Finding Shelter

"That's the basic rule of magic. You can't get something out of nothing," Tanira explained, "but perhaps because Asami interrupted the magic the ring is still intact."

If Whitney observes the ring she will see some of the silver liquid coats the inside.

Whit rubs the silver liquid to see if she can clean it off the ring. Two weeks... she mused. And I though a 13 hour plane ride was a long time to travel.

"So, we go to Inthe, we find this Tray person and this person with the flower...then what?"

The silver liquid doesn't come off. It is cool to the touch. What will Whitney do with the ring?

"Then to Syle to restore your powers," Tanira remarked, "After that we can return to Minst."

"How far away is Syle from Inthe? I mean how long will it take to get there?" Whitney asked sliding the ring back on her finger "And what will we do when we come back to Minst?"

Whit hoped that they didn't find her questions annoying but she wanted to know what she was in for.

As soon as Whit puts on the ring there is a flash of light.

Everything becomes a muted gray and the people around her become almost transparent.

"If we can take an airship a day at the most," then Tanira paused before saying, "When we get back to Minst you'll be able to heal Lola, won't you? I mean, all of Minst will be in danger if the Spirit dies. It is the life of the country, it protects the people. I wouldn't expect any less of Whitney, one of the Four. Fehl gave its support to you six years ago, and Fehl is a friend to Minst."

Farrah ran up to Whitney and tugged at the end of her shirt, "Do you want to eat with me Whitney?"

Another flash of light and things become as they were. Colors look like they should and nobody is transparent anymore.

"If we can take an airship a day at the most," then Tanira paused before saying, "When we get back to Minst you'll be able to heal Lola, won't you? I mean, all of Minst will be in danger if the Spirit dies. It is the life of the country, it protects the people. I wouldn't expect any less of Whitney, one of the Four. Fehl gave its support to you six years ago, and Fehl is a friend to Minst."

Farrah ran up to Whitney and tugged at the end of her shirt, "Do you want to eat with me Whitney?" -Farrah turned to Tillian as well, "You too!"

What just happened? She glanced around at the others in the room. They didn't seem to have experienced what she did. It was like time had repeated itself but why had everyone been transparent? It was almost like they were mere shadows of the real people. It had happened when she put the ring on. Did I just...did I just see the future?

She twisted the ring on her finger. That liquid...

Not sure what to make of what had happened, she doesn't mention it.

"When we get back to Minst you'll be able to heal Lola, won't you? I mean, all of Minst will be in danger if the Spirit dies. It is the life of the country, it protects the people. I wouldn't expect any less of Whitney, one of the Four. Fehl gave its support to you six years ago, and Fehl is a friend to Minst."

Farrah ran up to Whitney and tugged at the end of her shirt, "Do you want to eat with me Whitney?" -Farrah turned to Tillian as well, "You too!"

"Heal Lola? I'm not really sure. I think I was able to help them a little before but honestly, I don't know how it works," she says distractedly, still thinking about her glimpse into the future. I think all of you expect a little to much of me.

Whitney waits for Tillian to answer Farrah. Everyone had guarded their words with the girl around earlier and she wasn't sure if they were done talking about all this yet.

The ring is a little hot after the episode and almost seems to pulsate.

The prince looked frustrated and distressed. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but with Farrah present he held back.

"Of course Farrah, we'll be right over," Tillian said.

"Yay!" the little girl shouted and ran off.

"Maybe we should talk about this after we've gotten something to eat and rested a little," Tillian suggested.

Whit gives a resigned nod while watching Farrah run off. She was hungry and she was starting to get a headache. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it on second thought.

Then before she could stop herself she said, "Don't expect too much from me. I'm not sure I can be what you want me to be."

Tanira started to say something but Tillian interrupted, "Come Whit, let's get you some food."

Tillian took her by the arm and led her over to a campfire near the edge of the woods. Artellen followed behind quietly. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts. When they get to the campfire Farrah waves. Tillian waves back, then goes to the fire. Hanging over it is a black pot. Tillian grabs a wood bowl and scoops something from the pot and hands it to Whitney.

"Here you go."

In the bowl is something that looks and smells like some kind of stew. Tillian dishes out a bowl for her brother and then one for herself. She looks back to see if Tanira has followed, but sees he is still standing by their wagon, sulking. Tillian looks at Whitney and gives her a friendly shrug and goes to sit by Farrah. Artellen goes to sit by himself.

Whit glanced around at her companions. Tanira hadn't even left the wagon. She realized how hard this was for him. His girlfriend had just turned herself into a tree for goodness sake.

She filled another bowl with stew and carried it over to Tanira. "You should eat something, " she said offering him the bowl. "Going hungry isn't going to help her."

Tanira took the bowl from Whitney without saying a word. It has grown dark outside, but if Whitney is especially observant she will see that there are tears in his eyes.

Whit wanted to tell him that it would be ok and that she would somehow be able to save Lola but she didn't believe it herself. She couldn't lie. She managed a weak smile and returned to the firelight to sit near Artellen.

She watched Farrah from a distance and wished that she could be as carefree as the young girl. She began to eat small bites of the soup lost in her thoughts.

For awhile Artellen sat in silence, eating his dinner lost in his thoughts as well. When he had finished eating he set down his bowl and turned to Whitney.

"Everything seems to have turned upside down," Artellen spoke up, "though, you seem to be getting the bulk of it."

Whit shot him a slightly sarcastic smile, "I'm going along with it but I don't feel like I know anything. Everyone expects me to be able to fix things. I'm not even entirely sure what I'm trying to fix."

