I became aware of a tremendous pain in my head. I knew that I had been feeling it for a long time. I had been asleep, drifting through vague, half-formed dreams, all made of throbbing pain. I felt nauseous as well, and there was pool of stale sick under my chin. Memories trickled back into my mind from where they had been scattered. Gradually, I realized how I had gotten here.

  Kumakros had betrayed me. I had been suspicious of the little bastard since the moment I laid eyes on him, but that hadn't stopped me from going along with everything he said. My suspicions had given me an illusion of strength, when in reality I was a little girl lost in the woods, willing to accept help and guidance from anyone. And in so doing, I had placed my grandchildren in harm's way. I had never felt so stupid, or so weak.

  I steadily forced myself to my feet. The world around me was blurry, and seemed to wobble back and forth. It was early in the morning, so I had been out for at least twelve hours. My clothing was cold and wet with morning dew. The view from the top of the ziggurat didn't look so lovely now. I didn't even want to think about trying the hundreds of stone steps that led down to the ground, none of which had rails. OSHA would never have approved.

  Why had Kumakros clubbed me with that magic torch? I had been perfectly content to let him keep it. What possible reason could he have for wanting me out of the way? I looked back at the golden braziers that Kumakros had used to distract me while he prepared to bash my skull in. They were still there, and by all appearances they were actually made of gold. He had gotten his end of the bargain, and left ours alone. Why?

  He was going after the children. The idea horrified me, but there was no escaping it. He had what he wanted from the temple, so why should he attack me if not to get at them? What could he want with them?

  Magic. That's what it was all about. The torch was magic. Kyle was magic, and Kumakros knew it. Elizabeth might be as well, although she had been playing her cards a lot closer to the chest than Kyle. Kyle didn't have much power now, but his abilities would grow as he did. I knew this because Kyle had reminded me of the fact about eight hundred times over the last week. Stealing children wouldn't really be out of character at all for a fairy-tale monster like Kumakros. I thought of the story of Rumplestiltskin, where the little dwarf with magical powers tries to bargain for the Queen's baby. Maybe the idea of clocking her over the head just hadn't occurred to him, or maybe Kumakros just didn't have Rumplestiltskin's sense of fair play.

  Well, I had a trick or two up my sleeve that Kumakros knew nothing about. I placed my hand on the altar and reopened the interface. I immediately selected “Heal Wounds”.

All health restored to full. Lost “Wounded” Condition.

  The pain in my head dulled, but my vision was still blurry. Damn. I have a concussion, and this temple was at the lowest level of development. The Shrine of Initiation could have sorted it with no trouble, but now I suspected that that had been a once-in-a-lifetime offer. The Citadel of Bloodlines could handle bones, muscles, and skin, but apparently brains were too complicated for it. What a concussion calls for is bed-rest, but I didn't have that luxury either. I would just have to manage regardless.

  The “Boon of Sanctuary” I had purchased was probably the reason I was still alive. It reduced the damage from attacks while I was within the temple's walls, and it made wounds heal faster. It had likely allowed me to survive what would otherwise have been a fatal blow, and recover much quicker than I otherwise would have. As much as I would have liked to take advantage of the healing effect a little longer, what I really needed now was the “Boon of Bloodlines”. I selected it, got the same warning about not being able to pick more than one, and I chose to replace one with the other. I closed the interface.

  The instructions on the boon had said I could choose one family member. If they were together, it wouldn't matter which one I chose, but I hadn't been that lucky so far. I reasoned Kyle was more likely to be in danger, so I chose him. I had never done magic before, but it didn't seem like I needed any special skill or knowledge for this one. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on Kyle and the ties of blood that bound me to him. Concentrating isn't easy with a concussion, but the boon didn't seem to mind. My mind was presented with a swirling red cloud, which gradually resolved into an image of Kyle. He was alive, although his hands were tied behind his back. He was lying asleep in a forest. There was a circle of Fly Agaric Toadstools all around him. Opening my eyes, I found that I was aware of Kyle's exact location relative to myself. He was several kilometers away, to the west, closer to where we had first entered this world from the Shrine of Initiation.

  I slowly made my way down the stairs. I wanted so badly to hurry, but my vision was blurry and my balance felt off. If I fell now, I could injure myself badly enough that I would be left unable to climb back up to heal myself. Taking one careful step at a time, I worked my way back down the long stairwell that led down to the main sanctuary on the ground floor. Working my way around the immobile statue monster was the hardest part. The sanctuary looked more like the interior of a cathedral, only in place of the main altar was something that looked like a huge oven. I realized that this was the kiln that the priests had used to create those walking statues. It was decorated with strange symbols and images of human faces. I didn't like the look of it.

  I headed out of the temple and towards the bank. It had been the rendezvous point for Kumakros' entire plan, but I ought to have been there yesterday. I heaved and spat on the road. I would have vomited, but I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. I wondered if I should stop to forage for food, but with Kyle in danger I didn't dare spare the time.

