As the trio traveled, Waverly discovered she had taken a quick liking to Brijjet

He knew everything.

He was brilliant, strong, full of courage and very hyperactive. He could not stay at a spot for long because he claimed he got bored quickly, and the best thing yet about him was his ability to navigate the roads and forest paths no matter where they ended up. He had once urged them to travel on while he went off to search for their horses a second time. They found him way ahead of them waiting at a curved road with the animals. He could tell exactly where they were. It was like he had a map in his head and because of him, Waverly made no use of her own map that HalfHyde had given to her.

As they crossed the bridge of Bridge, he demonstrated to Waverly a strange dance he called "tap dancing". His boots made funny clicking sounds as his feet touched the ground in light, calculated steps. It sounded like the beat of drums to Waverly but much, much lighter and with less resonance.

Judson warned that he would alert the Epeiras but Brijjet did not care. He told Judson that if they did come, he would snap their legs like twigs and Waverly believed him even though he had laughed when he said it. Thankfully, the Epeiras did not show themselves. It was either they were busy or they valued their legs too much.

Brijjet refused to take off his mask when Judson asked, his first claim being that he did not want to because he was uglier than the ugliest ogre. Then he further claimed he had bad breath. He laughed both ideas off later on and told Waverly that he was trying to imitate his uncle then said no more. He also confessed that he hated walking since he was a fast runner but had chosen to stick with the pair since they made walking seem quite fun. Waverly accepted his company and allowed him to tag along even though Judson was not happy with it. She felt she owed Brijjet a great debt for saving her life and he was much too interesting to leave behind.

Judson kept quiet for the next few days as Brijjet did most of the talking. One of the few times he had spoken was when he revealed to Waverly that Brijjet had healed her with a strange sort of magic and that it was not good magic which was why it had worked so fast. Afterwards, he ceased to speak or even make gestures again.

They finally came to the edge of the Bridge that sloped down into Arwen.

"The horses cannot go down this way. Come over here." Brijjet instructed. He turned and began to walk a different way. Right in the arm of the bridge was a wide but hidden road. It was cobbled, smeared with thousands of muddy footprints and grass but arched gracefully to the ground.

"How did we not see that the last time we came here?" Waverly whispered to Judson but he only shrugged in reply. They followed Brijjet who leisurely strolled down the road like it was a part of his domain.

The horses clip-clopped as they walked on the path and the sound of it made Waverly grin. She remembered the last time she had heard the same sounds in the King's court. She had badly wanted a horse of her own. Now, she rode one and even though they were quite difficult to take care of being so large, she loved the animals. They were very devoted creatures and were more than willing to carry things - heavy or not - without complaints

"Do you have your seal of permission?" Brijjet asked when they had reached the ground.

Waverly hurriedly provided the scroll and handed it to him. He unrolled it and raised it to face the forest.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Edsel sees everything here so i'm sure he's looking at us now. He'll see the seal and let us through without any trouble." Brijjet explained without looking back.

"Okay." Waverly muttered. Then in a flash, the bronze seal blazed in the air like a reflection on glass. It shimmered and disappeared then the forest groaned and a wide path opened before them.

"See?" Brijjet grinned. He gestured toward the grassy road. "After you."

Waverly and Judson led their horses and Brijjet followed. Waverly noticed that the forest was as quiet as it had been the last time, the only difference being that it was now full of new trees. She recognized most of them while others looked alien to her. The sky was visible this time - a backdrop of blaring iridescent blue with chalky white clouds that seemed to swim and disintegrate whilst forming odd shapes and figures.  The environment was cool, a gentle zephyr moved in and out of the trees so that their branches ruffled almost noiselessly, birds chirped here and there, zipping from nest to nest so fast that they left a blurry yet colorful image of themselves behind. The In Between looked like a very normal forest with normal paths. Waverly realized that this was because they now had permission to cross which meant they would encounter no monsters.

