Looking quickly up and giving speculation to the clouds, Dipak rose to his feet. Something was wrong. Reaching into the Aether, he pulled out his jacket and quickly wrapped it about himself, buckling the three belts so they were centered. He did this without pausing in his movement back towards the Life Tree. His fingers had long since learned to complete this task without the assistance of his brain. Once off the white trail, he paused. Going to the Life Tree had no more answers for him then there were here.

"What called me?" he asked himself.

Then he heard it.

"Dipak," Amser whispered.

He pulled a small string that hung from the inside top, right pocket of his jacket, the white one rather then the blue or black. A small charm fell into his hand. He wrapped the string around his wrist and tied it there. Then he reached into the Aether again and this time his hand returned empty. A moment later, the Aether folded and a large beast stepped out.

It standing next to him reminded of how young he currently was. He was even with its shoulder, but the last time he had ridden it they had been almost the same height. Dipak reached up and stroked his hand along the curve of its back.

"Miyu," he murmured.

The beast was white with short fur covering its body. It had a mane that ran from between the 2 horns at the top of its head down its back where it mingled with the longer fur covering its chest . The back of each leg also sported longer hair as did the end of its long tail. Its head was shaped like a lizard's with small blue eyes. Its three toed paws sported long, curved retractable claws. It was beautiful.

It laid down to allow Dipak to climb up onto its back. Dipak trailed his fingers through the air as Miyu began to run. At first, he let the beast run without direction and it chose to travel through the heart of Enaid. The other Fey there turned to watch the two of them pass. Afi was one of the few on lookers who was concerned. But then Dipak's fingers caught hold of the thin filament that he had been looking for. Pulling on it hard, he directed Miyu to follow the line.

Something that Amser had sent with the message of his need, it would now lead them to him. Dipak tried to push all thoughts from his mind. There was no way to predict what they were riding into. Instead, he tried to focus on remembering all the things that he had stowed away in the Aether. That little stash had saved his life more then once and had proven endlessly useful in less dire situations. But this list was vague and shrouded by his last death. He promised himself that once this current bit of strangeness settled down he would go in and take stock of what was there.

Miyu traveled quickly, easily gliding through the mortal plane, Aer, and then into the Aether. This allowed it to avoid the dangers that each plane presented. Thus, they traveled quickly. Dipak's thoughts had become tangled between reminiscing and worry, so he was startled when the beast stopped its fluid run. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around.

They were in a small field that held a single, degrading building that may have been a house once. It was hard to tell. The roof had completely folded in and the walls leaned heavily. There was marks that suggested fire. What was this place? What had drawn Amser here? If he had followed the stranger here, why had he become stranded? Dipak shook his head, pushing away the questions.

"Amser?" Dipak called, but wasn't surprised when there was no answer.

Starting in the building seemed as good a place as any. Looking in from the skewed door, he saw Amser laying face down on the floor. Dipak went to him and shook him while calling his name, but Amser did not rouse. Dipak tugged at his shirt and managed to get him rolled over onto his back. There was a pulse at his neck and he was breathing in quiet shallow inhalations. He was alive. But what now? Dipak took the man underneath the shoulder and tugged on him.

"Shit," Dipak said while silently cursing his child body.

He had not moved Amser an inch. He needed to get him back to Enaid so that the healers there could look at him. If he left him here, Amser could die. It seemed as though life was already receding from him. But he needed help. There was no way that he would be able to get Amser back by himself. He went back out to Miyu. He could send the beast to get help, but that would mean the time back to Enaid and the time back. Did Amser have it? There had to be a quicker way!

Going back into the broken down house, he looked around for something he could lift Amser with. His eyes fell on a small spider that was weaving a web in the corner beside the door. Gytha! He had only met her a short while ago within this life time, but he could think of no one else he could call upon. She had to help or Amser was doomed. He pulled the rotting table over to the door and climbed onto it, expecting it to collapse beneath his weight. But it held and he was able to reach the spider's web. He poked at it with his index finger and hoped that she would feel the magical trembling that he was trying to send.

