Seth was running at a breakneck pace through the sands of the Sahara desert, when he saw something come up before him. It was a house and was completely out of place in the middle of the desert. He ran straight up to the door and looked over everything for a quick second, before knocking on the door. The sand was still settling back to the ground for the last mile as he made the first knock.

When there was no answer, Seth tried to knock again, but the door opened before he could knock on the door. He dropped his hand to his side as he saw who Musalon was. Before him stood the very wizard that had taught him the use of magic in the past of Gonza’s life. He was still old and grey, with a beard that was hung nearly to his feet. He still wore the thick cotton robes that he had back in the day as well, which didn’t really surprise Seth anymore.

“It’s good to see you again Seth Conwell.” Musalon stated as he stepped inside, “Please, come in.” He didn’t wait for Seth to answer or even say a word, before walking right back inside to whatever he had been doing beforehand.

Seth sighed and stepped inside and was surprised to hear a knock come from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and found Jade halfway out of his backpack, rubbing her forehead and wobbling back and forth. “Jade? What are you doing?” Seth asked as he slowly took the backpack off and helped her the rest of the way out.

When Seth said her name, Musalon was at their side immediately. “Is this the Jade that my dear Debi raised?” He looked her up and down as he stood there waiting for her answer.

Jade nodded her head as she adjusted the dress that she had on. “Yes, I felt a rise in the magical power around the bag and wanted to know what was here.” She looked around the room they were in, seeing all the odd ingredients as well as all the different containers that he had, and immediately lit up, “Are you a wizard?”

Seth patted her on the shoulder and chuckled, “Yes, but for now we must finish whatever business we came here for, before asking more of him.” He turned to Musalon and sighed, “Isn’t that right, Musalon the Wise Wanderer?”

A devilish grin that seemed out of place came to Musalon’s face and he nodded his head, “Yes, yes, that is exactly right. Come, follow me.” He started walking farther inside and then went downstairs to a massive storage room. He moved from box to box, trying to find the one that he needed for the events to come. “So, Jessica is the only one that doesn’t have any weapons at the current moment, correct?” Musalon asked, but before anyone could say anything, he put up a finger and tapped his nose, “Ah, Austin may have training, but she doesn’t have her weapon yet.” Then he continued through the many different boxes that were arrayed everywhere. He must have had several thousand boxes of who knew what in the storage facility that he’d built under his home.

After a long time of searching, Musalon tapped on two boxes and they disappeared. Then he looked to Jade and smiled that wicked smile of his. “Now to give you something that will help you in the future.” He started his way back up to the main room, but Seth thought that it would be better for them to get there instantly.

“Hold your breath.” Seth stated as he took Jade and Musalon by the shoulder. When they teleported it to the main room, Musalon nodded his head and stepped up to a table gathering together a few ingredients and mixing them together in a single vile. Jade, on the other hand, stepped off to the side and gripped her stomach, looking from where they were to the stairs that they had gone down. “Just breathe normally. I know that it’s a bit of a shock to teleport like that, but we were kind of wasting time.”

Jade looked up incredulously, “A bit! That’s the best you could come up with?” She was breathing heavily as her mind was still catching up to what had happened right in front of her. “Just give me a minute to sort out my thoughts.” She placed a hand on her forehead as she started pacing a few steps back and forth.

Seth chuckled as he heard it, then he looked back to his backpack that he’d left at the door. He went to open it and found Austin’s head popping out of it. She looked up at him curiously, “Who’s boxes are these?” She pointed down to the base of the ladder to where the two boxes that Musalon had transported were placed.

Seth looked up from the bag and to Musalon, “Which box is for Jessica and which box is for Austin?” He knew that Musalon was listening even though he seemed like he was completely engrossed in his work.

Musalon didn’t even pause for a second, “The smaller one is for Jessica and the larger one is for Austin. The smaller one has a bow and quiver made from mithril, having a replenishing spell on the quiver. The other has a dwarven forged pair of scimitars that Austin will be quite adept with, based on her training with Kasakierin.” Then he was back to focusing on his work.

