Jal opened its eyes. It was standing at the edge of a mountain, looking down. It could see a line of people coming north. Jal ran down the mountain filled with euphoria and excitement. It could run so fast, it was unbelievable.

It realized that it had its hand on the Necklace of Tridatta. Had it rubbed it and said the words to initiate the charm in it? It must have! How else would it be going so fast?

Jal ran a wide circle around the group, then ran closer and closer, trying to show off its speed. But no one looked its way. It was like they couldn’t see it.

Jal realized suddenly that the tea from the petals had worked. Clouds passed over quickly and the sky changed from light to darkness many times. Jal saw that there were only a few animals that could be eaten and realized that some of the meat needed to be saved for the magic bowls.

In the distance, Jal heard the squeal and sounds of a Risar. It came at the group out of some trees to the east. Everywhere it looked, it created a line of burning fire. The expedition halted. People hid behind trees to the left. The Risar returned to the trees on the right. Slowly, the group re-formed and went on. Two Risars came from the trees. Again, the people scattered. One ran behind the others. The person fell. She seemed to go up in smoke. The Risar returned to the trees again.

Jal could see that the Risars consistently interrupted the journey of the group. Another member of the group fell. Jal saw the gleam of a shield. This time, the Risar went up in smoke. The second one returned to the trees.

The group continued north. Jal followed along what seemed to be an edge of the mountains, and could see more in the distance. Here there were fast running creeks where water tumbled over the rocks. Jal jumped over them to watch its friends. The mountains curved west, and Jal saw more creeks. The group halted at the base of a great waterfall. As the sky darkened, blue lights seemed to dance near the water. They were the Gimorans, Jal realized.

It was light again. Someone pointed, and the people ran in all directions. It appeared that some walked into the waterfall. Jal tried to go down to get closer. It could see the blue lights around the waterfall. Suddenly they took human forms. The sky darkened. "The people came out from where? Caves?" Jal wondered. It watched as someone seemed to walk across as the water poured over them.

On the west side of the waterfall, the blue lights became human. It seemed as if the sun were hidden, and the group of people ran into the mountains. The sky went from light to dark, and the people came from the caves. They stood in front of caves. A few climbed the rocks on either side of the waterfall. When the sun came up, the blue beings seemed to have energy coming from their hands. The people didn’t move. Jal saw the reflections and blue lights bouncing off the shields.

Jal was surprised to see movement in the water. More light bounced off the shields, Jal felt itself falling off the mountain to the rocks below. Reflections came from all directions and bounced off huge pillars that stood in the water. The pillars shook and it looked like fire shot into the air.

“Jal, wake up! It’s time to wake up, Jal. Come on. We let you sleep as long as we could. You missed dinner last night and breakfast, so you might want to leave some jerky out. We need to get moving.”

As Jal packed up its things, it wondered what to do with the bowls, they were still full; four of them were hot when Jal picked them up. It sorted through its supplies wondering what to do. Finally, it set a pot in the center of one of the cloth bags and stacked them into a tall pile and pulled the drawstring of the bag tight. It created a tall spot in the center of its pack and placed the other things around it so it wouldn’t tip.

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The others stood waiting as Jal filled its pack, then pointed its wand at the pack. “Optilan!” Jal easily lifted the pack to its shoulders, then picked up its weapon and shield.

“Wow! I never thought of doing that,” several people remarked.

“Just a minute! I want to do that to my pack, too!”

The people with wands lightened their packs. “Way to go, Jal!”

Luk led the way for several hours and stopped at a slow-moving stream. After a brief rest, they lifted their packs and Golsho led until it was time for stop for the day. They walked nearly all day for a week, then stopped for a full day of rest. No one saw any of the hoofed animals they had seen previously.

While the others rested, a small hunting group went out, and returned with a few ground animals that looked like small tree rats. The animals had stood up and barked at the hunters long enough to serve as targets. The others carried only a few birds.

Sidi brought Jal a bird. “Jal, here’s an opportunity for you.”

“What’s that?” Jal asked curiously.

“How many people can you feed with only one bird?”

“I don’t know. I still have fruit in the bowls in my pack.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope, I’m not. Let’s look at them together.” The two carried the bowls out to the group. They were surprised when seven of the bowls still had fruit in them. Three were still piping hot, and one was empty. “Sage Elvan, do you have your utensils handy,” Sidi asked. “Try this.”

Sage Elvan ate several bites. “It’s as delicious as it was yesterday.”

When the others heard this, they each wanted a few bites. The seven bowls were passed from person to person. When everyone had taken some, Jal asked how they would find wood for a fire. “There’s a small grove of trees over there,” Pari pointed. “We might be able to find enough there to cook the meat. The group lifted the packs and went to the trees.”

It wasn’t long before the fire was burning and the meat cooked. Jal emptied and cleaned out three of the fruit bowls, filled them with the poultry and water, then placed them near the fire. No one in the group went to bed hungry that night, even though the hunters thought they might.

“I found some wild onions and other vegetables that we can eat tomorrow night, Jal. You could make bowls of stew,” Maya suggested. “I’ve checked them under the microscope and they’re safe to eat.”

“That’s a great idea,” several people agreed. “If you teach us what to look for, we might be able to come up with some greens tomorrow.”

“We can do that for a while before we stop for the day,” Dr. Gyasi agreed when Maya asked later. “It may slow us down a bit, but it would help everyone have a balanced diet.

Several days in a row, Jal experimented with the bowls and various combinations of vegetables and meat. They continued to stay hot in the backpack and through the nights. The days began to drag on and some people became irritable. “This isn’t much of an adventure,” Chetan complained. “I had hoped to kill some sort of wild beast or monsters.”

“I’m sorry you’re disappointed, Chetan,” Jal told him later, when they were away from the group. “Our expedition isn’t over yet. If you want to leave, you can have the Protectorate transport you out of here. But remember, if you do that, you’ll forfeit one fourth of your pay.”

Chetan grumbled about this, but Jal reminded him that no one had forced him to sign the contract. “If you stir up a bunch of arguing and irritation with everyone else, I’ll ask you to leave and you’ll forfeit three-fourths of your pay.”

“It’s so boring.”

“Yes, it is,” Jal agreed. “But I expect we’ll have trouble one of the next few days. And we’ll regret that you’re gone.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I just have a feeling that somethings going to happen. And we aren’t going to like it.”

Another week passed. The hot bowls provided fruit and vegetable stew for several meals, then someone saw what looked like the turkeys that were raised by farmers on Trazene. The birds made super meals and were welcomed by the group.

Jal woke up one night from a very vivid dream. A group of Nemori had come out of a forested area only a day away. They were different from either of the small tribes that the expedition had met. “It’s just a dream,” Jal thought. “I’ve been thinking about the other two groups. We’re a long way from them. I’m more worried about the Risars and the Gimorans, than I am of the Nemori.”

As Jal lay awake, it began to hear the chanting of the Stafriez. The voices comforted Jal, and it went back to sleep.