Letter XIX (Foof to Cordy)

Dearest Cordy,

Last time I wrote, I essentially only cared about munches, but then nothing truly strange or truly perilous or truly romantic had happened to either of us yet. Now that we've both had a taste of all three, I, for one, find the perilous vastly over-rated (I do hope to remember this declaration in the future, but don't hold your breath).

The strange, well, I can't really complain about the strange which is just as well since I expect strange things to continue until our adventures come to a close, whenever that may be. Perhaps your experiments with the Stones will hasten the process.

Which brings us to the romantic. Flirting with Jamin is quite shameless of you, although after seeing his picture in the society papers you sent along with the munches and your letter, I can hardly blame you. He really is devilishly good-looking!

And then there is Damorin Ardaya. Damorin Ardaya, who kissed you quite soundly and then essentially branded you as his own, whether that was his intention or not! I am dying to know what is going on in his head!

Oh, dearest! It isn't right for us to be separated when we should be spending hours in your bedroom, drinking tea and analyzing all of our encounters with men! After you read what has been happening with me, you'll see you're not the only one who could use a little advice.

After I sent the muse off with my last letter, Sean was still asleep so I decided to get up and look around a bit.

Walking wasn't exactly easy, but I managed to scramble over the uneven ground to an overlook point. Further down the trail I could see where the terrain of the Pass ended and the forest began and I wondered how many hours it would take to get to that point. As the sun started its descent, I realized we didn't have very much time to travel before it got dark.

I was just about to climb down from my lookout point when I heard the sound of voices further down the trail and decided to stay put until I could see who it was. In a few moments, a group of six soldiers wearing handsome Fort Thunderhall uniforms came riding up the trail on larats. By Jalwa, it was an inspiring sight!

I jumped down from my place of concealment right into their midst. The horses whinnied and shied back as their riders fought to keep them under control. I threw myself back against the rocks and wished I had stayed where I was.

“Ho there!” shouted the captain as they all reined in their mounts.

“Hello,” I shouted (meekly). “I'm sorry about that.”

“It's quite all right,” the captain replied, soothing his horse enough to dismount. He came to me and bowed over my hand. “Good aftenoon, Miss,” he said.

“Good afternoon,” I said, searching for something to say. “Um, you must be the fort officers assigned to Pass patrol. Tell me, is there any news?”

They all looked at each other and back at me. The captain said, “Captain Philip Woodhouse at your service, Miss...? He waited expectantly for me to fill in the blank.

“Oh,” I stammered, “it's Magi Montphish.”

“Magi,” he repeated. “I apologize. You’re not in robes so I didn’t know.”

“My title doesn’t exactly matter here in the Pass, does it?”

“I suppose not, but I do like to show respect to a profession I admire very much. May I ask, Magi, out of duty, what brings you here?”

“I am traveling with a friend to the Outskirts.”

“Friend?” he asked, looking around.

I nodded. “Yes, perhaps you know him. Sean Valerian?” The soldiers all looked at each other, again, in surprise.

“Sean Valerian?” Captain Woodhouse questioned. “You’re traveling with Sean Valerian?”

“Yes, I am. Is that so odd?”

Captain Woodhouse looked slightly bemused for a moment before he answered, “Yes, it is. It's very odd, indeed.” He didn’t offer any explanation as to why it was so strange, but continued his questioning. “Where is he, anyway?”

“He’s asleep. I was just exploring a bit while I wait for him to wake up.”

“Asleep?” He laughed. “Let’s go wake him up, shall we?” He held his arm out to me and I had no choice but to take it. As we approached Sean's resting place, I could see he was smiling and murmuring something in his sleep. Before I could do anything, another officer jumped from his mount and knelt down by Sean, listening. After a moment, the soldier’s face split into a wide grin.

“Foofri?” he asked. “Who’s Foofri?” I hoped no once noticed the color I’m sure my faced changed while they all laughed and nudged each other (what is it with laughing and nudging in the Pass? It seems an epidemic!). The commotion woke up Sean, of course, who immediately jumped up and looked around in a panic until his eyes rested on me.