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  I kept my hammer handy, in case more of those bloodsucking things were around. I couldn't see or hear them, but they had snuck up on me before, and my head injury was dulling my senses. As I hurried through the streets, I wondered if I was any condition to attempt a rescue. I was weakened and disoriented, and saving Kyle would almost certainly mean confronting Kumakros. He had been powerful enough before he got his hands on that torch. Who knew what he might be capable of now? There was nothing for it. I had to save him, and find Elizabeth, or die trying.

  I reached the bank. It had collapsed. It was completely destroyed. I panicked when I thought that this was where Elizabeth had been waiting for her turn to distract the statues. I began digging through the rubble, not sure what I was hoping to find. The building had been huge, I could spend months digging through the rubble without finding anything, even if she had been there. I fell to my knees of sobbed. Why had I ever gone along with this plan? Why had I let myself be talked into using my own grandchildren as bait? If I saw Charlotte now, I would have to tell her that I had let her children be swallowed up by this bizarre world, and that I could have saved them.

  A familiar smell wafted past me. I sniffed the air, and realized that I was smelling roasting fish. I searched around, and discovered a thin column of smoke rising from a little alleyway a few streets over. I headed there to investigate. When I arrived, I discovered Elizabeth, resting next to a little fire she had built out of loose bricks and scrap wood. She was roasting a fish on a wooden skewer. She beamed when she caught sight of me.

  “Gramma!” she exclaimed as she ran over to give me a hug. “I thought you were dead! What happened?”

  “Kumakros turned out to be a bad little man.” I said tactfully as I returned the hug. “He hit me on the head and knocked me out once he found what he was looking for.”

  “Are you okay?” she was suddenly very serious.

  “Mostly. Turns out, you can use temples in this game to heal yourself, but it only does so much. But what about you? You got a fire going and caught a fish all by yourself. Gramma's so proud!” I answered, trying to distract her from my head injury. I saw her mood darken a bit. I suppose “all by yourself” sounded a little patronizing, but I really was proud.

  “I built the fire. Getting a spark was the hard part. Cheeseburger caught the fish. She doesn't like them that much, but she likes to catch them for fun.” she explained in her matter-of-fact voice.

  “Cheeseburger? Is that a person?” this conversation had taken a confusing turn.

  “I think so. She's a big cat. I'm not sure what kind. She's off at the stream, trying to catch more fish. I can call her over, if you want to meet her.” said Elizabeth. Given Elizabeth's propensity to keep things to herself, I could tell that she was very excited about something, but was trying to seem nonchalant.

  “I don't think we should make any noise if we don't have to.” I said.

  “It won't make any noise. Watch.” with that, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as though focusing on something. “There. She's on her way. And she caught two more fish!”

  Elizabeth was starting to worry me a bit with her “Cheeseburger” talk, but I thought it best not a call attention to it. I sat down and warmed my hands over the little fire. I hadn't realized how badly I needed to sit down.

  Elizabeth sat down as well and started roasting her fish again. “Are you hungry, Gramma?” she asked.

  “No, thanks” I lied. Truth was, I was starving, but I doubted I could keep anything down until my head felt better. “Be careful. Fish have a lot of small bones.”

  I noticed that the fish she was roasting had not been gutted, so I showed her how to do so with one of my knives. By the time I was finished, “Cheeseburger” had arrived, which gave me quite a turn. Cheeseburger, it turned out, was a lioness, and probably could have eaten every pet I had ever owned and still be hungry. She was larger than I thought a lioness could get, and had an odd camouflage-like pattern to her fur. I suspected that she was a member of some species unique to this world (like many of the plants I had encountered), or else of an Earth species that had gone extinct, like the European Lions. Elizabeth did a mediocre job of concealing her excitement to show off her new pet. Despite my initial concern, Cheeseburger was beyond tame. Elizabeth could order her around in a way that no domestic house-cat would ever tolerate. After recovering from this surprise, I decided to tell Elizabeth about our situation.

  “Elizabeth, I don't think we can stop to eat. Kumakros is holding your brother prisoner. We need to go rescue him.”

  Elizabeth chewed at her fish thoughtfully. She was obviously starving. She tossed a few fish-bones into the fire.

  “Do you know where he is?” she asked.

  “Yes. He's tied up in the woods, a few miles west of here.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Magic.” it wasn't a thorough explanation, but it would do for now.

  Elizabeth nodded. She didn't seem interested in questioning further.

  “Is Cheeseburger what you spent your points on?” I asked.

  She nodded again, not really paying attention. “Magic. You know how it is.”

  I wished that I did. I could tell that this world had rules, but it didn't seem to tell us what they were when it would have mattered.

  “Do you think we can beat Kumakros?” she asked, still eating her fish.

  I sighed. “I don't know. He's not invincible, I know that much. He's got that whirlwind thing he does, and whatever that torch does. It doesn't matter. We can't let him have Kyle.”

  She nodded again. “Are you well enough?” she asked.

  I took a deep breath. “Doesn't matter. Have to go.” I answered. I wanted nothing as much as a meal and a good night's sleep, but not while Kyle was in danger. My situation had seemed hopeless a few minutes earlier, but with Cheeseburger backing us up, our outlook suddenly looked a lot better.