Seth looked down to Austin, “Did you get all of that?” When Austin nodded, she climbed back down the ladder and started opening her box and called Jessica over. “Alright, they’ve got what they need. What are you up to Musalon?” He walked up to Musalon’s side and observed all the ingredients that he was mixing together.

Musalon chuckled to himself, “Well, I’m sure that you wouldn’t even need to use this potion to do what I am trying to accomplish. With this potion, I will be able to create a locked portion in Jade’s subconscious in which I will be able to teach her the many different ways of magic that are in the world. I will be able to give her lessons while she sleeps and while she is awake even, in a meditative state.” He carefully dropped exactly two drops of a blue liquid inside the vile and then continued, “It’s a very complicated process and will require a few hours of chanting for me to do so, but the spell is currently out of your ability, so there’s no asking you to perform it for me.”

Seth was nodding his head along with whatever Musalon was saying, but in reality, he was looking over all of the ingredients and was discerning the exact composition of the magic needed for the spell. Then, suddenly, Musalon stopped mixing and looked at Seth incredulously, “You had better not be trying to make this spell in your head without the proper book. If you are, I’ll have Kasakierin tan your hide with his dragon’s breath.” Then he continued on with the mixing once again.

Seth backed off with his hands up and chuckled, “Sorry, sorry, force of habit from when I was learning from you.” He turned back to Jade, who had calmed from her previous freak out. She was now looking over other ingredients that were around the room.

Jade found that she could actually read the labels of most of the materials and most of them were still confusing. She found dragon’s bane, wolf’s bane, tear of the gargoyle, and other sorts of odd bobbles and materials. She recognized a few of the materials from the book that her mother had sneaked into her bags. She picked up a few and could feel that there was magic inside of each of the materials. She had gotten rather good at discerning the different magic types and archetypes.

Seth strode up to Jade and she jumped the moment that she noticed him and scowled at him, “How do you keep doing that?”

Seth shrugged, “How do I keep doing what?” He put up his hands and stepped back.

Jade turned on him and put her hands on her hips, “You seem to keep picking up abilities like you’re the prodigy of everything. You just teleported me and seemed to move without even making any noise at all.” She huffed a bit and looked over everything around them with a quick twist of her head. “And to make it all worse, we’re half a world away from home in the middle of the Sahara desert, in the house of one of the most powerful wizards in the world.” She finished breathing heavily and shaking her head as she thought of the past few weeks.

Seth smiled and chuckled a bit, “Well, for starters, I was chosen to be this great person that will right all the wrongs in the dimension.” He rubbed the back of his head as he thought the tidbit over, “Still trying to wrap my head around that, even after everything that I’ve been through.” He clasped his hands behind his back and smiled, “However, I have been able to take everything rather well thanks to one thing.” He looked over to the backpack and smiled, “The love that I was able to find in Jessica.” He sighed and continued to watch Musalon with his potion.

Jade was smiling as she too looked at the bag and thought of Kaythanos, who had doted on her during the time that they were shopping for clothing. He had been a gentleman whenever she asked him how she looked or if he liked what she had been trying on at the time. She was nodding her head as she made her way over to the bag and opened it up. However, just as she was about to get in the bag, a hand came to her shoulder and she turned about. “What is it now?” She thought that it would be Seth, there to give her more wisdom for the future, but it was Musalon who had a hand on her.

“It is time for us do start the ritual to give you a training ground big enough for your power.” Musalon stated as he slowly led her back to the table and had her sit across from him. He produced the potion that he had brewed and placed it in front of her, the vile now glowing lightly with a deep bluish hue. “Now, this potion mixed with the incantation that I am about to make will allow my spirit access to a portion of your subconscious, so that I may train you while you are either asleep or meditating. If you take the potion alone, you will have a place in your subconscious similar to that of Seth, but I warn you that your own imagination will take hold too strongly in such a place. If I do the incantation alone, I will be able to speak to you through your subconscious and teach you in the waking world, but you will have to learn more of the physical sides instead of getting into the magics immediately.” He looked down to the potion and back up to her before stating, “I leave the decision to you, seeing that it will be your mind that will be tampered with.”