“Foofri,” he said, the relief evident in his voice. This only made all the men began laugh even harder. I closed my eyes and winced, wishing I could just disappear.

Captain Woodhouse leaned over and clapped a confused Sean on the back. “I suppose there’s no hope of you ever rejoining the Fort now, Valerian. We only allow single men, you know. General Derslot won’t be pleased at all.”

Sean looked around at the merry lot with a rather disgruntled look on his face. “You all know I never had any intention of coming back.”

“Yes, and now we know the real reason why.” More laughing. More nudging. Wisely, Sean ignored their comments and changed the subject.

“You’re obviously on patrol, Woodhouse. What news can you give me of goings on within the Pass?” The men continued smiling as they heard Sean echo my earlier inquiry, but quickly sobered as Captain Woodhouse spoke up.

“Actually, I’m glad we’ve come across you. We found a wraith carcass last night at the far side of the Pass.”

“A wraith carcass. So it’s true then.” When Captain Woodhouse gave him a questioning glance he explained, “We met Gavin Farnswall at the Fort and he said there were only rumors of wraith sightings.”

“Ah, I see. Yes, it’s true. I saw the remains myself. I wish we could accompany you Sean, but we’re already two days late getting back. Plus I don’t think you’ll need our help should you come across one. My only fear is for Magi Montphish here. Would you like us to escort her back to the Realm?”

Sean brushed him off quickly. “We’ll be all right.”

The captain nodded as he signaled all the men to remount. “It was a pleasure to meet you Magi Foofri Montphish,” he said, with emphasis on the Foofri. “I hope we meet again.” He took my hand and placed a light kiss on it, then, looking at Sean, said only, “Good-bye Valerian. Do take care.” Sean nodded glaringly.

“Thank you, Woodhouse. The same to you and your men.” Their parting shots didn’t sound at all as friendly as I’m sure they were meant. The soldiers mounted and began taking their leave. Just as they passed where our larat was tied up and were about to turn the bend, Captain Woodhouse reigned in and turned around, gesturing to the animal.

“Where’s your other mount?”

Sean looked slightly embarrassed. “We only have the one,” he said.

“Why didn’t you borrow one from the Fort?”

“I…I thought you’d be needing them for patrol,” he said lamely.

“You're the one who procured them for us, Valerian. You know you can use them any time you come through.”

Very enlightening, this piece of news. I looked at Sean, who most certainly did not look back at me, and decided to save him from any embarrassment in front of the other men. Of course I had every intention of making him pay privately. Donning my most dim-witted look, I spoke up.

“He offered, actually, but I was afraid of handling the mount all by myself. I’m not very good around animals, you see.”

The captain nodded with a slightly amused look. “All right then. Farewell, Magi. Valerian.” He turned and his little company disappeared around the bend leaving Sean and me to look at each other in silence.

“Well, well,” I began, speaking slowly and distinctly. “So I could have had my own mount after all. ‘The others are needed for patrol, Foofri. Let’s toss a coin, Foofri. Do you want to put your arms around me or do you want me to put my arms around you, Foofri.’ I wonder what my father would think of all this, Sean Valerian. Oh, trusted colleague.”

“Foofri, I-”

I cut him off and continued, doing the best imitation of the conversation I'd heard between him and my father (with maybe a little exaggeration). “‘You don't have any intentions towards my daughter, do you. Sean Valerian?' 'Why no, Mr. Montphish, that isn't why I came back to the Realm!'” Oh, and here’s my personal favorite. ‘Why does this have to be so complicated?'” At this final remark, Sean lost his temper.

“Why, you little sneak! I can see why your father so readily agreed to send you to the Outskirts. He was right, you know, you cannot be trusted!”

“Trust?” I exclaimed, outraged. “Oh, that's rich, you talking about trust! If either you or my father ever thought of sharing information with me, I wouldn’t have to stoop to spying!”

“Well maybe we would,” he countered, “if we knew you wouldn’t go traipsing off, taking matters into your own hands and completely ignoring instructions.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m not nearly as good at following instructions as you are. Tell me, what exactly were my father’s instructions about flirting with me so shamelessly?”

“I am not flirting with you.”

