I let the light pull me away, leaving from the Light Leaping platform on top of Rimeshire. When I hit the ground again, I stumbled backwards a bit. I was hit by the positively freezing air of the Sahara desert when I landed in Loanmore, Lovise right in front of me. All the other times I'd been there, it had been day time, with a sweltering sun overhead. I was not prepared for this level of frigidness.

   But my face had warmed right up, when I noticed that I had run into someone. Right into Marella. We both blushed, and mumbled quick apologies. Finally we stopped blabbering, and began looking around expectantly, wondering when, or even if, our friends would show up. No one did.

   It wasn't getting any warmer, as the nigh wore on. If anything, the air was getting chillier.

   I spun in a slow circle. No one was there. Maybe Biana or Tam were hidden in the shadows. Maybe we were only waiting on Sophie and Fitz.

   Shadows stirred, and I was sure that Tam must be hiding. I was about to call out, when Marella spoke.

   "Do you think they got the time wrong?" Marella asked, shivering in the cold night breeze.

   "I don't know," I replied, glancing around. I thought, again, of calling out, but now it felt silly. The moon was passing between the clouds, and the shadows were always shifting over the barren terrain.

   "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lovise asked warily, looking at the desert, concern in her eyes.

   "Do you not trust the Black Swan?" Marella countered, also looking around too, though with a confident air. Her tone was slightly afraid, and I was trying it decide whether to trust her tone or words.

   Lovise mumbled something about not answering questions, and shook her head.

   An awkward silence prevailed, broken only by shifting feet, as all three of up continued trying to keep warm. We all gravitated closer together, trying to share warmth.

   "What time is it?" Marella wondered aloud.

   "It's six minutes to midnight now," I said, sharing some of my bodyguard's fear. I check the Disney watch Sophie gave me at level three midterms. The smiling mouse on the back of the watch smiled up at me, reassuringly. Not that it helped at all.

   "And it's five to midnight..." I pause, waiting for the second hand to reach the top. "Now."

   Shadows streaked past my face, and cold hands grasped my arms, immobilizing them behind my back. Coarse rope wrapped around my hands, cutting into my skin. I tried to scream, but a cloth was covering my mouth, and preventing my voice from working. I heard a muffled yell from Marella, and tried to reach out for her, but the bonds held too strong. Deep, unrecognizable voices directed each other into a perfectly executed ambush. An all too familiar, sickly sweet smell, filled my nose and mouth. It dulled my senses, and lulled me into sleep. But knowing that I had failed to stay safe, and that I failed to even protect Marella, made me feel more sick than any sedative ever could. I felt that I really had failed. I tried to stay conscious, but I felt Marella slump beside me, and I knew it was a lost cause. My eyes drooped, and I slumped down next to the still squirming body of Marella. But even her ferocious attempts at escape were weakening, as she fell prey to the terrible sedatives, that the Neverseen used so often. The last thing I remembered were Lovise's screams, as she tried to protect us, even until the end. She was sacrificing her life to help us escape. There was no way one goblin—tough as she was—could defeat a horde of evil rebels, willing to use any means of torture available on their victims. She was working for a lost cause. I wish I had been conscious enough to tell her that she should stop.

   I listened as her voice was cut short, mid-scream, and I suspected the worst.

   But my mind was stuck on one thing. Seven words repeated over and over in my head. Wearing away at any other present thoughts, as I tumbled into the oblivion of my restless dreams.

   How had we all been so gullible?