Envoy, Whonkahonk and Kia stand on the stone walkway just outside the Rose Shield – which has resumed spinning again, blowing a welcome breeze. It may just be the imagination, but it seems slightly less oppressively hot. (That said, it's still awfully warm.) The magma below churns and flows, disturbed by unseen forces, and traced by strange patterns of light that follow the crystal network.

Envoy gives the columns supporting the city a speculative look, then turns to Kia and Whonkahonk and asks, "Is there anything you want to collect from the library or museum?"

Whonkahonk looks to Envoy, then swivels his head to Kia, cocking his head to one side and making a noise that sounds very much like, "Huh?"

The mouse glances to Whonkahonk, then shakes her head. "Well… not any more, no. I don't think so. We met some of the locals while you were… um… communing with the crystal."

"Locals?" the Aeolun asks in surprise. "There are people living in the city?"

Whonkahonk looks back to Envoy and nods his head emphatically.

"Gah!" Envoy cries, and puts her face in her hands. "Never trust a smiling goddess. This complicates things."

"Yes. Skreeks. Well. Mostly Skeek, anyway. They didn't look entirely healthy. They seemed to have a sort of tribal structure – I'm sure they can't be occupying very much of Moltpaa. But they still lay claim to it," Kia says. "We met Stonegnaw, son of Chieftain Whiptail, and he had some other folk with him."

"Complicates – what?" Kia asks, peering at Envoy. "What smiling goddess?"

Whonkahonk lifts a hand and waves it in front of Envoy's face.

"The one in the Observer," Envoy answers, pulling her hands away and blinking at the Hooka. "She wants me to take it, but I can't if there are people still living in Stalto, unless I can neutralize the instabilities first."

Whonkahonk retracts his hand and just cocks his head in the other direction as he looks at Envoy curiously.

"Oh, dear," the mouse says, swishing her tail from side to side. "There's a goddess in the crystal? What happened while you were in there?" she asks.

Envoy sits down on the warm rock, and says, "Well, she basically told me I was on the right track, and should take the Observer if I wanted to fulfill my quest. But I can't be sure it wasn't just this place telling me what I wanted to hear."

Kia nods seriously. "I have to admit – that was my first thought. Things seem to happen the way we think they will, at least at sertain times. And whether it's reflecting our fears or our hopes doesn't make a difference."

"Whak ko we ko, khen?" Whonkahonk says, a plaintive tone to his voice. "Wih we ah ko kooky?"

After a moment, the mouse adds, "and even if you could complete your quest by taking the Observer – that doesn't necessarily mean you should."

"Maybe I can block the effects of the wild magic here," Envoy says. "It seems to be a mix of chaos and earth magic, and I can try to ward against earth magic," she suggests, and takes off her crown to study its blinking pattern.

"It's not a matter of being crazy, Whonkahonk. Things really change. When I thought I was lost, I really did disappear – you two couldn't see me any more. And when I thought the petals were going to slow down, they really did." She twitches her whiskers at Envoy. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. What if it doesn't work? Or something stranger happens, like that funny arc from the lava earlier?"

The crown blinks and flickers erratically in a way Envoy has never seen it do before.

"Then I'm stuck," Envoy laments. "Eventually the city will collapse, because there is some inherent instability. We've seen the damage up above from it. But if I take the crystal, then it will all collapse sooner. But if I can't use magic, then I can't even probe to see what causes the instability – if it isn't just the wild magic in the first place. It seems to come in surges, and that's when the weird stuff happened to us."

"I'm not sure the city is collapsing from the wild magic, though. I mean, old things just break after a while. You can't expect aqueducts to stay together forever with no one to fix them," Kia points out. "But… maybe if we all think positive thoughts you could try probing to see what it is."

"Whak kink oh kosikive khouhks?" Whonkahonk honks.

"That could be risky, but might help," the Aeolun says. "I'll have to try a ritual, which means you'd have to think that nothing bad will happen for some time."

"Like 'I'm confident this spell will work' and 'We can find a solution to these problems.'" the mouse tells Whonkahonk. "And don't think about bad things happening." She prudently avoids mentioning any possible bad possibilities, not wanting to encourage such trains of thought.

