My bottle was emptying fast. Five gulps later, I found the spring water no longer worked as quickly as it did the first time. The pain would linger for minutes on end, until it felt like it would never go away. Like the Keeper had said, the antidote's efficacy was fading.

The sun was an intense orange orb, resting on the forest canopy. The Keeper's words were brought to mind.

"The souls have until sunset, at least," she'd said. "After which they'll sink into the riverbed, where they can no longer be retrieved."

My movements were slower, my limbs less agile. I was tired, I was anxious. I was aging.

I need to find Tem.

I found him in a grove sprouting with bamboo. He laid face-up, his brown hair and white Caval billowing in the water. Then I realized the reason he seemed to stay put at the same spot was because his left leg was wedged under a boulder.

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I lay on my belly and extended the net into the water. The head of the net merely brushed Tem's brown locks. I skirted my hands up the net so they grasped the end of the net handle. I swished it through the water like I was rowing a boat. The net enveloped Tem's upper body. With a tinge of hope, I pulled the net upwards.

Tem wouldn't budge. His leg was well and truly stuck under the boulder, if it was possible for a soul to be.

I looked around for vines to make into a lasso and loop around Tem. But it didn't work - the lasso kept floating to the surface. Shame on me for even trying.

I studied Tem's soul. His hair seemed to brush the riverbed, hazelnut tendrils reaching for the soil.

The other souls would have to be saved by Keenan, and the others, perhaps. They should be awake by now.

I'm sorry, Aragonia.

I shrugged off my Caval, folded it and placed it on the grass. That was when I heard a shout coming from my right.

"Stop! What'd you think you're doing?"

I looked up to see Keenan. He was wild-looking, with black hair sticking out in all directions, like a mad scientist that had an experiment blow up in his face.

I pointed to the water bottle that lay on the ground on its side. "Drink that and it will neutralize the water's effects. But be careful, it loses its efficacy after awhile," I said. "Take care of Aragonia for me. Oh, and don't lie to Marylea again." I gave him a small parting smile.

Then I dove headfirst into the water.