Kywen trails Jorrel as he scuttles through the tunnels with his creaky wagon full of goods. Her amusement grows with each correct turn he makes, and she soon has to admit how impressed she is to watch an outsider navigate his way through the twisting catacombs. It had taken her and Sundeera seasons to map out and discover which paths were connections and which were dead-ends, especially while hiding their exploration from Yamma. The reward of the winding underground maze is a single route that leads down to a small cove facing the Cimmerian Sea to the west, a view normally blocked by the tall cliffs her home is nestled into for protection.

Yamma could never figure out how Kywen always seemed to know her father was about to return from another voyage before she did. Kywen wonders if it would amuse or irritate her mother to find out it was as simple as Kywen sitting for hours with a looking glass pointed at the horizon, comfortable from her vantage point on the secret cove rather than whipped raw by the high winds from the sea tower.

Only once does Jorrel look over his shoulder, but the shadows are in Kywen’s favor. He may have known where to go, but these are her tunnels, and she can travel them with her eyes closed.

Jorrel stops to light a torch and continues cutting through the increasingly frequent drafts of salty air that whip through the widening passages, and soon the ground begins to level out as they get closer to the matte black sands of the cove.

Kywen perches behind gold-flecked stalagmites to watch him guide the cart over the last section of uneven flooring before the cave mouth leads onto the silky beach. She can’t wait to see how he deals with his cart sinking into the fine sands. Loud curses flow from Jorrel’s lips as one of the wheels slips into an easy to miss crevice and won’t budge. He leans over to wave one hand at the path before him, tilting the cart.

Within seconds, the wheel bounces up out of the crevice with a jolt as craggy rock abruptly sprouts from within the empty space, and a small pouch falls to the dusty floor, unnoticed. The wagon lurches ahead on the freshly made stone ramp, steadied once more as Jorrel resumes his position behind the wagon and guides it out into the dusky evening sky.

She slides out from behind the glittering mineral deposits and quietly scoops up the linen pouch, quickly retreating back into the dripping shadows. The thick material of the pouch muffles the clink of metal, and she fishes out a set of keys attached to some kind of large ring with several glowing green stones. She frowns, wondering how he got his hands on a set of guard keys, but before she can examine them further, they begin to crumble into a fine yellow dust that sifts through her fingers. All she is left with is the engraved key-ring.

Kywen takes a couple of steps forward and crouches down to peek out and around the mouth of the cave, watching in disappointment as Jorrel uses the same Crystal magic to pack the sand into an incline and easily roll the cart down to a small skiff already filled with crates and sacks. The small boat bobs in the gentle waves, tied to an outcropping of barnacled rocks. He finishes transferring the supplies, and with the snap of his fingers, the wagon collapses into a small cube that he drops into the skiff before untying the rope and climbing in.

Clutching the cool metal, an idea begins to take shape in her mind.

The sun has only a slice of magnificence left to plunge below the horizon as Jorrel settles himself and reaches one hand out, fingers dipping into the sea. The water bubbles and foams as a large swell begins to form underneath the small boat. The moonlight glints off the rippling waters while the frothing wave sweeps the skiff out and around the eastern bend, leaving no doubt of Jorrel's chosen element in Kywen’s mind. She takes a few steps out onto the beach and, bathed in the brilliant glow of two full moons, looks down not at a glowing key-ring, but at the long forgotten Starfall Anklet, a trinket that she's heard some clans say started and ended the Gem Wars.