"Do you think we will see the Derews again, Jud?" Waverly asked in a whisper recalling the tree spirits she had met in the forest the year before. She missed the nice tree girls and wished to see them again.

Judson looked at the trees. They were not the same trees the Derews had come out of the last time. He knew it for certain. "I think not."

"What are you two whispering about?" Brijjet asked but did not wait for an answer. He simply ran toward a huge tree. "Hey, wanna see a cool trick?"

Waverly stole a glance at Judson who was already frowning. "M-Maybe we should stick to the path."

She did not want to anger him by indulging Brijjet but Brijjet did not seem to care. He climbed the tree nonetheless, in very swift hand and feet movements that enthralled Waverly.

When he was high up, he bounded across the bough in an incredibly balanced run, bounced off it and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Freefall!"

Waverly gasped. "No!" Her heart did a double back flip.

But Brijjet had already jumped. The trees were as high as the hemlocks in the mountains but they had wider trunks. Falling from such a height could impair anyone. Brijjet whooped joyfully as he tumbled down. Waverly and Judson watched in horror, unable to move or react. Halfway to the ground, Brijjet abruptly stopped falling as if someone had held him from above.

Waverly jumped off her horse and ran to him. His eyes twinkled as he dangled three feet off the ground with his arms spread out.

"How did you. . . ?" She asked. A smile spread across her face in wild admiration. She turned to Judson, hoping he had enjoyed the show of daringness but her smile died off immediately. He was glaring at Brijjet with a look of utter disapproval.

"Hunter String. Belongs to my mother. I borrowed some of it just to have fun with." Brijjet explained. He dropped to the ground on his feet and pulled at an invisible string that seemed to have been anchoring him. Waverly did not see it but she heard it gently whipping as it dropped from above. He rolled it and stuffed it into his green pouch.

"Hunter String." Judson muttered, speaking aloud for the first time. He looked at Brijjet then walked over to him. Before the latter could react, Judson had pulled his hood from his head.

"Hey!" Brijjet protested and touched his hair which were swimming curls of black and white. It looked like the fur on a panda but it was sleek and bouncy. He hurriedly put the hood back on and glared at Judson, his eyes narrowing to a thin line.

"I knew it. His mother is Brid, a Spirit Hunter." Judson declared distastefully although how he was able to decipher this only from Brijjet's hair, Waverly did not know. She frowned altogether. She could not recall the name Judson had mentioned but she had studied about Spirit Hunters. They were dangerous entities despite being minions of Cret.

Brijjet balled his fist. His blue eyes sparked with anger. "You wouldn't dare repeat that again or i'll. . . "

"He did not mean it." Waverly interrupted quickly. "He apologizes. Say your apologies, Jud."

Judson tensed. He glared at Brijjet then at Waverly. She lifted an eyebrow urging him to apologize. "I will not. He is not welcome to travel with us any longer. We owe you a debt for helping us with that bear but you should leave and allow us travel alone."

"Jud." Waverly called in disbelief.

"You can't tell me what to do and you certainly cannot order me around. You're just a kid." Brijjet stated. He did not sound angry now which made Waverly nervous. His tone was rather matter-of-factedly, like he had said the same lines over and over. Waverly had a feeling that he had indeed and it was not something he liked to say. But it was the truth.

"Nonetheless, you cannot force your company on us." Judson countered. He turned to face Waverly. "How can you trust him? He only followed us for a reason and we do not know what it is."

"Jud, he is only helping." Waverly said.

"How exactly is he helping? He is very loud and smug. . ."

"Both characteristics of which you know absolutely nothing." Brijjet interjected hotly.

". . . hazardous, obviously flippant and is bound to get us into nasty trouble one of these days." Judson continued without looking at Brijjet. "Do not forget, Waverly, that we are on a time sensitive journey and the last thing we need is someone to slow us down with cheap and dangerous tricks. If he really wants to help us, then he will leave." Judson said, his forehead beaded with sweat. With a look of finality, he walked back to his horse.