“No? You mean you treat every girl you meet like this? How very sincere of you.”

“That isn’t what I meant, Foofri. And besides, I’m not the one telling patrol soldiers that we’re involved.”

“Oh! I didn’t say anything to them about us!”

“Really? Then why were they making such insinuations? You must have said something to cause all that teasing.”

I slowly folded my arms and turned a cold, evil smile on him. “I. Didn’t. Say. Anything! You, my presumptuous friend, were murmuring my name in your sleep! And, of course, you had to be smiling. What were they supposed to think after that, hmmm?”

Now it was Sean’s turn to close his eyes and wince. “Please tell me I didn’t do that.”

“Oh, you most certainly did.”

Sean groaned before looking skywards and, shaking his hands, exclaiming, “Why? Why me?”

“I must be rubbing off on you. These sorts of things happen to me all the time.”

“Yes, but you make them happen.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t even try telling me that tripping act you pulled at the council meeting where we first saw each other was only accidental. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I would just be careful to whom you do it.”

I gasped. “How dare you suggest-”

“I’m not suggesting anything. When I see a spade, I call it a spade.”

“You are wretched, you know that? I don’t know why I always feel so sympathetic towards you. I’m obviously an extremely poor judge of character.”

“Sympathy? Really? And pity, no doubt, as well. I can't say that's something I've ever wanted from you. Thanks but no, thanks!” He turned and began packing up the bedding and refastening it to the larat, who rolled her eyes and shook her head. Sean gave her a glare before he mounted and came to me, speaking abruptly. “Let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, especially if we have to ride...like that,” I nodded towards the saddle where we had ridden pressed together, his arms around me, his lips practically at my ear.

“Fine, you can walk.” He stared at me pointedly, then held out his hand. I thought for a moment, then accepted it and allowed him to assist me to the front of the huge saddle.

“Just don’t get too close, if you don’t mind,” I hissed over my shoulder.

“Don’t you worry about that,” he replied hotly.

We rode for a few hours in silence, each of us awkwardly trying not to relax against each other, when my stomach began growling quite loudly. Although we had eaten an enormous breakfast, we hadn't eaten since then and my stomach felt no shame in issuing a complaint. I tried to ignore it, but it was rather persistent. Sean finally spoke up after a particularly ear-shattering one.

“Oh, are we speaking now?”

I gasped and turned to glare at him, but the amused look on his face combined with his absurd comment made me realize how ridiculous we had been. We both burst out laughing, which certainly helped to ease the tension that had formed between us.

“I’m hungry too,” he said, still grinning. “Do you mind eating en route? I want to get some distance behind us while it’s still light.”

“Not at all,” I replied. “Do you have any leftovers from tea?” He did. Quite a lot, in fact, and it was marvelous! We weren’t able to talk much since both our mouths were full, but once we finished our lavish meal and had a drink to wash it down, I attempted conversation.

“Sean, what did Captain Woodhouse mean when he said ‘re-join’ the Fort. You were once a soldier?”

“Briefly, yes.”

“What happened?”

He was silent for so long, I turned around to see what was wrong. “I've never really told anyone about his before.”

“You don't have to tell me,” I said, even though I was dying to know at this point.

“No, it's all right,” he replied. “I…I did train to be a soldier at Fort Thunderhall. I admit, I had always dreamed of being one of those dashing uniformed men, ever since I was young. When I turned eighteen, my father reluctantly allowed me and my brother to enlist.”

“Brother? I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Ben is my stepbrother. After my father and I moved to the Outskirts, Father met a woman who had had grown up in the Realm and had a child out of wedlock from some jerk magi noble. Not having any family of her own and being shunned by all her acquaintances, she ran away to the Outskirts.

“She had been living there for a while by the time we got to the Outskirts and after a few years, Father married her. She's the closest thing to a mother I’ve ever had. And Ben became my brother, except we didn’t get along. He seemed to have a giant grudge against the world.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, we both enlisted, as I said. I think he did it just to get away from home since he'd never really had an interest in soldiering. We each passed all the requirements and began our duties. Everything seemed to be going fine until our regiment was given an unusual assignment. We were to carry a package from the Outskirts and deliver it to the Justicum. Nobody was told what it was, but we all assumed it must be extremely valuable or the Fort wouldn’t have been assigned to deliver it.” He let out a big sigh. “We were about half-way through the pass when the package was stolen during the night. I didn’t say anything, but I could tell Ben knew something about it, and he knew I could tell.”

