Chloe Cloudrunner was a very pretty squirrelkin, although her lack of interest
in her appearance tended to show. Her fur was the bright white of freshly fallen
snow, soft as the down on a baby duck. Often, she would wear ribbons of vibrant
purple, to match her eyes. She was cheerful and friendly, always energetic and
always full of an insatiable curiosity. Her snowy fur could usually be seen full
of twigs, burrs, and mud, evidence of a long day spent running through the
forest looking for adventure. Today, however, she was not out adventuring, for
today was her thirteenth birthday. Her parents had convinced her that birthday
parties were quite as much fun as adventuring, but Chloe had second thoughts
about that after being made to wear a dress.

Despite her distaste for the purple silk dress she wore, the weather was warm
and clear, all of her friends were there, and she was enjoying slice after slice
of richly frosted cake. The party was being held in a huge clearing in the
woods, with people and food and entertainment filling every inch. On one side,
an illusionist wove shimmering veils of light in the air, shaping them into
fantastic shapes. The other side hosted a small group of musicians, whose fine
fingers flew over their strings, filling the air with the sweet sound of music.
Aromas of food and wine drifted out over the clearing from tables laden with
dishes of every sort, and the low murmur of conversation was often broken by
laughter.

After a few hours, though, Chloe was growing bored. She decided to slip out into
the forest for a bit, to take a walk and maybe burn off some of her boundless
energy. Taking leave of her friends to go refill her cup, she crossed to a
quieter corner of the party and, checking to see that no one was watching, was
up a tree in a flash, springing from branch to branch and heading away into the
woods. After a bit she dropped back to the forest floor, humming a jovial tune
as she skipped through the trees, watching her path with only half her
attention, daydreaming of exploring strange lands and fighting fierce battles.
After nearly an hour of traipsing along, peering under bushes and jumping from
branch to branch among the treetops, she began to grow tired. Seeing the glimmer
of the sun on the waters of the lake in the distance, she was struck with the
thought that going for a swim would be a lovely way to end the afternoon. She
could stretch out on the soft green grass around the shore afterwards and take a
nap while her fur dried. So, after carefully arranging the contents of her
pockets under a nearby bush, that is exactly what she did.

-=-

The sun hung in the sky, a huge ball of molten gold near the horizon, when the
lazy hum of bees was interrupted by the thumping of a drumbeat. Deep and
resonant, the sound carried throughout the valley, and the people of Tolborolla
heard its call and set aside their work to follow it. They formed a loose crowd
in the centre of town, the clan leaders slipping quietly into the garden
Arella's home. In the garden she sat before the Font of Lollabrilla, keeping the
drumbeat steady while she waited for everyone to arrive. Soon enough, when they
were all standing before the Font, she set aside her drum and stood, slowly and
carefully, and they could hear her joints protest at this treatment.

"You know why I have called you here?" she asked, with the air of ritual.

"We do," they replied, in the same even tone.

"Do the Lakehearts stand with us this day?" Arella inquired, and a tall
rabbitkin stepped forward and answered affirmatively. So it was with each clan.
When they had finished with the formalities, she smiled. "Perhaps this time,
we'll hear word of them." She turned to the Font, stepped back into line with
the others, and they joined hands.

-=-

"Did you see Chloe sneaking off again?" A petite red-furred squirrelkin neatly
sidestepped a tae'dae balancing a huge slice of cake on his plate and walked
over to take a seat next to her husband. "Leaving her own party this time! It's
disgraceful."

"Ah dear, don't worry, you know how the girl is. Can't sit still for longer than
a minute. Look," he said, gesturing to a weary looking group of young furrikin
and tae'dae cubs, "she's tired them all out already. They'll be laying down for
naps while she's out adventuring, I've no doubt."

The woman sighed and leaned her head against the soft grey fur of his shoulder.
"I should be used to this by now, I suppose. Born to make a mother worry,
though, no doubt of that."

He chuckled and hugged her gently. "Sure and she is. But come on, love, there's
entertaining to be done." With a roguish smile he added, "I heard Lomessa
complimenting your brownies, says she would simply love the recipe."

She rolled her eyes skyward and heaved a dramatic sigh, but smiled as he led her
away from the bench and back into the party. Chloe would be fine, she knew that,
and there was no use letting a good party go to waste with worrying.