Waverly stared apologetically at Brijjet. "He does not mean any of that. Judson has no friends beside me. He is not used to having anyone else around."

Brijjet nodded calmly. He did not seem offended anymore. "That's fine. He's probably thinking i'm trying to steal you away from him."

He suddenly laughed and shook his head amusedly. "He doesn't even realize that if anyone should be giving orders amongst us, it is me. I am of the appropriate age, i believe."

Waverly jerked her head back. "How old are you?"

Brijjet shrugged lazily. "I stopped aging at twenty. . .  thirty two years ago."

Waverly's eyes bulged. "What do you mean you stopped aging thirty two years ago?"

Brijjet stared at her for a while. "It means i'm slightly immortal. Very slightly! I don't age and i don't get sick. I can die though but that'll be impossible for the next hundred decades or so, if i'm careful."

Waverly gaped at Brijjet. It was impossible to believe he was more than fifty. He was vibrant with youth and everything else that came with it. Waverly was curious to know how he had become slightly immortal as he had put it and wanted to ask but she let it be. The last thing she wanted was to engage in a long discussion with Brijjet and have Judson glare at her like she had cut down his treehouse.

They travelled on in silence or at least, Waverly and Judson did. Brijjet kept skipping stones and whistling like he was on a picnic. He swung his walking stick as he walked and would sometimes whack a tree with it to shake off leaves or shoot arrows at anything random. One time he had even begun to walk on his hands. He laughed at his own silliness afterwards and wiped his hands clean.

Night finally came in the In Between and this time, Waverly saw it. She made a fire and Brijjet provided tents for each of them. Waverly was scared to ask where he got his supplies from so she did not bother with it. Judson's fever came back again and she gave him his medicine - in the right order and proportions this time. He fell asleep after that.

Waverly went to sit with Brijjet near the fire. In the firelight, his blue eyes were strangely black, like ghostly smoke. He stuck his walking stick in the flames but it did not burn or even turn sooty. He left the stick in the flames and began to sketch in the sand with his finger.

"Will you not have supper?" Waverly asked.

He looked up at her and shook his head slowly. "No. It takes a long time for me to get hungry. I can live on an empty stomach for weeks."

Waverly put her bowl of soup down. Judson had grown vegetables for her to make food but Brijjet had not seen him do it. It was the reason his fever returned in the first place.

"What's wrong with your friend?" Brijjet asked without looking up. As he drew on the sand, he resembled a statue. His hood concealed his face completely.

"I was told he carries a burden and he can only be cured in Dakriton." Waverly explained. The word "burden" struck a match in her brain but as she tried to grab on to it, the flames were snuffed out.

Brijjet nodded but he still did not look up or stop drawing. "Okay but that's not what i mean. He doesn't like me, not that that's my problem but i'd like to know why."

"I do not know either." Waverly shrugged. Judson hardly ever disliked anyone but seeing how he strongly disliked Brijjet, Waverly found it confusing and new. No matter how HalfHyde had been mean to him, Judson never disliked the elf or wished him ill. He simply did not care.

Brijjet hummed from the base of his throat. "I see. He probably sees something we don't. The boy's clever. I can see that and i admire it but he has to stop making me feel like a disease. I only truly wanted to help."

"I believe you and again, my apologies for his behavior." Waverly sighed and bent her knees to face each other. "He was always treated different. He is not like the others."

"You mean because he's multiethnic?" Brijjet asked.

"What is that?" Waverly asked with a frown.

"Multiethnic! That means he's a native of three different realms." Brijjet explained, finally looking up from his drawing.

Waverly strained her eyes to look at the image he had drawn on the sand - it was obviously that of a girl - but her features were hard to grasp.

"How did you know that?"

She knew Brijjet was intelligent but it still baffled her whenever he spat out facts and truths. She never told him Judson was from different realms and she never said that it was three.

