Chapter Nine (Heather)

The temperature dropped suddenly.  I pulled my cloak closer around me as snow began to blow in my face.  For a moment, I almost looked back at the warm rainforest we had just come from, but memories of carnivorous dinosaurs kept me moving forward.  Snow was better than becoming a dino snack any day.  Or dragon snack, for that matter.

Chapter Eight (Tim)

Heather and I surveyed our surroundings.  Just as the amulet showed, we were in some sort of rainforest.  We were in a particularly dense part of the forest, so we pushed through the flora until we reached a clearing.  There was a lake in front of us.  The planet’s star was directly overhead.  Heather said “Who turned the lights on?  Wasn’t it night time just a moment ago?”

Chapter Seven Part 2 (Still Heather)

I sat at the table in our cell, poking at the meal the guard had served us.  My appetite had left me after the hours of questioning.  I glanced irritably across the room at Tim, who was sitting on one of the beds.  He appeared lost in thought as he picked at the fuzz on the blanket.  Finally, I could stand it no longer.  “I told you to stay off the grass,” I muttered.  “There was a sign right there and everything.  You should have listened to me.”

Chapter Seven (Heather)

Our “hearts’ desires”, huh?  Tim sure was quick to jump on that.  


I mused on the situation as I made my way through the world-wood for the third time.  The word Renolia floated through my mind in search of something to connect to.  I pushed it away irritably, choosing instead to focus on the Gatekeeper and his promise.  Who was that guy?  And what did he know about what my heart desired?  Shoot, most days I wasn’t 100% sure.  The memory of that toy dog in the ash heap surfaced again and I began to tear up at the thought of it.  At the moment, I wanted nothing more than justice for that destroyed neighborhood.  And if that meant confronting some so-called “Crusher of Worlds”, so be it.

Chapter Six (Tim)

“Yeah, no thanks,” said Heather, clearly fed up with adventure.  She left the passage and I followed.  Later on I opened a restaurant themed after otherworldly meals.  Heather was the waitress.  We never left Earth again.  

Yeah right.

Chapter Five (Heather)

I followed Tim into the passage.  “Just no more dragons, that’s all I ask,” I muttered as we stepped through.  “And no Shelob-sized spiders, either.  Anything else, I’m up for.”  I glanced down, careful not to tread on the hem of Tim’s cloak in front of me.  The ground was becoming rocky underfoot.  I pushed my own cloak back over my shoulder as the air grew suddenly stifling.  Like an oven.

Chapter Four (Tim)

At the time, I was glad Heather fell for it.  I wasn’t planning on guiding her any time soon.  But what she said got me thinking.  What if we could find another way to Renolia?  I hadn’t been there since I was “born.”  Even though I never really knew them, I really missed Catherine and Theo.  Especially Catherine.  I could stand to not see Theo.