Ettran had already fallen asleep. Nefaaya had noticed it when they arrived at the top of the third ridge that they had climbed since Nelrue carried Ettran... since Nefaaya heard the voice.

How that voice managed to find its way inside her mind... she didn't know. In the past hour, they keep trying to talk with her. There were times it was vivid but most of their tries failed as the voices sounded as if being dominated by the wind.

"How far are we?" Renaeril said, his hand resting on his knees as he bent. She was sure that the boy was tired.

Nefaaya looked at him. Renaeril had become much bigger for his age. She wondered if he could carry him if the time comes. Beside her, he heard Nelrue sighed. Nefaaya looked up at the musicteller, their journey here in the hills where Araolinar used to be, had stripped him of his beauty. Nelrue looked more frustrated than them. For a second, she wondered why the man was doing it to them.

Why would he bother to save kids that he just met a day ago? She silently asked.

Because you're about to be part of the scheme he was weaving. A thought crossed to her that had caused her anger to flare. Nefaaya gritted her teeth and tightened her hold on the man's hand.

"What?" Nelrue looked down at her.

Nefaaya blinked. What was that?

She shook her head to him, unable to understand why she did that to him.

Once again they started descending. The ridges and hills here are much higher and steep. Thankfully, Nelrue was pulling them. She was certain that if not, the two of them would be crawling as they tried to reach the top of the ridge.

What do you run for, child? A voice had spoken in a clear voice.

Nefaaya trembled but she tried to not to lose her balance. It was the first time in a while that the voice had managed to speak to him clearly. Despite of its almost melodious sound, she shivered, she felt dread that would have made her cowered had not Nelrue was holding her hand.

The Servants would not harm you, the men on the other side said.

The tiredness and soreness that she was feeling at that time had almost made her believe the voice. Almost.

On their descent, Nelrue stopped before a huge piece of rock. The two kids immediately head towards it and lean their back against it. While Nelrue remain standing, she thought that he would do what he had done earlier. Perhaps he cannot bear to put the sleeping child on the ground.

"Two more," he said.

The two looked at him. "We just need to cross two more ridges then the path would be less steep again, from there we would see a forest. That would be our safety."

Renaeril sighed and asked, "what about the pursuit?"

Nelrue's mood darkened, he shook his head, "still in pursuit, they had slowed down a bit from speeding their movement. But still they're running to catch us."

Nefaaya's eyes widened despite being tired, she would rather run until she was out of breath rather than coming across with a Rotseeker.

"Wouldn't they catch on to us?"

He shook his head, "they can't, as much as my calculations would say... For every three breaks they do, we do one break."

When Nelrue said it, Nefaaya blinked, "wow, we basically beat them to it?"

Nelrue nodded and shouldered Ettran once again.

"And we would continue on beating them until they stop," he said and grabbed the two in the arm, pulling them at a much faster pace.

Nefaaya had to close her eyes several times as she felt the wind entering her eyes. Her feet were almost not touching the ground. She screamed and she wished that her voice didn't echo for the pursuers to hear.

The sun drifted slowly to the west, turning the afternoon bright light into the bleeding orange of the impending sunset. Clouds drifted slowly, attaching and detaching as they slowly veiled the sun. Here and there flocks of birds flew above them. Sometimes Nefaaya thought she could hear the birds cowing. To whom, she finds herself asking.

A bird screamed, Nefaaya looked up and saw a raven encircling them from above. Worry flared into her, in her world, ravens are birds of omen. They're evil and treacherous, she wondered if this bird were scouts used by their pursuers.

"There's a raven looking down on us," she said worriedly.

Nelrue sighed, "the Flow favored us."

'The Flow favored us' was a response used when something happened according to your desire or wish. She blinked in disbelief, Why would he say that?

"This bird could be spying on us!" She declared and the bird above cowed as if laughing at her.

Nelrue shook his head, slowing down as they climbed a small ridge.

"How is that?" He said annoyed. "The ravens and crows are birds that oversee the world. They are direct servants of the Flow and the Eye. And seeing them looking at us marks that the Flow was favoring us... at least that's how it was believed."

Nelrue's eyes flared brightly, the violet much deeper than it had been earlier, he spoke in a booming and commanding voice, "child... your ignorance to this world would someday kill you."