“Then what?”

“He implicated me. He implied it could only have been done using magic and since I was the only magi among us, everyone suspected me.”

“But…but you were in the Pass! That doesn’t make sense.”

“I know. Believe me, I know! I tried to explain that and some of the men came around to my side, but once word got to General Derslot, it was too late. I was dismissed without even a trial.”

“From what Captain Woodhouse said about the General, I assumed he would be on your side.”

“Oh, that. No, Woodhouse was being sarcastic, I’m afraid. The General didn’t like me from the start. He thinks magi have no place at the Fort.”

“Well of all the-”

“No, it’s all right. The work didn’t really suit me anyway.”

“What did your…parents think about what happened?”

“They believed me. They weren’t surprised actually.”

“And Ben?”

“Well, he left the Fort shortly after that. I think the men who were on my side made it difficult for him and he was less suited for the job than I was anyway. I don’t know what he’s doing now and, but I'm sure that it can't be good.”

“Doesn’t he write your parents or anything?”

“Nope. Not once. Which isn’t surprising, considering not much mail goes between the Realm and the Outskirts. However, I do think he likes to keep track of what I’m doing.”

“How do you know that?”

“You remember Lt. Farnswall? He and Ben were cronies and I think every time I pass through the Fort, Gavin sends off a little report about what I’m up to and when I’m coming back through and such.”

“Thinking back, he did seem rather inquisitive, but I thought it was because you two were friends.”

Sean laughed mirthlessly. “No, that’s not why.”

“That explains why you were so abrupt with him.”

“Yes, partly.” His voiced sounded funny, and when I turned again to look at him, he met my gaze unflinchingly.

We continued talking as we traveled. He told me stories about the Pass, some true, some sounded not so true. And of course we talked about magic. We were enjoying ourselves so much, we didn’t notice that the sun had gone down behind the tall cliffs of the Pass and the light was quickly fading.

“Oh no!” Sean groaned in dismay. “I thought we would make it farther before dark.”

“Can’t we keep going?”

He considered for a moment. “No, I don’t dare risk it. The few times I’ve stayed on the trail at night, I’ve always regretted it.”

I knew we were both thinking the same thing, but each was trying not to say it aloud. Finally, I asked. “What about the wraith, Sean? This is the far side of the Pass.”

“I know, but we really need to get off the trail now. I think we'll be better off if we find a good place to camp.” He didn’t sound as though he had even convinced himself with this speech.

“Sean, I’m kind of scared.”

He moved a little closer and tightened his arms around me. “I’m a little scared too, but I think it’s just because you’re here and I feel extremely responsible for your safety. If it was just me, I think I would feel fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

After scouting around for a little while, we found a little cave far enough off the trail for Sean to feel safe. It was too small for us and the larat, but for some reason, she indicated preference to stay outside anyway. We didn’t dare have a fire, but Sean produced a small candle so we would have some light by which to eat our cold dinner and prepare for bed.

We had been settled down for quite a while, chit-chatting a bit, when I remembered it was the night of the Anniversary Ball. I had completely forgotten about it until that moment and a huge sigh escaped my lips as I thought of you and what might be happening at that very moment.

“What is it, Foofri?”

“Tonight was to be my first year at the Emperor’s Ball.”

“I’m sorry. I wish you could be there.”

“So do I. Do they have any balls or dances or anything like that in the Outskirts?”

He smiled, amused. “Of course. We're not primitives, Foofri. Though I’m sure the Emperor’s Ball is far beyond anything we have.” He turned onto his side from where he had been laying on his back and propped his head up with his elbow. “I have a little charcoal portrait of my mother, my real mother, the night of her first dance. She was very pretty.”

“Do you look like her or your father? I can’t remember what he looks like.”

