Kira woke up with a little more feeling in her body, her arms felt almost normal though her legs were still stiff and cold. If there was one thing she learned from the whole experience, it was that the cold sucked and that winter was probably the worst season. She hoped the group was in the southern half of Asmir when it started snowing up here.

Beside her was Aliya still sleeping, clutching herself tightly with tear streaks across her face. She was squirming as if she was drowning. Feeling concerned for her friend, Kira gently jostled her awake. The gnome woke up screaming at the top of her lungs and began clutching her head.

The halfling cradled her friend against her chest and stroked her mossy green hair. The nightmares were probably caused by that evil energy that touched Aliya through Fern's skin. Hopefully, when they removed the curse from him it would remove the curse from Aliya's dreams as well.

"Was it bad," inquired Kira. "Is the curse affecting your dreams that badly?"

"Yes," whimpered the cleric. "Sometimes it's a never-ending winter, sometimes it's hordes of the undead coming to feast on us, other times it's the plague that killed my family or a group of shadowy figures from a forest invading the lands with giant monsters with them. There are even alien-looking monsters that want to enslave us."

"Hush now," Kira hugged her friend. "You're awake and we'll get through this."

Hearing the word slave got the ranger's blood pumping. Slavery and humanoid trafficking were the things she hated most. It was a massive problem in Silverwind and the people they took were mostly young women but some men too. Every time she was close to something, a corrupt government official would block her. She would get swamped down by bureaucratic hypocrisy and by the time she had gone through all the hoops her lead would have turned cold. It was one of the reasons she had to leave Silverwind. She did have plans of returning stronger and wiser with the intention of fixing the broken system.

The two got up and prepared to meet everyone for breakfast. Kira's knees still felt still and her joints locked from time. The ranger was convinced that the cold weather must have been magical because her body had never felt this way before. Luckily, she knew most of the day would be spent in a cart anyways so she planned on rest during that time.

Everyone left in the morning to get Fern. The day was beautiful and sunny which was exactly what the halfling was hoping for. She wanted to absorb as much of the sun's rays as she could. The more heat, the better. When the group arrived, Fern was having tea with Rolivish.

"How do you feel? Any better?" Gene approached Fern for a firm handshake.

"Yeah," yawned Fern. "Just very tired. I spent the night in anguish."

"Sounds painful," remarked Blaine.

"It was for a bit," laughed the druid. "Then the old man gave me some sort of medicine that helped with the pain. Guess he couldn't sleep with all my screaming."

Everyone looked at Rolivish and chuckled, the old gnomish man had thick bags under his eyes that indicated his lack of sleep.

"Yeah, yeah," waved Rolivish unpleasantly. "Laugh it up. Now that your friends are here, can you now leave me to sleep?"

"If you want to sleep," chimed in Aliya. "Then why are you drinking tea? You know caffeine is meant to keep people awake."

"This is a tea that is meant to help me fight off a future hangover," muttered the shopkeeper. "When you lot leave, I'm going to consume a bottle of Slumberberry wine. The wine only elves can resist the effects of."

"Enjoy," smiled Meowlynn. The Jellybeans then left Rolivish's shop and stood outside of it.

"We should go get some horses and a cart," suggested Gene. "We need to start heading towards Cadamem to get that thing out of Fern."

"We should also get a bounty from the hunt," said Kira. She liked working for the hunt because it allowed her to defeat monsters that would terrorize the people of Asmir. She also pledged herself to the Asmir Hunt and she took vows very seriously. Perhaps once she got around to cleaning up the filth in Silverwind, she would create an Asmir Hunt there too. "We do have to complete a hunt every month to keep our membership."

"Excellent idea," grinned Ciylia. "Plus a little extra gold in our pockets never hurts."

Following her idea, the Jellybeans made their way to the hunt to see if there were any big hunts available. When they got to the Erend Hunt was a new hunt posted but it asked to speak to Mistress Astrin personally. The only other information that was on the page is that the hunt would take place within or around Mount Kendor. Not a lot was known about what happened in Mount Kendor because the dwarves that lived there were secretive and a closed community.

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The group went into Astrin's office to ask about this special assignment.

"I should 'ave known that you would take zis job," smirked Astrin as the Jellybeans walked in.

"How do you know we are here about that hunt," joked Fern.

"Because you never come 'ere for a social visit," scowled Astrin.

"Yes," smiled the monk to the lady of the hunt. "We are here to inquire about this special assignment."

"I was sent zis letter from King Pith ze Iron 'Ammer," she waved some rolled up piece of parchment. "It says 'e is 'aving some sort of infestation problem. Giant bugs 'e says. Bigger than four bears standing on top of each other and as wide as two or three of them ze king claims."

"One hell of a bug," scoffed Blaine.

