"Who in Besius is there?" bellowed Dart.

Answering with an arrow, "Does this ring a bell, Lord Myst?" came the voice from the tree again.

"I thank you for saving me the other day, but could you please come down so that we can figure out what to do with Cassius without wondering who you are," replied Myst.

"Does this work?" questioned Brakk as a tree suddenly pulled back its branches to reveal a tall elven archer. Just as suddenly, the archer disappeared and blinked back into existence with his foot atop Cassius's head.

"Nice to meet you, lord Myst," greeted the archer, "I am Edwin. I have lived in this forest for quite a while, living off the land, avoiding this man and his goons, and protecting certain young travelers from them."

"As you know I am Myst. These are my newly established traveling companions Brakk, Mira, and Dart," continued Myst, "Now let's get down to business."

At this time everyone noticed why Cassius wasn't talking. He had leaves wrapped around his mouth. "I thought I'd be safe about letting him conjure another of those demons," chuckled Brakk.

"Well, you lift him up with some roots, terrestial, and I'll let go with the ground.

After this was taken care of, the group took away all of Cassius's possessions except his clothes and his boots. They found a few coins, a dagger, a small crossbow with some darts, and a gemstone ring that seemed to be a little better quality than normal rings. Then they asked him what he was doing in these woods and where his temple was hidden. He refused to answer any of their questions, and they decided to use some of their abilities to create a prison for this man. Dart dug a large hole in the ground, which Brakk lined with tree roots. They then placed Cassius in the hole and covered it with roots and dirt until there was only a hole as big as his wrist. This hole was high above his head when he stood at the bottom of the pit. Then they decided to use Mira's kyrrit to try and find the priests' stronghold.

While the hawk was gone the group became better aquainted even though they were not planning to stay together long. They discussed how their fighting styles could complement each other's. Dart turned out to get along great with both Myst and Brakk since Myst had control of two other elements and Brakk controlled the forest which was closely related to the earth. Mira and Edwin also melded well since both were archers and spellcasters. Edwin knew much of the forest and he taught Mira a few minor spells, which helped out when travelling. Brakk and Edwin talked about how the forest had provided so much for them, and they exchanged tips about survival. Mira's shapechanging ability intrigued Dart since he was sometimes confronted because of his size. She said that she knew of an illusion that could change the way he looked but that it only could make a person look like the animal which they were closest aligned. This would only make Dart even more excluded since he was so closely aligned with the great lizard.

When the kyrrit returned she had found nothing, but Myst had his doubts. He knew that there had to be a central temple or fortress somewhere. Dart said he might be able to trace the power lines form one of the altars, but the closest one was already destroyed and he did not know the location of another yet. The group decided that they would return for this cult after they reached their primary destination: Murk.

As the group traveled they shared tales of previous encounters. Most of them had never been out of the region which they were now transversing.

Before long they had reached a large clearing with a well-sized stream running through it. There was a small rope bridge crossing the creek, which looked like it would support everyone's weight but Dart's. He didn't mind he said he could just go under the stream or straight through it for that matter. When they were across Brakk noticed that there was a crack in the ground running towards a large oak tree.

Dart had already found the fissure underground and had followed it all the way to the tree where it became a cave. He went back through the earth up to the others and explained what he had found. The group decided to explore the cave, so Dart made a tunnel down to it for them to go through. When everyone got to the cave Edwin made a magical torch so they could see.

Myst was not about to be shown up so he created a small ball of hovering flame. There were two exits from the main room where they were. They flipped one of Cassius's coins to determine which way to go. They chose the tunnel to the right, and as soon as they started walking down it the floor fell out from under them.