"I can sense it. It's a weird gift but i can sense the realms on people. Your friend's an Elf, obviously a Shade and a. . . Skyling. Hmm."

"A what?" Waverly asked looking startled. She knew of Judson's heritage as an Elf and a Shade but she never knew he was a Skyling. Skylings were Entonians. They were servants of Cret but the goddess was rumored to also mother some of them. Waverly tried to make sense out of the fact that Judson was both a son of Juniper and Cret. Her brain almost imploded. It would have been an impossible thing if two powerful deities were not involved in it. It made Waverly wonder if Judson had been born like a normal baby or simply crafted like swords in a forgery or cake from a bakery.

"A Skyling." Brijjet repeated then returned to his drawing. After a short pause, he continued. "He's definitely not a normal kid. And neither are you."

Waverly swallowed nervously. Zanaans were often hated not only amongst the gods but also amongst other beings too. People claimed that they stole the glory from men, they were overly exalted, careless, pompous and very intimidating. They lived lives that were considered impossible and achieved great feats. Waverly feared Brijjet had also sensed she was Zanaan. But a part of her brain assured her that if he hated her kind, he would have let the Cuish kill her.

"You can sense that too?" Waverly asked.

Brijjet shrugged. "I couldn't tell at first. When i joined you to fight Cuki, i thought you were a mortal in distress but when i extended my mother's protection to you as you fell, something conjoined with it."

"What did?" Waverly could not remember getting any protection from Brijjet but then again, she had been in a daze when he had arrived.

"Your mother's protection. Selene's power was already around you. She let me through anyway. She's one of the genuinely kind and likeable deities in Enton." Brijjet commented.

"Have you met her?" Waverly asked. It was the first time anyone had guessed who her godly parent was without her telling them but she knew already that Brijjet was not ordinary.

"Not really. I was only fortunate to catch a glimpse of her, once, from a distance. She has lovely hair and her eyes are just like yours or it's the other way around. Her chariot is cool but they'd never let me touch. . . . "

"Not my mother." Waverly said shaking her head. "Yours!"

Brijjet prehended his stick from the fire and placed it next to him. He adjusted himself on the log he sat on so that he could stretch out his legs a bit.

"Yes, a lot more than i would like." He said.

"She gave you that bag?" Waverly said jutting her chin at the green pouch.

"Yes." Brijjet answered. He stared unblinkingly into the flames. Waverly felt she had asked too much.

"I will go to bed now. Have a good rest." She said and headed for her tent.

"You too." Brijjet said. He lowered his head and began to write on the sand again.

In the morning, Judson's fever worsened and he could not travel. He burnt through his blanket and half of his tent. His eyes glazed white again. Waverly gave him droplets of his medicine but neither one did any good.

"Why does he do that?" Brijjet asked nervously when he came into the tent to check on them. Waverly was hunched over Judson as he lay flat on his blanket.

"He does not." Waverly replied. She sounded like she would cry. "His illness has taken hold again. We have to travel faster and yet we cannot touch him without getting burned. I do not know what to do."

Brijjet walked out of the tent for a few minutes then he came back in breathing heavily. "We can push him."

"What?" Waverly asked uneasily but proceeded to follow Brijjet out of the tent to where a vehicle with wheels underneath was waiting for them, right there in the middle of the camp. It was wooden and dipped like a barrow with jutting metal handles. It did not look too comfortable at all.

"I found it in a neighboring town called Ozean." Brijjet announced.

Waverly gasped. "You traveled all the way back?" Her palms had gone sweaty all of a sudden.

"Yes." Brijjet answered.

"And. . . you. . . came in without a seal of permission?"

"Yes. Edsel can't see me when i run or at least, i hope he didn't." Brijjet shrugged nonchalantly. "Come on, let's get Judson into the thing."

Waverly and Brijjet struggled to lift Judson because his weight had tripled but they managed to get him into the barrow which resulted in smoking hands and painful yelps. He was snuggled inside it but his wings were too large to fit so he laid in an uncomfortable position.

