The nymph, man and halfling went barreling down the stream. Even as Zan fought the urge to vomit, he could see that they were covering a great distance. Gandr had his eyes closed, caring not one bit where they were. He either trusted the nymph or was fighting his own terror of water. The net result was the same: they were at the nymph's mercy.

Finally they came to a stop and the nymph splashed them onto the shore. Waving, she disappeared back into the water without a trace. Zan sat up and tried to steady himself as the world still felt wobbly after their ride. "Where are we?" the Guardian asked as he tried, and failed, to stand.

Gandr, who had just finished emptying his stomach onto the grass, wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "How should I know?"

Zan paused from drying off his clothes. "The nymph did not give you any instructions?"

Gandr shook his head only to realize doing so was a mistake. He pinched the bridge of his nose to clear his mind. "If she did, I was too sick to notice, but we should be close."

The two turned around and saw a huge, white mountain looming behind him. "Yeah…" Zan said with a nod. "You are right. We are pretty close." They stared in awe at the spires high atop their misty throne.

From the mist the almost undetectable sound of footsteps neared. At that same moment, Gandr noticed a bridled unicorn sitting idly munching grass off to their left. The gnome was suddenly on high alert. Pushing his sickness aside, he stood and drew his sword. Zan saw his sudden movement. "What is it?" He asked as he also stood and drew his weapon.

Gandr gave a gutteral growl, "Elves…" Because old habits die hard, his immediate reaction was one of disdain.

Sure enough, through the mist, a handsome elf appeared with his own sword drawn. He had obviously heard their voices and came ready.

Gandr immediately used magic to pull rock from the earth to encase the elf. The elf leapt to one side, barely missing the stone prison, and used his wind magic to blow Gandr and Zan off balance. The pair dug their swords into the ground to keep from being blown away.

As the wind trailed off, Gandr took a stroke at the elf with his sword. The latter easily avoided the move, but was unfortunate in his footing. He tripped on a rock and Gandr took the opportunity to try the rock encasement once more. This time he was successful, and the elf was held against the ground in stone all the way to his neck. Both of the still-standing fighters pointed their blades at the elf.

"You will not steal my unicorn!" The elf roared as he struggled within the stone.

The other two exchanged confused glances. "We are not here to steal anything, except maybe a moment's peace." Zan slowly lowered his sword. If the elf was only worried about his steed, he was unlikely to have any malicious intent. Perhaps this had all been a misunderstanding.

The gnome and elf stared daggers at one another. Zan gathered that these groups were not friends. "You may not be after my things, human, but the gnome is a different story. Their hands are always sticky for treasure."

"I have no interest in your second-hand pony. We have more important things to do than rough up snooty, self-important simpletons." Gandr denied his accusation.

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"I will not even address that assault on my personage, but that unicorn is the best bred of her kind! And if you are not after her, why are you here?" The elf's face was red with indignation.

His own weapon now sheathed, Zan stepped between the drawn sword and the prostrate elf. "Gentlemen, I think we have gotten off on the wrong foot. Perhaps we can take a step backwards and start again. Release him, Gandr." Zan said. Seeing the anger still in the gnome's face he added a gentle, "Please?"

"I will not; he will turn us into slaves!" Gandr knew how the elf kingdom worked.

The elf shook his head vigorously. "That may be the business of the King and Queen, but I have no interest in it. Another human has recently shown me the error of my ways." He looked at Zan as he spoke, hoping to see some spark of recognition on the human's face. He was rewarded as the guardian's eyes flashed silver.

"What did this human look like?" Zan's expectant look caused the elf to relax even though he was still pinned to the ground by heavy stone.

"There were four humans, but the one I think you would be most interested had dark flowing hair, gorgeous starlit eyes and the face of an angel. Hmm, what was her name?" The elf gave a sly smile.

"He is messing with us now." Gandr twisted his hand and the rocks tightened around the elf's body.

"Ouch! Ok, ok! It was the human Empress, Aurora." The elf writhed in pain.

"And the other three humans?" Zan pressed.

"I do not know the two soldiers names, but the boy was Devrim. He is strong, smart, and is madly in love with the young ruler."

Zan had heard enough, "Release him." Gandr opened his hand and the rocks returned to the place in the ground, leaving the elf unencumbered.

"Thank you. I am Alvar, and I have a message for the Empress." The elf stood and offered his forearm to the man. To the gnome he only nodded, still wary.

"I am Zan and this is Gandr. We have a message for her also. Is she not up there?" Zan pointed toward the Mystic Spires.

"I have no idea." Alvar admitted. "I have been trying to get up there all morning."

"Why can't you just climb?" Gandr asked.

Alvar was ready to snap at him when he realized that the gnome was genuinely curious. As the elf's opinion of humans had been recently changed, perhaps he should give Gandr a chance too. He sighed, "It is not that simple. It is easier if I show you. Follow me."

Through the fog they went and into the clearing. "What is this place?" Zan wondered.

"Not a mountain, that is for sure. But there has to be a portal or passage somewhere. I would appreciate the help." Alvar was pleased when the other two agreed to join him. Surely together they could solve the mystery.

As neither the gnomes nor the elves kept the ancient traditions, none of them knew the song of old. Instead, the three wandered somewhat aimlessly around the field. As they walked, Alvar told them of his dealings with the Empress and her crew. "So you just let her escape?" Gandr asked when the elf had finished.

"I mean I was knocked out, but yes, I did not stop them. My kind were wrong to imprison and coerce Aurora, and I knew it. What else could I do?" Alvar was not at all what the gnome expected, but then it seemed he was not a typical elf.

"I let the Empress escape also, but not because I wanted to. I was supposed to kill her," Gandr expected the elf to be repelled by him, and perhaps that was his goal.

Instead, Alvar raised his eyebrows. "Do you still want to kill her?"

"No, I have been cured of that folly by this man here. Plus I physically cannot. I used magic on the Empress." Gandr winced.

"That was a mistake. Did no one warn you?" The elf asked. His mouth twisted into a frown as his brow furrowed.

"No, I was assured it would be fine…" and like that Gandr aired the story of his experience since the ball. Most of it was the first time that Zan had heard it. As they strode along, the Guardian was filled with a mix of anger and pity. He was angry at all the attempts on the Empress's life, but felt compassion for the anguish that Gandr experienced.

Alvar nodded thoughtfully until the tale was finished. "I am afraid you are likely stuck with the three humans' emotions for the foreseeable future. I am not even sure that their death will free you. You have my pity. But I did not think that gnomes could use mind magic like that." As far as he knew, only Fates, elves, merfolk and a precious few others could bend the wills of others to their own.

"Well..." Gandr was not sure that he was ready to admit that he was part elf. Alvar might consider the halfling an abomination, though it seemed less and less likely. "I…" he began.

"Look!" Zan pointed to a white platform above the largest of the hills which they were now searching. They forgot their discussion and focused all their energy to cresting the hill. Once on the platform, they looked up. The Mystic Spires were close, but not close enough.

Zan stepped on the castle carving and it began to glow. The other two, excited by the development, quickly joined him on the glowing rune. When nothing happened immediately, they stood stone still for several minutes, waiting.

Zan sighed in frustration. "We are so close, I can feel it. If only Hanna would answer me when I call!" The Fate had been silent since just before he was deemed a traitor.

Gandr huffed, "Well, I do not know what else to do with this blasted platform. If we are just going to stand here doing nothing, we may as well go home!" With the magic words spoken, the white palace carving flashed with a blinding light.

The platform rumbled loudly. The males braced themselves. They began to rise.