The tunnel was dark, only lit by the torch that Kendrick held high, "So," he turned to Hope, "Mind filling me in on what you got yourself into?"

"Nothing as far as I knew," Hope responded, "I mean, the apothecary and I had an interesting conversation about going to Falmor.  Oh, and he gave me this." She handed the mirror to Kendrick.

"Hmm, that's weird, it doesn't show a reflection, just a pure white." He handed the mirror back to Hope.

"Strange, the apothecary said that most people only see black..." She pondered.

"Interesting question to ponder I guess," He responded, "Here we are!" He exclaimed as he opened a trapdoor above them.  He climbed up first and then helped Hope up after, "We are outside the perimeter of Blackoak; that should provide us enough safety.  There are rarely patrolmen outside of the towns."

Hope gazed in awe as she examined the surrounds.  The green hills rolled across the land, untouched by humanity, "Wow," she said.  She hadn't quite anticipated everything being so, big.  It must have been a result of growing up in a small town all of her life.

"Yup," Kendrick smiled, as if he had seen all of this before.  "So, next stop, Falmor?"

"Yes, I think so," Hope smiled back.

They carried on, pulling out their map, which directed them toward the Dormount woods.  As they traveled the sun slowly set, revealing a whole new element to the land.  The night animals began to arise from the homes.  Needless to say, this had the both of them on edge.

Once they were a fair amount of the way through Dormount woods, Kendrick stopped, "We should really be stopping for the night,"

"Good idea," Hope began opening her knapsack, which had a blanket, food, as well as a flint and steel to start a fire if needed. Kendrick went to go some kindling, and Hope found some dry grasses.  Once they had a small fire going she asked, "Any chance you had time to grab food in your rush to get me out of Blackoak?"

"Um nope," He replied.

"Alright, it's ok, we'll just have to preserve food.  I'm not hungry anyway," She lied

"Me neither," Kendrick lied.

"Alright," she said looking at the blanket, "Let's sleep,"  Hope quickly crawled under the covers and was resting peacefully in seconds.  Kendrick, on the other hand, acted much more awkwardly, easing himself under the blanket, and after doing so, stared up at the moon for hours.

But by the time the fire had died out, the both of them were fast asleep.  They lay there undisturbed for a view more hours in the night, until Hope heard a twig crack.  She bolted upright, which resulted in consequent moaning from Kendrick.

"Who's there!" She yelled.  Suddenly she heard a huge bang as if someone had just ran into a tree.  The quickly grabbed the torch, and fumbled around for the flint and steel, she struggled to light the torch.  She gave up, when the torch randomly ignited.  The clearing lit up revealing a woman passed out on the ground with Hope's bag in her arms.

"What?" Kendrick moaned, confused, "Who's that?" He quickly jumped up and grabbed a knife from his belt.

"I don't know," Hope replied.  She slowly approached the woman.  The woman's brown hair was tangled and disorganized, suggesting she hadn't been anywhere near civilization.  Not to mention the stench; the stench was awful.

"Ugh," the woman moaned rolling over, "Wait, is it really you? Hope?"  She reached out and attempted to lock Hope in a hug, but Kendrick interfered.

"How do you know her?" He questioned intensely, he pointed the knife at her.

"Peace young one," she said, "I know your mother Hope, Adela, we are good friends."

"Why should we trust you?" Hope asked.

"Here," she replied.  She handed Hope a picture of two women one Hope instantly recognized to be her mother, and the other must have been this woman when she was in better condition.

"If you truly are a friend of Hope's mother," Kendrick pursued, "You'd know that she died a month ago."

The woman turned to Hope, "My goodness, I am so sorry.  The patrol must have gotten her?"

Hope nodded, then began to realize that she was talking to a thief, "Enough about me, what about you? What are you doing here?  And most of all, why do you have my bag of supplies in your hand?""Oh yeah," she set the bag down on the ground cautiously, "my apologies, it's a hard life.  I'm Royse by the way.  I wander the forests, enjoying life, occasionally stealing, but only when I need to."

"Alright," Hope replied, "I think I can trust you, Kendrick, put the knife down."  He complied reluctantly.  "Now," Hope asked, "would you be able to point us in the direction of Falmor?"

"Falmor!" She exclaimed, "why would you want to go there? The hope of the patrol?  I mean that's the absolute worst place to go!"

"It's a long story," Hope explained, "An old man told me something about how 'the fire burns bright' within me.  Then he managed to get me to come on this journey."  As Hope looked back on it, she realized how strange and sporadic that sounded.

"He told you that 'the fire burns bright' within you?" She questioned.

"Yes," Hope confirmed.

"Wow, then may I suggest a change in direction.  Wait of Falmor, I know of a person who could end up being more of a help to you than going straight to Falmor.  His name Jyvior he lives just east of here.  I think he could explain some things," Royse suggested.

"I don't know," Kendrick said, "she kind of had her hopes set on Falmor."

"Just promise me you'll think about it." Royse implored, "It's completely up to you, but I think you'll find it to your benefit."

Hope nodded, "I will,"

"Good," Royse replied, "Well I better get going, way nice seeing you!"  

As soon as Royse had made her way out of the clearing Hope and Kendrick shared a look.  "You want to go to this Jyvior don't you?" Kendrick observed.

Hope nodded giving Kendrick those puppy-dog eyes that he could never resist, "Fine, but can we sleep now? I'm tired."