We stood there for a long while, sometimes talking, sometimes simply enjoying the view that spread out before us as the sun dipped lower and lower, beginning to send streaks of orange and pink across the sky.

The clear tone of the dinner bell rang out beneath us.

Bran glanced downward. "I don't suppose you know how to get back to the dining hall?"

"Uh..." I hesitated. "Maybe?"

"Maybe?"

"Probably," I amended.

"Hm." He frowned, motioning toward the door. "Better, but not by much. Lead the way?"

"With pleasure."

The corridors below deck were a maze. It had been easy enough to find my way up, since as long as I had continued upward as much as I could, I'd know I was going in the right direction. Downward, though... that was a different matter. I found my way fairly easily for the first five or so minutes, and then we began to get thoroughly lost. Luckily, by that time we were close enough to the dining hall that I could hear and follow the buzz of conversation that came from the dining hall. We entered just as people began to get food from the tables.

Bran nodded slowly. "We made it. Nice."

"Fyra!" said a voice. I turned to see Sharla squeezing her way toward us through the crowd. She was slightly breathless when she arrived. "There you are. Lark and I wondered where you'd gone."

"Sorry," I said. "I went to find Reed. Maybe I should have said something."

Sharla waved away my apology. "It's fine. You left with Captain Rayan, so we figured everything was okay." She turned to Bran. "You're back. Where'd you get to?"

Bran shrugged. "I hung out with the other Blesseds for a while, ate lunch, then went to the upper deck to think."

"Cool," said Sharla. "Did you get to see some of the sunset? It's always really pretty, especially the first time you watch it."

"Just a little bit."

Sharla grinned and turned back to me. "Do you want to come sit with me again? Bran can come too. Lark and Reed'll be there."

"I'll come," I agreed. "Bran?"

"I'll come too."

Once we'd gathered our food, we followed Sharla to a new table, this one shaped like an S. I sat in between Sharla and Lark on a squishy, backless, square-shaped chair—which was surprisingly comfortable.

"So," said Lark, not meeting Bran's eyes, "you're back for your last meal with us."

She didn't seem angry, just sad, and trying hard not to show it.

"Actually," said Bran, "I'm thinking about coming with you after all."

Reed nodded as if he'd known it all along; Lark looked up, eyes wary, as though she wasn't quite sure if it was true. "But I thought you were staying here. I thought you wanted to stay here."

"I said I was thinking about it. But, in the end, I'd rather come with you guys. My friends."

Lark grinned. "I'm glad."

Bran turned to Reed. "What about you? Are you okay with me coming?"

"Sure," said Reed. "The more the merrier."

"Thanks," said Bran.

Reed seemed slightly taken aback at that, and for a strange moment, he hesitated, seeming unsure of what to say. In the end, Lark said it for him.

"There's no reason to thank us. We'll always have a place for you."

Reed nodded, staring down at his food. I thought I saw a flicker of an exhilarated smile on his face before he rearranged his features into his normal expression.

"So none of you are staying, then?" Sharla asked after a moment.

"No," said Lark. "I guess not. Maybe we'll come back though, sometime."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We'll save our village, earn a place there, and come visit you every once in a while. Maybe some of the Blesseds here who are from that area can even come back, now."

Sharla smiled. "I know a few people who'd love that."

"Don't get your hopes up, though," said Reed. "We might not even manage to defeat the Magician."

"Why so negative?" Bran asked.

"Am I wrong?"

"No, just a tad pessimistic."

"Failure is an option, isn't it?"

Lark rolled her eyes. "Yes. But that doesn't mean we have to focus on it. The idea is to not fail, isn't it?"

"Fair point," Reed agreed.

"Getting ready to resume your journey?"

We turned to see the captains standing behind us. Captain Rayan was grinning widely; Leith's smile was softer, a slight curling of the lips.

"So," said Captain Rayan, "have you decided whether or not any of you will stay?"

"We're all going," said Reed. "Maybe we'll take advantage of your hospitality another time."

Captain Rayan nodded, her smile fading only slightly. Her tone, however, lost none of its friendliness. "We'll always be here if you need us. Just remember that."

"We will," said Lark. "And if you ever need our help for anything, just say so."

"We will," Captain Rayan agreed. She nudged her brother. "You'll be awake when they leave."

"Right," said Leith, walking over to sit in the chair beside Lark and leaning forward so we could all see him. "We're a little closer to the Magician than you were when we picked you up. We're only a few day's walk away, actually, but to get you there would take us out of our way, and there's a Blessed we need to go pick up. Is it okay if we just drop you off right beneath the ship? Or do you need to go back to where you were when we first picked you up?"

"Below the ship is fine," Reed said.

"Okay." Leith looked at his sister, a question in his eyes.

She shook her head. "That should be all. I need to say my goodbyes to you now, so that I can get to sleep and be ready for my shift tomorrow. It was great to meet you."

"You too," said Lark. "I hope we get to see you again, sometime. Hopefully we can visit once the quest is finished."

The rest of us chorused our goodbyes as well. Lark blinked back tears as Captain Rayan walked away, and Reed reached over to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"So," said Leith. "Any questions?"

Reed looked at each of us, then shook his head.

Leith smiled. "Great. Sleep well, and I'll see you tomorrow, after breakfast."

"See you then," said Reed.

Once Leith had left, Bran said, "So, any plans for tomorrow?"

Reed shook his head. "Other than continuing our journey toward the Magician? Not really."

"When are we going to start planning our meeting with him?" I asked.

"I'm not sure we'll be able to." Reed took a swig from his water cup. "We have no real idea of what he'll do. He might not even be alive anymore."

"Shouldn't we have a plan then?" said Bran. "In case that happens?"

"If we made a plan for every scenario that might happen, it would take forever. I say we just go for it. You, Bran, can help boost Fyra's powers—unless your powers tell you it would be better to do something else."

"My powers don't really talk," Bran muttered.

Reed rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. While you do that, Lark and I can use our own powers against him. Hopefully that'll work. If not, we'll regroup, and make a real plan. Fyra's deathbirds can always help us make a quick escape."

"Maybe," I said, "if I'm not already exhausted from the fight."

"I can try to hold a small reserve of power, just in case." Bran frowned. "Why am I not helping one of you two, though? No offense to Fyra, but she's a lot less powerful than you."

I nodded. "That's a good point, actually. I was wondering the same thing."

"Because I think we'll do better working together than simply trying to overpower him by amount of magical energy alone." Reed grinned. "We're a team. If we act like one, we have a much better chance of winning."

"Also, we'll be better equipped to protect each other if there isn't a weak link," Lark pointed out. She winced. "Not that you're a weak link, Fyra."

"I know what you mean," I said. "I'm the weakest person here."

"Actually," said Bran, "if anyone's the weakest link, it's me. Most of the time I'm useless if there isn't another Blessed around for me to give magical energy."

I shook my head. "You're not useless. You can zap people, remember?"

"I did it once. By accident."

"Weakest link aside," Reed cut in, "Lark's right. We need to be able to watch each other's backs. The Magician is supposed to be seriously powerful."

"But we can beat him," added Lark. "We will beat him."

Bran smirked. "Hopefully."

"Definitely," Lark said. "No question about it."

Ah, yes, the ability to zap people, the most powerful Blessing yet seen on this earth! Vote if you want Bran to zap some more people in the near-ish future!