“I look a lot like my father, but he says I have my mother’s smile. And her magic, of course.”

“Oh yes, she was a magi, wasn’t she?”

“That’s right.”

“Tell me about her.”

“I don’t really know that much. She died in childbirth, so I never actually met her.”

“I remember your father saying that on the night you…well, that night with the wraiths. What happened to her? I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve wondered about her.”

He laughed softly at that. “You sound just like me, talking to my father. I don’t mind talking about her. She was really special, from what little I know.” He lay back again and stared up at the ceiling of the cave, which danced with the dim shadows from the candle. “She was born and raised in the Outskirts, but she didn’t stay because she had magic, but refused to stop using it. No one threatened her outright or anything, but she was shunned. So she left and ended up in the village by Seven Oaks where she met and married my father.”

“He didn’t mind that she was magic? It seemed like he was quite against it, if I remember correctly.”

“No, he didn’t mind. Not then, anyway.”

“What happened to her to make him hate it so?”

He looked away. “She had a difficult birth. There were complications. She used magic to try and help and it killed her.” He looked up and saw my stunned expression. “That's how my father tells it, anyway, but I think there's more to the story. I can't know this for sure,” he continued, “but from what he's told me about the complications, there wasn't anything she could do for herself. Magic can't cure everything. It can't save everyone in every situation, but I think she knew it could save me. And it did.”

After a few moments of silence he added, “I think he's really just angry that it wasn't strong enough to save us both.”

“I can see why he would be angry, but, Sean?” I hesitated, wondering if I should even ask the next question. “Was it...was it very meaningful when you discovered you had her magic? That you had something from her, something she loved? That she had passed on such a significant part of herself?”

He stared at me in surprise. “Yes, Foofri,” he said quietly. “No one has ever understood that before. I mean, I've never told anyone, but that's exactly how I feel.”

We looked at each other a little bit longer before he noticed the candle had all but died. He blew it out and we both laid down. I lay there listening to his breathing, waiting for it to get slower. After what seemed like a long time, he whispered to me.

“Still awake?”

“No,” I said and we both laughed, softly.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“That night,” I asnwered. “You know the one.”

“It was horrible, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Sean, it was horrible. The worst night of my life, in fact. Did you know Cordy and I used a spell to make us forget?”

“I wondered about that. When you saw me for the first time and didn’t recognize me, I thought it was strange. I had grown up quite a lot, but I still looked like me. I could sense a sort of magical cloud around your awareness of me, but I didn’t think we would ever forget each other, not after what we’d been through.”

“I’m sorry, but when we found the spell, we both jumped at the chance to erase the nightmare. The spell worked so well, we almost forgot everything about you, which was strange considering what a big crush I had on you before that night.”

“What? You hated me! No, that’s not true. You felt pity for me, which is worse.”

“No it isn’t, and besides, that isn’t what I felt.”

He sighed, then uttered a bitter laugh. “But you forgot all about me. What made you remember? A seal breaking charm?”

“Yes. I used it the night after I followed you and my father for the first time. It was a very potent spell and the after affects were staggering. I couldn’t even get off of my bed for hours. The memory came back as though it was yesterday and…I felt horrible, Sean. Truly, I did. And I wondered about you a lot after that. What had happened to you and why were you doing this thing with my father and what you thought about everything. And your magic.”

“I wondered about you a lot, too. I knew you were all right, but I still wondered.”

It took me a minute to answer, I was feeling a little choked up. Finally, I whispered, “I’ll never forget you again, Sean.”

Within a few minutes, he was asleep and a little while after that, I was too.

I awoke later to complete darkness and felt something of a panic. I reached out to Sean, but he was gone. I pulled on my boots and crawled to the entrance of the cave where the larat stood shifting her feet nervously.

“Where’s Sean?” She shook her head.

“Is he all right?” Her eyes widened as she shook her head again. I jumped onto a nearby rock and vaulted onto the saddle, clutching the reins as I shouted, “Let’s go!”

