After another week of waiting, I finally saw Lord Fowke as he was coming toward the inn with his Monitingo beside him. I hurried outside, making him stop short when he saw me in front of the inn but he came up to me after a moment, his Monitingo eyeing me suspiciously. "I'm still thinking of an answer for you. Just be patient." He pushed past me and went down the street, not giving me a chance to say anything. I sighed and went back into the inn, rejoining Collen and Thydune at the table.

"Did he say anything?" Collen asked as I sat.

"He is still thinking of an answer." Collen's face scrunched for a moment.

"Two weeks and he's still thinking. Now is the time to start becoming concerned."

"I still feel it would be wise for us to leave with a presumption that his answer is no. It has taken two weeks for him to deign this response, and he was hesitant to approach the inn when he saw me step out the door. Something is not right about the length of time he is taking for this response." The innkeeper came over and brought a glass of Barley Wine for Collen and waters for Thydune and I.

"I finally got him to speak to me about the alliance last night and told him to just accept it. Has he given his response to you yet?" Arlette asked quietly.

"I just saw him outside where he said that he was still thinking of it," I said softly, making Collen let out a heavy sigh.

"Let me see what I can do, alright? Can you be patient for a couple more days?" I nodded but wasn't happy that I was still waiting. Collen and Thydune spent the rest of the day down on the main floor of the inn, but I went to my room as soon as I was done with my lunch so I could avoid the man that'd sat at the table with me last week. Hoping to see if anyone would be difficult if they came to Gulonde, I reached out with my mind and touched everyone's mind that I could, sensing about 300 of the 450 people that were stiff toward the thought of elves and another 100 that were hesitant to the thought of my people. As the sun sank below the houses to the north of the inn, I went down to the ground floor for dinner before returning to my room to avoid the man's gaze again. Hoping to get a decent night of sleep, I laid on the bed and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep after a while.

"Princess Faylen," came a voice from somewhere. My eyes flew open as I gripped my small blade, ready to defend myself. "Princess Faylen, it's fine. It's the innkeeper, Arlette." I lowered my small blade and felt my face scrunch in concern as I looked at her. She kept nervously looking around and peeking out my door.

"What is it? What is wrong?"

"You need to leave. Now. King Betyn's soldiers are on the way and will be here within a week. My husband sent for them the day after your meeting with him." I grabbed my swords and quickly sheathed them, tugging out my travelling cloak as I looked up at the innkeeper.

"How do you know this?"

"I got him drunk and asked what was taking so long with the response to you. He said that he was waiting until Betyn's men got here so that he could stop the war. He's loyal to King Betyn, Princess Faylen. I'm so sorry. I never should have sent that word out for him. I truly thought he was willing to change his loyalty."

"It is not your fault. And you are saving myself, Thydune, and Collen Timms. Do not be sorry for this. I sensed something was wrong due to the length of time he was taking. Thank you for warning us. Will I be safe going through the city if I return to my elven features?"

"I'm taking you to the mines to get out of here faster. You'll be safe however you wish to look. No one in the city is up right now." I nodded.

"Will you go wake Collen for me? Tell him that if he wishes to see Aviryll again, we must leave now." She nodded and hurried out my door as I changed back to my elven features. "Thydune, wake up. We must leave now."

"What is wrong, Faylen?"

"The human king has soldiers on the way and they will be here within a week. We have no alliance with Lord Fowke. He sent for them the day after we met to discuss the possibility."

"I am awake and ready to leave. Should I wake Collen while you ready yourself?"

"The innkeeper is waking him. I will meet you at the top of the stairs. You may return to your elven features as we will be travelling through the mines to escape." I cut the connection and pulled my travelling cloak around my shoulders, then tugged out Thydune's cloak and the spare that I had brought before I left the room. I handed Thydune's cloak to him as I reached the stairs since he was already waiting for me. I turned to see Collen just stepping out of his room and passed the spare cloak to him. "Put it on. It will keep you dry and warm."

"Let's get you three out of here before the soldiers arrive. Follow me." We followed Arlette out of the inn and down an alley toward the Fallen Spires, seeing Monitingos darting any direction they could to get away from Thydune and I. As we got closer to the entrance of the mines, I saw a figure standing just inside the tunnel with a lit lantern. "Good. Tarlisa is here. She knows how to get through the mines."

