The night has passed, dreamless for the little unicorn. In the morning the news was grim, Latania could do nothing to stop the Niton's condition.

Some of the local tribesmen were hired to act as guides (and as guards) and an expedition to Reece's home was quickly planned. The trip would take a total of three days, two on the land and one in the water. They set out early that morning when the air was still cool, but it quickly rose to burning hot as the sun came up. It is now noon of the first day of walking; for some reason it doesn't feel as though they've gone very far… but everything looks the same.

Reece has proven to be a bit of a handful. He mutters to himself in some strange clicking tongue, and has even forgotten his and Rory's names on a couple of occasions. He's gotten more fidgety and nervous, but seems unaffected by the heat.

"Little farther," Snaptooth, an older and more experienced guide barks. He's the same species as the others, one of the odd looking canine creatures. "We stop soon and take rest. Good rest be when firebug is in top of sky."

Rory struggles to keep up, carrying a burden of everything he could think of that he thought could possibly be useful (and that he could be allowed to take along). Plus, he's a bit handicapped by having one hand dedicated to holding a little figure that looks exactly like a little monster drawn with black crayon, but somehow transposed into three dimensions, dancing about on the palm of Rory's upraised (and weary) hand. A "shade" protects Rory a bit from the glaring sunlight, not yet having flickered out, though its duration is likely to be tested soon.

"You doing okay, Reece?" Rory asks, giving his reptilian friend a concerned look.

Two more of the canines trot past in their four-legged forms, their tongues lolling out in the heat. Together they pull a 'sled' of sorts, which carries food, tents, some small boats, and a variety of other objects Rory couldn't even think to place the usefulness of. The lizard blankly watches the sled go by, then raises his head up to follow the path of a large purple bug zipping past his snout. It seems almost as though he didn't hear the unicorn's words until he answers at the last possible moment, "Fine, hot, feet hurt, scales itch, no clouds in sky, pretty bug… "

Rory frowns, suddenly looking very guilty. He walks over closer to Reece. "Uhm … here. I'll try to share my shadow, okay?" He smiles hopefully up to the lizard.

The path that the group seems to be following turns a corner, and the scenery seems to suddenly change! Behind a curtain of grass is a riverbank with a few stumpy shade trees. Well, it's not a river exactly, more like a creek… but enough to support a few plants, and a welcome shade. The four canines begin setting up a temporary resting spot under one of the larger trees.

"LOOK!" Rory exclaims, pointing with his free hand. "See? We'll be fine. You just sit down a bit … and you'll feel better. You've … got to?"

Reece's large eyes blink. "Feel fine… " he makes a few soft clicking noises and looks off in the direction of the smoke rising from the hills. It seems just a bit closer now. "Why we here and not with mother?"

Rory swallows hard, and says, "Reece, we're going to see your mother. We're going to take you there. So she can make you better. Try to remember, please?"

A leathery tarp is laid across the ground and a fire starts to burn. A younger canine, Bluepetal, fetches water from the creek.

The lizard nods and seats himself on the tarp. He can't seem to quite get comfortable though, and fidgets more than Skiree would on a sugar high.

Rory sits down and sighs as his "shade" flickers out entirely. At least Mister Nasty is still pirhouetting and prancing on his upheld palm. Rory lets his arm drop, palm resting up, taking a breather from the trip so far.

Reece mumbles quietly to himself, "Water, fire, no clouds, hot, sun blocked out, scales itch… " Snaptooth gives him a funny look, then shrugs and works on heating up some stew.

The other two Lacinus, a brother and sister pair named Raincloud and Raindrop, circle the camp, sniffing the air and keeping their ears perked for noises.

Rory frowns and looks about. "Do we have a bucket? Reece needs water, I think." He reluctantly gets up to search a bit more effectively.

Snaptooth barks something to Bluepetal, who holds out a recently filled waterskin to the young Shadow Mage. Raindrop trots past Rory, sniffs at 'Mister Nasty' and then continues on her patrols.

Rory takes the waterskin in his free hand and clippities back over to Reece. "Here! Nice cool water!"

Reece blinks at the waterskin, flicks his tongue out at it, and then gingerly takes it from Rory's hands. He fumbles with the stopper for a few moments with his trembling hands before finally getting the skin open. Then rather quickly the lizard drains the contents… Boy, he must have been thirsty!