We rode down the trail for what seemed like forever. He couldn’t possible have gone this far, I thought to myself, but the larat kept going, seemingly confident of her destination. All sorts of horrible images ran through my mind, but the worst of them was of two evil creatures laughing as they circled around us. I pushed it to the back of my mind and concentrated on finding Sean. At this point, the boulders began to appear smaller in size and there were patches of soil and trees peppering the landscape. I knew we must be getting close to where the Pass merged with the forest, but couldn’t see very far ahead in the darkness. Finally, we came to a sort of clearing with stubby trees surrounding it and a palpable aura of evil. It wasn’t until I dismounted that I saw Sean's body sprawled on the ground, his face in shadow.

“Sean!” I yelled as I shook him. My hands burned where I touched him and I drew back, gasping in pain. My vision seemed blurred for a bit as Sean’s figure rippled in the air in front of me before it once again became solid. It rolled over and looked up at me. Then it began to laugh. It was a laugh I had hoped never to hear again.

Stumbling backwards, I turned to the larat, intending to remount and run, but before I could reach her, her body also began to ripple and waver in the air. Instead of returning to shape, she seemed to melt down in size until I stood before another replica of Sean. The two wraiths began to circle slowly around me.

“We meet again,” the first one said. “We’ve been waiting for this day a long time.”

I couldn’t believe what was happening. Every part of me wanted to run away, but I was frozen to the spot. “Sh-sh-Sean.” I managed to squeak out in protest. “Sean killed you.”

The second one stepped behind me and spoke slowly into my ear, the skin burning where it touched me. “We do not die,” it said slowly. “We can be banished, and it is very painful, but we cannot be destroyed. We have long hungered for your souls, and finally, a summons has provided us this exquisite pleasure.” I felt a searing grip on my shoulders as the first wraith held me in place while the second one stood in front of me. It looked so exactly like Sean, but for the yellow eyes, I would have sworn it was really him.

A million thoughts swirled in my mind, but uppermost was this: Where was Sean? The real Sean? He was probably already dead. They had torn the life from his body and now he was gone forever.

The thought filled me with such fury that it brought to my mind, with shocking clarity, the memory of that night of our first encounter with the wraiths. I could see Sean standing before me as the wraith sought to take my life. I could hear the words he spoke as he called upon his magic to condemn the wraiths to banishment.

Then the memory burst and I was again conscious of the excruciating grip of the wraith. But the spell was clear in my mind and I spoke the words.

Now, dearest, you know that magic doesn’t work the same in the Pass as it does elsewhere. I knew that too, but I had no choice. I had to try anything to save myself. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the wraith and I both screamed as blue light, liquid in form, spilled all around and began swirling us in a whirlpool of magic. The warped atmosphere in the Pass had morphed the spell and it was running out of control. The other wraith tried to back away, but was swept up beside us into the eddy of magic, unable to do anything but writhe in pain like we already were. I could feel the magic trying to melt the substance of my body so it could banish my soul into oblivion, when, all of a sudden, it disappeared. It was gone!

I immediately fell to the ground, but before I could hit, the magic reappeared and swallowed all of us up again, pulling at us with its violent grip. It went on like this for I don’t know how long, disappearing and reappearing, as we were tossed about at the mercy of its power.

While we were caught up in the tumult of magic gone awry, I noticed something pulling at us, a force that attracted the magic. The maelstrom whipped through the landscape to where the Pass ended. At the edge of the forest, standing on a thick carpet of moss, was the real Sean, his eyes closed in concentration. He was surrounded by a halo of pure magic, which, without actually projecting any magic towards us, pulled us towards him.

As we crossed the boundary of the Pass, there was an explosion and the two wraiths and I were thrown apart as the whirlpool vanished, leaving each of us surrounded by our own blue liquid flame, still flickering with indecision. Within seconds, Sean banished the two wraiths, then came to stand before me. He didn’t stop to analyze the spell I was caught in, but stepped forward to enfold me in his arms. The force that had been pulling me apart began to disintegrate as Sean’s magic mingled with mine and I could feel my body immediately regain its total structure and settle firmly around me. The blue flame flickered out and, shortly after, Sean’s halo died down. He pulled back from our embrace to look at me and, as you can imagine, I promptly fainted.

