"Simon! What are you doing up there?" Soren dropped the packs that he had been bearing alone. Before Simon could answer, he continued, "And where is Entor? Entor, are you up there? You can come down now?"
Where is Entor? Simon thought to himself. I haven't seen or heard her in quite a while. Oh dear, that can't be good?
His thoughts were interrupted by Soren and Lanix talking to him simultaneously. One asked if he knew where Entor was and the other questioned if he was alright and found a way out of his predicament yet. The answer to both was an emphatic, "No!"
Just as Simon thought he might just fall from frustration and exhaustion from holding himself onto the small ledge, a voice came crying out from the path, "I got it! Simon, I got it!"
Soren turned to Simon, "What did you send her to get? You know I told you both to stay right here the whole time. And you sent her into the town?"
Simon was confused but didn't have the thoughts to defend himself.
Entor ran up underneath Simon sitting on the ledge. She held up a large stick that he vaguely recognized. "See, Simon. I got it." Her face beamed with pride and accomplishment.
Soren turned to her red-faced, "What is that and why did Simon send you for it?"
"Simon didn't send me," Entor was obviously upset at the lack of joy in her return, "I heard him talking to the Ix. She needed her staff and I got it. All. by. myself."
A voice carried through the window, "What???? You have my staff? Clever girl. May I have it returned to me, please?"
"Finally, someone appreciates what I've been through." She stretched to hand the staff to Simon on the ledge and he caught hold of it.
He turned to Lanix, "Is this what you needed?"
Lanix didn't bother concealing her relief, this kid now knew how vital this branch was to her life and welfare. "It is. Will you pass it to me?"
"Will you stop losing it?" He smiled at her.
"I will try much harder in the future."
Simon looked concerned, "How are you going to get out of there?"
Lanix replied with confidence, "I have a few tricks hidden in my staff. Don't worry about me?"
"Anything in there that can help me get down?" Simon asked.
"Nothing in here, but have your friends throw some rocks or sticks at the wall that you can use to climb down the wall."
"What?"
"Just do it." She set her staff at her feet and placed both of her hands against the wall.
Simon asked Soren and Entor to do what she asked and they began to throw anything they could find against the wall. The bigger items stuck to the wall as if magnetized. Simon couldn't believe what he was seeing, and neither could his friends.
Entor exclaimed, "They are magic!" She grinned and continued to throw everything she could find.
Before Simon started climbing down, he looked back at Lanix through the bars, "What will you do now?"
"You know, kid, I'm not sure, but you better go before I get out of here because the Ain will not be happy and will search every branch and hole for me. Luck of the Tomatel to you!" She nodded to him a final farewell.
Simon climbed down the wall as quickly as he could, turned to his friends, and said, "We have to go, quickly."
Soren handed them each a pack and they headed back toward the swamp. They barely made it passed the first few trees when they heard the alarm bell sound in Torren. The three ran as fast as they could along the edge of Ix until it was too dark to see any further. They rested for the night but none slept more than a few minutes at a time waking to every crack or whistle.
---------------------------
Eventually, in the dead of night, they could no longer fend off the exhaustion of the day and slept.
As dawn broke, Simon heard a voice, "Did you miss me?" It was Lanix.
"Hey, kid. Thanks for your help back there. I couldn't have escaped without you, again." She seemed genuinely pleased by his help. "Look at this crew you've acquired - a Tor and a Ren. They usually hate each other."
"They do, most of the time," Simon replied as he came out of sleep and was able to respond, "What are you doing here? Aren't the Ain going to find us?"
"Well, honestly, I didn't have anywhere else to go. The place I tried to go was trapped both those morons and they caught me. And no, as long as we keep our voices down my illusion curtain should hide us from the Ain."
"Illusion curtain?" Simon questioned.
"A can create a curtain that hides people. It hides whatever people can see, hear, and smell. However, if someone walks through it they will see everything on the other side. Try it, step beyond the outer limits of this tree that you've been sleeping under." Simon just looked at her.
Entor had awakened and been listening to the conversation. At the invitation, she jumped up and ran to the edge of the tree's branches, "No way! I can't see you guys at all. Say something, Simon!"
"Something." Simon knew it wasn't funny, but couldn't think of anything else to say. Entor looked the same as always and he could still hear her.
Lanix smiled, "This kind of curtain only works one way. I can make them to where they work two ways, but I haven't found much use for that. Go ahead."
Simon wandered to Entor and she jumped, startled by his appearance next to her out of nothing. "See? Isn't this crazy?" Simon looked back toward the tree trunk. He could see the tree trunk and the ground around it, but he couldn't see Lanix or Soren or any of their packs. He and Entor walked the perimeter occasionally popping into or out of the curtain just to make sure it still worked.
Soren finally sat up and addressed Lanix, "What are you doing here?" The disdain was evident. Lanix was used to this reaction, no one liked the Ix.
"Simon is a friend who helped me. I'm returning the favor. There was a man I met once who came from the same place as him and I'd like to see if he is still near Renko. Maybe he can help Simon, either get home or find his place here. Why do you care?"
"Because he's my friend too. And I don't like the idea of him going off with an Ix."
"I don't see how this is your decision. And I can offer him much more protection with my magic than you can."
"You also provide him with much more danger, being an Ix. I mean you were already in jail."
"A misunderstanding between myself and the Empress."
"So you're enemies with the Empress? That makes it even more dangerous for Simon to travel with you. Why would anyone want to travel with you."
"Because of this," Lanix changed her appearance to look just shorter than Soren, to have the same golden wispy hair, the golden eyes, and the colorful woven textiles of the Ren. "No one will know that I'm an Ix, much less one that the Empress despises. I can also do this." She changed the appearances of Entor and Simon to match that of a Ren.
The two popped back into the curtain, "What just happened?" Entor shouted.
Lanix responded, "We just became a lovely Ren family who can travel the roads without question."
Soren stood up, "No. I refuse to travel like this."
Entor replied, "Why? You aren't changing your appearance."
Lanix responded, "It's not really just up to you, is it?" She looked at the two new Ren.
Simon looked up, "It would be nice to all stay together and travel the main roads."
Soren looked at the four of them together, "We make a sad example of a family."
"Oh buck up, chap! This will be fun." Lanix grabbed her things and they started heading to main road between Ren and See by way of the Ren fields.
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