"Were you followed, Mother?" she asked quietly as we approached. Arlette shook her head and Tarlisa seemed to relax a little. "Follow the main tunnel for two weeks, then take the tunnel to the far right and stay in that tunnel for another week. You'll come out on the other side of the Fallen Spires. Take the lantern so you have light. It's going to be cold and damp the further in you are. Just when you feel like you can't take it anymore, it'll start to warm up and you'll know you're heading the correct direction. When the candle flickers out, you will see the light at the exit of the mines." I took the lantern and saw marks on one side of the glass that were marking days.

"If the lantern goes out, how are we to avoid holes in the ground?" I asked.

"There's no holes in the ground of the mines." I nodded.

"Understood. Thank you both. You have saved our lives and the future of all the elves in Gulonde. You, Tarlisa, and any who are willing to follow you will be welcome at Gulonde," I said looking at Arlette. "I will state now that if Lord Fowke arrives at the city, he will be killed on sight so do not attempt to bring him. He cannot be trusted and has already shown that. If you choose to come to us, ask for me and do not fear the elves that meet you at the gate. Their guard will be high when we return with this news. Open housing is already constrained, but I will find a place for all those that wish to join us." Arlette nodded.

"Thank you, Faylen. Oh, I almost forgot. Here's some packs of food and water pouches. I filled them with everything I could to keep you from going hungry on the way home since nothing grows in the mines." She nervously looked behind her. "I don't want to see any of you caught, so you have to go. I'll tell my husband and the soldiers that your rooms were empty when I went in to check on my guests at the inn." We nodded as we took a pack of food and a water pouch each, then took off through the mines, going as quickly as we could to get as far away from Dorione as possible.

We ate and drank while we travelled, not stopping for anything more than a short nap for Collen to help him keep his strength up. After two weeks, we came to a split in the tunnel and Collen looked around at the four tunnels ahead of us. "Which way do we go?" he panted out.

"Tarlisa said to follow the tunnel on the far right for a week. We are almost out. Hold onto your strength, Collen," I said softly as I set a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm trying to. Just promise that if I don't make it back, you'll return my body to Aviryll." I touched his mind to see how much strength he had left, and was surprised to feel that he had a reserve of untapped energy.

"You will make it back. I do not need to make that promise." Collen didn't look sure, but didn't try to argue with me either. "When we return to Gulonde, take him to the healing rooms immediately and have Tsarra make him some Caffetaxime before allowing him to return to Aviryll."

"I will. Let us continue on our way." I motioned for him to take the lead and let me travel beside Collen for a while. He set off for the last week of our journey through the mines, and Collen and I followed.

"How do you know I'll make it, Faylen? I've never done this much travelling at such a high speed. And with my age, I can't take it much longer. Humans only live to 70 or 80 years old if they've had a good and easy life. I've had a hard life so my time is shortened."

"You have a store of untapped energy, Collen. I can sense it in you when I touch your mind. You need to release it. I understand he is younger than you, but Desmond was able to keep up with me for four days of running through Dragon's Veil when he got lost. He has the same reserve of energy as you. Tap into your energy store. Tsarra will restore it when we arrive back in Gulonde and before you return to Aviryll. You will be fine."

"To be honest, I don't believe that I have that extra energy store but I trust you, Faylen. I know you won't let me get hurt if it can be avoided."

We continued through the new mine tunnel for three days before I removed my cloak as Collen napped. Feeling the unbearably cold air, I quickly pulled my cloak back on. "Stay alert, Thydune. I know it has been almost three weeks since our last rest, but we must return to Gulonde as quickly as possible." Thydune nodded. "I'm going to run ahead a bit to see if it is warming up. We will wake him when I return." Thydune gave another nod and I took off in the direction we'd been heading. I ran until the muscles in my legs were burning from energy use, then stopped and removed my cloak, finding the air to be a bit warmer. Good. We are heading in the right direction. I tugged my cloak back on and made my way back to Thydune and Collen at a bit of a slower pace to keep from using all of my own energy. Thydune spun at the sound of my approach and began drawing his sword as I walked back into the round area where we'd stopped for Collen's nap.

"Are we heading the correct way?" he asked as he took his hand off his sword.

"Yes. There is warmer air ahead."

"But no light from the exit?"

"Tarlisa said that we would not see that until the lantern flickers out, and we have only been in the second tunnel for three days. We are not far from the exit, Thydune." I studied him for a moment and could see how tired he was. "When we return, have Tsarra make you a bowl of Caffetaxime as well, then go home and rest."

