Durabi's feet moved quickly over the hard surface of the earth. I could feel his muscles between my thighs, as I had removed the saddle to lessen his load. Even on Durabi's back, I wasn't sure if I would make it to the boneyard in time to see the others. I tried to shuffle through places in my mind where they were likely to go if I didn't make it in time. They wouldn't return to Arden, not if they thought I had been attacked or that their location were compromised. Would they return to where the Morrigans were from? Would they search for another hideaway? They had taken my map of the Wayst. The one I had been carefully creating. They knew I would fare well enough without it.

I did my best not to look upward to see how much time was passing. My scarf was wrapped tightly around my head, creating a slit for my eyes to see through. If I stuck close enough to the edges of the cliffs curved East of Arden to block off the south coast, I would eventually stumble upon a Waystation that would help me to figure out what direction to head so that I could reach the boneyard. I passed the Waystation, not bothering to stop despite not having any water or food on me. It would have to wait. I was making good time, I could feel it.

After the Waystation disappeared over the horizon on my right side, I turned just slightly to the right, where the cliffs would eventually die away to the South East coast of the Wayst. The boneyard lay at the foot of mountains that rose from there. It lay where most were unwilling to go. Strange men were said to patrol the foot of the mountains. Soldiers that were a part of some order. I had never come across them while at the boneyard, and for that I was grateful.

I rest my hand on Durabi's neck, trying to urge him to move faster. Noon was coming quickly.

Through the cloth of my scarves, I could make out a small pinprick at the edge of the sand. As Durabi neared it, I could make out an uneven head where one side had a horn and the other did not. Fallon. I could feel the relief flood through my body. I had made it in time. We came closer, and I watched as Fal shouted something over his shoulder. Durabi came up on them fast and had to skid to a halt in order to avoid running into them. Over Fal's shoulder, I could see the Morrigan twins packing up some of the campsite.

"Don't clean up on my account," I said with a smile as I pulled the scarf away from my face.

Fal's grin was wide, and Durabi nudged his hand as if asking for attention. "I told you she would make it. I'll take those coins now."

Ambrose scoffed as he and his sister jogged over. "We never made the deal official."

Sidra was the only one who seemed to be concerned about the situation. She elbowed her brother as he moved to say something else to Fallon about the bet they had apparently made. "What happened? Something went wrong, didn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes." I slid off of Durabi, holding tightly to his rein. "I know you just packed everything up, but I would like to sit down and have a bit to eat before we get into the thick of it."

Ambrose nodded and turned away as if he were ordered. Sidra eyed me quietly, chewing at her lip and twisting at the bronze band around her finger. When I didn't say anything else, she turned away and moved to help her brother.

Fal pet Durabi, scratching at his chin until the saladassi's eyes fell shut. "Am I allowed to ask for a summary?"

"A summary wouldn't do it any justice." I sighed, pulling Durabi towards the campsite. "He needs to rest."

"Aumee, what happened back there? You didn't look... well."

"I didn't feel it." I sighed, looking up to meet Fal's kind eyes. "Not now, Fal. Really. Soon."

Fal let it go, and offered to take care of Durabi for me while Ambrose gifted me with a leather-wrapped pack of falafel. It was still warm from where they had likely just eaten. Ambrose promised to make me some other food, something with meat, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that we couldn't be wasting our resources. Sidra didn't say much, which was usual, but I could see that her mind was working hard to figure out what news could possibly be delivered.

Soon came faster than I had anticipated. They all sat around me as I finished up my hot meal that satisfied my stomach but only made the sweat on my forehead come faster. I didn't know where to start. They could tell, and so they began asking questions.

"Did Daya hurt you? Threaten you?"

"Did you learn anything about the Land of Sky?"

"Does she know you were working with us?"

"What did she say about you already having the book?"

I sighed, running my hand over my forehead and wiping it on my pants. "I... I'll start with the most important parts, I suppose." I paused for a second, breathing in deeply. "They wanted me to turn the book over immediately but I refused to unless they could break Fal's curse. Daya wouldn't step down, and so she tried threatening me. I threatened her in return by saying I would destroy the book, but that just made her laugh. She released the Baurpei on me--"

Fal was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, as he listened to the story with an intense look on his face. "What did it do to you? Hasn't it already... you know?"

"You know?" The twins repeated, looking back and forth between us.

"The Baurpei removes burdens from people. Grief, guilt, anger. I was a frequent user of it. But this was different." How was I supposed to say it? How was one supposed to say that a monster is much more than just a monster but a dark god that all believed to be dead or a relic? It doesn't exactly flow off the tongue.

"Spit it out, already," Ambrose said before Sidra sent him a glare. "Well, forgive me for feeling a little anxious. But I think we can all agree that whatever she's about to say isn't exactly going to be all sunshine and waterfalls."

"Don't be so rude, Ambrose. She clearly still hasn't processed it yet..."

"Aumee is just explaining it and she can't do that if the two of you are arguing..."

The three of them erupted into a tense conversation and I felt myself slip a little. Just say it.

"The Baurpei isn't what we think it is."

They all hushed and turned to me.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's Deorcae. The Dark God. The one who wrote that spellbook. And he wants it back. Daya is to him what I was to Daya." I looked between all of them but I looked to the bag at Sidra's feet. She always toted the book around, and now I was more grateful for that. If that book fell into the wrong hands, who knew what sort of chaos would ensue. At least with us, I felt like there was some level of protection.

"Say it again," Sidra uttered, holding her head in her hands. "Please."

"Deorcae is back."

