“I'm beginning to think that Lord Arial doesn't really want you to go home yet, Elora,” he finally said.

Elora looked around nervously. “It's Lord Arial?”

“I'm not leading you around in circles.”

“Yes. I know. But we keep ending up in places we've already been.”

Brook nodded. “That's one of the things Lord Arial is good at.”

A breeze stirred in the tree leaves overhead.

“Is there any way we can get away?”

“Probably not. You can't really get away from the Lord of Light, you know. Neither is there any reason to. He only wants to help you.”

Elora shivered, even in the warmth of the afternoon sun. Although the forest sounds rustled around her like normal, Lord Arial must be somewhere nearby. The one Jerad had tried so hard to protect her from. The one who had snatched her away from her family, and trapped her in this mysterious forest. The one who had killed his own brother.

“Please, can we try to keep going? I want to go home.”