"We can just stuff his wings all the way in at the corners, you know, like beddings." Brijjet suggested. Waverly gave him a look of pure shock. He quickly lifted his arms up in surrender.

". . . Or not. Take the horses, i'll push. We're almost out of this place anyway."

Waverly took hold of the horses' reins while Brijjet held the barrow by the curved handles.

"Are we going to leave the tents?" Waverly asked.

"I'll come back for them later if we still have use of them." Brijjet said whilst looking into the distance. He began to push the barrow but he did so with such effort that his forehead glistened with sweat.

"How much does this boy eat in a day?" He groaned.

"Not much. We have to hurry." Waverly answered. She tried not to panic but it was hard. She pulled the horses with her as Brijjet pushed the barrow. Under his feet, the grass glowed blue and began to sizzle.

"I should probably run with him instead." Brijjet suggested.

"No, that might be dangerous." Waverly protested although she did not know how running with the the barrow could be dangerous. She was simply full of panic and confusion and did not want Judson to get hurt even in the slightest.

"How exactly? I'll get him to Dakriton then i'll come back for you and the horses and the tents. It's much easier that way." Brijjet offered.

Waverly tried to think. She did not want to be left alone in the In Between especially now that Brijjet had left it and entered again without permission. There could be monsters lurking around. Waverly was not exactly scared but she was tired of fighting monsters. She just wanted to get Judson to a healer and without interruptions too. Brijjet would be able to do that since he was very fast, she thought. Running with Judson suddenly sounded like the best idea in the world.

"Alright then. Go!" Waverly said. Before the words left her lips, Brijjet was already gone in a blur of silver and blue.

Waverly led the horses and continued down the path half waiting for Brijjet to return at once. Then she remembered that he had to first find a priest, talk to him and explain what Judson suffered. A task that was supposed to be hers. She began to regret allowing Brijjet go.

Just then, the sky turned black.

Waverly stopped walking and looked up. The rest of the sky was blue but directly above her, a black cloud hovered. She let go of the horses and pulled out her wrist band. Calaire appeared. She did not know what the new threat was but it looked dangerous.

The cloud was strangely like a swarm of tiny bats and as it moved, the atmosphere around it blackened and became polluted. Waverly suddenly remembered what the threat was with a surge of dread. HalfHyde had taught her about it once long ago.

"Night Plague." She gasped. Calaire shrunk down to a wrist band again and she strapped it around her wrist. No sword on earth could diminish the Night Plague. Fighting them with a weapon would be like trying to wrestle one's shadow which was absolutely impossible.

Night Plague were curses from the goddess Iren who was the Mother of Shadows. It afflicted whatever it touched with deadly diseases. Waverly did not understand how the Plague had travelled all by itself from The Sacred Space, a realm of power, to Arwen without being unleashed, unless. . .

The Plague rushed towards Waverly but with luck, she rolled away before it could touch her. It enveloped the horses instead. For a second, the horses disappeared from sight but when the cloud finally passed over them, they were lying on the ground thrashing and seething. Their skin was peeling off, covered in many places by large ugly boils.

Waverly whimpered. She felt like crying for the poor animals. It could have been her instead. She looked around frantically, waiting for Brijjet to come back but she was still alone with a cloud of deathly Plague hovering above the horses. The animals stopped thrashing and remained still.

Waverly choked. They were dead. The Night Plague could cause excruciating pain and a quick death or sometimes a much slower one that would last for years and years. It all depended on how happy Iren was and she was not exactly a happy goddess.

The Plague hummed as it hovered. Waverly silently prayed Brijjet would appear by her side any minute but the more she wished for it, the more impossible it seemed. She was really on her own now and there was no winning against the Night Plague. The black cloud suddenly darted straight for Waverly and she did the only reasonable thing she could think of.

She turned and fled.

The Honor of Light|
Book 02