"Everyone is tired of the war. It all started when the Four came, but still continued when you disappeared. Now that one of the Four has appeared again, they want you to put things back as they were. Though, Minst has avoided the war for the most part, I have a feeling it won't stay that way," Artellen forced a tired smile, "This must all be overwhelming for you. You have no memories of this place, but I have a feeling that you are Whitney of the Four. I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Everything you're doing now is helping," Whit replied after swallowing another bite of stew. "I don't know what I'd do if I was in this mess by myself."

"If it was the Four that started all of the wars before, what makes everyone so sure that the Four can fix it? What if we just make it worse." she almost used 'we' instead of 'the Four' but she wasn't sure she was ready to accept the responsibilities of such a statement. She had a feeling that whether or not she remembered it, that she was part of it but if she said it aloud it might actually be true.

"I think people just want something to hope for...

The ring suddenly becomes burning hot. There is a flash.

The wagons are burning. Whitney can hear cries from the people around her. Some are trying to flee, others lie are lying still on the ground.

"Come out and fight me Whitney!" A familiar voice shouts to her left.

It is Thanos. He still is wearing the hooded cloak. In his right hand he grips a bloodied sword.

...and it's even easier when that hope is tangible," Artellen said.

Not more than a few seconds has gone by.

Whit jumped to her feet spilling the rest of the stew on the ground, "Tillian! We need to leave now! Thanos is coming!"

Remembering how quickly her last vision had come to pass, Whit will try to drag the others towards the caravan if they stop to question first. "We don't have much time!"

"Wait! What are you talking about?" Tillian asked confused.

Tanira, hearing the commotion, jogged over to Whitney, "Thanos? How do you know?"

Whit gave Tanira a push back towards the caravan away from the area she had seen Thanos emerge from, "My ring still has that liquid stuff from Asami's bowl on it. I think I saw what's going to happen. It happened earlier too. You've got to trust me. We've got to get everyone out of here!"

"What exactly did you see?" Tanira asked.

Whit was getting scared now. The last "vision" she had seen had only happened moments before the present had caught up with it. She kept flitting her eyes to the spot where she had seen Thanos half-expecting him to be there any second.

Whit spoke hurriedly, "I saw the wagons on fire, people were screaming and Thanos was there with a sword yelling for me to come and fight him. WE NEED TO GET EVERYONE AWAY FROM HERE NOW! I saw something earlier too and what I saw happened just a few moments after I saw it! We might not have much time!"

"Stay calm," Tanira said, then to Tillian, "Do you have any horses you can spare?"

"Just two, why?" Tillian asked.

"If Thanos is after Whitney getting everyone out of here will not save them. We need to get Whitney away from here."

"This way," Tillian led them back towards her wagon to a quiet spot where several horses were tethered. She untied one brown and one gray horse and walked them over to Tanira, "We don't have any saddles because they usually just pull the wagons."

"That's alright, it sounds like we won't have time to saddle them up."

No one had noticed, but Artellen had gone into Tillian's wagon to grab a few things. He came out with the two swords, both wrapped in a makeshift sheaths made from cloth, and Whitney's backpack. Tanira mounted the gray horse, making it look easy despite the fact they had no saddles.

"Whitney, you'll ride with me," Tanira said.

Meanwhile Artellen mounted the brown horse, a little clumsily, and Tillian stood off to the side. Before the prince can extend a hand to help Whitney up Tillian asked her, "I'm not sure how much help I could be, but say the word and I'll come with you."

Tanira mounted the gray horse, making it look easy despite the fact they had no saddles.

"Whitney, you'll ride with me," Tanira said.

Whitney had only ever been horseback riding once and it was back when she was around 9 years old and there had been heavy supervision. She was glad to be riding double because she was pretty sure that she'd fall off without someone to hold on to.

She was about to grab Tanira's hand for help up when Tillian spoke.

"I'm not sure how much help I could be, but say the word and I'll come with you."

"Thanks for everything Till," Whit said sincerely giving Tillian a quick embrace "but stay here. The horses will be faster without the extra rider and I don't want to put anymore people in danger."

She glanced briefly at Artellen and Tanira. She didn't want to endanger them either but she needed their help. She accepted Tanira's help and somehow awkwardly managed to get up on the horse behind him. She wraps her arms around his waist determined not to fall off.

Tillian nodded, "I'll take care of things around here."

"Take care of yourself," Artellen said to Tillian, "It was nice getting to see you again."

"Art, don't worry about me. You need to stay alive and protect Whitney. Now go!"

A shadow passed by over head. If Whitney looks up in time she will see a large, black crow circling overhead.

"Hold on tight!" Tanira said before kicking the horse.

They took off, leaving the camp and galloping back onto the dirt road. The night made it hard to see, but the moons in the sky offered a little light. A shadow overhead blocked the light for a few seconds. This time the cry of a crow followed. Tanira urged the horse to go faster. Artellen was a few paces ahead of them, as his horse only had him to carry.

Up ahead a bird landed in the middle of the road. It flapped its wings until the wings became a cloak. In place of the crow, now a man stood blocking their path. He unsheathed a sword.

The sudden appearance of the bird had startled Artellen's horse. It reared and threw him off. He landed in the path of Tanira's horse. The prince pulled on his horse's mane to get him to stop. His horse reared and stopped only a few inches from Artellen. If Whitney is not holding on tight enough she will be thrown from the horse.

"Trying to run, are we?" Thanos said.