-=-

Tomen was collecting acorns in the forest when the drumming began. It rolled
through the valley like lazy thunder, pulsing steadily in the warm autumn air.
He dumped a handful of the nuts into his satchel and hopped back toward the
village as fast as his powerful legs would carry him. He could see people from
around Tolborolla heading back toward town, by themselves, or in small groups
chatting merrily amongst themselves. He fell in with a tae'dae back from the
apiaries and soon they joined the mass of people waiting to hear word of the
ritual.

They'd done this before, each time getting a message from the spirit of Lake.
Still, people hoped for something more, some sign of the forest and the people
of it, some token to show that they yet lived on. While no one living today knew
the pain of that loss, it was scarcely a few generations into the past, and it
lived in the collective memory of the valley as if it had happened yesterday.

As the time passed, people brought out picnic baskets and spread blankets, and
there was much to eat and to drink, and stories and gossip to be heard. Tomen
sat with his friends and listened to Bero tell the story of how he'd sneaked
deep into Newt Hollow and stolen a pailful of slime, and how he'd terrorized the
valley with a hive of mutant bees. Tomen seemed to remember nothing more than
Bero coming home crying, with a hideously large bee sting, but he was content to
let him boast.

After an hour, with the last of the setting sun casting long shadows over the
gathering, they heard raised voices, and they clustered around the garden gate
to await word of the ritual. Expecting the clear, liquid tones of the nature
spirit, they were surprised to hear a loud splash instead.

-=-

Chloe was woken by a strange tingling sensation that spread all across her body,
from her bushy tail to the tips of the toes. She stirred and opened her eyes,
only to be suddenly submerged in a pool of icy water. What started as an
indignant yelp turned into something more like, "Glurgh!" In the process of
splashing around and getting her head above water, she managed to roll out of
the pool and land with a thump on the ground, several feet lower than where she
had started. She found this odd, since the lake was, of course, not floating
anywhere above the ground.

She stood and shook the water out of her fur, bringing her tail around in front
of her and wringing out the smoothing down the spiky tufts of wet fur. It was
only then that she looked up into the equally surprised faces of a semicircle of
damp furrikin and tae'dae, all looking quite thunderstruck.

"Hmph!" she snorted, glaring at them, and glanced over her shoulder to peer at
the Font. "What's going on here? Tossing a girl in a fountain, and on her
birthday too! You should be ashamed of yourselves." When no one seemed willing
to step forward and apologize, she stuck a hand on her hip and swept the other
in a wide gesture, encompassing all of the observers. "I'm going back to the
commune and telling my father that you stole me away and tried to drown me.
You'll be sorry then!"

Arella finally stepped forward, coughed a few times to clear her throat, and
asked, "What's your name, dear?"

"Chloe Cloudrunner."

Glancing around at the people gathered next to her, and clasping her hands
together tightly, Arella continued, "And where is it that you come from?"

Chloe peered at her suspiciously, then took a step back, pressing herself
against the font behind her. "Ackleberry, of course."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Later that night, Tomen sat in the kitchen with Chloe and his mother, sipping
tea and nibbling on a biscuit. A fire crackled in the hearth, spreading warmth
and the smell of hearty vegetable stew around the room. Chloe ate with the
vigour of a growing child, working her way steadily through a huge bowl of stew,
glancing curiously at everything in the room, her gaze flicking most often to
Arella and Tomen.

Tomen, for his part, stared at Chloe, his eyes drinking in her smooth white fur,
bushy tail, and shining blue eyes. This was a girl from another world, and he
regarded her with the interest due such a creature. In his mind he invented
adventures and quests for them, from piracy on the Inner Sea to training with
the Tosha monks.

"You've caused quite a stir, Chloe. Ackleberry is but legend to us these days."
She swirled her tea in its mug and peered into it to avoid the young
squirrelmaid's eyes. "I'm sorry. We never meant to summon you. Your family must
be worried sick."

"They'll be fine, I'm sure. Our forest is safe enough. I've run off before,"
Chloe said, her tail twitching guiltily. "I've been in trouble, but never
danger."

Arella grinned slightly at the youthful surety of that statement. "Be that as it
may, the question now is how to get you back home."

"Already?" blurted Tomen, who then looked at Chloe before turning back to plead
with his mother. "Mum, she just got here! Let her stay a bit."

She reached over and stroked his ears gently. "You will have time to play
together, Tomen. We don't know how to send her back. It will take time."

"What is to become of me, then?" Chloe asked.

"Tomen will show you around Tolborolla tomorrow. You will not leave the valley
or go into Newt Hollow. This world is not as safe as yours, my dear."