"Try thinking that… that everything is fine," Envoy suggests, and holds up her crown. "If it has any kind of calming effect, I should be able to notice it with this."

Whonkahonk leans closer, momentarily mesmerized by the erratic patterns playing across the crystal crown. "Oooooo," he croons.

Kia nods. "And think, this city has been abandoned for, what, hundreds, if not thousands of years. It's really impressively stable just to have survived so long, with so much intact. It's gotta be pretty resilient."

Whonkahonk nods. "Ank ik has loks of klowy kewels! Ank … ank … Skeeks!"

Envoy hmms. "And the magic isn't turning them into mutants. It doesn't affect them at all," she says, trying to believe it, while watching the crown.

"Right. Or, at least, they're still around down here. So doing a little probe won't do any harm. Maybe you can find out what causes this effect," the mouse offers encouragingly.

Moving to a flatter area, Envoy removes a bit of chalk from her supplies and starts to draw a ritual circle. She puts her crown in the center of it so she can keep an eye on it while she works.

To the eyes of Kia and Whonkahonk, there's no discernable difference in how the crown flickers. But maybe it's getting better…

The mouse settles down, thinking how much better life will be for the Moltpaa natives when Envoy finds out what makes this place unstable, and how to fix it.

"I think it's helping, keep it up," Envoy suggests as she prepares the ritual. With so much magic in the environment, she hopes she can draw in enough to make a ritual work this time.

Persistent doubts creep into Envoy's mind, but Whonkahonk whistles cheerily, and Kia seems downright beatific.

Finishing the circle, Envoy sits inside of it and holds the crown in her lap. Taking a deep breath, she begins to sing her ritual.

The mouse digs through her pack while Envoy casts her ritual, taking out the model Dromodon and examining it. She ponders what Moltpaa would be like with all its marvels functioning again, with an absent smile on her face. She sets the Dromodon down and starts looking through the book she took from the library, trying to puzzle out some of the obscure passages.

The crown glows more brightly, and Kia can feel the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. Light pulses through the network of crystals in a more regular pattern, and Envoy's horn pulsates with a light that at first seems disharmonious with these patterns, but then falls into sync. Strange noises are carried on hot breezes, and occasionally strange shapes rise from the magma, partly humanoid, or animistic, but they sink down again, out of sight. Whonkahonk occasionally lets out a worried warble at these apparitions, but follows Kia's lead, and pulls out his collection of glowing crystals and focuses intently on them, warbling happy noises at his collection.

The time it takes for Envoy's ritual – as she cannot afford to cut any corners – greatly taxes Kia's ability to keep up the power of positive thinking … but at last, the ritual is finished, and Envoy's horn stops pulsing, as a bright glow falls upon it, then slowly fades away.

Envoy sighs as she comes out of the ritual, and looks to Kia and Whonkahonk to see if they're alright. "Bosch is intruding on this area. There are a few places where I might be able to reinforce the city supports, but I think in the long run it would be better to evacuate everyone. Unless their combined will can somehow offset things. You're having a positive effect, Kia, so if they all joined in maybe it could help more."

"There's too – " Kia pauses, frowning, as she puts her book down again when Envoy comes out of her trance. " – there's so much here that would be lost if the city is destroyed," she says, sorrowfully. "And more than just the things – I don't think we could convince the people to leave. This is their home, and they don't know us or trust us. We'd have to offer them more than just threats of doom if we were to convince them to go."

Whonkahonk makes a mournful noise, looking down at his "hand." Then, he looks up to Kia, and holds out his hand full of glowing crystals.

"You mean give them someplace better to go to?" Envoy asks the Skeek. "I don't think giving them back the glowing jewels will make much of an impression, Whonkahonk."

She traces her hand over the cover of the book. "And I can't believe that it's hopeless. This city has stood for thousands of years. It survived disasters and monster attacks. The only reason it's in the state it is now is because its own people turned on each other. Not because of Bosch. At least – I don't think so." She smiles at Whonkahonk. "I think they have enough glowing crystals already… we won't be able to bribe them with that."

Whonkahonk makes a loud sighing noise, and draws his hand back. He doesn't look overly eager to part with the crystals anyway.

"Give them someplace better to go and convince them it is better. That's a tall order." the Skeek says.

