The night went from bad to worse.

Unable to fight overwhelming numbers, the travellers could do little more than hide, distastefully watching as their supplies were ransacked by the orcs. Some unsubstantial food supplies, Cristo and Brey's books, and Timothy's flintlock were all they were able to salvage before ducking into the bushes. Once the monsters were through with their belongings, the travellers made a hasty dash away before ducking down again as Cristo warned them of the impeding danger. Thus was how their night progress: run and hide, run and hide, gaining no ground whatsoever.

Faring the worst was Alena. Without any time to remain hidden for more than a few minutes, Cristo was unable to tend to her seemingly broken arm. In addition, her feet were still naked, taking in countless tiny thorns, branches, and other painfully sharp objects. The most she could manage was a weak hobble, clenching her teeth resolutely as not to give away their position with a muffled yelp of pain.

However, the most painful injury she had taken was emotional. Her perfect night had turned into a nightmare. Timothy and her sharing their affection for each other by the misty pool was like an ethereal, dreamlike memory. Orcs turning it into a battlefield angered her. She so much wanted to make her presence known to the monsters so they would all come charging after her, making it that much easier to pick them off one by one until her rage towards them was quenched.

Yet, the thing disturbing the princess the most was Brey's cruel solution to calming the brahmird. The gruesome sight was one of the most horrifying spectacles she had ever seen. And having Brey, a man whom she had grown up to respect and admire as a grandfather, initiate such an act made it all the more hideous.

Indeed, why did any perfect night have to be ruined by such traumatic experiences?

"Down!" Cristo's placid voice commanded. The travellers instantly dropped underneath the bushes, remaining absolutely still. Three orcs entered the area, rusty blades in their hands as they searched the bushes with glowing, pupil-less eyes.

"Only three," Brey mouthed. "Think you can take them out?" Timothy and Cristo nodded but Alena shook her head. Although she would have loved the chance for a little payback for her ruined evening, as well as being a part of the action, her body was in no condition for a confrontation at this point. The old tutor nodded and the two men leaped from their hiding place, descending upon the startled orcs quickly.

As the two men did their work, Brey turned to Alena, a wry smile on his face. "So," he quietly asked, "did you succeed?"

"What?" Alena asked, turning to face her tutor with annoyance.

"Did you convince Tim to join us?"

The princess glowered at her tutor. They were in the most desperate situation of their lives and he had the audacity too ask him about that! If her arm were not broken, Alena would have punched the tutor right there. However, she merely growled, "I don't want to talk to you right now, old man." Brey frowned at her for a moment, a little stunned by the acid in her voice, but said nothing.

Timothy and Cristo were finished with the orcs within moments, allowing Brey and Alena to come out from their hiding place. "Let's rest for a moment while we can," the thief suggested, breathing a little heavy as he wiped his dagger clean with the ragged clothes of one of the orcs. The others could only agree, the night's trials weighing down on them.

Brey bent down to study one of the slain orcs, eager to study one of the creatures while he had the chance. Timothy rummaged through the orcs' belongings, seeing if they had anything of value or salvageable. Alena, most exhausted of the four, merely plopped down on the tall, wet grass, taking the opportunity to perhaps get a few of the thorns in her feet out.

"Let me see what I can do about your arm," Cristo offered, kneeling down beside the princess. Too weak to reply, she merely nodded.

The bodyguard gently lifted her arm, causing her to slightly wince. After a moment of studying, he smiled. "It's only dislocated," he said. "I can fix it quickly but it'll be painful."

"I've gone through enough pain tonight, Cristo," Alena replied cynically. "A little more won't make much difference."

The bodyguard nodded. "On three, then. One, two…three!" At that, he violently jerked her arm, a sickening snap echoing in the night. Alena so much wanted to scream out her agony but was wise enough to know it would give their position away. All she could do was clench her teeth and let her tears spill out through tight eyelids. "Are you all right?" he asked, eyeing her intently.

