"Where are they going?" Marcy asked curiously, watching as Dagon and Adrastea mounted their horses.

"They're taking a message to my men," Cephalus answered.

"And I wouldn't start packing. It'll take several days for my men to get here."

"What's the message?" Chandra asked, taking out her bedroll that she had just packed.

"I need them to come here and look after those men until we're out of Rubin Soth."

"So we are going to Rubin Soth?" Diomedes piped in quietly, looking a bit shaken.

Marcy guessed it was an after effect from the fight. She was also feeling a bit on edge.

"We told you that already," Cephalus answered in a deep voice.

"Yeah I just thought maybe you had changed your plans because of the delay."

"Because of the delay? That's even more reason to take the route of Rubin Soth. Its the quickest way into the mountains."

"...Right..." Diomedes muttered, getting up and walking over to his horse.

          "Lousy, no good, son of a monkey," Adrastea mumbled as she held the reins of Alice, her horse.

"Who is?" Dagon asked.

Adrastea looked up at him with that ever present glare before looking back to the road saying, "No one."

"Really?...Look if we're going to be spending two days on the road together can't we at least try and get along?"

Adrastea did not answer. This entire thing was idiotic and pointless to her. She would just as soon gone alone rather than spend a whole two days with Dagon...Or anyone for that matter.

"Don't you have friends?" he finally asked.

Adrastea sighed and stopped in her tracks.

"Look, whether I do or not is none or your business. Its no one's business for that matter. Not Cephalus's, not Weland's, not Chandra's, and most certainly not yours. I'm here to do one thing. To go get the Rinopenya stone. That's it." 

Dagon was about to snap back with a remark that had to do with her and the Rinopenya stone but held back. A half hour into their trip and they were already arguing. 

After a while they mounted their horses once more and rode until they came to the cross trails that hunters use to use, a long time before all the bad stuff started happening.

"Right, which way?" Dagon asked, looking down either one.

Really it was not a question, he knew perfectly well which one, but he felt he needed to say something.

"Right," Adrastea answered, turning Alice towards the vine covered trail.

"Left," Dagon contradicted.

Adrastea twisted in her saddle and looked at him, her face twisted in an argumentative manner.

"Right," she answered sharply.

"Left. Its quicker."

Adrastea turned back towards her choice of trail and said with a flat tone, "We're going this way."

"And who says so? I'm older here!" Dagon argued.

"Who told you that?"

"Are you younger?"

Adrastea continued to stare down the path and set her jaw with a frustrated gesture.

"Yes...But this way is safer."

"No it isn't."

"We can't go that way! Alright?"

Dagon looked from his path to her's with a puzzled expression, trying to find out a reason why they could not just take the shorter trail.

"Why not? This path cuts through Ellestar and straight to Rubin Soth. Its the shorter route!"

"Its more dangerous."

"No it isn't! Haldit won't mind us passing through," Dagon argued.

He really did not want to prolong the agony of this trip and was started to get frustrated by her stubbornness. Yes, he was being stubborn too, but he actually had the right path and he knew it.

"...Maybe not for you."

Dagon threw his hands in the air and let out an exasperated sigh, face palming himself.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Look, if you want to take that path go ahead! I'm not going that way."

And without another word she rode off down the path, leaving Dagon to choose on his own. And of course, being the more responsible of the two, he had to follow Adrastea. 

It was slow going counting all the times they had to get off their horses and cut their way through the undergrowth, but eventually the sun set and the moon rose, forcing them to make camp at a small pond. Adrastea watered the horses while Dagon built a fire and for the most part both of them were silent, making occasional grunts or muttering something to themselves. When first watch came Adrastea insisted on having it, saying she would rather go to bed late than wake up early. Dagon did not argue, going to bed immediately. He was grateful for the warmth of his blanket and conked out almost immediately.

It was a warm night and the moon was full, reflecting perfectly off the water. Adrastea stared at it dreamily and watched the ripples sweep across the pond every time a slight breeze came. It was a beautiful sight. The small green clearing, the blue water, the lily pads, the bright moon; Adrastea felt it was too good for anyone to know about. In her experience people came and destroyed. 

Then it dawned on her.

"Wait a second," Adrastea mumbled to herself.

She pulled the map out of her saddle bag and scanned over it several times. She was right. The pond was not on the map.

"What are you doing here?" Adrastea asked quietly, crawling over to the edge of the water and staring at her reflection.

The face that stared back at her was not the one she remembered. It was much older, more solemn. Her reflection was something Adrastea avoided, but moving toward the pond was almost involuntary, like something was pulling her.

"Adrastea," a voice whispered in the breeze.

Adrastea looked toward where Dagon was sleeping. He did not stir. 

"Adrastea," the voice whispered again, drawing her gaze back to the pond.