"Do you know where they are?" Envoy asks. "We should talk to them."

The crown glitters lightly, a pulsing pattern gliding from end to end and back again.

Envoy looks at the crown, and tries to sense if another surge is growing.

The mouse points to one of the columns, and two holes up it. "They went up that column and disappeared into those holes. I don't know how labyrinthine it would be beyond it. But… thinking about it… they were pretty superstitious about the crystal. They might be impressed that we went to see it and came out again all right."

Whonkahonk nods, turning to look at the crystal, where it now hovers above the rose shield. He sighs dreamily.

"Things looks stable right now, so we should be able to get there without too much trouble if we hurry," Envoy suggests, and starts plotting a path over the stairways and bridges.

"All right," the mouse agrees, doing the same with a frown of concentration on her face.

It looks like a bit of a hike … but actually, no further than it would take to go back the way they came. Whonkahonk gets up and starts looking as well.

Envoy uses her foot to wipe out the runes of her ritual circle. "Let's get moving then!" she says cheerfully.

Kia nods, and, stuffing her things back into her pack, she hoists it onto her shoulders and hikes off.

The three make their way across the labyrinth of walkways, and somehow the heat doesn't seem quite so oppressive as before, though the magma still looks as lethal as ever for anyone who might fall into it. Eventually, and with only one close-call with an unstable bridge, they make their way to the other staircase, and to the long climb back up to the city.

When they finally reach the top, it almost seems as if they've entered an entirely different city … though a glance upward confirms that they're in the same place … just on the other side…

The staircase opens up within one of these "islands", on an area raised enough that the water does not pour into the stairwell … and surrounded by a short wall of rubble that suggests that some damming has been done to make certain that a surge of water doesn't change that situation. There are several calls from here and there amongst the "islands" dotting the flooded portion of the city, and shadows shift about, beady eyes glittering from recessed places as the newcomers are spied upon and their presence announced without true words.

Kia marvels at the engravings, her whiskers twitching as she resists the urge to rubberneck and look at every little thing. She shifts her pack on her shoulders, concentrating on locating the Skreeks she saw earlier, or signs of their passage.

"I wonder what they eat, and how many there are?" Envoy whispers.

Something splashes in the water, and some long and serpentine coils appear momentarily in the water's surface. It might be unwise to take a swim.

The scratching noises of claws sliding on stone echo off the walls, and the chattering of Skreek teeth as well.

The mouse nods to her companion. Spying what looks like eyes in one of the dark nooks – and feeling like she's being watched already, she risks calling out. "Hello!" she says in the Skreek tongue. Thinking that sounds lame, she adds, "It's me, Little Smile." That sounds even sillier, she reflects.

The chattering quiets, though the scratching does not. In fact, some of it can be distinctly heard on top of some of the broken stonework behind the explorers, on the other side of the stairway leading down. Several Skreeks in attire made of ragged hides emerge atop the ruin, armed with spears and stone knives.

Envoy eeps and holds her hands up to show she's friendly.

Kia smiles disarmingly at them. "Hello!" she repeats, tailtip waving slowly. "I'm Little Smile. I met Stonegnaw, son of Chieftain Whiptail, earlier, and came here so he could meet my friend and so we could talk again. Is that all right?" She wonders if "positive thinking" will work on the natives as well as the environment. Regardless, she sticks to happy thoughts.

The Skreeks chatter amongst themselves.

One of the Skreeks stops chattering, then points a long claw at Envoy, and chitters something harsh-sounding.

Quietly, Kia says to Envoy, "I think they're surprised we came back from the crystal." She tries to see if she recognizes any of those in the little group from earlier. To them, she answers in Skreek, "This is my friend, Yovne, who went into the Rose Shield. I went in, too, and then we came out again." Then she translates that for Envoy's benefit.

"Then," the lead Skreek says, as translated by Kia – and Envoy can now clearly see that he's no ordinary Skreek, having a third and blind eye in his forehead that seems eerily reminiscent of a certain Savanite Queen – "you will come with us, to see the Chieftain."