She weakly nodded, her eyes still tightly shut as a few whimpers escaped her lips. He cast some of his curative magic on her arm, easing the numb pain that persisted. Her suffering subsided but Alena still felt the need to lightly cry, if anything to let her unpleasant emotions run free.

A rustle from the bushes quickly brought everyone's attention to action, their weapons ready for confrontation. Everyone, that is, except Cristo. "It's nothing," he distantly remarked, standing up from the princess. No one believed him, though, and kept their weapons ready, expecting a score of orcs to suddenly burst through the bushes.

A rabbit hopped out, quickly disappearing into the forest again.

"I told you," Cristo smiled knowingly. His companions stared at him in disbelief but the bodyguard merely shrugged.

It was silent for a moment before Brey firmly stamped his walking staff into the ground. It did not create much sound in the soft grass but it drew Cristo's attention. "That's about it!" the old tutor said angrily. "I've had it with this, Cristo. Now you had better start explaining yourself, or else…"

The bodyguard looked curiously at his companion. "What do you mean?"

"Shut up with that, will you?" Brey shot, careful not to raise his voice too much. "We've tolerated it so far but I believe I speak for everyone when I say our patients are wearing thin. Ever since that night at Frenor's inn, you've been acting strangely. First your damned snobby behaviour, then burying your nose in the Texts for no reason at all. And tonight, not only can you tell us when orcs are about to appear but you go and cast some magic that I've never heard or seen before!"

"It's Zenithian clerical magic," Cristo calmly replied, his eyes low. "Surely anyone whose read the Texts has read of such a spell. ‘Surround' is just seldom used in this day in age, as no one has had any real need to learn it."

Brey frowned. "Yes, I have read of the spell," he said, his voice more calm, "but it could only be learned by high ranking priests and paladins." He paused, his eyes narrowing dangerously on the bodyguard. "You're only an apprentice cleric, Cristo. You should not be able to use such magic."

The bodyguard merely shrugged. However, before Brey could lash out at him for shrugging, Cristo replied, "I don't know how to explain it. I…just knew how to cast that spell at that moment."

Brey's face became red with fury. Cristo had given an answer but it was not a satisfying one. "Then what about…" he began, but was instantly cut off as the bodyguard held up a hand.

"Quick! Hide!"

The travellers did so, having faith in Cristo's strange sixth sense when it came to orcs. No sooner had they ducked underneath the bushes than five orcs entered the area, strange shrieks and gurgles coming from their mouths as they studied the three corpses of their comrades. One seemed to give out some orders and two of the monsters grabbed their fallen kin, dragging them away. The remaining three began to thoroughly search the surrounding bushes. It would only be a matter of time before they stumbled upon the travellers' whereabouts.

"That!" Brey whispered to the bodyguard, despite their situation. "How did you know they were coming?"

"I don't know," Cristo whispered back. "I just did."

Growling, the old tutor shook his head, a spell coming to mind. He looked to Alena and Timothy, who were prepared to strike as soon as their companions were. The princess felt somewhat better after Cristo's healing and the mild cry she had. The whip firmly in her right hand, she was eager to kill a few orcs to make up for her ruined night.

Seeing Cristo was prepared as well, Brey cast ‘Sap' on the furthest orc. The monster's skin began to shrivel, causing it to gurgle in panic. Its companions stopped their searching, turning to see what the matter was. That was all the distraction the travellers needed as they leaped from the bush.

Timothy grabbed the closest orc, slitting an ear to ear gash across the monster's throat. The second orc spun back around in time to see Cristo's copper sword plunge into its chest.

Alena lashed out her whip, grabbing the disorientated orc by the waist. Yanking on her weapon, the princess brought the monster close enough so she could get a grip on its neck. She snapped it easily, the orc's skin offering no resistance in its loosened state. She would have preferred a more agonizing death for her victim but the princess knew they did not have time to waste. Still, she managed to throw in a swift kick to the dead monster's head, a cruel grin on her lips.

