Emerali hewed down the creatures that came her way with every note that she played. It was almost effortless. She sped through the passages, looking this way and that for a sign of either Qelin or Ansted, but neither were anywhere to be seen.

At last, turning a corner, Emerali made an unexpected discovery: a swirling portal before a gaping black doorway. Beside this mysterious portal lay a human man, shivering and groaning pitifully. He was badly wounded.

"Ansted?" Emerali asked, gently.

"Who... are you?" the man asked hoarsely.

"I'm Emerali," she responded. She produced a bottle of health potion, unsealed it and put it to Ansted's lips.

Ansted drank it hastily, looking up at Emerali with glazed eyes. "Lady Emerali, how did you find me?"

"My friends and I came looking for Qelin. We had no idea you were here 'til we met the search party dispatched to find you. Ansted, it was folly to come in here--especially alone!"

"I have to find Qelin! He's exiled himself in this hellish place, and I can't bear it. I believe he went through that portal. I've got to find him! I must bring him back home, my lady, I must!" Ansted cried, his words ending in an anguished sob.

"You will do nothing of the sort, Ansted. You'll stay right here. If you set foot through there, you'll die for certain. Aion be praised you're still alive. If Qelin is in there, I'll do my best to bring him back," Emerali told him in a reassuring tone.

At that moment Thori and Devaen entered. "Finally, we found you!" cried Thori.

"Ansted!" cried Devaen kneeling beside the unfortunate man. "By the Five, I feared the worst."

"D-Devaen... old friend..." was all Ansted could reply.

Emerali rose. "Ansted says Qelin went through this portal. I'm going in to see if I can find him. Remember, Ansted, stay there! We'll be back for you; I promise!" With those words, Emerali dove through the portal.

"Emerali! Wait for us!" Devaen called after her. He growled angrily. "C'mon, Thori."

Casting a healing spell for Ansted, Thori followed him. "I can't believe she did it again!" she fumed.

Once the trio had come through the roiling, shifting passageway of the portal, it suddenly seemed that the environment they'd left behind was comparatively safe. Fiery golems flanked a dark cavern that was lit only by the angry glow of a lava-filled chamber.

"Whoa. How are we gonna get past that?" muttered Devaen.

Just then Thori gasped and pointed toward the lava chamber. "Someone's on the other side of that pit!" she exclaimed.

They all looked, and sure enough, there was indeed someone sitting dangerously close to the edge of the pit. It was a Daeva with their wings unfurled and flopped on the ground. They sat motionless; clearly dejected even from that distance.

"It's got to be Qelin. We've got to figure out how to get around and to that area," Emerali mused. She looked back over at the golems. "I've got an idea!" she declared, her eyes lighting up. "Follow me!"

Before either Thori or Devaen had a chance to react, Emerali was dashing off toward the golems.

"What the hell is she doing?!" exclaimed Devaen.

With a flourish, Emerali drew her bow across the harp strings, and the next instant, the golems had been transformed into a group of dancing inquins. "Come on!" Emerali called out.

Left with little choice, Thori and Devaen set out behind her, but the spell's duration was much too brief. Before they had gotten past the thick of the mob, the golems had assumed their true form... and were ready to attack!

"Look out, Thori!" cried Devaen, as one of the creatures lunged at her. He gave her a hard shove forward to get her out of the way, but he couldn't get out of the way in time himself. The golem swung its stone hand and struck him with such force that Devaen sailed through the air, hitting the rocky cavern wall. He crumpled to the ground lifelessly, his neck broken.

The violence of the occurrence horrified Thori so much that she let out a sharp cry. At that, Emerali turned around. Her eyes went wide at the sight of Devaen lying dead, and Thori rushing toward the corpse. She was struggling to keep the golems in check, but she was horribly outnumbered. Emerali turned back immediately to aid her friends, frantically playing every spell she could to clear the path.

With great difficulty, she reached Thori. "We're gonna lose Devaen if we don't resurrect him soon," Thori told her.

"Go; I'll hold them off," Emerali commanded.

It was a nearly impossible feat between the two girls-one with the task of reviving, the other with protecting, and it wasn't looking good. Even while Emerali dealt with the group, a straggling golem headed for Thori who had nearly finished the resurrection spell. Thori looked behind her and gasped. "Emerali!"

Casting her shield spell, Emerali made a rush for her friends, and slid onto the ground, coming between the golem's incoming blow and Thori. The shield shattered instantly, but Emerali took the creature on, finishing it off even as the breath of life came back to Devaen.

Thori smiled with relief. "Hey. It's good to be a Daeva, huh?"

Devaen coughed and stretched. "I'll get back to you on that," he muttered. Seeing the plight they were in, he attempted to rise, but resurrection sickness slowed him up. He was weak and disoriented.

