"So...I guess we're going to get there after all." said Eseth, who looked up at the clear blue sky, then back at the forest edge.

"I do have a question though. Why is it that the directions to this place are all in Lisili, but the rest is in Elven?"

"I have no idea. I do know that we're about one-third there, though." replied Kaza. "We're almost to Tzuna. I think the coast is about two days' walk away."

Kaza had shed her blue cloak, and wore a practical outfit she associated with practicing Hydromancy. She had lent Eseth some of her own clothes, Eseth's being tattered and mud-saturated.

"Good." said Eseth. "I'd like to get some new clothes. By the way, what happened to the ones in my bag? I can't really remember."

"Your bag leaked and they got all muddy. I'm still cleaning them, and your sleeping pallet. You should be doing it, not me."

"And you need to do something about your hair. Cut it short, or something. It's really kinda weird."

Kaza flapped a dismissive hand at Eseth and said "Well, at least we're out of that stupid forest."

"Yeah, I'm sure glad of that. Stupid forest."

Suddenly, there was the unmistakable sound of stumbling feet in the scrawny bushes behind them. Sseth whipped around and wielded her bag like a weapon. Kaza had taken out a piece of cord with a rock attatched to it. Eseth raised an eyebrow.

"Uh...Kaza? If it was a slingshot you were going for, it's not quite there yet."

Kaza scowled at her friend. "This happens to hurt quite a lot when you bash it against someone's head."

Eseth opened her mouth to reply, but was prevented from doing so by the girl who came tumbling out of the bushes.

The girl(who was revealed to be a human) stood up, brushed her dark green Temple habit off, pushed her short, curly red hair back and said "Hi there!" in a slightly high-pitched, cheerful voice. "Are you the guys the Temple told me to find?"

Kaza blinked and said "I don't know. Why are you here, anyway? Tzuna, and even the temple city near it are two days walk away. Who are you, anyway?"

The girl, who looked to be a bit younger than themselves, grinned and said. "I'm Novice Isobel. I'm the person they send to find travelers, because they might be the people we're looking for."

"What, you mean potential Dedicates?" said Eseth, confused.

Isobel shook her head. "No. It's for something else, but I'm not sure what. It has to do with a map of some kind."

Kaza and Eseth glanced at each other.

"Well, hi, I guess." said Kaza. "By the way, this is Eseth and I'm Kaza. Will you be-uh-taking us to the Temple city, or to Tzuna?"

Isobel smiled widely. "The Temple city. Nhurza. Oh, and by the way, if you have any magic, the Council wants to see it."

Eseth and Kaza exchanged another glance.

"How'd they find us?" Eseth asked.

"They scryed for the travelers, and they found you two. They sent me because I'm the only person who knew these woods well enough to find you before you got to the Tzuna."

"Why don't they want us to go to Tzuna?" asked Kaza, her foreboding growing.

"Because it's such a big city, and they wouldn't be able to find you there."

"Ah."

***
"Hey, look, there it is!" cried Isobel, pointing to a smooth gray wall in the distance. It appeared to be the border to Nhurza.

Eseth looked up, she saw the thick wall in the distance, and sighed loudly. Kaza glared at her.

"Please, please don't tell me the rest of the city is going to be that boring." Eseth groaned.

She was used to color and noise, and in her opinion, life without it was pointless. Eseth was the sort of person who got bored extremely easily.

Isobel giggled in that extremely annoying fashion and said "No, silly, it's not nearly as boring on the inside. Nhurza's cooler than Tzuna, but a lot of people don't think so. It's all lovely gardens and fields, and there are dormitories and loomhouses and smithies everywhere, and it's so pretty..." she continued to chatter, but neither elf was really listening.

Eseth moaned. Kaza sighed with relief. She had always hated large cities. She had a severe case of claustrophobia, and she'd never liked cities because of it.

Eseth scowled. She was going to be bored in seconds in that place. The only things that sounded remotely interesting were the fire-shaper's house and the smithies. She wondered about the map, and what these Temple folk wanted with them. She and Kaza hadn't gotten the chance to look through her mother's jewelry box yet, either, and she wanted to see if there was anything worth her interest in it.

The trio reached the border of Nhurza, and reached the gate. Isobel spoke to the tall, lanky guard, who then called up to someone on the other side of the wall and the gate opened to admit them.

The site was breath-taking. There were beautiful meadows filled with flowers, there where fields where green and orange robed Dedicates worked, there were even a few ponds. Kaza smiled happily with a far-off look and walked along with a spring in her step.
Eseth was less appreciative of the marvelous scenery and asked bluntly of Isobel, "Where are the smithies?"

Isobel, still smiling, despite Eseth's poor manners, pointed to the northern wall, where there were a few rows of buildings.

"The smithies and Fire Dedicates dormitories are over there. Where I live is over there," she pointed to the eastern wall, right across from them. "And where you'll be heading is there." she pointed again at a high tower next to one of the larger ponds. It somehow stuck out in the landcape without marring it.

"So, is that where the council will want to meet us?" asked Kaza, suddenly brought back to earth by the prospect of meeting a council full of humans. Humans made her nervous, even ones that were Temple Dedicates.

