For a long moment nothing stirred as the dust settled over the wreckage of their little boat. Then there was finally some movement as its occupants began to stir.

Xan sat up, groaning in pain. He rubbed a spot on the back of his shoulders where something had struck him. He silently lamented that he was probably going to have a nasty bruise come tomorrow. Then he remembered Dee, and he quickly groped about in the semi-darkness to find her. Thankfully she was right next to him, albeit still unconscious.

He scooped her up in his arms. Then he turned towards the bow of the boat, peering into the darkness. It was only then that he noticed that the mast was missing.

“Taika? Katar, sir?” he called. For a long moment there was no answer, and he began to fear the worst. Then he saw movement as Taika sat up from the rowing well, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Owwww….” Taika moaned, rubbing her hip.

“Are you alright?” Xan asked.

“Of course I’m not alright! Didn’t you hear me say, ‘look out’?” Taika snapped. She gingerly stood up.

“Taika, I’m sorry—” Xan started to say.

“Oh, you’re sorry, huh? Well, let me tell you—" She abruptly stopped when she saw Dee cradled in Xan’s arms.

“She’s alive, just unconscious,” Xan said, carefully making his way forward into the rowing well. Taika met him halfway and laid a hand on Dee’s forehead.

“Be healed.” Taika commanded. Her hand glowed for a brief moment. Then, as the healing energies sank in, Dee’s eyelids fluttered. She looked up at both of them, confused.

“Taika?... Xan?... The boat!” She jolted up, jumping down from Xan’s arms. She briefly looked around in a panic before realizing that they were on the ground.

“We’re alive? We’re alive!” she exclaimed in surprise.

“Looks like it,” Xan said. He turned to say something to Taika, but she had already returned to Katar’s side.

Shadow blinked onto his chest just then, grabbing onto the front of his coat with her tiny claws. She looked up at him with wide eyes and trilled fearfully. Xan cradled her in his arms and stroked her head reassuringly.

Dee hopped out of the boat and began inspecting it. She groaned at the missing mast, then groaned even louder when she noticed a hole in the hull. Then she checked on the improvised sail tied to the tiller. Both oars had been broken. They hung from the ropes tied to them, draped over the ground at odd angles. Even the sail had been ripped.

Xan looked between Taika and Dee. He briefly cursed himself for his folly. If he hadn’t been so distracted, this would never have happened. And now, without the mast or the spare sail, they had no way to steer the boat. His mind flashed back to being shipwrecked on that island, and how helpless he had felt at being stranded. He angrily shoved the memories aside.

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“Come on, let’s get moving,” he said, jumping out of the boat. Taika glared at him from her seat next to Katar.

“And how, may I ask, do you plan on moving this boat without a sail?” she asked angrily.

“We don’t need the sail. All we need is to lift it with the Terra Sang, and we can push it the rest of the way,” he replied.

“Push it? Through this forest?” Taika said incredulously.

“Yes. Unless you have any better ideas?” Xan retorted.

They glared at each other for a moment. Then Taika scoffed.

“Fine then,” she said.

“Alright, then,” Xan said.

Dee watched the whole exchange with a worried look on her face. Then, with a sigh, she hopped back into the boat and moved toward the lockbox.

The boat creaked as it lifted off of the ground. The boards around the hole in the hull creaked the loudest, but the boat remained sound. Taika hopped out on the side opposite Xan. Then, leaning everything they had into it, the two of them began to push the boat forward through the trees.

The darkness receded as time passed, opening up more and more of the forest to their view. The trees here were tall, but not extremely thick, so thankfully there was room to maneuver the boat between them. A thick carpet of needles covered the forest floor, and the air was heavy with the scent of pine.

After what seemed like a long time, Xan called for them to take a rest. He and Taika sat down on the ground next to the boat, both heaving from their exertions.

“How much… farther… to the shrine… do you think?” he asked. Taika just shook her head.

Suddenly, Dee jumped up onto the lockbox. “I think I see a light!” she said, pointing.

Xan and Taika both looked towards where she was pointing. A light was bobbing between the trees, making its way towards them. They both scrambled to their feet, ready to meet whatever it was.

A group of three Verdans dressed in leather armor came into view. The woman in the front of the group carried a lantern ahead of her, lighting the way for her companions, and man and a woman. The man spotted the little boat through the trees. He called to others, and all three of them hurried over. Taika stepped forward to greet them.

“Hail, cousins!” she called to them.

“Hail, cousin!” the three Verdans called back. Then they slowed as they approached. The lead Verdan woman held the lantern high, casting a bright glow over the boat.

“We heard a commotion coming from the forest,” she said. “The earth spake of a ship that had fallen from the sky, so the elders sent we three out to look for it. I am Elen Horak Ignas, and these are my companions, Bedros Maly Ignas and Gayane Kopecky Ignas.”

“A pleasure, Elen, Bedros, and Gayane,” Taika said, bowing her head to each in turn. “I am Taika Kinnunen Essos. Your arrival to aid us is most timely.”

“Indeed, we are glad to have found you so swiftly. But your ship, it is quite strange…” Elen looked over their boat, which was still floating about a foot off the ground. Then she turned back to Taika.

“From whence do you come, cousin? And for what purpose?” she asked.

Taika straightened up. She laid a hand on the side of the boat.

“My father, Katar Skala Ignas, is ill, to the brink of death. My companions and I have risked life and limb to bring him here, that he may be healed,” she said.

Elen raised her eyebrows. Then she stepped forward, holding the lantern over the boat so she could look at Katar.

“What ails, you, brother?” she asked.

“He has cavern sickness,” Taika said.

The woman frowned at Taika. Then she gestured for her companions to come closer.

“We will do what we can to help him. Allow us to bear him forward in your stead,” she said. Bedros and Gayane stepped forward, taking Xan and Taika’s places next to the boat. Then they heaved forward, pushing it through the trees while Xan, Taika, and Elen followed behind.