Fal rose from his seat and turned sharply behind where everyone else is seated. He began pacing around the campsite. No one said anything, so I spoke again. "I don't know why he needs the book but I made a deal with him. I have until my original deadline. Since you all took the book and left me, I was able to say that I didn't know where you were. I was able to make a deal with him--"

"You made a deal with him?" Fal froze in his place, looking at me with some emotion all over his face. I couldn't tell if it was anger or disbelief or fear. But I knew that I had done something wrong. I rose up to meet him, but still felt small standing in his shadow. "I thought you were smarter than that, Aumee."

"What was I supposed to do? Let him torment me? Give him the book?" I gestured to the spellbook in question. "Besides, now we have time to--"

"Did he hurt you?" Fal's shoulders slumped, and I shook my head.

"No, not really. He just... showed me what kind of person I am. That was enough." I waved my hand as if it were nothing. "I'm fine. I just had to make a deal so I could get out of there. If not, I would have been trapped and the three of you would have been on your own." A piece of hair ticked my face, and I shoved it back into the mess of a bun that I had at the nape of my neck. Daya's comment last night rang in my head, and I felt fury rise up in me. The nerve she had to pretend that everything was normal.

"So what are we supposed to do? Go up against the dark god? Deorcae? That's... that's more than any of us asked for." Ambrose looked to his sisters, who was looking down at her feet with her hands over her ears. "We aren't made for that kind of thing."

No one said anything for a minute.

Sidra spoke up, her words hardly a whisper as they became muffled by her clothing. "You said it can't be destroyed?"

"No. It can't."

"So we have no other option then. We have to take it far away. Somewhere he couldn't find it." Sidra shrugged her shoulders, looking only to me. "Right? We can't fight it. That's all we can do."

Fal laughed. "Hide the book? That's your plan? Hide the spell book this god is clearly intent on finding? Where would we hide it? Besides, no matter what direction we travel in, we won't reach anywhere in seven days that he couldn't reach. We would die in the mountains. We would hit the coast in the north. We would hit cliffside in the east, as well as bee too close to Arden for comfort. South is more of the same. Running will get us nowhere."

"Neither will fighting!" Ambrose shot up from his seat, gesturing to himself. "I'm not made for that! Sidra would be using his own magic against him! Will you and Aumee take him on yourselves?"

Fal poked a finger at Ambrose's chest. "You're a coward."

"You're insane if you think any of us could stand up against a god."

Sidra stood, trying to distance the two of them. "Enough!" She held her hands up, her eyes shutting as she tried to think. "I was just suggesting something. Clearly it won't work. That's fine. Fighting won't either, though. Destroying it won't work. What's left, then?" She looked to me, her eyes desperate. "Aumee, you have to have an idea in there somewhere. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come all the way here to warn us."

"We have two options. Use this week to find a way to stop it -- whether that be finding a way to destroy something that can't be destroyed or something else -- or return the book now. That's it."

"Return it? That's more blood on my hands than I could have ever imagined." Fal dropped to the ground, sitting back and shaking his head. "Deorcae brings nothing good to this world."

The twins were quiet, so I took it as a chance to remind everyone what was at stake. "When he walked the Wayst, he brought plague and famine. Places like Arden? They would be burned to the ground. It only takes a few words from his lips to inspire bloodshed."

"You say that as if you've lived through it." Ambrose poked at the ground.

"Have you not read the stories?" I looked at Ambrose in disbelief. "He wiped out dozens of cities. Arden is built on the remnants of one of them. There used to be oasis' all throughout the Waystland and now we're lucky to find a few. The maps tell the stories. They call him the Dark God for a reason."

Silence fell once more.

"One week isn't enough time to find something that can stop something like this, Aumee. You must know that." Sidra leaned down, grabbing the spellbook from her bag and tossing it onto the dying campfire in front of us all. Sure enough, the flames licked the edges of the leather and paper but left no mark. No smoke rose from the disturbance, and we all watched as the fire beneath it came to a stop. "I'm with Ambrose. This is much larger than any of us."

Fal looked to her. "I would rather waste a week trying to stop it than just give up and accept the fate of everyone in this desert."

Sidra flinched at his words, and began to walk away.

I turned to Fal, hoping he would have a look on his face that told me there was still a chance. That I should have hope. Instead, I was met with him burying his face in his hands. Ambrose was not much different. He stared down at the spellbook as its cold energy put out the flames beneath it.

"There has to be a way," I started. Scanning the others for a sign that I was getting their attention. No. They were all the same. "Otherwise, Deorcae would still be walking this land. Except he isn't. Something was able to take him from what he once was and reduce him to a pile of sand. There has to be a way." That had gotten their attention. "I'm with Fallon. At this point, we either risk trying and win. Or we risk trying and lose and everything goes to shit. Or, we don't try at all and everything goes to shit."

"Those still aren't great chances, but I respect you trying your hand at persuasion," Ambrose said as his frown lifted up into a lazy smile. "Leave the persuasion to me."

"I can agree to that." I smiled. "Does this mean you're changing your mind?"

"Well, I'll take any odds at not dying that I can get. But, if I die and we win, I want everyone to know that I made the true sacrifice and you should all feel guilty about it." Ambrose clapped his hand on my shoulder, giving me a determined look before turning towards his sister, who had stopped in her path. "I expect my sister by my side."

"You say that as if I'm not already there." Sidra couldn't even bother to look over her shoulder at us.

Fal jumped to his feet. "Well, not that I was the first one willing to do this, but I suppose I'll be the last one to officially say that I am also in."

"I was the first," I teased as I bent down to grab my things.

"Do you really count in this scenario?"

"I'm the one who rushed here just to make sure that we even had a chance at this!"

"You also suggested that we turn the book over."

"That is not true and you know it."

"Do I? I would think that if I knew it I wouldn't have said otherwise."

"I forgot how aggravating you were."

"Does that mean you missed me?"

"I'm going to start taking inventory of everything."

"That's a definite yes."

"Fallon?"

"Yes?"

"You're reaching your limit."