The water rippled, destroying the reflection of the moon and replacing it with a castle in the trees with carved pillars. Adrastea watched in a daze as a young girl ran up the steps, her bare feet making soft pattering sounds on the stone. Another ripple passed and a castle of ice appeared. The same girl stood in front of the tall doors, a circlet of silver flowers in her hands. She stared up at two royals, dressed in white robes. They took the crown from the girl and led her into the palace, followed by a small blonde girl. 

Adrastea wanted to look away, but she could not. It was too strong. 

A breeze passed and the palace turned into a graveyard, a long procession leading from the forest. Two coffins were placed side by side, surrounded by a field of white daisies. Up on a far away hill the same solemn girl watched, her features so still they could have been carved from stone. The funeral passed and the clouds appeared but she still stood on the hill, growing taller and older, eventually becoming the creature she was now. A ripple passed and the silver circlet appeared on a stump, suddenly bursting into flames.

Adrastea leaped away from the pond with sharp cry. Dagon jumped to his feet, sword at the ready and stared around confused as Adrastea lay on the ground in a brownheap, not moving, not making a sound.

"Um...Are you alright?" Dagon asked quietly.

"What is this place?" Adrastea answered with her own question.

"What do you mean? Its just a good camping area."

"Its not on the map. Why did you want to camp here?" Adrastea asked in a small voice, her face still buried in her hands.

Dagon was a bit startled by her strained voice and wondered if he should answer or not. It would probably just make her more upset but then again, if he did not answer than she would also be upset. There really was no way to please her.

"Um, but its a good camping spot...Stea, did you see something?"

"What do you think?" she shouted, climbing back to her feet and grabbed her saddle.

Without a word Adrastea quickly saddled Alice and packed up her gear.

"Where are you going?" Dagon asked, heading for his saddle.

The last thing he wanted to do was leave but if she left, he left. Cephalus was very clear on both of them going for safety reasons and Dagon did not want to suffer his wrath.

"I'm getting out of here. This place gives me the creeps," Adrastea answered, mounting Alice and quickly riding off down the path.

Dagon quickly saddled his horse and right before he left took one last glance at the pond with a half smile, then he was off down the path like a bolt of lightning, playing the victim of circumstance.

.........................................................................

"I wonder if they're there yet," Marcy said with a sigh.

They had already eaten dinner and the fire was keeping them all warm, but it was starting to get boring. She never did like waiting.

"I doubt they're even halfway there," Adrianna answered.

She was familiar with the area and of course new that even at a hard pace you would not be able to make it to Rubin Soth in one night.

"What if they got killed?" Marcy asked, her imagination running away again.

"Well it wouldn't really be so bad for them," Chandra answered.

"There's an old saying that if you die in this world you wake up in another."

"Same with us. Only we call it Heaven," Marcy remarked.

It was starting to get dark out and the sun was shining in their eyes like a spelunking flashlight. Diomedes and Weland were bringing food to the now conscious men. Weland, still trying to figure out what that man told him earlier, decided to ask again.

"Who's this Prince you were looking for?" he inquired quietly.

Diomedes looked up from his dirty tray and quickly pulled on Weland's shirt sleeve.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked in a harsh tone.

"That man told me earlier they were looking for a Prince. I know its not any of us, Cephalus told me, so I'm trying to figure out who it is."

"You can't just go around asking bandits about that sort of thing."

"Why not?"

"They're notorious for lying. You should know that!"

Weland sighed and leaned against a tree stump, looking over to where the bandits were struggling with their food.

"It doesn't mean they'll lie now. Why should they?" he told Diomedes.

"Maybe they're being payed to lie. Perhaps someone wants to throw us off our trail."

"But who would know about this? Come on, be realistic. Cephalus said he didn't tell anyone else about the trip."

"You ever heard of the thieves grape vine?"

Weland puzzled over the term for a minute before shaking his head.

"No, no I haven't. What is it?"

"Its the reason bandits are so successful here. Bar tenders, maids, tinkers; almost any organization has at least one person involved in the thieves grape vine. They know if the bakery is making an extra batch of bread, or if the stable is putting less hay on the floor. You can't keep secrets from them. If they want to know something, they'll get every last detail about."

Weland stared at Diomedes with a surprised, and somewhat impressed look. The fact that such an organization exists was terrifying, but he had to applaud whoever had enough stamina to build it up, although the thought of thousands of stolen gold coins was sadly motivation enough for a lot of people.

"Wait a second," Weland started.

"How do you know about all of this?"

Diomedes shrugged his shoulders and ruffled his hair a little, seemingly casual.

"I've had a couple dealings with them in the the past."

"Really? Like what?"

"Really Weland its not something to talk about," Diomedes cut the conversation off, getting up and walking over to the fire with the dirty trays.

Weland watched for a while as everyone joked around and tried to pass the time. Diomedes was not exactly ancient so whatever dealings he had with the thieves grape vine was either when he was very young, and not that long ago. Both were intriguing stories that Weland was just dying to hear but he knew that Diomedes did not intend on telling him...Or anyone else for that matter.