Jade considered the vile and gave up on discerning it’s magical contents. It was a potent and powerful magic that had many different types of magic sewn into it. She looked to Seth for some confirmation and heard him in her mind. ‘He is the most capable in the world to cast such a spell.’ Jade squared herself and thought over the three options, before asking a question, “What is a drawback of the first option?”

Musalon smiled and clapped his hands together, “Well that is the thing about what happens when you do both at the same time. It allows me to go to you in spirit while you are out in spirit. Which means that you can gain physical and magical training all at once.” He seemed rather proud of what he had just stated, almost like he was the one to make the discovery of the fact. Seth wouldn’t have been surprised if Musalon had been the one to do so.

Jade thought about the different options before looking through the vile to see what she could see in the magic. Then she saw a small vision of her learning different types and ways to use magic, leaving her with a want to learn more. She placed vile down in front of her and looked to Musalon resolutely, “Then I will go with the first option.”

Musalon smiled and motioned to the vile, “Then drink the vile now and I can begin the incantation.” He settled himself on his stool and concentrated before starting a chant that slowly built magic around the two of them.

Jade nodded her head as Musalon started the chant and downed the contents of the vile, which she was surprised tasted like cherry. She sat and concentrated on the effects that were happening to her. She felt a cooling sensation come over most of her body and welcomed the change. Then she felt a bit of heat in her head and welcomed that change as well. Then she slowly fell into the sleep of unconsciousness.

Seth watched the two of them and thought it was rather interesting, how the magic that was affecting Jade was mixing with the magic that Musalon was producing around them. He wondered how Musalon had even figured out that was an effect with the magic. He knew that the magic was going to take some time and also knew that the magic couldn’t be interrupted, because Musalon had told him so. He decided to leave them as they were and strode out to the porch to see what was around the humble abode.

From the porch there was simply a desert in front of him, but Seth found comfort in the silence of the sands. Then he heard a very light shuffle from behind him and he smiled. Then a pair of arms came wrapping around his neck and Jessica’s head popped over his shoulder. “What are you thinking about?” She whispered into his ear.

Seth nearly shivered physically as he felt her breath on his neck. He gripped her hands and sighed as he took in her warmth, “Just how much the silence calms my thoughts.” He felt as though everything was perfect, until he saw something in the distance that didn’t really fit with the rest of the scenery. There was a moving dot that seemed arbitrary but was beginning to grow and had even more friends that were appearing around it. “Do you have the weapons that Musalon gave you?” He asked as he thought of investigating the phenomena.

Jessica held out an arrow from her quiver and chuckled, “What good is a glass bow and sword?” She asked mockingly, before replacing the arrow and stepping to the side of him. “Why do you ask?”

Seth nodded out toward the sands and to the small dots that were only getting larger as time passed. “I’m expecting that those shadows are not intending to help us in the future.” He made a small thought and the weight of his sword came to his back as it materialized. “Why don’t we go out for a stroll while Musalon finishes his spell with Jade?” He stepped off of the porch and Jessica wrapped an arm around his as she joined him.

“Oh, how I love a good stroll through the sand.” Jessica stated as they started their way out to the mysterious dots.

As they did, Seth sent a mental message to Kasakierin, letting him know that they were leaving and to watch out for anyone else that might come their way. Kasakierin replied by sending a bit of mental signals himself, mainly images of his weapons doing their work on any kind of creature. Seth just chuckled at the sentiment.

Jessica tapped him on the rump as he chuckled, “What are you so happy about?” She skipped ahead of him and started walking backwards with her hands clasped behind her back.

Seth sighed and smiled as he followed her, “I was just happy to be walking with you out in this wondrous place.” He laughed wholeheartedly as he waved his arms around the vast desert. Jessica giggled as well as she turned back around and started to saunter in front of Seth.