Isobel smiled again and cheerfully stated "Yes. That's where we're headed."

Isobel skipped happily in front of them, leading them to the tower. The door was marked with a strange, spiraling square which shimmered silver in the afternoon light. Isobel pushed the door open and led Kaza and Eseth inside. They emerged in a perfectly circular room with five doors, each painted with its own symbol. A stone spiral staircase was planted in the middle of the room. Isobel pointed to it.

"You have to go up there."

"Aren't you coming with us?" asked Eseth.

Isobel shook her head. "I'm only a Novice. I'm not allowed unless they invite me."

Not for the first time, Kaza and Eseth glanced nervously at each other.

"This is great.." Eseth said "Want to bet what we should do from here?" She looked up the staircase. It looked ridiculously high. Both Eseth and Kaza hated heights. They really had to wonder why the council was up so high.

With a sigh, Eseth began to ascend. Kaza followed close behind.

Whe they reached the top, they found an airy, light-filled room. Four people sat at a table placed close to the wall in front of them.

Eseth gazed around the room, noting that the huge picture window across from the table was perfect for watching the sunrise.

A man clad in dark blue robes stood up. "You are the travelers we sent Isobel to find?"

Kaza, who had emerged from the staircase, nodded. The man smiled. "We muct ask you something. We believe you have something of interest to us."

A woman in pale green added, "If it is what we think it is, you will have some interest in it, too."

Another man, this one in a bright red habit, glanced at the woman and said, "What we are looking for is a map. A map of a place called-we believe-Ocean's Flame?"

Kaza and Eseth looked at each other. "Um, yeah, we do have it, actually." said Eseth. The last person who had not spoken, an old woman in a yellow habit of varying shades, raised an eyebrow. "We would like to see it, if you please." she said.

Eseth glared suspiciously at the council. "What for, exactly? I'm sure you don't need an island, this temple here being very nice and all."

The council seemed to gasp collectively. Kaza narrowed her eyes. "Yes, why exactly do you need it?"

The woman in green stood up. "I don't think you understand. We want to go there. It is probably one of the only safe places left for-certain people."

Eseth stiffened. That didn't sound right. "Somehow I doubt that."

Kaza smiled pleasantly and said "I think we can find our own way there, thanks. Come on, Eseth. Lest's go."

Eseth waved mockingly to the council, and followed Kaza down the stairs.

Surprisingly, they got out of the temple city without being bothered or stopped. However, once they were beyond the great walls, Kaza had a troubled expression on her face. "Suppose we were wrong, and they were right?" she asked Eseth.

"I don't think so. Anyway, the world's a big place. There can't be only one safe place for someone."

"I guess you're right. Hey, do you think if we went around the temple, we could reach the coast? I think I know how to get to the island from there."

Sure enough, at the eastern end of the temple, they could see the coast. Actually, the temple was built right on it. It was built on a large cliff, where a waterfall fell to the sea. Kaza grinned.

"I know exactly how to get out there, Eseth. Hang on tight, and don't lose the map!"

Eseth grabbed her arm just as Kaza jumped over the edge of the waterfall.

"Kaza!" Eseth shrieked, her voice lost in the roar of the waterfall. "What are you doing?"

Her only response was laughter as they fell. Suddenly, their descent became controlled as Kaza slid down an enourmous sheet of ice that had suddenly appeared under their feet. They didn't even slow down as they reached the sea, Kaza now moving the ice with her power.

They didn't slow down for an hour. Eseth couldn't even see the coast when they stopped. Kaza collapsed onto the ice raft(which had shrunk considerably on their ride), laughing.

Eseth fell down next to her and attemped to dig her hands into the ice. "Don't ever do that to me again! We could have been killed!"

Kaza waved a hand at her. "Sorry, but it was fast, you have to admit. Is there anything to eat?" Eseth handed her a piece of dried meat and a peach, which Kaza devoured hungrily.

Eseth glared at her. "Where to now?" she asked.

Kaza pointed. There was a misty, distant shadow on th edge of the horizon. "I think that's it, over there. I think we're far enough out that no one comes here. I also think that I could get us there in a couple more hours or so, going really fast, anyway."

Eseth rolled her eyes. "You're going to wear yourself out, doing all that magic."

Kaza, who had stood up to get a better view of the island, laughed again. "Of course I am. But we're going to get there faster."

"You're an idiot."

"Why thank you." Kaza replied, and shoved the ice forward. Eseth moaned as the ice raft gained speed.


***

"You know what?" Kaza panted as they reached the edge of the island, "I think we're there." she then promptly fell on the beach.

Eseth rolled her eyes and picked Kaza up. "Come on, we have to keep going. I am never going near the ocean again."

Kaza giggled weakly. "Okay." she said.

Eseth stared at the forest in front of her. It was a gorgeous, almost unnatural sight. There was the beach here, and then there was an evergreen forest at the height of summer. She shrugged to herself. They could explore later. Right now she had to find shelter.

"Pretty, isn't it?" said Kaza quietly.

Eseth nodded. "I guess we're here after all."

END