"Bugs always shrivel up in flames," teased Meowlynn while allowing a small fire to dance along her fingertips.

"Well, zis is a sensitive problem and zat is why you 'ad to come to see me first." She got out a contract sheet and wrote down more than she normally did. After she finished, Astrin then applied the blue powder to the paper as she did before.

"Zis contract is a bit different," she explained as she held out the parchment for everyone to place their fingerprint on. Once everyone placed their thumb on the parchment she rolled it up and placed a wax seal on it before giving it to Gene.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"Zis contract is also your way into Mount Kendor," confirmed Mistress Astrin. "At ze entrance, you will 'ave to show zis to the guards, and zey should take you to see ze king under ze mountain. You will zen give 'im ze contract and after you complete it, 'e will give you ze reward and signify your successful monthly completion. After, you are to report to ze 'unt in Cadamem."

"Understood," nodded the leader of the Jellybeans. "See you the next time we are in Erend."

"I expect nothing less," waved Astrin as the party left the hunt to go secure some horses and a cart with food for the long journey ahead.

Kira waited by the west gate with Aliya. "Do you think you can do me a favour," asked the cleric.

"What do you need?"

"Could you ask Gene to stop in Tormund?"

Kira found that to be a strange request, she was sure that is what they were going to do anyway. It was the only city on the road between Erend and Cadamem. "Sure, I can do that."

"Thank you," Aliya hugged the ranger.

The thing Kira really cared about was sleeping until they got to Erend but decided to ask out of courtesy, "Why is it important that we stop there?"

"I want to spend some time at the library," stated the gnome. "I need to learn about what can destroy that pendant after we get it out of Fern."

"Are the books really going to tell you the answer?"

"Yes," confirmed Aliya. "That is why I just need a few hours with them."

The rest of the Jellybeans pulled up with the cart and with some help, Kira eagerly got in and curled up in a corner. Before the cart even left Erend, the halfling was sound asleep.

She awoke when they got to Tormund, the sun was low in the sky but not quite sunset. That was still about two hours away, the ranger had a knack for knowing when the sun would rise and set. "Gene? Could we stop here for the night and get some lodgings at the Home Inn?"

"Sure Kira," replied Gene. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'll be fine," assured Kira. "Aliya and I are going to go look for some things in the library. We'll see you at the inn."

"Be careful," warned the monk.

"We will," said the two smaller women as if they were young girls and went off arm-in-arm towards Tormund's library.

When they got inside, Aliya walked right up to the librarian behind the front desk, "Excuse me, miss. Could you help me find any books about the Isle of Light?"

"Of course," a warm friendly smile went across the woman's face. "Please take a seat over at the table over there and I'll bring the books right over."

The two women waited and an assistant brought them some tea to drink. The aroma was light and pleasant, the kind you'd hoped for when reading a good book. A few sips into their tea a handful of books arrived and the two began scanning through them at a leisurely pace.

The first book Kira read, only briefly mentioned the location stating it was a place created by the gods after the Calamity and that some being was tasked with protecting its purity. A few more sips of the calming tea helped Kira's icy body warm-up, and she asked for more. A teapot was placed in front of her as she continued reading another book.

"I think I found its location," whispered Aliya.

"Where is it?"

"It's just southwest of Cadamem in the Stormclasp Ocean," Aliya pointed to an old map in the book. "According to this map, there was or is a fishing village near it though there is no name for it."

"It's great we have an idea where it is," Kira patted her friend's head. "And it's in the same direction we are heading. Talk about convenient!"

They shared a giggle before returning to the remaining books. The book Kira was skimming through was a book about mythological creatures and where they are in the world. Most of the book seemed phony to her like a Kraken living in the depths of the Stormclasp Ocean or a Roc living in the mountain chain near Velo. Even talk about a dragon living in the Spine of Asmir.

Eventually, she got to a spot that talked about the Isle of Light. It claimed the most common creature there was a being called a unicorn, a type of pristine white horse with a long spiral horn on its head. But the keeper of them is some creature called a couatl. Not much of a description was given about it as the book claimed it could change shapes to appear as whatever it wanted. The only thing the book knew for sure is that it only believes in the truth and completing its mission, whatever it may be.

The creature's ideology resonated with Kira because that is how she saw herself as well. "Here," showed Kira. "This book explains a bit about the angelic creatures that live there."

After reading the pages, Aliya jumped up with glee. "This is it," she was pointing at the page that briefly talked about the couatl. "This being should be able to destroy the cursed pendant. I need to go pray to Baron and thank him for his guidance."

The gnome sprinted out of the library but Kira didn't know where. She couldn't recall where a church was in the city but she was sure Aliya must have known. The ranger headed back to the Home Inn for some food and rest.