I awoke in a soft bed covered with a cheery quilt. The sun was peeking through the breezy curtains at the window and Sean sat in a chair next to my bed, holding my hand against his cheek.

“Good morning.” He spoke softly, soberly. I tried to smile, but couldn’t quite manage.

“Where are we?” I whispered.

“Myy parents home. Right after you fainted, I transported us here.” I nodded and closed my eyes again. “Foofri?” he prodded, “I need to know how you’re feeling.”

“I’m all right,” I said. “I’m not in pain or anything if that’s what you mean. I’m just trying to grasp what happened last night. It seems so unreal and yet, I’m still so frightened.”

We sat for a moment before I had the courage to voice my thoughts.

“Sean, why did you leave me? At the cave? Where did you go?”

“During the night, I awoke, sensing something lurking outside our cave and when I looked out, I saw the wraiths over by the brook, sniffing us out. I immediately jumped on the larat and rode straight for the forest hoping to draw them away.”

“Well, when they didn’t follow you, why didn’t you come back?”

“They did follow me, Foofri. I made sure of that. There were just more wraiths than I thought, which is strange. They never group together like that. I thought there were only the two and that the farther I went, the farther I was leading them away from you. I’m so sorry.”

I felt sick. “There were more wraiths?” I sat up, searching his face and, for the first time, noticed the welts on his face and neck.

“I almost didn’t make it to the forest,” he said, “but I did somehow, and after I disposed of the first set, I felt a surge of magic coming from the Pass and knew that you must be close by, trying to use magic to defend yourself against something. I didn’t know that it was more wraiths. All I knew was that the quickest way to get to you was to draw your magic to me. So I did.” He clasped my hand tighter. “I’m just glad it's over.”

“Yes,” I agreed solemnly as I gripped his hand in return. Then I remembered something. “Sean, it was the same wraiths as before. They’ve been waiting to come back and they told me they were summoned. Sean, they were summoned back by someone. Did you know that? Someone’s tried to kill us!”

“Yes, and they don’t know they failed. Yet. When I get my hands-”

“Sean, no! Don’t go running off tryi-”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere to do anything until I do some investigating. I have a few suspicions I need to explore while I’m here. Your father will have to wait a bit longer for me to return.”

We talked a little more before he went home for some rest (I’m staying with his parents, who live next door). I slept most of the day too, waking up only for Marilea, his step-mother, to check on me and bring me food, and make sure I don't do anything strenuous.

Muse came, too, of course, with your letter and the munches and the gossip papers. What a welcome sight he was, loaded down with goodies, and he wasn't even (very) grouchy. I think he just really disliked being in the Pass for some reason and now that we're through it, he can be his usual jovial, bossy, and demanding self. He informed me I had some spell-learning to make up now that we were done traveling, but that he was going to be oh-so-generous and give me a few more days off to recuperate. Never mind that there's a huge muse family reunion (I shudder to think of it) that he wants to attend!

It’s evening now and I’ve just finished preparing for bed. I have a clean nightgown to wear and even a dressing gown and slippers! I’ll never take such wonderful things for granted again! Sean mentioned that he took the liberty to send a letter on my behalf to both you and my father informing you that I am well. He said he just conjured my handwriting and that I didn’t need to worry about it. I wondered at his nerve of writing for me, but he only said that he had felt a certain urgency to inform Father of what had happened and that he hadn’t wanted to wait until I could do it myself. And he thought that since he was writing Father, he might as well write you too. So, if a letter arrives from me and it isn’t through your friendly neighborhood muse delivery service, know that it’s from Sean. And please tell me what it says and how it got there!

Your letter frightened me very much as I’m sure this one will frighten you. There is no need to worry about me as I believe I am through the worst of it. However, you are still in grave danger. Please, just concentrate on protecting yourself.

With great affection and longing,
Foofri

P.S. I can’t even think about my memoirs for now, but, hopefully, after things settle down, I will be able to write my gripping tale of adventure!

P.P.S. Thank you for the munches! You cannot imagine how much they have helped! And I so appreciate you sending me the gossip papers. I'm sure they'll be in tatters within the week as they are my only connection to the Realm besides your letters.