Nefaaya flushed on the musicteller's words but she didn't say anything. She knew it was the truth. Most of her failure in this world was due to her failure to learn what this world is, how it works, how culture, customs, rules and laws worked here. Even Reanaeril knew a song or two!

She looked up from her shame, from here she could already see the glancing treetops from the hills before her. On all sides darkness crept ever faster, but the sight of the forest that Nelrue had been talking about had gave her comfort.

"That's the forest," she said.

"That's it," he said. "We should be much farther than them."

The raven above had already vanished. At first she thought that it was its eye that unsettled her. But she was wrong, she could still feel the eye watching her. She was debating if telling it to Nelrue would be a good idea.

But she was fearful of what he would say to him. He claimed he knew everything, and Nefaaya feared what it was he knew. For the first time in her life, Nefaaya basked in the comfort brought by her own ignorance.

Nelrue abruptly stopped in the front of the forest, pulling the two with him. Renaeril almost fell to his feet. He complained as he ruffled his already ruffled hair. The musicteller surveyed the place, he nodded to himself, "there's a clearing somewhere in this forest with a pond. We would walk from here. We would refill all of our skins and searched for the place where I used to camp."

"Why not just camp beside the pond," Reanaeril suggested.

Nefaaya grunted.

"You two are really stupid," he said. "The first place they would look for us was the pond if they ever reached this place. Now follow me if you want to drink something cold."

Behind Nelrue, Ettran squirmed to wakefulness. He rubbed his eyes, groaning before he looked at them.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"We reached it," Renaeril said. For a second Ettran was confused until realization overcame his face. A smile twitching on his face.

"I can walk from here," he said.

This time Nelrue didn't argue as he untied the boy from his back. Ettran jumped, stretching his feet before the four started walking towards the forest.

The ground beneath them was full of roots, and since the three were all tried. They all have a hard time climbing and skipping on it. Nefaaya had almost tripped when her feet were caught on a root. She screamed when she stepped on something soft and cold. She flushed as she realized how womanly she had screamed.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Don't mind it," Nelrue cut as the two boys started crowding to where she had put her hand.

After climbing a small rise, Nefaaya could already see the clearing. She had remarked it with a glow. Most parts of the forest are covered in darkness and this part was the only place where light had managed to enter.

The cold wind of the night welcomed them as they left the last of the trees behind them. The clearing was surrounded by grasses and many shrubs of red poppies that looked almost a mess of blood under the glint of the Tenes Moon, the fourth moon of the night.

The three ran towards the river and put their head in the water as they drank. While Nelrue scooped it with his hands before he washed his face.

It was after they felt relaxed that they started filling their containers. Nefaaya was lying down as she stared at the Moon Tenes, beside it Menan Moon, the fifth and last moon was about to appear. In this world there are around five moons. The first moon Laniar appeared an hour after twilight. The four other moons would appear after two hours, with each an hour of partition. The brightest night was during midnight when all moons are hung together in the night sky.

Upon Nelrue's instruction, they all depart from the clearing. It had taken almost an hour of walking to reach the place where Nelrue said he used to camp. It resembles a small clearing, with the size of atleast four trees.

Nelrue crouched and Pulled a fire to light the logs that he had collected along the way. The three just sat on the ground, looking at him working on the fire. The fire crackled, small flares like stardust flew from the burning sticks. Nelrue sat beside them.

Nefaaya sighed and closed her eyes. She was about to open her eyes when he heard a rustling, and felt the tension hanging in the atmosphere. She imagined the worst, opening her eyes slowly she wished she was wrong.

She find Nelrue flaring, eyes glowing in violet, but what shook her was the light surrounding Nelrue's body. It looked as if she was burning in violet flames. Nefaaya had never saw someone Merge with the creation completely, she wondered how bright Nelrue was seeing.

In front of him were three men. In a long trailing brown cloak, inside she could see their blue robes with black lining and embroideries. All three are wearing a black smooth mask with white engravings. An insignia of an inverted triangle surrounded by an eight pointed star with an eye inside.

"Now calm," the man on the left said, removing his mask. "We just came here to visit you Nelrue..."

He looked at the three with curiosity, "and see what you are up to."