Drust replaced his foot on the ground as Ghent jarred awake. He stuck the tip of his katana into the ground beside him and snorted at Ghent’s statement. He crossed his arms and stared down at Ghent. He waited patiently for the boy’s body to catch up with the concept of being awake. 
	A raised eyebrow at Ghent’s comment broke Drust’s statue-like presence. “No. Typically they shouldn’t.”
	He watched the boy stand, the Knight ever towering over his charge. He sighed; Ghent looked worse than Elayra had after her first day of training as a child.
	This was going to be one long journey. A wasted journey if the boy didn’t adapt, and fast.
	His neck twitched. He felt the Curse pulse in him, fighting for control with the fuel of the negative thought. Scowling, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as Ghent collected himself.
	Drust gave a stiff nod in confirmation. “Here, the forests are divided into exactly twelve hours of day. Twelve hours of night.” As he spoke, he opened his eyes and reached into a hidden pocket of his trousers. “I’ve taken the brunt of the watch. There are about four hours of dark remaining. You’ll take the next two. Then wake Elayra for the last two.”
	Drust brought out a pocket watch. It rested in his palm, a long, its thick silvery-white chain swinging downward. A bit larger than the typical pocket watch, it looked small and delicate in the Knight’s large hand. Its white metal held a tinge of tarnish. The enamel coloring of the intricate design had faded, but still it glinted proudly in the firelight. A relic that hinted at a time long past. A time when fineries were easier made. When peace was more than an idealistic idea in the mind of the rare rebel.
	A colored enamel design of the Heart family crest sat at the center of the watch's lid. A Knight stood on either side of it, one armored in black and the other white outlined in ebony. The white one raised a katana and the other a wicked-looking polearm above the crest, their weapons' blades crossing. Entwined rose vines ran around the edge of the watch, dotted with alternating blue and white roses in various stages of bloom.
	Drust depressed the rose-shaped latch at the top. It sprung open readily, revealing an even more unique clock face.
	Four diamond-like lines marked its celestial-decorated face at the four cardinal directions. Shorter ruby lines marked between each diamond one, creating a total of twenty-four lines. Six white runes and one emerald one rested beneath the marks. Two of the white runes let out a faint, pulsing light.
	Five elegant clock hands of different materials faced in just as many directions. The longest, bottom-most hand glowed a faint silver akin to moonlight. A glittering golden hand rested above it just shorter than its brother, followed by one of clear glass with gray fog swirling inside it. The metal of the second to the top looked in the process of changing from blue to a warm orange. The top and shortest of the clock hands sloly rotated counter-clockwise toward the bottom, its almost sinister matte black surface seeming to absorb the fire's light rather than reflect it.
	“Time,” Drust continued, reading the unusual watch, “is a relative thing in some parts of Wonderland. Depends on how connected a place is to the Spiritayum. Stronger the connection, the less it has to adhere to Time’s rules for our realm. So, naturally, we developed different methods for counting time. This,” he nodded to the pocket watch, “is an OmniChrono. I’ll spare you the particulars, but it keeps time better than any Earth device.”
	He extended the pocket watch toward Ghent so he could better see it.
	“The only hand you need to focus on tonight is the bottom one. Once it moves two notches,” he placed a fingernail on the glass protecting the clock face, indicating one of the red gem-like lines embedded into it, “wake Elayra, and give her the Chrono.”
	Drust closed the OmniChrono’s lid. Holding it by the chain, he offered it to Ghent.
	“If you notice anything suspicious for our location, wake me. Immediately. Follow your instincts. I’d rather be woken when there’s no real danger, than sleep when our life’s under threat.” He nodded toward Ghent’s weapon, its tined blades hidden by its sheaths. “And keep that at the ready. Be prepared for anything.” He paused before remembering Elayra wasn’t conscious to complete their usual mantra. “And always expect the worst,” he finished.