Seth had no choice but to pause as he took in the sweet sight, but quickly shook off the thoughts and effects that had clouded his mind for a second. He did not know how she was able to do such things to him, because he was completely immune to magical effects. Yet, somehow, she was able to almost take over his mind entirely and make him forget even where he was at the moment. He smiled as he strode up to her side and took her hand, “Do you want to do this in stealth or nice and loud?”

Jessica giggled and put her lips close to his ears, “Let’s do it loud.”

Seth snapped his free hand and they teleported within a few yards of the dots, however, the smiles immediately left their faces as they saw what the dots were. Seth snapped his fingers again and Jessica was once again back at the house, though she immediately started running for Seth in the distance.

Seth drew his blade and spun it around calmly. Directly in front of him were no less than a few dozen scorpiochs, which were enormous scorpions that roam the deserts of the world. How did he know that? The smallest one had to be at least twenty feet high at the back, not including the long arching tail that came above it. Seth’s first thought was to attack them, but then another thought came to him. Slowly, Seth sheathed his sword on his back and started to walk toward the monstrous creatures. He held up a hand and tried to expand his mind, letting out a single thought, ‘What is your purpose here? He waited for a time as the scorpiochs looked to one another in confusion, until one in particular stepped out in front of the others, coming within a few inches of Seth’s face with it’s set of eyes.

“We felt a great power appear here.” The creature said in a very guttural tone. “We had guessed that a god had descended, but it would appear that you are the source of the magic.” The creature tilted it’s head as it observed Seth’s lack of a reaction. “We have never met one who does not fear us, let alone try to converse with us. We hear your telepathy, but we wonder if you can understand our speech.”

Seth smiled up at the creature and nodded his head, letting his mind fall into the thought of talking to them. “Why yes, I can understand you quite well.”

The creature actually took a step back and reared its great stinger high above Seth’s head. Just as Seth had expected, his ability to speak all languages came in handy once again. “Where did you learn our language?” The scorpioch demanded, lowering the stinger a few more feet.

Seth held up a hand in defense, “I did not learn it. I can simply speak all languages.” He explained, so that the stinger wouldn’t come down and inevitably break on Seth’s skin.

The creature raised the stinger and came closer once again, “How is this possible? We do not know of any other race aside from the gods that can do such a thing.” Slowly, the scorpioch spread its great legs until it was essentially lying on the sand.

Seth looked around to the others before taking a seat himself, cross legged, in front of the scorpioch. “Well, I was given the ability by my guardian angel as a single piece of an even greater gift. This gift is called the Power of Perfection, which gives me many great abilities.” Seth stopped his explanation as the scorpioch deliberately backed off several feet and then stood to its full height. “Is something wrong?” He asked, knowing the answer anyway.

The scorpioch lowered its head and spread its pincers in a type of bow, “We apologize, for we did not know that we conversed with the One. May we help your cause in any way?” He stood to his full height as did the others and they slowly formed into a kind of formation.

Seth looked them all over and sighed, “I was afraid that this would happen.” He stood and dusted the sand off of himself and chuckled when he heard the sifting of sand that announced Jessica’s return. He turned to face her and immediately regretted it.

Jessica’s hair was all disheveled and her eyes were a blaze with rage. She strode right up to him, leaning down so that their eyes were level. She didn’t say a word as she looked from him to the scorpiochs, then she straightened and crossed her arms. She was still glaring at Seth when her hands slowly started to tap on her forearms, waiting for an explanation for his actions.

Seth actually gulped as he thought of a way to explain himself, “Well, you see, when I saw the scorpiochs I thought that it would be best that I face them alone and not put you in danger. However, when I tried to converse with them, it worked.” He scratched his head with a smile and tilted his head with a shrug.