-=-

"She is but a child. Her presence tells us much. What more can we learn from her
if we keep her here? Ackleberry lives on, she is proof of that. But she is 13
years old and away from her parents and all she knows. We brought her here, and
it is our job to send her back." Arella gazed purposefully around the room,
silently daring anyone to question her.

"And how are we going to do that? We know the ritual to summon Lake, but we're
not great mages or planar scholars." A crimson furred foxkin shrugged and
spread her hands wide. "This matter is beyond our ken."

"Then we take her to those who are. It happens that my sister married a tae'dae
of Serenwilde. She can get us an audience with the Serens. If anyone can solve
this mystery, it is them."

"The same Serenwilde that abandoned Ackleberry in the first place?" A large male
tae'dae stood up in the back of the room. "I won't run to them for help."

Arella sighed and turned to him. "Rolm, the people of Ackleberry weren't
children hiding behind their mothers' skirts. They made their own choice.
Everyone had their own problems with the spread of the Taint. Serenwilde risked
themselves by not joining Ackleberry. You can't blame them for being lucky
enough to survive intact." She faced the rest of the room again. "I may lead
Tolborolla, but my word is not law. It is up to you to decide our course of
action here. All who wish us to ask the Wilde for help, please stand."

-=-

Chloe perched on a low branch in an oak near a large pond. Below her, Tomen had
spread a cheerful yellow blanket on the carpet of newly fallen leaves. They had
been out most of the day and the sun hung low in the western sky.

"This isn't much different from home, really," she said before cracking an acorn
with her strong front teeth.

"What's it like?" Tomen asked. "Ackleberry, I mean."

Laying along the branch and cradling her head in her arms, she looked down at
him, then around the oak grove. "Ackleberry is a proper forest, to start with,"
she replied. "We have a lot more trees, and they're larger. Older, maybe, I
dunno. The lake is huge, not like this little pond." She glanced at him, then
added, "not that your trees or pond aren't nice. We haven't got the mountains
all around. The light here's different too. Brighter, it seems. Back home the
sun is more red then yellow."

"It sounds wonderful," Tomen said, a little wistfully. "Nothing exciting ever
happens here. The summoning was interesting the first few times, but Lake always
says the same sort of things."

"The lake talks to you?" she asked, in a tone that suggested he may have been in
the sun too long.

"Not the lake itself, silly. Anyway, as you said, ours is only a pond. It's the
spirit of Lake, from Ackleberry. The elders get together every so often to call
it out of the Font and ask about the lost forest. I've never heard it give more
than vague advice or warnings, though. Sometimes I doubt whether it's the same
spirit as Ackleberry had, or if another one showed up to fill in after they
left."

Chloe pondered this in silence for a bit, but soon grew restless. "Your mother
said we weren't to venture beyond the valley or go into Newt Hollow. What's Newt
Hollow?"

"It's a cave near here. It's full of lizards and bugs and such. Floods,
sometimes, if the pond rises a bit. I've only been in there a few times, the
only people that usually go in are the ones who clean it up. When it's been
really wet, weird slime gathers." He made a quick warding gesture with his hands
and shuddered. "It changes things."

"Changes them? What do you mean? How bad can it be?"

"The stuff that lives there, it gets bigger, bigger and stronger. But they're
not right any more. They get vicious. I was attacked once by a huge mosquito out
of the Hollow, must have been a foot long. They're annoying normally, when
they're that big they're downright dangerous."

She looked interested now. Sitting up and swinging her legs off the branch, she
dropped to the ground next to Tomen. "Can we go see?" Chloe saw his eyes go wide
and tried to soothe him. "We needn't go in, of course. I just want to see it
from the outside."

He still looked doubtful, but didn't object when she pushed him gently along. He
took the lead soon enough and her down past the pond to a large opening in a
rocky outcrop. The entrance was occupied by a stagnant puddle of muddy water and
ominous buzzing came from within. His long ears twitched and he shifted
nervously when he heard it. Chloe, on the other hand, was gripped with a sense
of curiosity and the urge to explore.

It wasn't until Tomen put a hand on her shoulder and hissed in her ear that she
realized she'd been edging closer to the entrance. She shook her head to clear
it and patted him reassuringly on the arm. "I'm not going in, I'm just looking."
She turned back around and peered into the gloom. It was darker inside then she
would have thought, the edge of the stone blocking the rays of the setting sun
and casting shadows over the entrance of the cave. Closing her eyes for a
moment, she held her hand in front of her and concentrated mightily until she
managed to conjure a small ball of faeriefire in her palm.