Although Envoy has the benefit of wings, Kia and Whonkahonk are virtually carried most of the way. While it seems nearly impossible to walk from one point to another amidst this ruined portion of the city, it proves possible to those willing to climb and scurry and leap the whole way. (Poor Whonkahonk spends the bulk of the trip in several pieces, divided amongst several of the natives and reassembled randomly at the end. They do not seem at all impressed with the novelty of a Hooka.)

At last, they are allowed on their own feet again (Whonkahonk taking a moment to rearrange himself so that he has feet again) and are allowed into the palace of the chieftain. It is clearly evident that the Skreeks are a breed apart from those found elsewhere on Sinai. Though mutations are not unknown amongst surface-dwellers, here it seems that being free of a mutation is unknown here. Every Skreek has some prominent feature that usually figures into his name, given those few that are introduced to the strangers (as translated by Kia). The Skreeks vary from very gangly and scrawny to broad and muscular. Here, one has an extra arm – there, two. Here is a Skreek normal from the waist up, but with the body of a giant four-legged rat from the waist down – a centaur of sorts. Here big ears, there glowing eyes, here tusks, there spikes sticking out of one's spine, and everyone wears a wild collection of hides procured from the denizens of the subterranean realm.

A tall and gangly rat with blind-looking eyes stands beside the throne with a broad-shouldered rat presides. The tall rat is Whiteeye, it is soon enough determined – a shaman or holyman for these people, and advisor to Chieftain Whiptail. Whiptail seems greatly intrigued by his strangers now – and Whiteeye positively incredulous.

Envoy whispers to Kia, "They may not be too far gone yet, but as Bosch's influence increases, they could end up like the other monsters we saw."

Kia's nose twitches at Envoy's comment, and she gives a little nod, before bowing to the Chieftain. "Greetings, Chieftain Whiptail," she says, trying to figure out how she should present herself, and deciding to just be natural. "I'm Little Smile, and this is my friend, Yovne. We went to see the Xylphrim earlier and thought we should come talk to you afterwards." She relays her words back to Envoy when she's done.

Stonegnaw, son of Chieftain Whiptail, stands at the chieftain's other hand, a step down from the throne, between the chieftain and the visitors. "It is true," he says, nodding at Kia's words. "They saw the Xylphrim, and returned."

"Oh! And this Hooka is our friend, Whonkahonk," she adds belatedly, giving the hooka an apologetic look.

Whiptail nods, and just grunts at the introduction of the Hooka.

"Hewwo!" the Hooka hoots, waving a hand cheerily.

Whiptail looks away from the Hooka, his eyes lingering on Envoy (who apparently looks odd even by these Skreeks' standards), but he then turns back to Kia. "What is it then that the Xylphrim say? For what purpose do you step into their realm and they allow you to live?"

Kia translates for Envoy, then adds, "I was just going to tell them the truth – that we think it's dangerous for them to stay here, and the wild magic is having a bad effect on them, and see what they think. Do you want me to say that the Xylphrim told you to take it? Or is there anything else that it told you?"

"The being I spoke to doesn't match their image of a Xylphrim, and it didn't care what happened to them either," Envoy tells Kia. "When I mentioned that the city might fall, it pretty much shrugged it off and noted that there are plenty of lost cities in Moltpaa, and that these people weren't worth saving. I don't think we can tell them that though. Tell them that the evil from the north is getting stronger, and that the Xylphrim want them to find a safer home."

"But … I want to tell them the truth." Kia's ears wilt, and she glances at the seated Chieftain briefly.

"The truth?" Envoy asks. "We didn't talk to the Xylphrim though. I talked to a sneaky Babelite goddess."

"Tell them about how there will be more monsters and bad magic then?" Envoy suggests.

The chieftain's brow furrows as he watches the exchange. He drums his claws against a stone armrest.

The mouse pulls herself up, and bows to the Chieftain again. "Chieftain, we learned that the bad influences to the north are getting worse. We fear that they are hurting you and your people, and we believe that the Xylphrim want you to find some place safer to live, where your people can be healthy," she tells him.

The Chieftain raises his eyebrows at this, and he looks aside to Whiteeyes.

Kia considers what Envoy said last, her nose wrinkling and whiskers twitching.

Shaman Whiteeyes gives Kia a dubious look. "For the Xylphrim to care for our skin and bones? It is not their way."

