't afford anything in the upper rings. She visited him often too. Once a week, they all had dinner together at Owain's place.

Thinking about food made her pause. Surely she was hungry after she had slept for so long, but she wasn't. Celeste had to wonder if this was all a dream. Things weren't adding up, like the lack of anybody's presence, the fact that she wasn't hungry, the fact that she wasn't in her own clothes but a long shift, and the fact that as she moved forward, she couldn't see the Tower. There were no trees or mountains blocking her view.

Celeste looked at her hand. Indeed, she had only scraped it. But the pain she felt from it proved this wasn't a dream. It wasn’t possible to feel pain in a dream.

A loud shrill whistle from above her made her look up. Something large with wings circled around in the sky. It looked to be a hawk or eagle of some kind, though she didn’t recall any whistling like that. The bird turned in a tight curve, bringing it closer. She never knew that birds could get that large. But she had no time for bird watching.

Celeste took a couple of steps forward. There was a loud pop and something heavy landed by her foot, causing her to back up. Once again, she looked up. The bird was still there and had come closer, only it seemed to have sprouted human legs and a torso and... It wasn’t a bird, but someone gliding with a bird-like contraption. That could only mean one thing, an elf.

Elves, in Celeste’s opinion, looked very birdlike with their angular features and skinny limbs. She hadn't seen them very often as the noise of Feon didn’t agree with their large, sensitive ears. But they had come in the shop once and a while to buy something. Madame Bustier, the woman who ran the shop, said they were attracted to shiny things.

The elf dived down and pulled up in time to land gracefully on the ground in front of her. They glared at her as they folded the wings of their glider.

"What is your business here, human? You are in elven territory without leave."

If she was in elven territory, she really was a long way from home. Maybe the elf could give her directions and maybe some shoes. She glanced at their ears. That was one of the surest ways to tell whether they were male or female. This one had long ears, making them a she.

"I apologize for trespassing, madame elf, but I think I've been kidnapped. You see, I woke up in a cave a little ways back." Celeste pointed to the direction she came from. "And I don't remember how I got there…"

"We haven't observed anyone going in and out of that cave for months." She snapped back. "Which camp sent you?" The fact that Celeste didn’t answer right away annoyed her and she pointed the staff that was also her glider at her. "Speak, earth-shatterer, and we will be lenient on you!"

"Earth-shatterer? I thought you called humans earth-tillers." And last she knew, they weren’t so territorial, even if they did keep to themselves for the most part. "And months? I doubt I've been asleep for that long. What are these camps you mentioned? I'm from Feon, so I don’t know of any of the towns or settlements outside the main city."

The elf smacked her with the staff, knocking her over.

"Don't try to play dumb, human. Tell me who sent you." She pointed the staff at her face. "Or I will be forced to do more than knock you down."

Celeste cowered back from the staff. All she wanted was a little help and here she was being interrogated like some sort of spy. She wasn’t sure if she could convince her otherwise. Since when had relations between elves and humans been this tense since the war of the Three Kingdoms?

No, she had no right to treat her this way even if she was trespassing. Celeste grabbed the staff and used it to haul herself up. She then shoved it aside as much as she could. If her parents had taught her anything, it was that one had to stand up for themselves from time to time. She kept eye contact with the rather surprised elf.

"I am Celeste Avon from Feon and I need to get back home. If you point the way to me, I will leave as quickly as I can and not bother you anymore. I don’t know why you’re hostile to me, but I don’t have time to deal with it. You can escort me out of your territory if you feel the need to.”

She supposed she would be fine without shoes for now. It wasn’t like the prairie was rocky and it wouldn’t be so bad if she stayed on the grass. Still, the trip was not something she looked forward to. Maybe she could ask for something to wrap her feet with. That would be better than nothing.

The elf brought her staff to her side. She stepped forward and grabbed Celeste’s chin, turning her face left and right. After a few seconds, the elf released her grip.

“I sense no lie in you, human.” She then grabbed her hand and looked over the scraped skin. “What happened to your hand?”

“I scraped it against the cave wall when I was leaving. I don’t think it’s too bad, though it does sting.” Celeste wasn’t sure what brought on the elf’s change in attitude, but it was better than how things had been.

She expected the elf to let go of her hand, but she didn’t. So Celeste stood there, wondering why the elf was still holding her hand. Was she examining it a bit more closely? Maybe she saw something stuck in it that Celeste didn’t feel or see.

"Is something wrong, madame elf? You seem to be determined to keep a hold of my hand.”

Celeste knew that she wouldn’t be able to break her grip if she tried. Despite elves looking like they could get blown over by the wind, they weren’t a weak race. They were stronger than an average human, but not nearly as strong as a dwarf. An elf could easily throw a full-grown man while a dwarf was able to use them as lifting weights.

Dwarves were frequent customers to the jewelry store, more so than elves. They liked Madame Bustier to set jewels in their creations and engrave it for them. They could shape metals easily, but most of them couldn’t do more delicate work. Plus she brought metal from them, so they were more or less her business partners. Celeste didn’t mind them too much, though she did wish they were a little less boisterous and that they wouldn’t pick her up to comment on how light she was.

“Forgive me, Celeste. I just want to make sure you don’t run off before my fellow scouts get here.”

“Why would I run off?” The elf wasn’t making much sense. “We’ve settled things, haven’t we? Though you haven’t given me any directions. Can you not see the Tower from here?”

“You cannot, because…” The elf drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Yes, you cannot see it from here. We just happen to be in a part in Cyrac where you can’t see it. There are a few spots like that.”

“Oh, I suppose that makes sense. I always thought it was a bit of an exaggeration to claim that it could be seen from anywhere. But it is visible from quite a distance, right?”

The elf nodded. “And you are sure that you just came from Feon?”

“Of course! Where else would I be from?” Celeste looked to the elf. The elf avoided her gaze. She was hiding something, she could tell that much. Celeste yanked her arm. “Let go of me or I will run from you once I get loose. I’m not sure if you’re trustworthy or not.”

She heard the elf sigh, saw her raise her hand, and felt something against her neck. Everything went dark.