"How did you do that?" Tomen asked, seemingly impressed not so much with the
feat itself as by the fact that she could do it.

"My mother is a priestess in the Lake coven. She's been training me a bit." She
let herself feel a small thrill of pride before she cast the flickering
prismatic flames into the cave. In the pale rainbow light, they could see the
cave winding down into the earth, with a few small lizards and frogs hopping
deeper into the shadows to avoid the light. "Doesn't look dangerous to me," she
stated dubiously.

"It's been cleaned recently and it hasn't rained much. Just enough to get our
feet wet standing in this filthy puddle. It takes a while to build up." He
winced and slapped at his leg as something bit him. "If we're not going in, and
we're -not- going in, can we get out of here before we get eaten alive by
perfectly normal stinging insects?" She agreed, and they started back to the
village.

-=-

The next evening they sat in Arella's garden, a few torches and candles
spreading a cosy light over the small gathering. "We've come up with a plan,
Chloe, that we think will help get you home." Arella smiled at her and passed a
small pot of jam across to the young squirrelkin. "The Moondancers have taken an
interest in your case and they're better suited to the task then we are."

"You're getting rid of me?" She pushed her chair back and stood up, staring at
Arella. "But I was just starting to have fun!"

"We're not getting rid of you, not the way you mean, Chloe." She sighed and
added, "We are trying to help, that's all. You had friends and family in
Ackleberry. We have no right to keep you here."

Chloe sat back down, but she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've heard some
bad things about Serenwilde. Some people at home don't seem to like it."

"Serenwilde couldn't or didn't help Ackleberry. No one now can say for sure
which it was. But they've done good work since then. Times were hard when the
Taint came, it's not fair to blame anyone for what they did back then.
Especially," she added, "at second hand. Tomorrow, you'll journey to their
forest and meet the priestess of the Moon coven. Be proud, dear, she doesn't see
just anyone."

Tomen leaned forward eagerly. "Mother, may I go along with her? I've never been
farther than Estelbar. I'd love to see the forest. And you can't just take Chloe
away already, I just met her!"

"If you wish. It's not a long trip and I have no dire need of you here in the
next few days. I expect you to be on your best behaviour, though, Tomen. You
will be representing Tolborolla; it wouldn't do to make us look like bumpkins,
understand?"

"Yes mother. Thank you!" He got up and hugged her, bouncing with happiness. The
night wore on, the darkness of the village disturbed only by the sound of
crickets and laughter and murmuring conversation from the glowing garden in the
centre of town.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The morning dawned bright and clear, the sky a cloudless expanse of brilliant
blue and the sun's rays burning off the dew. Tomen bounced out of bed eagerly
and was washed and dressed before a sleepy Chloe rolled over and groaned,
throwing up an arm to block out the morning light. He went to her and got her
up, alternately cajoling and bullying, and within the hour they joined Arella at
the breakfast table.

"Good morning, mother!" Tomen said, sitting down and grabbing a stack of
pancakes. Chloe, still a bit grumpy but noticeably more alert, took the chair
beside him and accepted a glass of milk from his mother.

"Good morning, you two!" Arella replied, bustling about serving breakfast and
putting two large packs in order, topping them off with bread and cheese and
dried meats. "Are you both ready to go?" They both nodded, and she continued.
"We'll be meeting the Serenwilde delegation in Estelbar, and then they'll escort
you both to the forest. We'll head out after breakfast."

As they finished the meal, Arella filled Chloe in with what she would need to
know about Serenwilde and the current state of the world, with Tomen
interjecting every so often. After they finished, the children picked up their
packs and followed the older furrikin as she made her way to the edge of town
and eventually reached the main highway outside the valley.

The trip to Estelbar was uneventful, though at times Arella had to call Chloe
and Tomen back from exploring the country the road ran through, or to stop them
swimming across the Toronada. Chloe was filled with restless energy and the
curiosity of youth, and fed in Tomen the same, but they arrived safely in
Estelbar as the sun was nearing its zenith and no longer shining in their eyes.

As they entered the village, Chloe gazed around in wonder. Estelbar was almost
twice as large as Tolborolla, and wasn't built among and in the trees like
Ackleberry. The vast fields and orchards of the farming community were larger
than any she'd seen at home, which subsisted mostly on fish, wild game, and
small family gardens.

