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[quote=Hania]She looked down at the rosary again and sighed before launching the thing over her shoulder.

"Like that?" she looked back up to the boy and gulped, a wave of instant regret fell over her. She'd lost everything she'd come here with - her clothes, her stuffed bear, her rosary. She pulled her legs back up and wrapped her arms around them and set her forehead on her knees.[/quote]

[quote=Anise]"Remember, you still have your faith. Remember how Cynefrith lost his way and came back to ascend the throne? Even when he lost everything, he still had his faith in justice. It was that faith that brought him to the high heavens. You are not alone like he was though, you have us. I am Princess Anise Sinclair, daughter to Roland Sinclair the Fourth, King of Riverforde, and I vow to you, we will get out of this place. We will survive. We will find our families. We will get home."

She pulled on the girl's hand trying to get her to stand up. "Now, up you get. We must move forward. We must have hope."

She then turned her gaze to the boy. "Have you a name, child?"[/quote]

The boy's bare feet made no sound on the stone while he took a few more cautious steps forward. When he stood before them, the source of the light in his palm could be discovered: it looked like a fruit or a berry, with thin yellow skin and dark winding lines like veins, that glowed brilliantly from within. He shone the light on Hania first, and he tipped his head curiously; he lifted it to Anise, and he lowered his head so the light glimmered in his eyes behind the mask; And finally he shone it on Randold's face. He took a quick step back, and shifted from foot to foot.

"You don't look like pirates," he addressed them all, looking at each of them again as if he might have missed something the first time. "But you're definitely not Kith. You're from a place called Riverforde, where there are still kings and princesses." He smiled suddenly, a flash of white teeth. "I thought princesses were just fairy tales." He spun on one foot, and he knelt by Hania and patted her head comfortingly.

Then, he walked past them. He knelt beside the water, took a wooden canteen from a strap over his shoulder, and filled it. He stood again immediately, grinning wider than ever, and he gave them all a deep bow, holding the light aloft and hanging the canteen on his shoulder again.

"My name is Tyaelaem. I can help you go home -- to Riverforde -- but you have to take me with you." He skittered backwards and gestured them forward. "Come, come on, let's go." He turned the light toward Randold. "Can you walk?" He turned the light toward Hania. "Can you stand?" He frowned with concern, but he did not offer to help them move. "Didn't you drink from the pool?" He pointed to the water behind them, where the fireflies twinkled over the glassy surface. Far below, a faint blue light glowed ever so gently: it was Hania's rosary, sparkling like a jewel, resting in the depths of the water.

In the faint light of the fireflies and the rosary, something was moving in the water. Anise might see the shadow a little clearer, but not by much: it was long like an eel, and it seemed to be circling the faint light at the bottom of the pool.