"But you will need aid at the wall if the human king's soldiers are close behind us."

"The gates and walls will be fine, as will I. You have your orders for when we return to Gulonde." He gave me a nod, but I could see that he wasn't happy about the order. "We will stop again for another rest for Collen when we exit the mines. I suggest you have a light rest then as well. I will rest on the following stop."

"Understood, Faylen. Thank you. I am doing my best to remain awake, but my body had gotten accustomed to nightly rest while we were in Dorione." I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant, since I was beyond tired and fighting rest as well. I knelt next to Collen and set a hand on his shoulder to wake him up.

"Collen, it is time to wake. We must continue our journey." He stirred and grumbled, but slowly got up. "We are nearing the exit and will stop again when we leave the mines," I said as he drank some water from his pouch. He nodded and stood, groaning as he straightened his back.

"It's hard getting old. Everything hurts. You two should stay young as long as you can and enjoy it while it lasts," he chuckled out. I gave him a light smile and we started off towards the warmer air that I'd found. Every so often, I'd remove my cloak to test the temperature of the air and started feeling it get warmer as the candle lowered to the just above the pool of melted wax, indicating that we had two days left before seeing the end of the mines. After a couple more days of travel, the light finally flickered out and we could see a small speck of light in the distance. "We are near the exit. Keep traveling toward the light ahead and we will be out."

"If you both have the energy, I can run to attempt reaching it faster," Collen suggested. I looked at Thydune, knowing that he was just as tired as I.

"Do you have the energy Thydune?" He gave a curt nod, but I knew it wouldn't be long before we were stopping. "Alright. Let us run as close to the exit as we can." We took off running, making sure to keep Collen next to us, but the light never seemed to grow nearer. We pushed ourselves as far as we could, but finally had to stop when our muscles felt like they were burning. "I cannot continue running. My energy is almost gone."

"Nor can I," Thydune said.

"Me neither," Collen panted out. "How much further is the exit? Geez."

"Given that we ran a good distance, it should be one more day at most in here." Collen nodded and picked up his water pouch. "No, Collen. It will turn your stomach right now. Wait for a short while and just breathe. The water will be there when your body relaxes, and you will not get sick from it." He nodded and dropped it by his side again. We continued walking but the light at the end of the tunnel disappeared at one point, startling us all. I reached as far ahead with my mind as I could as we stopped in our tracks, but felt nothing. "The sun must have fallen in the north. There are no minds ahead of us."

"That is good news. I would rather be surprised by the fall of the sun than be surprised by anyone coming in the exit of these mines," Thydune said as we started walking again. I placed a hand on the wall and kept moving forward, hearing Collen and Thydune behind me. Light began to flood the tunnel after a while and I removed my hand from the wall before noticing how close we were to the exit. I could smell fresh air that had a slight hint of salt and fish. I spun to look at Thydune and saw him nod.

"We are very close to the exit. You will be able to rest soon, Collen," I said, happy to finally be closer to my rest as well.

"Music to my ears." The light kept getting bigger until we finally stumbled out to find that we were halfway up the Fallen Spires with the sun beginning to fall in the north again.

"We will stop to rest now," I said as I turned to see Thydune and Collen. "And since we are so high up the mountains, we will stop again tomorrow so that none get injured on the descent. Just before we reach the bottom, we will stop one last time so all three of us get some rest, but for safety once we reach the bottom we will not be able to stop. We cannot risk the human king's soldiers reaching us while any are resting."

"I agree. I'll push through my exhaustion to keep from having to stop," Collen said with a nod.

"You will have to do this for three consecutive weeks, Collen." He nodded.

"I'll be fine." I nodded, and he and Thydune laid down to get some rest as I kept watch around us, enjoying the fresh air for the first time in three weeks. I let Collen and Thydune rest until the moon was at quarter height, then woke them both.

"It is time to continue." Thydune stood and stretched his arms as Collen slowly got up.

"These naps are getting hard to come out of."

"Your energy is beginning to wane. We will let you rest longer when we stop closer to the bottom of the mountains." He nodded and I helped him stand. "How do you feel, Thydune? Rested enough to return to Gulonde?"

"Yes. Thank you, Faylen. You will rest when the sun kisses the horizon in the north?" I nodded. "Good. You need rest as well. The lack of it is beginning to show." We started slowly making our way down the mountains, and by the time the sun rose to the middle of the sky, I was having trouble keeping my footing. "We will stop here. Faylen, you need to rest now. It can wait no longer."