"Stop and rest here in the square. I'll let them know we're here," Arella said,
hopping toward a large building to the north.

They sat down in the soft grass in the centre of the square, leaning against a
large marble statue of an elfen woman surrounded by fae of all sorts. Digging
into their packs, they produced bottles of water and hunks of pale white cheese,
eating an bit of lunch as they waited for the grown-ups.

"Tomen!" Across the square, a group of tae'dae cubs had spotted the young
furrikin, and they rushed over to climb in his lap and hug him; a small girl
with a pink ribbon on her head even tugged on his ears. He fell onto his back,
laughing amidst the heap of tae'dae. Chloe smiled and reached out a paw to help
him up.

"You seem to have quite the group of friends, Tomen."

"This is Del," he said, gesturing to a pitch-dark cub to his left. "The cub
sucking his paw is Mots, and this," he continued, kneeling down and resting a
paw on the girl with the bow, "is Dahlia." Chloe smiled an greeted the children
cordially. They were just finishing the story of how she came to be there when
Arella returned with two elfen following behind.

"Galadwen, Emor, this is my son Tomen," she said, waving a paw at him. He made a
low bow, almost losing his balance. "And this is Chloe Cloudrunner, of
Ackleberry." Chloe curtsied to each of them. "Children, these are Galadwen
Talnara and Emor Mes'ard, leaders of the Moondancers and Hartstone,
respectively." They both inclined their heads to the children. Arella continued,
"Both of you pay them the respect they deserve and be on your best behaviour.
I'm going back to Tolborolla to let the clans know that you're both safely on
your way."

"Arella, we have a mushroom circle in Tolborolla, if you wish to travel that
way." Galadwen reached into her robes and offered a handful of irridesent spores
to her.

"Thank you, m'lady, you are most kind." She took them, placed them on the back
of her hand, and snorted them into her nose, popping out of existence a moment
later in a shower of bright sparkles.

Emor smiled at Chloe and Tomen. "If you come this way, we have a luncheon laid
out for you." The four of them chatted as they walked down the street toward a
small building by the apple orchard. Before they got there, though, Galadwen's
eyes snapped upward, scanning the horizon. It was a few seconds before the rest
of them saw it, but then it became clear, three dark figures racing toward them,
skimming low over the treetops to the southeast. Without taking his eyes off
them, Emor said, "Galadwen, are those Moondancers?"

"No, m'lord, they are not." She murmured a few words too softly for the others
for the others to hear and shot out her hand. Through an open window of the
building, a broomstick came flying into her hand. As Chloe watched in wonder,
the air around them shimmered and close to a dozen fae appeared. Emor knelt on
the ground, placing both palms on the bare earth, and a brilliant green flash
spread out around him, outlining for a brief moment a vast, ethereal forest.

"I need to see to the demesne. Can you guard the children?" She nodded, and he
turned to the tae'dae cubs. "Back into the house now, all of you! Come along,
quickly now!" he said, following them across the square and shooing them back
into the building before setting off toward the orchards.

Galadwen turned to address Chloe and Tomen. "We need to get you to Serenwilde,
and swiftly. This is not a place now for non-combatants." As if to prove her
point, a small arrow landed quivering in the dirt at her feet. The pixie at her
shoulder returned fire with its bow as she continued. "We have an enchanted
painting near here that will do the job, if we can get to it. Quickly now, down
this street, then to the left. I will keep guard." As she said this, she mounted
her broom and kicked off into the air, hovering above their heads.

They hurried down the street, Galadwen following close above with her fae. Tomen
called to her as they went. "Who is attacking the village? Why Estelbar?"

"They are here from Glomdoring, probably after farmers for Acknor," she replied,
"but we can't be sure that Chloe isn't a target; Crow is a crafty spirit." She
swerved suddenly as the largest faeling Chloe had ever seen dove at her from
above, his swords flashing in the bright sunlight. Before he could come around
for another pass, Galadwen stretched out her hand and a blossom of brilliant
argent light sprang from her palm to strike him in the back. "Go!" she yelled,
and urged her broom forward to lead the way. They needed no urging, however, and
turned to sprint down the street. Behind them, though, two more faeling warriors
had landed, each wielding wickedly sharp blades. Chloe grabbed Tomen by the arm
and spun them both in a swift circle, willing a hazy bubble into place around
them. As the first warrior lunged at them, the shield deflected his blade, but
barely, as if it were a thick cushion instead of a hard barrier. The next swing
came a second after the first, and the bubble disintegrated with an audible pop.

