Megan slowly drifted back to consciousness. She was lying on the ground beside a fire.
Warren, Seth, and Kendra sat around the flames.

The night sky showed a gorgeous array of stars, some a bright white, others a twinkling orange or green. Three crescent moons rested triangulated on the Eastern tree tops. Or what Megan assumed was East. Groaning, she made herself sit up.

Warren turned to face her. "You're awake. I wasn't sure you'd pull through."

Megan squeezed the bridge of her nose to ward off a splitting headache. "How long was I out?"

Warren shrugged. "Only a couple of hours." He looked at the sky. "I didn't think it was that late."

"It wasn't." She shifted her weight up until she was sitting straight. "Time works a bit differently here."

"And where are we?" Kendra spoke from the opposite side of the fire.

Megan massaged her shoulder. "The Outskirts."

"Cool name." Seth poked the fire with a twig.

Megan chuckled. Seth sounded a lot like Warren.

"But where exactly?" Kendra urged.

Megan examined her surroundings as best as she could in the meager light. "From the looks of it... the Creon side of the Sambrian border."

The trio looked at her in utter confusion.

She rolled her eyes. Had she been like this when she'd first arrived? She suddenly felt a swell of sympathy for the Sky Raider who'd had to explain everything.

Warren stoked the fire. "I think the more important question is, how do we get back home. The portal closed behind us."

Megan sighed and hung her head. "You can't."

"What?" Warren almost chuckled as he spoke.

Megan took a deep breath before meeting his gaze. "You can't get home. You're stuck here."

"What?!" Warren stood and started pacing back and forth in front of the fire.

"So, we're trapped." Kendra looked at Megan, her eyes pleading. She wanted to be wrong.

Megan wished it wasn't true, but she couldn't lie to them. Slowly, she nodded.

Kendra gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

Seth glanced from Warren to Kendra to Megan. "No."

Everyone looked at him. "There has to be a way." He continued. "We've faced worse. We can't give up. There has to be a way out of here."

Megan sighed. "Not than anyone knows of."

Warren slammed his fist into his open palm. "Seth's right. We didn't give up in the face of impossible odds before. We're not giving up now." He turned to Megan. "There has to be someone who knows a way out of here, someone who can help us."

Megan thought for a second. It was risky, but so was everything else. "I think I know a place."