"Sir … excuse me, but may I ask what you believe the Xylphrim are like?" the mouse says, drawing up her courage. She translates the exchange for Envoy.

"The Xylphrim are powerful," the shaman says, frowning, "but they do not concern themselves with the affairs of mortals. But if you have the truth, as it pleases the chieftain, speak it."

To this, Chieftain Whiptail nods. "Say what you know, and we will then decide whether it is truth you speak."

After relaying their questions to Envoy, Kia forges on. "I don't know that this is true. But I have strong reasons to believe what I'm about to say. I think that you – all of you – can control the Xylphrim. It's not indifferent to you, or to any of us. In fact, it does exactly what we expect of it. When my friend went to speak with it, she expected it to appear as a sentient being that would talk to her – and it took that form. When I went in, I didn't expect it to talk, so it didn't say anything to me. But – more than that – while I was outisde, I found that I could make the Rose Shield stop moving just by believing that it would. When I was inside, I could do the same – but it was harder because my friend didn't believe it would stop for her. It's not a force that does whatever it pleases – it does what you think it's going to. So … if you think it will be arbitrary and capricious … then it will be."

The shaman, at this, stands up straighter, taking a half step back, solemnly absorbing this information. The chieftain blinks a few times, then breaks out laughing, clapping his claws together. "Do the gods make us, or we make the gods? Never have I heard such a tale as this. Have you proof?"

"We went in," Kia says. "We came out. I can show you how – if you can come with an open mind. You don't have to believe – just try not to disbelieve."

Envoy scratches her cheek, and suggests to Kia, "Try making a tossed coin come up heads or tails by believing it will. That's something they should all be able to do."

Chieftain Whitetail rubs his chin at Kia's words, and looks askance to the shaman. The shaman seems genuinely intrigued, and bows to the rat on the throne. "I will go and see this for myself, be it pleasing to you."

The mouse wrinkles her nose at Envoy. Before she relays the idea, she focuses on the way she's feeling now, trying to see if she still has that "lucid dreaming" sense that she got by the Rose Shield.

The Aeolun takes off her crown to see if it is still showing the "stable" pattern this high above the magma.

Kia whispers back to Envoy, "I don't think it will work here, not now. This just doesn't feel the same, not like it did over the lake of fire."

The crown glitters and glows much as it normally does, without any especially erratic patterns – a little more active than, say, on the surface, and certainly more than in Rephidim, but not the wild patterns she saw earlier, or the strong pulse after that.

The mouse then looks back to Whiptail, wondering if he'll agree to his shaman's request.

"If it only works this high up during surges in the wild magic, then it probably isn't going to be very useful to these people," Envoy comments.

"You said that I was improving things by being down there and thinking positively. If they all came down to pray, during the surges – that might improve things more, mightn't it? Especially if they did it regularly?" the mouse offers.

The chieftain seems somewhat uneasy at the untranslated exchanges going on between Kia and Envoy, but at last he nods at Whiteeye. "It is your neck, risk it with the Xylphrim if you deem fit. But I will be very cross with your family if you do not return, so do not be foolish."

Whiteeye bows again. "As you say, Chieftain."

"We can leave now, if you like," Kia offers. "Though it's a bit of a hike, so if you'd rather sleep first and then go … I don't know how long you've been awake." She reflects how strange it must be to have no real concept of "day" or "night."

The Chieftain grins. "I want a feast, for I have guests. Then you will rest, and then Whiteeye can risk his neck. That is my decision." He claps his hands together, and several of the Skreeks begin scurrying about, bringing out clay bowls of mushrooms and lichens and something that smells rather fishy.

Kia smiles, her tail swishing. "Thank you, Chieftain Whiptail," she says, looking forward to food that hasn't been sitting in her pack for several days.

Envoy eyes the food with a bit of suspicion, but figures one meal can't have too much effect on her.

Whonkahonk ended up eating more than anyone else, sucking up a large pile of nasty-looking toadstools (which nobody else touched) entirely by himself, and sounding quite pleased afterwards. The accommodations Envoy and Kia are given look less than luxurious, but the piles of furs and hides are surprisingly comfortable, once one gets used to the smell. Both of them find themselves waking up earlier than the Skreeks – or Whonkahonk – with plenty of time to spare, it seems.

