Maneuvering the turtles, we hastily approach the Isle of Xtand. “Wow.” I whisper. Chris nods. “I had expected it to be rocky terrain, no vegetation.” I admit to him. Chris smiles but remains silent.

The land is quite the opposite of what I had seen in my minds eye. The lush green grass waves with the wind and dances gracefully on the soil. Large trees vault high into the air as though the green towers could touch the stars by night and the sun by day. The trees are impossible to see through for any great distance and could an army of animals behind their branches.

When I had thought that large animals may live on the surface, I never considered that they would be able to hide so easily. Traveling on the surface will certainly be difficult if the need arise, an attack could come from anywhere, a life ended before we even knew it was in danger.

A high mountain, nearly twice the size of the Zibwee mountains, to the east is the only blemish on the island. Even looking at the mountain fills me with dread, its gray side towering high above the forest and watching over it like an ancient captor. The shadow of death is cast by this monster as it glowers at the trees far below.

Hopefully, the caverns will contain all we need and we will never set foot in the forest.

Chris starts giving the orders for his turtle to turn west to where the Caverns of Uncachunca should be found but the turtle is unresponsive. If anything, the turtle seems to be gaining speed.

“Chris, slow the turtles.” I order.

“Whoa boy! Whoa!” He shouts as the turtle starts traveling faster than I have ever seen one move. Chris pulls back on the turtles neck but the creature pushes forward, faster.

Looking back I see that the others are having the same difficulties Chris and I are. Not even the Admiral could get his turtle to respond to any commands. Chris grabs hold of the shell and stares intently at the shore, hellbent on remaining with the turtle.

“Brace yourself!” Chris shouts.

In spite of my fear of water and my lack of strength while swimming, I pull the book bag from my shoulder and wrap it around the young man. Pushing my owl off of my shoulder, I dive into the ocean.

When I resurface Ryan's turtle has already passed me but the rider is gone. He and Amber had seen my dive and had followed my lead. Stuart remains on his turtle. Though my first impression was that the man was unwilling to abandon our only way back to Yadout his howls of excitement soon lead me to believe otherwise.

Amber, Ryan and I all begin swimming back to shore as the turtles hit the beach. The animals slow significantly as they land but push forward towards the forest. Chris is launched from his turtle, his arms flailing about his side. The young man lands hard on the stoney beach. Stuart manages to jump from his turtle with a little more control than his son. The old man lands on his feet, he takes a step and then falls to one knee.

Swimming hard for shore I arrive last. “Deany, check on Stuart.” Amber commands, her and Ryan kneeling next to Chris.

The old man holds his leg just below the knee, tears starting to well up in his eyes. The old man rocks back and forth on the ground breathing heavily.

“What's wrong, Stuart?” I ask quickly, my eyes still darting over to Chris from time to time.

“My knee.” He explains. “The busted wheel is acting up again. It's been getting sore recently and that fall didn't help none, you know?”

I grab his pant leg and tear it open as he falls backwards, using his hands to prop himself up. “Doesn't look good.” I tell him. “We'll have to amputate.” I pick up a large rock and walk towards Stuart, staring at the side of his head.

“What?” The old man shouts, kicking at me with his uninjured leg.

“You'll be fine.” I laugh. I turn to Amber and Ryan. “How's Chris?” The old man pushes himself up and sees Chris lying on the ground unconscious.

“He'll be fine.” Ryan assures us.

“He hit his head,” Amber adds with a smile, “so it can't be serious.” She pauses. “What are you doing with the rock?” She asks me.

I look down at the rock, back at Stuart worry and then at Amber. I smile. “Nothing.” I say, quickly dropping the rock.

Hearing about Chris raises Stuart's spirits considerably. He takes the rock I had dropped and throws it at Chris, chuckling softly. Without bothering to stop the old man, the third rock hits Chris in the thigh.

Ryan removes his soaked shirt and wrings it out above Chris, the falling water causing the young man to wake with a start. He shakes the water from his head and then places his hands against his temple, moaning softly.

“What's going on?” He asks as Ryan puts his shirt back on.

He looks at each one of us in turn. Where do we even start. Without saying a word to him the young man's memories come back and he is able to piece the story together. “Xtand.” He says finally, laying his head back down gently on the rocks. Rocks that have some of the young mans blood on them.

“You hit your head.” Amber reminds him. “The turtles wouldn't slow down. Something must be drawing them to... where ever they are going. Don't move too fast, you were knocked off of them and landed pretty hard on the beach.”

“What about my leg?” Chris asks, his hand going to where Stuart had hit him with a rock.

“Well...” Stuart begins slowly as Ryan tears off the fabric around the Admiral's right knee to use as a bandage for Chris. “You did land pretty hard. I busted the wheel in my knee when I landed, and I actually landed properly.” Stuart nods in satisfaction. “Yep! Must have happened when you fell, you know?”