The moment Brey emerged from the bushes, Timothy turned to his companions and said, "We'd better get a move on. If more orcs come here and find three more of their kin dead in the same spot…"

"You don't need to lecture us, Tim," Brey gruffly interrupted. The old tutor turned to the bodyguard. "You take the lead, Cristo. Your power has helped us so far tonight so we may as well use it to its full extent." The bodyguard nodded and he led his companions into the forest.

* * *

The stars began to fade, their faint glimmer no longer able to outshine the slowly raising sun. Long clouds hanging in the sky were tinted red on their eastern side, a grim reminder to the bodyguard of how their surroundings could very well have ended during the night.

Cristo yawned, stretching his arms to their fullest length. His watch was almost over and he severely needed some rest. Although he did not show it, casting ‘Surround' had taken its toll on not only his magical prowess but his physical prowess as well. He knew it was a gamble to try the spell. Indeed, he had not even known if he would be able to cast it, as Brey was quite correct when only the highest-ranking priests could learn of the intricate spell.

Still, it had worked and its success had given the bodyguard much to think about. During his watch, Cristo had sifted through his Texts in search of any passing reference of such a spell. While it did mention it a few times in early portions of his Texts, there were no details of the intricacies of ‘Surround.' Therefore, he could not have memorized it from there. The larger version of the Texts he had read in Frenor's temple may have contained some details but he had not been consciously looking for it. The bodyguard could not think of any point in his life he had actually seen or read how to cast the spell, yet, somehow, he had.

The very fact he even had the ability to cast it raised many questions for him as well. Did it mean he had the potential to reach priesthood even at this early stage as a Zenithian cleric? Or did every cleric have the ability to cast such a spell but just not enough knowledge to learn it?

Cristo did not wish to ponder this much further. If he had the ability to cast ‘Surround', so be it. It was a useful spell so far and probably would prove to be useful again if they stumbled upon another band of orcs. Useful, that is, so long as he was properly rested.

The bodyguard turned to Timothy, whom had volunteered to take the watch after him. He noticed Alena was snuggled closely to the thief, her hand tightly clenched in his.

Cristo stared at the peaceful scene for a moment, feeling sort of empty as he did. He could tell some sort of emotion was missing but was unable to place it. Fatigue was a stronger factor than thought at that moment, though, so Cristo did not think much more of it as he bent forward to wake Timothy.

* * *

"We have to make a decision right here and right now," Brey firmly stated, leaning against one of the many trees surrounding the travellers. "Do we continue or do we go back?"

"I'm definitely going to continue," Timothy adamantly replied, crossing his arms across his chest. "At this point in my life, I feel I have nothing much to loose and everything to gain on this journey."

"I'm going as well," Alena said, stepping up to the thief as she wrapped her arm around his. "We've come so far and I'm not ready to give up just yet." Timothy looked at the princess, a silent "thank you" forming on his smile.

After a moment of silence, Cristo replied, "I'll go with Tim and Alena. They will probably need my help in case the orcs return."

Brey looked at his companions for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh. Once again, their adventurous spirit and loyalty outnumbered his rational thought. The old tutor was beginning to wonder if he could ever re-capture that spirit at his age.

"Very well," he said at length. "We will continue on this mad quest. However, I hope you all realize our current situation. We are without a map, without suitable supplies to last more than a day or two, and deep in the territory of orcs. While we seemed to have lost them for now, we cannot assume we won't stumble across another band as long we will can wonder through these woods." His companions all nodded, apparently accepting their predicament nonchalantly.

"Another thing we have to still worry about is actually finding this cave the golden bracelet is hidden in," the old tutor added. He turned to Timothy. "Do you have any idea where it could be right now?"

The thief sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "We wandered quite a distance from that tiny trail, didn't we," he muttered. "I'm afraid I can't be certain without any maps or landmarks but I'm pretty sure we ran more or less north-west from our camp last night. The path we were walking on was going in a south-west direction, so if we walk south from here, with any luck we will stumble across something man-made, perhaps a definite path or even the cave itself." Satisfied with the thief's reasoning, the travellers quickly were on their way again, Cristo leading the way with Timothy giving directions.