Jessica leaned back in and stared into his eyes hard. She did so for some time before gripping his head in both hands and kissing him. Then she simply held his head in her hands, “If you ever teleport me back to safety without proper cause again, I will personally find a way to banish you to the lowest dungeon of the lowest and darkest dimension.” Jessica paused as she finished, making sure that her point was getting across. Then she turned to the scorpiochs and crossed her arms once more. “So, who are these guys then? If you’ve been able to talk to them.”

Seth sighed as he slowly turned back around, “These are scorpiochs and they are indigenous to every desert in the world. They only come out into the open when there are large fluctuations in the magic within their territory. Since they felt my magic, they came out to investigate, which brings us to now.” He clapped his hands together and viewed the massive group of scorpiochs that lay before him.

Jessica raised her eyebrows and looked over all of the scorpiochs herself, before looking at Seth questioningly, “And just what are we going to do in this situation?” She inched closer to Seth, which gave him comfort.

“Well, at the very least, I think that they just want to help.” He crossed his arms and turned toward the scorpioch that he had talked to before. “Do you know of the wizard that lives in the house over on the ridge?”

The scorpioch stood and seemed to nod its massive head, “Yes, we have knowledge of the wizard that lives in these lands.”

Seth smiled as the plan formulated in his head, “We will be leaving soon, so are you up to protecting the wizard in his abode? I’m sure that if you inquired about him, he would be willing to provide you with whatever you may desire.”

The scorpioch froze as did the rest of the scorpioch and their eyes closed, as they all communicated through a type of telepathy that went beyond mental magic. They communicated through a hive mind that they were linked to at birth, like an ant colony. After a time, they went back to their natural swaying motion and the scorpioch bowed once again, “We will protect the wizard with our strength.”

Seth nodded his head and turned to Jessica, who was looking at him like he was crazy, “Oh, I can understand all of the languages that are spoken to me.” He was about to explain further, but Jessica held up a hand.

“I know that, I can understand them as well, thanks to my ability I can understand.” She shook her head slightly, “However, how do you think that Musalon will react when he sees that a bunch of scorpiochs are guarding his home?” She asked accusingly of Seth, who was only thinking about the upside, not even thinking of how Musalon would react, because he knew that he would be more intrigued with the situation than anything else.

“To be honest, I thought Musalon would love the idea to have the opportunity to observe a species that he hasn’t seen up close before.” Seth looked back to the house and sighed, “It looks like we’re about to get our answer.”

Jessica turned around to see Musalon come striding over with a staff that towered over him, Jade at his side. Seth could see the smile that was bright across Musalon’s face as the two of them approached. “Who might our new friends be? I have yet to know much about the scorpioch species and how they operate.” He was eyeing the lot of them as if they would be the source of his next experiments.

Seth held up a hand, “Hang on, before you get any ideas about using these guys for experimentation, I have asked them to protect you while you live out here. Jessica was just asking me how I could make such a decision.” He patted Jessica’s shoulder and they both chuckled, her wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

Musalon stepped up to her with a reassuring smile, “Do not worry, I find this occurrence most advantageous. I relish the opportunity to study a new species, especially one so rare as the scorpioch.” He waved his hands out wide and the sands around them flourished in a small tirade. The scorpiochs disappearing into the sand. “I will gladly let them look after this old man.” He bowed to Jessica and started going back toward the house.

Jessica only smiled down at Seth as the situation came to an end, then she saw Jade, who seemed lost in her own thoughts. She took a step closer and eyed her, “Is something the matter?” Jessica placed her hands on her hips like a worried mother as she asked.

Jade simply smiled and nodded, “Yes, it’s just that the effects of the potion and spell are still in effect, so my mind is currently trying to process everything that was done to it.” She was tapping the side of her head as she explained the situation. Then she turned to Musalon and smiled, “Thank you for being gentle with my brain, it is rather fragile.”

Musalon chuckled as he leaned heavily on his staff, “Well, it is a rather remarkable brain now isn’t it? I would never mishandle such a commodity. Your mind was so open to the idea of learning that the ritual was complete in a fraction of the time.” He gripped her hand affectionately, “I cannot wait for our lessons together. I will teach you so much in the coming days.”

