"I could have a group of sentries go with you there, if you can show the way. As for Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Unless you believe that you could negotiate the truce between them, I know of only one person who is level-headed enough to do so." Raldel spoke with emotion barely contained in the quiet, matter-of-fact tone he was using with Tarentek, an almost unnoticeable quaver behind his words. "You should know though, to retrieve them would mean a dangerous mission into territory that is most likely already under the control of this empire."

[hr]
Opal breathed a slight sigh of relief as he left his father's den, and then immediately cursed himself for it. What was he relieved for? To be finally away from the Karisskan Tarentek, and back doing something that was actually DOING something. Yes, finding his sister once she's gone off on one of her little 'adventures' wasn't doing much, but to Opal it felt like he was doing more than standing around and talking about war tactics with an outsider. 

Opal could not understand how his father or even how his sister could stand to be near such a creature. He had been told that Tarentek was staying with Onyx until he recovered, however, except for some apparent dehydration and a few nasty scars, the Karisskan seemed to be in perfect health. "Healthy enough to stand against one of us, or even launch a surprise attack on Onyx or Raldel should they ever be alone." The words slipped from Opal's mouth before he could even begin to think that he could be wrong. Even when the thought did cross his mind though, he couldn't force himself to change his mind.

He forced himself to stop thinking about his distrust of Tarentek as he saw the thin line on the horizon that he knew was the sea where Onyx always ended up. 

[hr]
Onyx watched for a while as the scouts searched the area, gathering anything they had apparently deemed useful, and then place a small object on one of the walls of the ruin before they left, continuing down the road to the north. [i]They must be going down all the roads to find all of the ruins and search them before they start trying to find the people.[/i] Onyx's thoughts continued to wander about the topic as she started flying back to her nest. 

She ran into Opal as she flew, who told her that her father had sent him to go bring her back. They flew back to the nest in relative silence, each lost in their own thoughts.