Seeing the children's plight, Galadwen tugged a dagger from her belt and
gestured sharply with it at the faeling who hadn't attacked yet, the ground
beneath his feet flashing with a verdant luminescence, then surging upward,
thorny vines shooting up and around his legs and entangling him in a mass of
thick vegetation. The other warrior was struggling to regain his balance with a
brownie darting about between his legs. Before he could recover, another ball of
silver light glanced off the side of his head and knocked him off his feet
entirely. As the vine-clad faeling struggled free, a tiny arrow lodged in his
chest, causing his eyelids to flutter and his head to sag sleepily, but he shook
his head groggily and started toward them again.

Not eager to continue fighting outnumbered, Galadwen and the others darted off
down the street. Chloe and Tomen came around the corner at a run, almost
ploughing into a huge, armoured tae'dae. They skidded to a halt behind him as he
charged into a group of farmers that stood in a strangely docile group in the
middle of the street. They scattered as he charged through them, thrown aside by
his massive frame. Behind them stood a hooded figure, who managed to run a few
steps before a paw larger than his head slammed into the side of his knee, which
bent to the side with an audible crunch as the man fell to the ground screaming.
From behind them they heard the clatter of blades, turning in time to see the
faeling warriors they had run from engaged in combat with a an elfen wielding
two battered hammers. Seeing Galadwen and the tae'dae looking toward them, they
kicked off the ground and flew across the rooftops to the south, apparently
deciding that they didn't fancy a more even fight.

Galadwen turned back and alighted on the ground before the bear. "How goes the
battle, Rolos?" she shouted, then kicked the fallen man sharply in the head,
silencing him, so she didn't have to continue yelling.

"Emor and a group of centaurs have pushed them from the orchards. They don't
have a large group and we have reinforcements teleporting in as fast as they
can. A few farmers were taken, though. We've begun planning a rescue mission."
He removed his helm and wiped sweat and blood from his forehead with the back of
a paw. "We should have them back soon enough. It's unusual, though, for
Glomdoring to be here in such force. They're usually stealthier about their
raids."

"Too true. When you're done with Acknor, we need to find out what they were
doing here in such force. For now, though, my task is to get these children
safely to the 'wilde. Is our painting still intact?"

"Aye, priestess, they kept mainly to the fields, though I had to teach a few of
the braver ones the folly of picking a fight with a Serenguard. Your trip should
be uneventful."

"Thank you, Rolos." She beckoned to the children, ushering them into a large
front room in a building off the street. "That painting on the far wall there,
of the three Moon Avatars? Lay your hands on that and concentrate a bit, it's
not hard at all." She watched as the two children layed their paws on the
painting, placing hers beside them, and in a few seconds they shimmered out of
view.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Through the tower window, Chloe could see the broad green expanse of the
Serenwilde stretching before her, the river cascading down the cliffs and
winding its way through the verdant woods, the full moon casting a silver glow
over the whole scene.

"Do you think I'll ever get home, Tomen?" she said, turning away from the window
and glancing over at her companion.

"If we managed to summon you here, Chloe, I don't see why we can't put you back.
They're find a way, I'm sure."

"It's been a week already. I hate being shut up in this tower. I've explored
every bit of it, top to bottom. If I'm going to be stuck here, I want to explore
the world." She sighed and turned back to gaze out the window, resting her
elbows on the windowsill and cradling her head in the hands. "There's so much of
it. It makes Ackleberry feel so small."

"Maybe when things settle down a bit. You're still such a curiousity. Have you
seen the way the novices look at you, all wide-eyed?" Tomen chuckled a bit as
she blushed slightly, then jumped at a knock on the doorframe.

"Speaking of novices, it's about time to be in bed, children." Galadwen smiled
at them both from the doorway, then beckoned to Tomen. "Come, Tomen, you can
chat with her more tomorrow."

He walked to the doorway, then turned and waved. "Good night, Chloe, sweet
dreams!"

She smiled at him and waved back, "G'night, Tomen. Talk to you tomorrow."

Chloe climbed into bed, pulling the fluffy quilts up around her chin and gazing
out at the full moon. Soon, her eyelids grew heavy and she rolled over and fell
asleep. The moon slowly set over Moondance Tower, the myriad stars twinkling
alone in the night sky, and a young furrikin dreamt of a new world to explore.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-