Saiya felt the flutter of happiness and excitement coming from Prince Emrys as Phoenix accepted the hand that he had offered out to her. She wondered why he allowed her to peek into his emotions like this, considering it would be easy for someone in his position to get the aura training needed to shut her out completely. Perhaps this was his way of including her in that offer of friendship he kept insisting on.

  As they vanished through the Rift, Rayna nudged her and whispered through the mental connection they shared through Dazien’s ability, “I’m not reading that wrong, right? The prince is totally into our Princess, right?”

  “Our Princess?” she replied with a gentle smirk and raised brow at her sister. “You really liked that idea Dazien planted in your mind of being his knight, don’t you?”

  “Sounded fun,” Rayna said with a noncommittal shrug. “That’s the far future, though. The prince being interested in Phoenix is the here and now.”

  “I’m not sure, but that’s probably a good guess.” She released her hold on Rayna’s hand that she had on their walk here through the enchanted path at the bottom of the ocean. Taking the free hand, she gently petted the head of Wally, who had been watching her closely with a slight tilt of his head as his body wrapped around her forearm like a glittering blue bracelet.

  The tiny Wellspring Wyrmling couldn’t speak in her mind like Tala or Orebela could with their summoners, but he was quite capable of letting his intent be known as he sent a pulse of concern down their bond.

  “I’m fine. Just a little worried about Phoenix turning down the prince and him taking personal offense,” she mentally replied, knowing he would understand her even if he couldn’t reply in the same way. Most Familiars were like that, which is what allowed them to carry out their summoner’s bidding.

  Wally chirped happily up at her, and she continued giving him little pets as she walked forward to follow after the prince and pseudo-princess.

  Saiya blinked rapidly as her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness she found herself in. It was even darker than the bottom of the ocean that had been lit up with enchanted lights to mark the path and the light that had been coming from the portal to the Labyrinth itself. It also smelled like musky dirt instead of the salty water she had just left behind.

  “Phoenix?” she called out, knowing her friend should have been just a few feet in front of her. When no answer came, she turned around to find no rift leading back out. She had been teleported somehow, and she had no idea where anyone was or even where she was.

  “Ray?” she called out in a quieter voice, her panic spiking at the idea of being… alone.

  Wally chirped up at her, and the pulse of comfort he sent along their bond helped her relax and realize she wasn’t alone.

  “You’re never alone, my acolyte,” the soft androgynous voice of the Traveler whispered in her mind. “My Chosen has claimed this reality for her pantheon, and you will always be able to find your way through her and me.”

  As the presence nestled in her soul reassured her, she focused on that divine bond and the additional one that tugged her in the direction of her deity’s Chosen one. While she couldn’t get a read on the distance, it was still giving her a direction, to the right and… up. Was she underground?

  That was when she realized that the bracelet Phoenix had made for her, which should have been connecting her to both Phoenix and Rayna, still wasn’t giving her the directional sense that had faded into the background of her awareness. She knew the Sapphire Caste Soul Mark would be stronger and reach farther than the Crystal Caste friendship bracelets, but those should still have gone quite a distance. Wherever she was, it seemed like she wouldn’t be reuniting with her friends anytime soon.

  As her eyes finished adjusting to the darkness, she could just make out the walls of rough dirt and the low light coming from a bend in what she believed was the cave she had ended up in. Keeping a furred hand to the wall, she slowly made her way to the light and hopefully down the path to her friend.

  She kept her aura expanded, hoping that particular sense could help her detect should an enemy come in range. While it was possible that doing so could alert a monster to her presence, most monsters had terrible aura senses and wouldn’t be able to pinpoint where she was. With her perception ability intricatly tied to her aura, she had no other sense to rely on beyond the basic ones.

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  Sapphire Caste senses were definitely stronger than Mundane or Crystal ones, but they wouldn’t help her against the stealthier types of enemies. Her voxen ears were also better than average for a human or even an elf, but again, magic could muffle an enemy’s sounds and easily lead to her getting ambushed.

  Saiya knew she was a vital part of the survival of her group, but she knew that the rest of them were just as critical to her own survival. Not having her Defender or really any form of attacking outside of the short sword at her waist that she had only begun to train in… Well, she could only pray to the Traveler to guide her path around any monsters.

  She paused when she rounded the bend in the cave and could see the prick of light in the distance that she thought was the entrance. It was the Sapphire aura of a monster brushing against her own that had made her stop walking toward it.

  The emotions she sensed were mostly calm with a hint of curiosity, but she didn’t think it had sensed her in return. With no other direction to go but back into the darkness, however, she pressed forward as carefully and quietly as she could manage.

