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probably put the skeletons in the temple deliberately, as some sort of guard. They have no wills of their own, so it’s easy to control them.”
    He paused to make sure his explanation was clear.
    â€œI almost died down there,” Nakor admitted. “My magic was useless, and one of them slashed me in the side. The other one cut my legs. After that, it’s a hazy memory of crawling away and waiting for the others to find me.”
    â€œEventually, they discovered the open trap door and came down to find me.”
    He looked at Galadrion for a while. “Almost everyone who was with me in that temple is dead now.” He closed his eyes, the pain of those deaths still strong within his heart. When he spoke again, it was in a quiet, hesitant voice.
    â€œIt scares me to think that could happen again.”
    They were both silent for a while. Then Galadrion spoke. “You were only asleep for a couple of hours. You should go and get some more rest.”
    Nakor nodded, once. Then he squeezed Galadrion’s hand, which still rested on his shoulder, and stood up.
    Fear and concern momentarily forgotten, Nakor snuck back into his small room in the temple. As he lay down, he felt the weariness begin to overcome him once more. Within minutes, he was asleep.
    Galadrion watched sadly as he left. It felt good that Nakor had been able to trust her enough to admit being afraid. She herself had been unwilling to trust others for years, now. Nakor was the first who had begun to penetrate that shield of distrust, but even he was kept at a distance. It was the only way she knew to keep herself sane.
    For the first time in what seemed like forever, Galadrion thought about her husband. Devin had been a good man, but he had been weak. She had long since forgiven him for inviting a vampire into their home. Like Nakor, Devin had been a man who loved nature. She remembered once when he had woken her up in the morning and taken her out to the lake to watch the sun rise.
    Everything comes back to sunsets and sunrises!
    Tears stung Galadrion’s eyes, and she wiped them away without noticing. That morning with Devin had been less than a week before he was killed.
    The emotions were threatening to overwhelm her, now. Years of pain and loneliness fought to reach the surface. Angrily, Galadrion forced them down again, refusing to acknowledge such feelings. Clearing her mind, she turned to stare once more at the sun.
    After a while, her features softened again. Her memories buried once more, Galadrion allowed herself to relax somewhat.
    Hours passed. Galadrion continued to sit outside, marvelling at her rediscovery of the day. Pynne and Whoo both slept soundly, their exhausted bodies recovering from the exertions of the night before. And Nakor dreamed again.
    * * *
    Dazed, exhausted, and bleeding, Nakor pulled himself into the small room, leaving the scattered bones of the skeleton behind him. Once inside, he used all of his energy to heal the wound on his side.
    That’s right, it’s another dream-flashback!
    Examining his legs, he found that they had both received shallow slashes, with the right leg barely even scratched. He used a dagger to cut bandages from his cloak, and tied them around his injured thighs. Once that had been accomplished, he allowed himself to rest.
    Hours later, he heard a metallic clanking coming from the hallway. Nakor smiled, recognizing the sound of Scrunchy’s armor banging against itself as he walked. Using the door to pull himself to his feet, he walked out to rejoin his companions.
    They led him back to the trap door, berating him all the way for running off like that. Once they climbed out up through the hole in the ceiling, the scolding quickly stopped as they continued to search for the gems. But Nakor limped for the rest of his time in the temple.
    His vision blurred, and a moment later he stood in a grassy clearing. He blinked his eyes to clear them, then unwillingly took a step