“That makes sense.” Chris says sadly as Ryan wraps the young mans head with the fabric.

Stuart stares on at the priest in confusion. “You trying to make sure his brains don't fall out?” The old man finally asks.

“This should stop the bleeding.” Ryan says defensively. “Nothing so primitive as keeping his brains from leaking out. Blood comes from all over the body, not just the head.”

Amber and I help Chris sit up, the young man pushes himself up with one hand and holds his head with another. “Can you walk?” Amber asks.

“Can he walk?” The old man nearly shouts. “This leg is going to hurt so much it won't even be funny!” Stuart declares.

“I wonder if he'd put money on that.” I say quietly to Amber. The Lady Mayor laughs, she covers her mouth in an attempt to hide her humor but it's too late. “Amber!” I say in disgust as Stuart turns a harsh gaze on her. “How could you laugh at someone in as much pain as Stuart is in?” I demand.

“Deany!” Amber says laughing a little harder. “He said... well I...” She becomes so tongue tied in where to start that she soon starts laughing to hard to even speak.

Knowing that I won't be able to keep a serious face for much longer, I quickly announce that I'm going to try and find a stick Stuart could use as a cane. Turning away from the others a smile forms on my lips.

I am sincerely glad that Amber is still able to laugh after losing her country. Whether she has come to accept that this has truly happened or not is still to be seen, but her laughter has brought my spirits up enough to push through this ordeal. Hopefully we will be enough for one another to keep our wits about us until we can return to Yadout.

The edge of the beach is marked by a steep embankment about chest high. Rock below and grass above. A small path leading up to the trees was enough for our turtles to escape into the forest. I have never seen turtles in such a way, but their rampage through the forest has given us a clear trail to follow – a trail that might lead to our salvation.

Bent grass, small trees fallen and broken twigs mark the path inland that the turtles have taken. “We've chosen to follow the turtles.” Amber informs me when I return with a sturdy stick.

“Are you sure that's safe?” I ask, giving the stick to the old man.

Ryan shakes his head. “No, we're not.”

“It's our only option.” Amber says to Ryan over her shoulder. “That's what we've decided.”

Ryan snorts. “That's what you've decided.”

Stuart turns his head to see how Amber responds to the statement. She doesn't get upset, she doesn't shoot back a retort as she's known to do, she doesn't cry like many might suspect. “That's what I've decided.” She agrees, not looking back at the priest. Though Amber didn't see it, the Admiral was very pleased with her answer.

“Well then, let's move!” The old man says as he pushes himself up onto his feet and gestures for Amber to lead us into the forest. She boldly walks forward, her determined footsteps taking her briskly to the dark forests of Xtand.

“Look at us, marooned here on an island.” Ryan complains. “Even if they couldn't help, Zibwee would still be safer.” The priest drudges at the back of the company as we move through the foliage, the path left by the turtles seems to be getting thinner as we progress.

The pale light pierces through the canopy and sheds a sorrowful glow against the dark green leaves. The further inland we go the stranger the air smells. It is no longer as salty as it once was, it can almost be describe as sweet. The sickening taste causing my tongue to complain and demand water, with none to speak of however the thought has to be discarded.

“What if there's no fresh water on the island!” Ryan demands, his thoughts mirroring my own. No one speaks. “You never explored the land! There's no way we could know if there's water.” Still no one responds. “Won't someone say something?” The Priest demands.

“If there's no water then we're walking through a desert.” Stuart growls. “If there's life, there's water. Keep moving.”

Ryan is silent for a short while but he speaks on only a few moments later. “I should have known better than to go exploring with Yadoutians.” He spits bitterly. “We should have gathered an expedition from Zibwee! There's no chance of that now though. I'd be surprised if we ever made it off of this forsaken island.”

“It would have been half a harvest before the Zibwites had brought a force together.” I observe quietly, the Priest is unhappy with my statement but he is not arguing. “It'd have to go through the temple first, then through Skyler, propositioned before the people...”

Stuart turns sharply on his good leg and glares at Ryan. “Save your breath.” He tells me. “He's not worth it.”

“That's enough,” Chris objects, “he's still with us isn't he?” The four of us have come to a complete stop. “That should be enough. We aren't going to make it out at all if we don't start working together. Regardless of what might have happened, we're here now.”

“We're moving!” Amber says, she still hasn't stopped but rather marches down the path. “The sooner we find the turtles the sooner we get to Uncachunca. This land has the answers,” she assures us “I just know it does.”

Ryan mutters something under his breath and pushes past the old man. Chris hurries up to Ambers side and I stay back a moment with the old man to make sure that there are no further problems.