ANDY'S FEET PARTED with the room's creaky floorboard; he was falling, falling, through whirling darkness, and then, quite suddenly, he was blinking in dazzling sunlight.

He heaved, then coughed. Ashes fluttered around him as he hoisted himself up. The light came from an open doorway and a tiny silhouette, an outline of an animal with pointed ears and whipping tail, sat by it. Chip's delighted yelps let Andy know that their transport went well, just like the first time. He was apprehensive at first that something wrong might come and surprise them, but those worries were all but nothing.

Still swaying on the spot—but with the support of the nearby desk, he finally found his bearings—Andy fixed his glasses that were hanging askew over the ridge of his nose.

Hex! Hex is here, Andy!

Andy turned around excitedly and found Chip bounding around a chubby, bushy, black cat, whose yellow slitted eyes penetrated his brown orbs as if assessing his reasons for coming back. What? Did Hex hate him now for leaving in the middle of the journey, for abandoning them?

But none of those questions came. Hex simply turned his back on them, moving towards the bright sun of Hearthstone. Andy bit his lip. He couldn't wait to talk things through with Elsie so that everything would be normal once again. But will it? And what's with Hex walking out on them? Did he want Andy to feel guilty all over when it was he who had been violated?

What are you doing just standing there? Follow me, you fools! Hex said in a gruff and magnified voice, making Andy jump, and the cat disappeared around the corner. Confused, the pair looked at each other but decided it was best to follow Hex.

They were led to the back of the house, where a small pond nested. It was filled with blue crystalline water, which gently sloshed towards the bank. The blue of the water was blended with the green of the lilies, wherein a small group of two adult ducks and ducklings wove around them.

When they reached the bank, Andy watched as one of the two ducks responded to Hex's calls. It was a drake with beautiful purple plumage, a shiny green head, a silvery-white body, and grey wings with blue markings.

Hex, man! The duck waved his wing to Hex, nearly making Andy choke on his saliva at this greeting.

Hex wasn't pleased. Snarling, he said, We need a ride, Ernie.

We? Oh. Ernie, the duck, padded out of the water to look closer at Hex's unlikely companions. He merely looked at Chip for a second (with the dog ending up sulking), while his gaze lingered on Andy for what felt like an eternity as Ernie adjusted his pince-nez glasses, reminding him of Mr. Dawson, their school principal. Where did you pick up this young lad, Hexie?

Don't call me, Hexie! And what is he, trash? Hex trudged towards Ernie and bared his gleaming fangs near the duck's slender neck in a bold, swift move. The latter let out a small cry. Look, we need a ride.

But where to? Ernie said, his voice reducing into that of a small child.

Hex jerked his head in the direction way beyond the village's border. There. To Fairton Hill.

Ernie shrieked and flew backward, shielding his face with his wings. A bad word! A very, very bad word!

Pull yourself together, knucklehead!

But Andy understood it. Hex bringing him here meant he had to go to Fairton with him. He crouched low to the ground and said to the cat, "But, Hex, I didn't come back here to save the village. I'm here to talk to Elsie. Where is she?"

Oh, yeah? Hex prodded Andy on the forehead with his paw. So, you came back here to talk to Elsie. I'm sorry to break it to you, Outlander, but Elsie's gone. She's not here, and it's your fault!

The color on Andy's face drained. Chip looked up from playing with the ducklings, and Ernie tottered closer, eager to hear more.

"G-Gone?" Andy felt his heart plunge deep into the pit of his stomach. "But where had she gone to?"

Where else? Fairton Hill! She went there herself right after you left. Hex spat on the ground, and his glare sharpened even more. Of course, I went with her because I'm her Familiar. She declined the wolves' assistance. Oh, how I wish that she did not because right outside the hill's concealment barrier, we were caught by the witch. I barely escaped, but Elsie was unfortunate. But before she disappeared with the witch, she called your name. Not mine, not of her parents', and not of her brother's.

