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I did not sleep for two days. My mind was plagued with thoughts of Ferrik, and how I have been selected to protect him. It seems to me that if Ferrik is to live, then I must not rest until we have discovered a way to save him.

On top of that, we are now constantly on our guard--Dowlanders have been trailing us for days. Jehdorid is trying to lead us down a more secretive route, through a deep wooded valley, but I fear it is no use. The eyes that appear and reappear between the dark tree-trunks seem to be easily keeping pace with our small company.

Ferrik's vision is nearly gone, and he is becoming sick. By day, he stumbles slowly beside me, muttering things, and by night, he screams and struggles in the grip of his haunting dreams. In one particularly devilish fit, he nearly threw himself into the fire, restrained only at the last moment by Master Majeera.

"What is happening to me?" he asked as we walked deeper into the woods. "Why will no one answer me?"

I could not answer him--how could I? After all, Jehdorid says, he will know soon enough…

"I don't trust him," Ferrik mumbled to me, confidentially. "This Jehdorid Halfwolf. He's leading us to our deaths. He's doing this to me…making it so dark. Doesn't it seem odd to you, Farandeli? This place is so horribly dark…"

Ferrik's words do nothing to assuage my own growing suspicions about Jehdorid's purpose. But Majeera trusts him, for whatever reason, so I must, too. All the same, I begin to wonder if he truly is leading us to safety.

By nightfall we reached a clearing from which we could spot any approaching enemies. As the others prepared to sleep, I once again sat up restlessly, working at carving a new staff from a sturdy bough I had found that evening.

Master Majeera came to me, and spoke for the first time since our conversation two nights before. "Farandeli," he said, "It is time for you to rest."

I whittled at the branch a while before answering. "I'm not tired," I said.

"You have not slept for days. It will do you no good to be exhausted tomorrow."

"I'm not tired," I repeated.

Master Majeera took my hand firmly, stopping me from carving. "Farandeli. Put it aside. There is nothing we can do right now."

"We can think, can't we?" I burst out. "I can't waste any more time, Master Majeera. As long as I have my wits, I must try to think of a way to save Ferrik. That's what you told me to do. That's what I have to do…"

"You have forgotten that I am still here," Majeera said calmly. "You are not alone in your thoughts, dear one. Ferrik is well looked after, for now."

I tossed my staff on the dampened ground, defeated. "Even if I wanted to sleep," I sighed, "I don't think that I could. The things that Ferrik says to me…it's frightening, Master Majeera. And there seems to be no end to his awful dreams." I yawned despite myself. "There must be some way…"

But I could not go on speaking. For some reason, my mouth felt like it had been sealed shut--not forcefully, but somehow comfortably. I looked up to see Master Majeera holding out his hand with his palm facing me. He shut his eyes and sighed deeply. Then my eyelids drooped, and visions of butterflies and colored lights and all the most pleasant things danced before my eyes, and I slept.