Jade smiled, “I cannot wait to learn so much from you. I’m sure that my mother wouldn’t want anyone else to teach me.”

Musalon was all giggles as he started walking back to the house, “Your mother was one of my best students and one of the most renowned.” He started talking about the far off past as he strode next to her and they made their way toward the house.

Jessica and Seth watched the two of them go with a reminiscent feeling boiling up inside of them. Musalon was beginning to seem just like a father to Jade, or grandfather, actually a great-great-great grandfather when Seth really thought about it. Then he turned to Jessica and saw a single tear roll down her face. Seth didn’t have to be a mind reader to understand what she was thinking about. He was starting to feel those times where he missed his parents as well. He thought that Kasakierin would get along rather well with his father. Ali would have had many a conversation with his mother.

Seth wrapped an arm around Jessica’s waist and sighed, “I know that you miss them as much as I miss mine.”

Jessica sniffed once and wrapped her arms around Seth’s head, burying him in her chest. She hugged him tightly and was lucky that he didn’t actually need to breathe, otherwise he would have suffocated. Seth, on the other hand, simply hugged her back, a few tears running from his eyes to soak into Jessica’s blouse. They stood in each other’s arms for a time, before Jessica finally released and took a half step back, her hands linked together behind Seth’s head.

“I know that I’ve had plenty of time to mourn, but I still miss them.” Jessica sniffed as she looked back toward Jade and Musalon.

Seth nodded, “Yes, and you will continue to miss them or you will lose their memory, which will only end in sadness.” He took her hand and started after the two wizards. He thought of all the times that his father had to work instead of going to his swimming meets. He had understood the reasons why, but never really thought about all the times, until he found that he missed the times with his father. “Even throughout all the years that I lived during the soul bonding, I still missed my parents and the times that I lost with them.”

Jessica squeezed his hand sympathetically, “We both lost our parents when we were young and now, we have to grow up or lose our minds.” She started swinging their arms as they walked, like they were strolling through a garden in spring.

Seth smiled at the thought and then frowned as he realized that he used to do the same thing with his mother when he was little. His frown slowly formed into a small nostalgic smile. He started swinging his arm around in time with her. “I think we will always miss them, but we must still move on from the grief if we are to go any further in life and retain their memory.”

Jessica stopped and looked at him quizzically, “Are you sure that you’re only fifteen years old?”

Seth chuckled and held up a finger, “Physically, I am fifteen, but mentally I’m not even sure at the moment.” He smiled over to her as he continued, “Sometimes, I feel like I’m the fifteen-year-old that knows very little about the world. All the while, I know the history of nearly seven thousand years on this world. I kind of wonder sometimes how my mind hasn’t exploded.” He sighed as he finished, remembering the part that Kasakierin played in ending the first world war.

Jessica frowned as she started to think just how much Seth was going through and stepped a bit closer to him. She squeezed his hands again and found a strong resolute response, like he was trying to say that he was dealing with it quite well. Then he turned to her and winked, before teleporting and scaring the living daylights out of Jessica.

Seth had teleported them a few hundred meters up into the sky and they were floating there as if they were standing on solid air. Jessica clung to him, until her brain found out that she was actually standing instead of falling. She immediately stepped away and moved to slap him but stopped short at the view that lay at her feet.

The rolling sands of the desert were laid out before them like they were in a sandbox. They could even see the Atlas Mountains in the far East. Jessica couldn’t even say a word as she looked over the beautiful landscape, with Seth standing right next to her like he was an excited boyfriend who was showing off a new toy. “This is the kind of world that I live in now.” He waved a hand over the air and the sands began to dance around, almost like that of a flowing tornado. “I can manipulate every part of it and that terrifies me.” He dropped his hand and the sands dropped back to the ground. “The world seems so much smaller now that I have these powers.” He stepped forward and looked down over the world with a look of distant pain, like he was punishing himself.

