"Then you are a lucky one. Most people who meet her become eternally lost in her world of shadows. You must have proven yourself worthy to be one of her fallowers to be given such a task," he said, a note of surprise in the back of his voice, "She may trap people, but she does not kill. The world she takes her victims to is but a shadow mirror of our world."

Goldenscale smiled.  "Yeah, a lot of people say that I'm either a miracle or lucky." she said happily.  SHe then frowned and shuddered.  "Sounds like it wouldn't be very good getting trapped there.  There must not be light in the shadow world, and I cannot think of any world without it..." she said.  Well, it seemed as though she surprised the leader.  SHe wondered if there were a few other things he wouldn't have known that could surpirse him.

"There's no telling if there is light there or not, no one has returned to say," he said, looking back to Goldenscale, "While you two are still outsiders, I do hope you both survive the Fortress. There is a lot I wish to speak to you about seeing as you are in possesion of one of the books of knowledge. Ever since the last dragoon campaign, the spirits of nature have taken to hiding the books, only letting mortals see them in dire occasions."

Goldenscale shuddered once more.  If she went there and there was no light, she would probably die the first couple of hours there.  She loved the sunlight and light in general so she couldn't possibly live in a place without it.  She then smiled as Alignak spoke.  "Well, we will try our hardest to return healthy and happy.  Wait, all of the elemental deities have a book of knowledge?  Gladeskeeper nor Shadowbinder said anything about that..." she said with a frown.  Now she was just confused.  There were more books?  She coupln't possibly fathom what could be stored in them, though she sort of wanted to know now.

"No, there are only three. One for for each field of study, physical, metaphysical, and the unknown. Each book contains every answer pertaining to it's specific field. You must have the book of physical knowledge since it told you where each rune isEvery nature s[irit can call on the books at will, but some have less control over them than others, namely the newer spirits," he said, shaking his head, "No matter, the book you have will surve you well until the spirits decide you haveaccomplished what they intended. Until then, use it well, and treat it with respect."

Goldenscale nodded as she listened.  She was a nature spirit, or so Moonlight said, though she didn't know about it.  Maybe she was a livving nature spirit and she just wasn't ready to know about it yet until now.  She then smiled and placed a wing over her chest.  "It shall treat it with the upmost respect.  Because if its importance and the fact that it is not mine, I will make sure no harm comes to it." she said.

"Good to hear there is at least one person outside this village that respects nature's whim. Too many strangers find this village with norespect for nature at all, not understanding the connection they have with it," he said, stopping at Deniigi's house, "Seeing as you've already met him, you two can go in and tell him the plan. I will wait out here for now."

"Of course.  Nature was one of the few friends I had growing up.  I cannot think of not respecting them for all they've done for me.  They give such wonderful advice and are such wonderful listeners..." she said with a warm smile and looking down at her paws.  She then looked back up when Alignak said that they were there.  "Okay.  We should be back out soon." she said.  She then opened the door and walked in.  "Hello again, Deniigi." she said happily.

"I sense Alignak waiting outside. He must have been having a good day. Normally, he would need hours of debate to get him to go anywhere after his rounds," Deniigi said, standing up to stretch, "Anyways, I assume you are here to pick me up. Best wait here a minute to warm back up, where we're going, heat is all but plentiful. Your 'friend' left earlier to take careof her part of the plan as well."

(I am becoming very busy, so I am very sorry for not posting very much the past month.  I've got AP summer homework for 2 classes and I'm currently getting ready for a family vacation that starts on Friday and ends on Sunday, so I'm not going to be able to post very much for a while.)

Goldenscale smiled.  "I don't really know how to react to him yet.  He has too much pride and he lets that get in the way of a lot, yet I also feel like he can be good as well.  Heis a very odd dragon and I cannot seem to understand him and his emotions.  I am glad though that he has been more willing today than most." she said.  She then went over by the fire and sat down, putting her hands near it.  "It would be best to warm ourselves up the best we could.  I don't really want to waste my magic unless I have to.  Hopefully Ahnah will be alright as well.  I don't want her to get hurt."

((That's fine. Life should always come first. Have fun on the vacation))

"I figure Aligak will want to speak with me about keeping you two over the night so I'll go out and talk with him to bide you two some time to warm up. As you said, no need in wasting your magic and energy now. You'll need as much of both as you can muster,"  he said "Don't worry if he decided to get violent with me. As a former shaman, I have healing magic that wll negate whatever he might throw at me." Giving a bow, Deniigi stepp out the front door to speak with his brother.

Sitting beside Goldenscale Midnight raised her wings up over the fire, the small formations of ice melting from the underside as she did so. "I don't know if I'll be able to handle being out there too much longer. Whatever we do, we need to make it quick or we'll both freeze out there," she said, taking a couple stone from her bag and setting them beside the fire to warm up, "You might want to warm up some heating stones while you're at it. They wont keep you warm for too long, but every second counts out here it seems."

Goldenscale nodded to Deniigi as he walked out, then torned back towards the fire.  She then sighed and looked over at Midnight.  "That is true, the snow and ice won't waste time and will make us freeze quickly." she said.  She then tilted her head at the thought of the heating stones.  "I did not think such a thing would work.  Of course stone does hold in heat, but I didn't think that others would use them for warmth." she said.

"I noticed that Alignak is carring several with him so that's where I got the idea. He seems to use come time of crystal though. I suppose crystal holds onto heat better," Midnight said, lining up several stones around the fire, "I don't know how long these stones will stay heated, but it will be better than nothing. They'll also grant us several seconds more than we would haave without."

(Sorry for not posting in so long.  I had to finish summer homework and I was sort of waiting for the first week of school to role over.  I will try to be more active though.)

Goldenscale gave a little squeak and nodded.  "Then I should probably get some as well.  I might have some in my bag if I look, otherwise, I will just look for some outside and try to heat them up quickly." she said, grabbing her bag to look for some stones.  She found only a couple of her favorite stones, and she was u sure of whether she should use them.  "I'll go outside to look for some more in a moment.." she finally said.

((It's fine, school and life are more important.))

"Deniigi probably has some extra stones on hand somewhere. We could probably ask him before we leave the village," Midnight said, taking a large piece of cloth and wrapping her stones up so they would retain heat, "I never thought we would end up out here."