"What are your plans once we reach the Rose Shield, Kia?" Envoy whispers, not wanting to wake up Whonkahonk.

"Winging it, mostly," the mouse admits, her voice equally soft. "I want to show him what the 'surges' feel like, and show him that we – and he – can affect things while one is going on. We can show him how to start and stop the Rose Shield, and how being confident that everything will go smoothly helps make things … you know … go smoothly."

Whonkahonk "snores" – so far not awakened by the whispering that has been going on between the two.

Envoy taps her fingertips together, then says, "If he wants to talk to the Xylprhim through the Observer, then I had better be there with him. Maybe you as well."

"Probably. He seems receptive to the whole idea. I have a good feeling about this," Kia says. "I just want to make sure that he understands how important it is that he believes the right things. If he has strong doubts, it could get us in a bit of trouble. But … I think we'll be all right."

"Be sure of it," Envoy says with a grin.

The mouse grins back. "I will!"

Once the Skreeks awaken and the Chieftain declares that it is "morning" – and time for a more modest "feast" of leftovers from the "night" previous – the three explorers head off, accompanied by Shaman Whiteeyes, and the chieftain's son, Stonegnaw. (After all, it wouldn't do to have too many doubting people tagging along.) At last, they make it back to the rose shield, which is still spinning as when they first found it, the glowing gem still hovering above the petals.

Once they've arrived, Envoy checks her crown again to see if things are stable, or whether a surge may be building.

The mouse takes a deep, steadying breath after the long trek, letting her bag slide down off her shoulders. She focuses on how the place "feels" now. "We should wait for a surge first," she tells Stonegnaw and Whiteeye. "It's easiest to manipulate things then."

The crown is more active than it was up in the city, but it seems to be fairly calm at the moment, compared to how it was earlier.

"No sign of a surge yet," Envoy reports, and approaches the spinning petals of the Rose Shield herself. Maybe it doesn't need a surge, after all, she reasons.

Whiteeye nods at this. "The whisper of the Xylphrim," he mutters.

As Envoy steps up to the outer ring of the rose shield, though, the outer petals slow to a stop, just as they did before.

Envoy turns back to the others, and says, "The Shield reacts without the surge. There's enough background magic for that, at least."

Kia smiles at Whiteeye, nodding, then grins at Envoy. "I wonder if that's a matter of expectation or something else?" she muses to the Aeolun. "It did that the first time we came, too, and I – well, then I didn't know what to expect."

Whiteeyes looks uncertainly to Stonegnaw, then ventures, "Do we proceed?"

"I think we should wait for the whisper of the Xylphrim. I'm not certain how much control we'll have without it," she says, first to the Skreeks, then Envoy and Whonkahonk.

Envoy steps away from the petals, so that Whiteeyes will be able to bring them to a stop himself.

Whonkahonk looks back and forth, then takes a step back as the petals start spinning up again.

Whiteeyes somewhat timidly walks up to the rose shield. The petals show no sign of stopping. He gingerly reaches out a finger toward the spinning petals … then his hand is knocked back as his clawtip barely touches one of the spinning crystals. He frowns severely.

The Aeolun frowns at the reaction. "Maybe they've been mutated too much?" she suggests to Kia.

Kia twitches her whiskers. She approaches the rings, focusing on how she felt when she made them stop the last time, and thinking, It's a pattern. You believe in it, and it happens. Just so.

Sure enough, the petals stop for Kia. Whiteeyes lets out a grumbling noise. Stonegnaw just laughs.

Envoy gestures for Stonegnaw to try next.

Stonegnaw doesn't look like he's about to volunteer to step up, despite Envoy's encouragement.

Kia gives Stonegnaw a severe look, then strides to the walkway where they entered the platform. She beckons to Whiteeyes. "I'm sure they can do it," she tells Envoy. "They just need more confidence." To the Skreek, she says, "Here, please, stand right where I am." She moves to one side to make way for him.

Whiteeyes takes a deep breath, and walks up to the outer ring – but once Kia moves back, the petals start up again, and refuse to stop for him. Whiteeyes snarls and curses at the petals, shouting, "You will stop for me!" but they don't.

Stonegnaw says, "Maybe the Xylphrim like you better than old Whiteeyes."

