I looked around at the mesh of the scene as the guardians wove in and out of the trees, standing out but blending in to their surroundings. The sun was at an angle half overhead and half moving to the west the forest was still lit by a sharp bright light complimented by the hues of the sunset. It was definitely time. Amy walked to us in full color and beauty. She had stabilized, at least for the moment. As she approached, she folded her hands nervously. Though she looked up at us, her head pointed down, like a dog that grew up as the runt of a litter. I assumed she was ashamed. “Everything’s set in place,” she said. “Even the faceless emotions?” I asked. “It was a struggle, since they’re stronger than me, but it seems you made a friend who talked them into it.” “Where are the elements on our side and against us?” Our familiar elemental approached us to explain. “One of us has weapons, each customized for one of the three of you,” he said, “the dentis-levian elders are working to move the young to the refuge of the sky, keep an eye on our movement, and as requested, fall back and defend the fields if all goes wrong. We also have every elemental guardian and conscious cope, as well as the faceless emotions now. As far as the hope wraiths, half are hidden within the elementals and half are staying back as backup to protect the forest.” I looked around at the elementals getting restless to move. Some large, some colossal, and some easy to confuse with guardians despite concrete shape and lack of a mask. “What about against us?” I asked. Lily and Amy joined. “Shadow and decay have something cleverly planned and it involves a series of traps. That’s why we will require you to stay close.” Lily said. I dropped my grip on the elemental. “Other than that we just have time against us.” I said. “We know where to find this thing, right?” Lily asked, “We’re not just going on a blind search into danger are we?” “No, the yellow glowing copes and faceless emotions will lead us to him. The slight problem is that they aren’t waiting for us. They’re going to try to find us when we enter so we just have to pray that they do before the decay and shadow does.” Amy stepped in. Everyone looked eager. “Okay, let’s go.” I said, turning. -chapter 21 c: final sunset from The Agris Terra by Andrew Schlageter-