As the sun falls a bit and the travelers are fed and water supplies renewed… the six set off again into the grasses. There's a trodden down path that Snaptooth follows, which makes the walk seem almost like moving down a hallway with living, moving walls. An image of Latania leading Rory down the hallway to the room with the three doors flashes through the little Aeonian's mind.

Rory continues along, minus his "shade" – which is just as well, given approaching sunset – but still holding the dancing little monster, Mister Nasty, in one hand, and keeping close by Reece, often casting worried glances at his friend, then at last just reaching out with his free hand and holding the lizard's. "Don't worry," Rory says. "It'll be okay. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. After all, you're my third best friend!"

It's near nightfall and the arm holding into the spell has begun to ache… almost as though Rory was holding a stone weight in his arm. It is not quite dark yet as the sun vanishes behind the grasses, the four Lacinus start to act nervous and wary. A buzzing sound can be heard off in the distance… much like the one Rory heard on the ship when he cast his shadow-creen spell.

Rory looks as if he's about to doze off where he stands, and then his muzzle jerks back up. "Carpenter Beetles o' DOOM!" he shrieks!

Reece bumps lightly into Rory's pack as the Unicorn slows his pace. The four canines make a dive for the sled and pull out spears. Their ears jerk around, trying to determine where the buzzing is coming from.

"SHHHH!" says Rory fairly loudly to Reece. "The Carpenter Beetles o' Doom are coming!"

The buzzing suddenly… stops. Snaptooth growls and makes 'get down' motions with his hands. The other three guard the sled.

Rory drops! "Down!" he hiss-whispers to Reece.

The lizard looks around blankly, not seeming to quite comprehend Rory's words. A few yards away, something big rustles in the grass.

Rory looks up at Reece with wide eyes. "Down!" He points down for emphasis. "As in GET down! Pretty please?"

Finally understanding, Reece drops flat on his belly – A second later, the biggest bug Rory has ever seen in his life leaps out of the grasses, landing about five feet away from Rory and the Niton.

Rory shrieks, "AAAAAAAA! CARPENTER BEETLES O' DOOM! GET 'EM, MISTER NASTY!" With what little strength he can muster, he flings Mister Nasty like a hand grenade in the direction of the big bug.

Without so much as a sound, Mister Nasty leaps in spritely fashion into the air, a little bitty crayon faerie arcing toward the bug. Then, in a flash, Mister Nasty's jagged maw expands to gargantuan proportions to snap up the bug in quivering darkness.

"ZREEEEEEE!" the bug exclaims in the best rendition of a buggish shriek and takes to the air. Rory feels a downblast of wind from the creature's wings and the buzz is almost deafening from this close… but it's not loud for very long as the 'carpenter beetle 'o doom' flies back to its home full speed.

Rory whews, collapsing tiredly to the ground. "Nice job, Mister Nasty! You were getting HEAVY!"

The four canines just stand and stare… Bluepetal drops her spear while Raincloud makes a confused sounding whine.

"What's wrong?" Rory says, looking to the canines, then following their gaze to see what ELSE might have popped up…

Nothing there. It appears that the four have just never seen a Mister Nasty before.

"Ground taste bad. Get up now?" Reece hisses.

"Oh!" Rory rushes to Reece and tries to help him up, though his taxed arm is of even less use than the other. "Yes. Mister Nasty beat the Carpenter Beetles of Doom!" He smiles proudly.

"Big chompy thing was yours?" Snaptoon asks, Raincloud whines again.

Rory nods up and down several times. "Mister Nasty! He scares off monsters and nightmares!"

Rory makes a snapping with his mouth. "RAR!"

With Rory's help, Reece is back up on his feet. He peers around as though the landscape had gone through some massive change in the last few minutes.

Rory looks to the others. "Is it safe here? Are we going to camp, or are we going to keep moving? I worry about Reece." He frowns.

The four canines relax. "On our side then… camp not far from here. Is village, sleep safe for night." Raincloud and Raindrop grab the sled and start hauling it along again. "If we hurry we get there before dark."

Rory tugs on Reece's arm. "Let's HURRY, then! C'mon, Reece!"

The lizard allows himself to be led along. "Not as hot here… " is all he says.

"That's because it's night now," Rory explains, and does his best to keep pace with the canines. "I hope it's not too much farther," he pants.