  When she reached the entrance and looked out to the world beyond, Saiya found herself speechless. It took her a long moment to process what she was actually seeing as a forest of green grass stretched out before her, leading toward a large willow that was probably larger than the still-growing World Tree was.

  That normally wouldn’t feel so out of place if she didn’t see the birds and flying insects circling near it that were large enough to make the tree seem the proper ratio to them instead of her. Looking closer to her location, down the hill her little cave emerged from, she realized the mountain she was currently on wasn’t a mountain… It was more like an abandoned ant hill.

  She was just grateful no ants were currently home until her eyes fell on the monster she had sensed earlier. It was about the size of one of those magic carriages they had ridden in with Polissa to the Grand Soiree in, but for all appearances, she could have sworn it was a flea.

  It seemed to be inspecting a dark patch on the dirt near the bottom of the hill where the grass began to grow—grass that must have been at least three times taller than she was. She glanced around but didn’t see any other creature nearby so began to try a skirt the mound of dirt off to her left, away from the overgrown insect.

  Saiya thought she was doing pretty well at first, with her [Nomadic Heart] Talent and tails helping her keep balance on the awkward slope and not lose her footing. Unfortunately, her Talent did nothing to keep the ground itself in place from her weight.

  As a large clod of dirt was displaced and began tumbling down the hill, Saiya could feel the sudden fear and sense of alert pinging through the monster’s aura as it turned to look around at the noise and vibrations. It couldn’t fly, but it might as well have, as it launched itself high into the air above her… towards her.

  Saiya ran, scrambling down the hill to try and gain cover in the grass. Even if she knew she’d likely fail to flee the flea that had chosen to make her its next lunch, she refused to just give up simply because she wasn’t built for speed like her twin.

  The monster thankfully missed landing on her, but it reacted quickly, jumping again to chase her down the hill that she just realized likely didn’t have any residents because they had all been slaughtered by another predator… one that likely left the paw print creating a dip in the ground she had just tumbled into.

  Wally chirped in a mixture of fear and concern for her once more, and she forced herself to get back up and keep running. Getting lost among the forest of brilliant green was her only hope for survival at the moment.

  “Be sure of foot and strong of heart,” she practically yelled as her legs pumped beneath her. The effects of her [Boon of the Balanced] were instant, and she felt steadier as she traversed the uneven ground.

  After a frantic few minutes of dodging through the towering grass, the mental picture of a white lotus blossom filled her mind, sent from Wally, and she knew it was likely as good a plan as any.

  “May the weary find rest in the solace of the tranquil retreat,” she incanted, letting the dimensional magic take her into the safety of her [Restful Retreat]. Once inside, she collapsed to the soft garden floor, her stamina seriously depleted from the frantic flight with only two thoughts ringing through her mind: get away and keep heading toward Phoenix.

  Hopefully, the disappearance of the blood-filled snack that had been enticing the flea-like monster would encourage it to keep looking elsewhere and ignore the tiny blossom that still remained outside and definitely didn’t fit the landscape.

  Luckily, she didn’t get any injuries from the falls she had endured—it was difficult to hurt Sapphire Casters from simple stumbles like that—and while there had been a few close moments, the monster hadn’t managed to land a blow on her.

  A pang of mourning echoed through her heart as she found herself wishing Snowbelle had been there with her. The Seagull had her acid bubble attacks that could have at least helped Saiya actually take on the Sapphire monster.

  Wally chirped mournfully up at her, and she shook the grief from her mind as she moved her free hand to gently pat her current Familiar’s head. “You’re a good boy, too, Wally, and I don’t regret having you here at all. I just wish that you and I didn’t have to rely on others so much. It usually doesn’t bother me, but I worry about losing you because I’m not strong enough to keep us safe.”

  Another mental image floated in front of her mind, this one of a young man smiling happily at her with a gaze full of loving fondness and she felt her heart stutter at the sight of Simmon Teras, Wally’s original summoner and her friend. It was the bond they both shared before they ever became contracted to each other and the grief there still felt fresh.

  At least she knew that Wally could understand her feelings about Snowbelle. They had both had that bond broken before. They had both felt the pain of their past bonded in the last moments of their lives. They both knew they never wanted to experience that pain again.

  Another moving image flitted into her mind’s eye, the shared memory she had with Wally of Simmon rubbing Snowbelle’s stomach as they drank tea and ate cookies in Uriel’s fortress while on their first expedition together.

  “I miss both of them, too,” she whispered, responding to the bittersweet longing she felt emanating through their shared Familiar bond. “I’m glad we can keep them alive in our thoughts, though, even if it’s just you and me… We’ll make them proud of how we kept moving forward no matter what. Even if we have to keep fleeing from the monsters we can’t handle alone. We’ll keep surviving for them and the others who still rely on us.”