Jessica sighed and crossed her arms, “I think you’re underestimating just how much your little group looks up to you and trusts you.” She stepped forward and took his hand once again, “I have no idea how much you’re going through right now, but I do know that whatever the amount it is confusing and you will have questions. I may not know much but I’m pretty good at getting whatever information I need now, so you had better tell me everything that you need or want to know, ok?”

Seth chuckled, “Yes, ma’am.” He squeezed her hand slightly and they slowly began to fall.

When Jessica began to laugh, so did Seth and they plummeted to the ground like rockets, but just before actually hitting the ground, they stopped mid-air. They were only a few feet off of the ground as Seth floated over to her and lifted her up from the spell, bringing gravity back to her. She giggled and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him. Seth kissed her back as he started walking now only a few meters to the house.

When they came inside, the décor was different from before being made of hard and cured woods, with a massive table in the center of the room. What got Seth’s attention was all the different types of food that lay on the table ready to be devoured. Jessica thought it a good idea, because she hadn’t eaten in some time, having tried her hand with wood carving and being rather good at it. She was more interested with the fact that most of the food was arrayed in a fashion that made it look like animals.

Seth sat down at the head of the table and clapped his hands together, ready to start. Musalon was laughing and telling Jade stories on the other side of the table, which he absently waved for Jessica to eat as well. Jessica sighed and sat next to Seth, who had already begun devouring everything in front of him. She tentatively took a bite out of the little plate that she had made for herself, before shoveling food into her gullet just as Seth was, for an enchantment had been placed on the food of replenishment. Each bite that they took revived them even more than medication.

After all of the food was gone, which had mainly been eaten by Seth, Jessica, Jade, and Seth went into the backpack to find that everyone else also had a feast that they were devouring. Kasakierin was seated at the head of the table with Borris on the other head. No one noticed them at first, then Kasakierin suddenly got to his feet and turned to Seth, “I’m guessing that you are the one who got the scorpiochs to set up a defensive barrier around the house. Otherwise, I’m going to have to kill a lot of people and we’re under attack.”

Seth patted him on the shoulder, “Yes, I am the one who enlisted the help of the scorpiochs. They will be remaining behind to help protect Musalon.” He looked over everyone still eating and found that they all were getting along swimmingly. Griffin and Gonza were seated next to each other and were making a game out of feeding each other. Seth could have sworn that they were on their honeymoon or something. Aside from the two love birds, everyone else seemed to be swapping stories about their lives.

Once all the food was gone and everyone was ready to take a nice long nap, Seth climbed out of the bag and put it on. He found Musalon in a very comfortable nap on the porch rocking chair. Seth stepped up next to him and was about to tap him on the shoulder, when Musalon turned to him and gripped his wrist tightly, “Now you must journey deep into the Congo and find the man that goes by the name Koritak, that’s the closest his name is translated from what the forest gave him as a name. You must be careful with him, for he is a very unpredictable man. He was raised by the jungle and all that was in it. He can control everything in the jungle because he knows it better than anything and anyone.”

Seth sighed and stepped out in front of him, looking over the sands that he had come to like in such a quick amount of time. “I guess now we’ve got a much different type of place to go to. I wonder when it will end.”

Musalon chuckled, “Well, to answer your pondering, there are only four of us guardians left in the world and we do not get many replenishment in ranks. All we know is that there are four of us and we know who you are to meet next. I hope that someday we get to meet again, but that’s not up to me.”

Seth chuckled, “Well, if it’s up to anyone, I think that I would want to see you and all the others again. So, I think that we will meet again.” He turned back to Musalon and found him smiling like a man who had a wish granted. “I don’t know when, but I think that you’ll still be alive by the time we see each other again.”

“That would be quite nice of you.” Musalon said as he clasped his hands over his stomach, like the elderly man he was, and a long wooden pipe that lit itself and he began smoking from it, without using his hands.

Seth chuckled and started running South, straight for the Congo.