A part of him admitted that it was his fault that Elsie ventured on her own, but another part told him that her actions weren't in his hands anymore. That it wasn't his fault that Elsie chose to act that way. But more than anything, no matter how many arguments formed in his head, whether it was his fault or not, the urge to save her triumphed over everything else.

Weak at this grave news, Andy forced himself to stand and looked pleadingly to Ernie, also deep in his thoughts. "P-Please? Can you help us? You don't need to come throughout. We just need to arrive at the hill, fast."

Hmm. Ernie rubbed the underside of his bill, thinking deeply.

"Please?" Andy tried again.

And with a sigh of defeat, Ernie threw his wings in exasperation and said, Alright, Alright. You're lucky because I'm only doing this for my dear friend here. He swung a wing around Hex, whose face turned sour, but said nothing.

Andy's eyes welled with tears. He took one wing in his hand and shook it with gratitude. "Thank you, Mr. Ernie, sir, but..." He trailed on his words as he realized something. "How exactly are you going to give us a ride?"

"Just a moment, son." Ernie turned around and called out to the raft of ducks swimming to the far end of the pond. "Honey, I'll be out for a while! Friends need help! I'll be back before you know it!"

Be back before dusk, or you're dead meat! said the female duck, probably his wife.

Oh-ho. I'm telling you she's so sweet, Ernie said to them, wriggling his rounded body in giddiness.

Andy watched in rapt fascination as glittering golden lights bobbed around him, sparkling and tinkling like bells. Andy sucked in a breath and made sure to hold his mouth closed. Ernie grew at least twenty times his size in a matter of moments, and the sparkle had already disappeared.

Come aboard, crew! Ernie called in a deep booming voice. He extended his left wing and docked the wingtip onto the ground so that the trio could have something to clamber upon.

"Grab on tight!" Ernie twisted his neck and looked at them sideways. Once Andy, Hex, and Chip had settled themselves on the safe spot over the drake's broad back. In both of his clammy hands, Andy grabbed a fistful of the silvery-white feathers, which were surprisingly soft as a mammal's fur. Hex was looking more than fine but had dug his claws on the duck's back to keep him in place. Chip, meanwhile, was oddly calm as if he had ridden a duck more than once before.

Ernie sprinted, flapping his wings, trying to get airborne. It jostled Andy so much that he forgot to scream, his eyes ballooning out of his sockets. But not so with Chip. He hollered in delight as he hopped and clung to Andy's back. Ernie took a giant great leap, launching himself from the ground. Andy's insides rolled inside his belly in an unrecognizable clutter as Ernie pulled them upward. But as soon as they leveled among the clouds, smoothly sailing in the aquamarine sky, Andy's teeth ceased their chattering, and the suppressed air that gathered in his swelling lungs burst out in his relief.

Their ascent was smooth and thrilling. Andy let out a hoot of excitement and spread his arms. "We're flying!" The sun was a brilliant lemon yellow, the sky a bracing blue. The wind whipped Andy's hair into an obliging jig. He wasn't terrified of the height he had thought he might be. But he couldn't stay happy. Not when Hex was drilling holes in his head.

"W-What is it?" he asked.

Hex thought for a while, then said, "If something bad happens to Elsie, I won't ever forgive you, Outlander."

Something fluttered and flipped somewhere between his stomach and heart. A new organ, he told himself crazily. One whose sole purpose is to react to the uncomfortable tension in the air.

"Don't put the blame on me alone. What have I done? Aren't you happy that I've willingly gone with you to save Elsie?" Andy exploded, offended by his words.

"It is you that triggered her recklessness, and for all I know, both of you swore an oath in the name of the Autumn's Flower!"

"I was fooled!" Andy cried. "She lied to me!"

"You acted out of your rash decision, kid. And so is she. But if I know anything better, Elsie genuinely considers you as her friend."

"I never believed it was—"

Hey! Ernie called out. Whatever's going on back there, we're passing through the hill's concealment.