"I will be alright until the sun-"

"I will not allow you to risk injuring yourself," Thydune said, speaking over me. "I was sent to protect you, but I cannot protect you from a lack of sleep that has continued for three weeks. If we keep moving, you will undoubtedly injure yourself so lie down and rest. Collen, I suggest you take advantage of this rest as well. I will keep watch." Before I could say anything, Thydune turned his back on Collen and I and began to patrol around a small area for our camp. I tried to touch his mind to argue, but couldn't reach him which told me that he'd locked me out and was set on this decision.

"You need to rest, Faylen," Collen said softly as he set a hand on my arm. "Even I don't want to see you get hurt, dear." I sighed and looked at Thydune again, but he wouldn't turn to look in my direction. "He cares for you, Princess. As do I. Lie down and rest." Caving in to my body's incessant demand for rest, Collen's requests, and Thydune's order, I laid down and quickly fell asleep.

"Faylen, it is time to wake. We must continue on our journey," came a soft voice next to me. I opened my eyes to see Collen already standing and Thydune kneeling next to me. "Feel rested enough to safely descend the mountains?"

"Yes. Thank you," I said as I sat up. "I did not expect that short of a rest to make this much difference in my energy." Thydune stood and offered a hand, helping me stand as I felt happiness eminate from him until I let go of his hand. I stretched and picked up my packs, setting them over my shoulder as we started descending the mountains in the dark again.

"Be careful. The ground is made of loose rock," came Thydune's voice from the front of the line. We kept heading down the mountain without stopping to rest for the next three days until we were nearly at the bottom. As the sky began to change colors with the falling of the sun, Thydune found a large boulder to hide our sleeping bodies behind and we all laid down to get one last good rest to prepare for our three week long restless journey. I kept my mind alert to listen for any sounds but let my body rest. Since every sound was catching my full attention and making my muscles tense, I gave up on the rest and decided to keep watch over Collen and Thydune while remaining behind the boulder. I had a small meal to restore some energy and stretched my mind to ensure that no one was near us. Sensing no humans or creatures, I stood and looked to see if I could find the road, finally seeing it about a quarter day's journey north.

Good. No extra time on our journey to reach the road. As the sky began to brighten, I woke Thydune and Collen.

"Time to wake. We should finish this journey." Thydune looked at me for a moment as he stood, stretching his arms.

"You did not rest, did you?"

"I did what little I could do." He sighed and gave me a hard look, but a chuckle made me turn to see Collen shaking his head and looking down. "What is funny?"

"Thydune, you look like a father scolding his child with that look," Collen said as he turned to look at me. "Will you be able to safely finish this journey, Faylen? Three weeks of no rest last time and you were stumbling down the mountain. We can't afford to stop once we leave the mountains."

"I will be fine. Let us go." I stood and led the way out of the Fallen Spires and north to the road, then turned and headed east to follow the road back to Gulonde, allowing Thydune to take the lead from there. Thydune and I were switching every seven days to allow the other a break from searching ahead for danger, and today was my last day in the front before we switched again. I could see the tops of the Dragon's Veil trees on the horizon. "We will be back in Gulonde in the next ten days," I said over my shoulder.

"Wonderful," came Collen's tired voice right behind me. I was getting tired again, but refused to acknowledge it or let Thydune see it.

"We should go ahead and switch, Faylen. I will scan ahead for danger." I nodded, wanting to keep him from seeing me start stumbling in exhaustion again. He passed by me and I fell into step next to Collen.

"He truly does care for you, Faylen," he whispered softly. "Probably more than you realize."

"There are many in Gulonde that care for me."

"I don't mean because you're the princess."

"I did not mean that either. However, just because they care for me romantically, does not mean I care for them romantically."

"Perhaps not, but I heard him start grumbling when you said that you hadn't rested back in the mountains. Only someone that truly loves another would be upset about the amount of sleep that the loved one missed."

"He came to protect me on this journey. It is natural for him to be upset that I did not rest as it will give him more to worry of if we are attacked." Collen looked at me in silence for a moment as we continued walking.

"Do you have romantic feelings for anyone, Faylen?"

"I have not yet decided on the one whom I will bond with, if that is what you are asking." I stumbled and Collen placed an arm in front of me, preventing me from falling. "Thank you," I whispered. "Please say nothing. I will be fine until we reach Gulonde as Thydune will probably want to lead the rest of the way home."