Despite the orcs' eventual abandonment of searching for them the previous night, none of them knew enough about orc culture to ascertain whether it was due to fatigue, feeling they had ransacked enough of their possessions, or just plain given up. Whatever the case, though, the travellers felt it prudent to have Cristo at the front, hopefully his sixth sense warning them of any possible confrontation.

With Cristo and Timothy busy in the lead, Brey had the opportunity to have an uninterrupted conversation with the princess about a few things plaguing his mind. "Alena…?" he began tentatively. He was still uncertain about her feelings toward him, given the previous night's events.

"Yes?" she replied mechanically.

The old tutor rolled his tongue into his cheek, nervousness creeping up on him. The last thing he wanted was her to be forever bitter at him. Should he discover that to be the case, Brey did not know how he could handle having someone he treated as family hating him. "About last night," he said carefully.

"What about last night?" Alena asked, her voice distant.

"I'm…sorry if I upset you in any way."

The princess sighed, looking away for a moment. "Don't worry too much about it, Brey," she said at length. "It wasn't completely your fault that I shot at you like that."

The old tutor raised an eyebrow curiously. "How so?"

Alena turned to face him, her eyes dreamy. "Brey," she smiled, "it was so perfect, last night. Before the orcs showed up, everything was perfect, Tim and I under the stars by the pool. It was just so…perfect."

She sighed again, looking down. "Once my night was ruined, I guess I became a bit upset." She paused, a light giggle escaping her lips. "You know how I get when I become…upset."

"Indeed," Brey chuckled.

"I wasn't really angry with you," Alena continued, "but at the night in general, especially the orcs." She paused, a solemn look on her face. "I think it should be me apologizing for my actions, not you."

"You did what anyone would have done in your position, Alena," Brey stated reassuringly. "It is human nature to lash out at the closest thing possible when their emotions are afire."

"Still," the princess said, "it was inexcusable and I'm sorry."

Brey could not help but smile. In the past, Alena would never take responsibility for her actions, assuming the problem at hand was solely the other person's fault. Arrogance was clearly a sign of adolescence and the Princess was on the verge of womanhood. Such traits needed to be removed if she was ever to become a worthy successor to her father's throne, much less a bearable presence at any social gathering. Alena taking responsibility for her actions was a large step in her developing maturity.

Her face suddenly grew dark, though. "You really didn't have to kill Tim's brahmird, did you?"

The old tutor sighed. "Truly, I'm sorry you had to see that. I just didn't see any other way of dealing with the situation. If it hadn't been me, the orcs probably would have mercilessly butchered the poor beast on the spot. At least my way was a quick death. If it felt any pain at all, it would have been over instantly." He paused for a moment, judging Alena's reaction. While she did not appear appalled, neither did she appear inclined to forgive his actions so easily.

"Alena," he continued, "I'm afraid you're going to have to accept this is the way some things are. I realize you were brought up in a sheltered life but surely you've seen more than enough on this journey that there's…

The old tutor was interrupted by a shout from Timothy. "Alena! James! Over here! We've found it!"

"What?" they both exclaimed and they hurried forward.

Only now did they realize Cristo and Timothy had put them back on a thin trail covered with thick, tall grasses and shrubs. It eventually lead to the face of a small cliff, virtually invisible until they were right in front of it due to the thick amount of foliage covering its mossy surface.

Once Alena and Brey caught up with their companions, Timothy was broadly smiling and even Cristo was beaming as well. "The Master must be with us today," the bodyguard said as he cleared a tangled mess of vines and shrubs.

The mouth of a deep cave opened before them, the edges of its entrance intricately sculpted with various tiny dragons, most of which were severely eroded with time. At the mouth of the entrance stood two wooden stakes, an orc skull plunged upside-down on each.