"Gytha," he whispered.

Then he had to wait. He sat down next to Amser and pulled his head into his lap.

"What happened to you here?" Dipak asked.

He wished that Amser had called upon someone else to aid him. Not that Dipak felt unreliable, but in his current state of youth, he often felt that he fell short of the expectations of the other Fey. Did they not understand that his power would not come to him fully for another decade or perhaps a little more then that? Why had things come to this now? He hated himself in that moment and wished that he was like the others. Had he been a normal child of the Fey, no one would expect anything from him and he could know the freedom that childhood was supposed to offer.

He sighed. If he had been like other Fey, he would be dead. Long ago with his first death he would have simply ceased to be. And what of that? He rather liked being here and in that context was glad to be different then the others. But the price was watching the others fall away. And well, reliving childhood with each return. Sighing again, he settled himself against the decayed chair and was glad that it also supported his weight.

Then the air rippled and Gytha stepped out of hiding. How long had it been since he had called her? Checking Amser, he noted that there was still a pulse and breath still passed his lips.

"What do you want?" she growled.

He looked up at her hostile black eyes and cringed. Fear was a rare sensation for him, but she had the power to evoke it in him whenever she appeared.

"Amser is dying. I need help getting him onto Miyu. He needs to go back to Enaid," Dipak explained.

She looked them both over, standing still and beginning to fade into the back ground. Then she moved. Leaning forward she easily lifted Amser into her long arms, cradling him against her bare, masculine chest. Shifting on her wide, feminine hips she looked down at him expectantly.

"This way!" Dipak said as he scrambled to his feet and hurried through the door, leading her out to where Miyu waited.

She carried him over to the beast and draped him across the back. Then she scooped Dipak up and set him behind Amser.

"Go," she commanded.

"I'll remember this aid," Dipak stated as he turned Miyu around and coaxed it back into a run.

He did not glance back, knowing that she would have already melted into a state of invisibility and would not watch him leave. It seemed like time had paused. They rode, weaving through the realms with a burning urgency. Dipak struggled to maintain his human form. If he broke out into sparks now he feared that he would be whisked off Miyu's back and be left behind. But the pressure of emotions pushed outward and made his body tremble.

Suddenly, Gytha's long clawed fingers ran down his arm.

"Steady yourself," she said.

Her voice cut through him like ice. It froze him into this place and he was grateful that she had stayed with them, but he was unable to speak. He'd never felt so cold. Breathing heavily in white puffs, he clung to the beast's mane. They had to make it! He could not check Amser's pulse nor telling if he was still breathing, but he had to believe.

Then they arrived, running from the night of Erebos into the brilliant day of Enaid. Without pause, he directed Miyu to the Life Tree. Enaid was the only one he could think of. If she couldn't save him, who could? Once at the tree, he lept down and knocked firmly on the trunk. Gytha gathered Amser into her arms and carried him so that they were waiting at Dipak's side. The tree creaked open, Gytha went to step inside, but found herself unable.

"Lay him just past the threshold," Dipak said.

She obeyed. As soon as Amser had been deposited, the trunk closed. There was nothing left to do but wait and to pray to the Goddess for mercy. It was enough for Dipak to know that they were fighting to save Amser's life. But he also knew that there was more at stake here. Something had happened that was connected to the man that still marched circles in the Wandering Wood.

"What happened?" Gytha asked.

Emotion gripped Dipak and he could feel his child fear rush up. Tears came in a flood and he fell back onto his butt, covering his eyes. Grey and black sparks shot out of his skin and burned what they fell upon. Green and yellow sparks fell from his eyes with his tears. The feelings were too much and he felt his body coming undone.

Gytha roughly lifted him from the ground and sat him onto her hip. Her embrace was tight and painful while she walked laps around the tree. A deep rumbling came from her chest, vibrating comfortably. Clinging to her, he let himself break down.

Without realizing it, he slipped into sleep.