"I won't let you fall. Just do your best to stay awake." I nodded, silently accepting his deal. "Out of curiosity, how long can elves travel without sleep?"

"No more than three weeks if we wish to travel safely," Thydune said over his shoulder. "If we need to reach our destination as quickly as possible, we typically run and are able to safely travel at that speed for up to two weeks. If safety is ignored, we can travel up to four weeks or run for up to three weeks." Even though he hadn't come right out and said it, I knew he was scolding me for not sleeping back in the mountains.

"But Thydune ran to Gulonde from Llane Woods when he was younger though, a four week journey through the mountains. The amount of energy he used nearly killed him and he spent two days in the healing rooms for ignoring his safety for the extended amount of time," I said, reminding him that he once did worse than what I was doing.

"How did he survive?" Collen asked.

"My mother gave him four bowls of Caffetaxime to restore his energy over the two days he was in the healing rooms." Collen nodded as Thydune turned to face us, letting me feel anger come from him.

"What I did is not the same as what you are doing, Faylen. I was ordered to run to Gulonde as fast as I could and not look back. You are simply ignoring your body's need for rest."

"Yes, but we are walking to our destination, not running. No one told you that you could not stop for rest once you reached the Fallen Spires. Killing yourself from over-exertion while escaping the human king's attack would have been pointless as you were not being pursued. You could have stopped for a few short hours of rest. We are being pursued and cannot afford to stop for long. Therefore, it is also best if one of us remains awake to keep watch over the others."

"I will lead the rest of the way to Gulonde so that your mind may relax, Princess." I nodded and Thydune turned back to the front, heading off toward Dragon's Veil again.

"Do not forget your orders when we return to Gulonde, Thydune of Celestial Forest," I said, letting him know that I was mad at him as well. He nodded but said nothing to either of us for the remainder of our trip. Collen chuckled and shook his head, but refused to say what he was finding funny, so I put it out of my mind and focused on what orders I needed to give when we arrived. Nine days later, just as the sun was falling to the northern horizon, we arrived back in Gulonde. I could sense that Thydune was still upset with me, but I didn't care. "Collen, go with Thydune. I do not want to see either of you until the sun reaches the middle of the sky tomorrow." They both nodded and Collen slowly followed behind Thydune toward the healing rooms. I went up the wall to find the first soldier I could to inform them of the danger that was undoubtedly coming our way, and saw Vinali. "I want every guard on the wall and no one outside the gates."

"Then who is to guard the gates from the human soldiers, Faylen?"

"Give bow and arrows to each guard, but no one is to open these gates without my command. Dorione was false in their claims and the lord sent for human soldiers the day after we met with him to discuss our alliance. They were one week away when we were alerted to the danger we were in." She leaned over the wall and called for the two soldiers to close the gates from within and come to the top of the wall. "I want soldiers on this wall at all times. There are a few from Dorione that wanted to join and I told them to come in secret and ask for me."

"I will send for you if any arrive. You look tired, Faylen. Have you slept?"

"Not for the past three weeks," I said as a Flamifoutu flew toward the food stores.

"I will continue command and pass along your new orders until you wake. Go see the healers and then rest from your journey." I nodded and headed back down to the ground, finally feeling how much the lack of sleep had drained my body's energy as I made my way to the castle, ignoring the option of seeing the healers for some Caffetaxime. I made it up to my room without being seen by my father or Lanquar, but fell to my knees when I closed the door. Forcing myself to my feet, I stumbled to my bed, sitting down just as Desmond came in with Tsarra behind him.

"Thydune told me of your lack of sleep, Faylen. Drink," she said gently, holding out a bowl.

"This is only to be given in the healing rooms," I said, seeing a little steam rise from the bowl.

"Correct, but you are far beyond tired and you did not hear me in your mind as we approached your room. It is unsafe for you to walk back to the healing rooms when your bed will serve just as well. I will not be leaving until you have emptied the broth from the bowl and the bowl will be coming with me so none mistakenly use any remnants. Drink, Faylen. This is for your health and not a request." I took the bowl from Tsarra and drank the contents, feeling my eyes start closing as I handed the bowl back to her. Before I could lie down, my head fell back but was caught by someone and I felt my head and torso slowly lowered to the bed before sleep overtook my mind and blocked all other sensations.