Having an idea, Envoy sits down and rummages through her pack until she finds the crystal rose that Morpheus left for her. "Maybe he just needs a little help, Kia. Tell him this is a key, and that if he holds it, the petals will have to stop for him." She holds out the rose to the Skeek.

The mouse wrinkles her nose at the chieftain's son again, then waits patiently for the shaman to give her his attention. "I think it'd be better if I give him something he can keep, though."

"Tell him he just has to hold it once?" Envoy suggests. "Or I can wave it over him while you tell him he's being enchanted."

The shaman at last gives up and looks back to Kia, stomping away from the petals. "I believe! I have purged my mind of all disbelief, but yet the Rose Shield does not stop, and I am too old to leap between the petals and keep my tail."

"There's a surge building," Envoy warns, and looks at her rose to see if it is reacting to it somehow.

"I feel it," the shaman says, stopping his grumbling, and looking about with wide but blind eyes. "The Xylphrim know we are here!"

"It's all right, Shaman," Kia says, reassuringly. "Yovne knows what the trouble is – she's going to do a spell to fix it. It'll only take a moment. Then you'll be able to make the Rose Shield stop on your own from now on. Stand right here and let her work the spell." To Envoy, she says, "Try waving the rose crystal over him. Make it sound impressive."

Stonegnaw shuffles a bit, looking uncomfortable, standing more at attention as he listens to Kia.

"It's all right. We want the Xylphrim to know that we're here, because then they'll do what we want," the mouse continues, her calm, confident explanation a sharp contrast to the unease expressed by the rats.

Envoy goes over to the shaman, and draws a complex rune in the air over him with the rose (actually, she's just spelling out his name) and intones in a strange, echoing voice, "Oh-pen Ses-ah-meee."

Whiteeyes nods and swallows, letting out a deep breath after Envoy's strange incantation. (Her voice, after, does have a fairly charged quality to it.)

Stepping back, Envoy nods to Kia that the "process" is finished.

"All right. Now, repeat the words Yovne just said," she tells Whiteeyes. "Oh-pen Ses-ah-meee," she adds, so the strange syllables can be more easily distinguished by the Skreek shaman.

Envoy studies her rose once more. Could Morpheus have given this to me as more than just a token of affection? she thinks.

The shaman nods, and turns around, looking more confident now. He raises his staff, takes a deep breath, then bellows, "Aoh-payn Sezah-MEEE!"

The shaman's voice echoes, even though there are no walls here for it to echo off of, and the petals abruptly wrench to a stop, the outer ring making a noise like a slamming door as it snaps to a halt, then the middle layer, then the center, with a clear and open path leading straight to the pedestal in the center.

The shaman lets out a gasp and staggers backward, his arms flailing.

Stonegnaw lets out a Skreekish cry at this as well, jaw dropping in astonishment.

"Perfect!" the Skeek says enthusiastically. She starts to applaud, then stops to hold out her hands and steady Whiteeyes. "I knew you could do it!"

Whiteeyes manages to right himself with Kia's help, and taps at the ground with his staff. "It worked. They stopped. They stopped!"

"A little confidence can do wonders," Envoy says, grinning.

Kia can't resist giving an impish grin to the shocked Stonegnaw, either. "See? You can control them. When the Xylphrim whisper, they'll do what you expect them to. You just have to make sure you expect them to do things that are good for you."

Stonegnaw hmphs, crossing his arms, still regarding the scene with a wary look.

Whiteeyes, still in awe, stumbles forward toward the pedestal. Once he reaches it, the hovering gem lowers, and its light bathes his fur, making it seem to glow. He reaches out, somehow sensing its presence, with one outstretched hand…

Closing her eyes, Kia pushes any apprehensions she has aside, thinking, over and over again, This will show them that the Xylphrim are benign and manageable.

There's a flash of light. "He's gone!" Stonegnaw shouts. "He's vanished!"

"He'll be back," Kia says. She smiles. "A little different, maybe. I bet he'll be able to see."

"I CAN SEE!" comes a shout from within the Rose Shield. Stonegnaw's jaw drops.

The mouse directs another impish grin at Stonegnaw. "You just have to have faith!"

Envoy looks to Kia, and whispers, "I don't think they'll want to leave after this."