"Use a potion," Thori told him.

"Can't; I'm wearing them," Devaen replied. He gestured at the glass shards sticking to his armor and the liquid dripping from his pack. Thori cast a quick healing spell, and rose.

"Stay there, I'll back Emerali up," she told him.

It was a grueling battle, the two girls against various golems. Thori was growing tired, and exhaustion was fatal. "I can't... hold out much longer," she gasped.

"I'll restore your mana," Emerali told her. "Just keep fighting!"

They had almost made it; the ground was littered with remains of the monstrous golems. But one more remained, and even as the girls worked at catching their breath, it rose up behind them with an earsplitting roar. They turned around to face the golem, but before they could move, a cracking sound filled the air, and the next second, the golem had disintegrated to a pile of rocks.

The golem's destruction revealed Devaen crouching in battle stance. "Damn, that monster almost broke my blades. Thank Aion for Aether," he muttered. He tottered forward, panting, and sagged to his knees on the ground.

"Well done, Devaen!" Emerali said admiringly. "Nice recovery, right, Thori?"

Thori suddenly turned on her with surprising fierceness. "Yes, but he probably wouldn't have gone down if you hadn't pulled one of your Lone Warrior stunts!"

Emerali's green eyes went wide. "What?"

"If you don't want our help, just say so and spare us unnecessary deaths like this. Just because we're Daevas doesn't mean dying is painless. Continue as you are, and you'll be reminded of that," Thori snapped.

"Of course I want your help. I didn't--"

"Then why do you keep charging ahead as if we weren't here? You just plunge in and do whatever occurs to you without telling us anything. I don't mind you leading us 'cause I see your potential, but this here isn't leadership; it's abandonment. Is this what you're gonna do in the Abyss? Death could be permanent down there, you know that. Damn it, Emerali! Why do you always have to play hero?" Thori's eyes smoldered.

"I-I wasn't trying to," Emerali stammered, flabbergasted. "I'm sorry, I--"

"Forget it. Let's just do what we came to do," Thori said. She turned and stalked away.

Emerali turned a bewildered face to Devaen who was dazedly sheathing his weapons. "I'm sorry, Devaen. I never meant to abandon you," she said rather sheepishly.

"But it isn't just now," he told her wearily. "It's habitual with you. Thori's right; we can't depend on you if you're just gonna rush ahead like that. I gotta tell you, Emerali, when you do things like this... it's like I don't know you--almost like you really did leave us in the Abyss." So saying, Devaen turned and followed Thori.

Those words stung, but Emerali swallowed her discomfiture as best she could and went after her friends. She was obviously getting worse; and Thori was right: in the Abyss, she could cost them all their lives permanently.

The lava chamber was just around the corner, but getting to it was still a challenge. They battled many other creatures, and by the time they had finally reached the chamber, they were bruised, bloodied and covered in sweat and dust. Weary and worn out, they approached the ledge where they saw the forlorn-looking Daeva.

"Qelin?" called Emerali.

The Daeva looked up at the three approaching warriors. His eyes opened wide when he saw Devaen, but when his wild gaze fixed on Emerali, he burst into inarticulate cries and unintelligible words. With a great heave of his wings, he rose and ran over to them only to fall at Emerali's feet.

"Emerali! Lady Emerali! Praise Aion! But how can it be? I heard you were dead!" he gasped.

"Please don't do that, Qelin. I'm no Empyrean Lord, nor even priestess to Aion. We're here to bring you back home where you belong," Emerali said in a gentle tone, though she looked on him dubiously.

"Your brother came to the Temple to seek you out, Qelin," Devaen said.

Qelin looked up at them. "The good-hearted fool..." he whispered. "Go back, take him home, but leave me. I can never show myself to the world again. I bear the scourge of shame, and am not fit even to die. I'll stay here and face the torments of this place as an accursed demon in hell."

"We've heard the word 'traitor' mingled with your name, Qelin, but I don't believe that you are," Devaen said, bringing him to his feet with one deft move.

"Believe it, friend; it's true, though I didn't mean to be. Aion forgive me!" Qelin burst into tears.

The three friends exchanged grave looks.

"You said you didn't mean to be a traitor. What happened? What did you do?" asked Thori.

Qelin shook his head. "It's not what I did; it's what I didn't do."

After an uncomfortable silence, Emerali spoke. "I don't know what you did or didn't do, but let me ask: if you could do it over, would you?"

"By Aion, yes! Yes!" cried the unfortunate man.

"Then do me a service: my memory has been made a puzzle by an enemy whose identity is unknown. Come with us, and help me put the puzzle together," Emerali told him.

Qelin looked wildly from face to face. At last he nodded. "Yes. Yes, I will. Perhaps redemption is possible if your memories and Elysea's fate are intertwined as I believe they may be."