You awake to a cold morning, it is late winter in Verdalia and snow blankets the city in a thin covering of crystal white making the deep blue of Lake Vera stand out even more than normal. Your returning journey to Elda was relatively uneventful and you can say that with great confidence after the last year. It is almost your birthday, 16, and you have missed a year of study. Your quick trip to the Azalei mountains and the chance meeting with Richalt all those nights ago had been an unbelievable experience. In fact you are so sure of unbelievability of what you experienced that you still can't share too much about everything that happened subsequent to the snake of water bashing your head to the rocks on the shores of Central Island. Safe now, breakfast seems more a a priority than analysing the past year.  With blue ganet eggs and purple maize porridge before you the rest just melts away. You pick up your spoon and savour a mouthful of the sweet sticky porridge as Talik walks in. "Morning, you say cheerfully. "Good morning", she responds with a smile in her voice. As a fellow mage and being just one year older than you, you have grown quite close, not to mention the quests you have spent time on together. "I don't want to spend too long here before we get start back to Karaz and home to Kath", she tells you frankly. "I know," you say, " I just have a few things I need to sort out before we go. I want to pay my respects at Stonehaven and then visit the Library, I have an appointment to see Mister Minz. "You have been given permission to talk to Mister Minz directly? I thought the council of Elders needed to approve such contact." She states with surprise while picking up a boiled egg and sniffing its blue shell. "Well not exactly approved." Lets just say I know a sprite who knows a sprite." You raise your eyebrows and tap your nose signalling "enough said" to your curious friend. 

On the way over you see the beam of light from the Azalei tower smoothly sending it energy towards the central island. Somewhat proud and perhaps a little boastfully you say to Talik, "We did that!" 

"I know, it seems incredible now, little old us, restoring the balance, saving the shield crystal," Talik yells, "saviours of the world!" She laughs as she skips and makes a small hop into the air landing on her feet in a fighting pose. It was a tongue in cheek response but actually we both felt really great that we had been a part of it. 

The snow crunched beneath your fruit leather soled shoes. As you hurried through the crisp air to Stonehaven. "Do you remember our first visit? you prompt Talik. "Yes, Verdalia was in danger, Richalt was with us and we met the Eldonian Guardian of Stonehaven Shrine."  "And soon after we met Elder Tharah", you say to jog her memory. " The etheria tree is still the only thing growing at Stonehaven but now we know why. The Lava, the crystals, the etheria trees we are all one in this magnificent system." You elaborate showing how much you have learned in your time together. "Yet there are things I need to understand about what happened on Central Island. Things I can't explain or comprehend. What I am about to undertake now is a journey to put all that in place. Do you want to come with me?" You asked Talik expectantly as you past the star shaped Astrologer's Observatory and its adjacent garden. Talik was now your hard and fast friend as well as a fellow mage and your bonds were strong. "If I can go home to see my family in Kath then I am in. Plus I want to know what happened as much as you. You haven't been the same since that day. And since we are talking about it who is Patrice?" She paused to look at you. "You talk in your sleep you know?" You both walked a little further in silence. 

"Look!" you say as you turn the corner of one of the busiest Verdalian streets, "Stonehaven!" It was as much as distraction as a declaration of arrival but Talik knew that and that's why you liked her so much. 

You have much to understand. If you could have the answer to one question about the your entire journey what would the question be? Write it down in Thy Quests below  to move forward.

Next: E9Q1 Stonehaven