"My name is James," he tells her.

"You may call me, Lyria," she says to him, giving him a small smile.

"Would you care to come and share our fire?" he asks.

Shaking her head negatively, she says, "No. I had come to offer you and your companions shelter and the hospitality of my home this night."

Beyond all reason, he feels he can trust her. Something about her puts him readily at ease. "Where?" he asks.

She nods over to the island and says, "My home."

Jiron suddenly sits up and sees him there talking with Lyria. "James?" he asks coming quickly to his feet.

Turning toward him, he says, "This is Lyria and she's invited us to her home out on the island."

"Why?" he asks not nearly as trusting as James seems to be.

"Because you are in need," she tells him. "And I get so few visitors."

"Aren't you afraid of being alone with three strangers all by yourself?" he asks her.

Laughing, she says, "No. I fear not that you will harm me." She glances over to where Miko is sleeping and says, "If you will but wake up your friend there, we can be going."

Jiron says, "James?" and then indicates with a nod of his head that he wants to talk with him away from her.

When James comes over, he says, "What?"

"Can we trust her?" he says. "It seems odd for a woman to be all alone in these parts, wouldn't you think?"

"I don't get any ill feelings from her," James says. "Besides, she's magical in nature, possibly a magic user of some kind."

"How can you tell?" he asks, and then says, "Oh, right."

"She's offered us food and shelter," James tells him. "I say we take her up on it."

"Why?" he counters.

"I don't know," he admits. "I just feel like we can trust her."

From the camp, they hear Miko cry out when he wakes up and sees her there standing near him.

Coming back over, they rea.s.sure him all is okay and make another round of introductions. When they tell him of her offer, he looks dubious at best.

"I'm going," James says as he looks at the other two. "Who's with me?"

Reluctantly, they agree to come and they all pile into the boat. Once they're all situated, she begins her song again and the boat pulls itself off the beach and turns to head back toward the island.

Miko gasps at the boat moving all by itself, but then settles down when no one else seems to be upset by it. Her song is soothing and it seems to melt all their worry and cares away.

Chapter Nine.

The boat makes the crossing in quick time and they can soon make out a wooden cabin on the island, sitting a couple hundred feet back from the water's edge. A soft light shines out of the window by the front door. Down at the edge of the water lies a dock of sorts and the boat is heading straight for it.

Jiron takes the rope lying in the bottom of the boat, and when they near the dock, jumps out and secures the boat.

He holds out his hand to Lyria who takes it as she steps out of the boat, and receives a smile of grat.i.tude. Then he helps James out of the boat, whose leg makes it difficult for him. Miko hops out once James is securely on the dock and then they follow her as she leads them up toward the house. Along the way she says, "This is my home, you are welcome to stay here as long as you like."

Coming to the front door, she opens it and precedes them inside. A small house, with but two rooms, the main front room and a back bedroom separated by a door. She goes over to the fireplace and coaxes the remaining coals there to life, quickly getting a fair sized blaze.

James and the rest take seats at the table while she's getting the fire going.

"Why live so far away from everyone?" Miko asks once she's done with the fire.

"I like solitude," she tells him as she comes over and takes a seat at the table. "It provides me with quiet for thinking and reflection. I do get some visitors, but none for some time now."

"How did you know we were there?" he asks.

James gives him an annoying look for asking so many questions.

She sees his look to Miko and says, "I don't mind, really. After all, how are we to learn if we don't ask?" Turning back to Miko, she says, "I saw your fire."

"Do you invite everyone to your home who camps on the sh.o.r.es of your lake?" Jiron asks.

"Good heavens, no," she says to him with a laugh. She gives them each a searching look before continuing, "Actually, I've been waiting for someone."

A chill runs down James' back, "Waiting?"

She turns her attention to him and says, "Yes."

"For whom?" Jiron asks her.

"For he who bears the Star," she tells him.

James looks to Miko and Jiron who both give him a startled glance as well. He reaches into his shirt and pulls out the Star of Morcyth. Holding it up, he shows it to her.

"I thought as much," she says as she nods her head. "After I felt the power of the spell that had been used earlier, I thought it might be you."

"And that's why you invited us here?" Miko asks.

"A month ago, I had a dream that a star had fallen from the sky and landed on the sh.o.r.e," she explains. "In my dream I had gone and picked it up." Laughing, she says, "That's more or less how it went."

"What else did you dream?" James asks, almost holding his breath.

"That when the star left, it would be bigger than when it had arrived," she replies.

"What does that mean?" Miko asks.

She shrugs but doesn't answer the question. Getting up, she says, "Please, make yourselves comfortable. You may rest here in safety, naught will disturb you." She gestures to a corner of the room where several bedrolls and blankets are neatly stacked.

"Thank you," James says, coming to his feet as well.

"You're welcome," she says. She begins to move to the other room when she pauses and turns around, saying, "Until morning."

"Good night," Miko says as he goes over to where the bedrolls are and grabs one. He unrolls his by the fire and lies down. Taking several of the blankets, he settles down and quickly falls asleep.

The others get theirs as well. From the other room, they can hear her gentle singing coming through the door, lulling them. Unable to fight off exhaustion any longer, they all fall asleep.

James wakes during the night and can hear her soft singing coming from outside. Getting up quietly so as not disturb the others, he goes to the window and sees Lyria outside sitting on an old tree stump. His eyes open in amazement when he sees little creatures, three altogether and no more than a foot tall, sitting before her. They seem to sway to the music as she sings.

They remind James of garden gnomes his grandmother used to have in her flower bed. These were dressed nothing like them, but the height and general resemblance is close.

He moves to the door and opens it as he walks out. As soon as the door begins to open, the singing stops and when he is again able to see her, the little creatures are gone.

She turns her head to look at him and flashes him a slight smile. "h.e.l.lo James," she says.

Coming over to her, he looks around to try to see the little creatures but they're no where to be found. "Where are they?"

"Around," she tells him. "But they're extremely shy."

"What are they?" he asks her as he comes to sit by her.

"Spirits of the earth," she explains. "You're fortunate, very few people have ever seen them."

"How can I get them to come out?" he asks her, still looking about.

"If they want to, they will," she replies. "And they rarely want to."

"They come out to you," he says.

She gives him that smile again and says, "I've been here a long time, they've learned to trust me. I think they like my singing too."

"So do I," he says before he even realizes it. Blushing, he turns his head away and looks out over the lake.

"Thank you," she tells him and then reaches out and pats him on the arm.

"It's peaceful here," he observes when he at last has found his voice.

"Yes, it's the reason I'm here," she says. Then she continues, "Partly, anyway."

"Partly?" he asks.

"We needn't go into that now," she tells him.

They sit there for awhile, enjoying the tranquility of the night when he says, "Have you had any other dreams foretelling the future? Like the star falling?"

"Oh, many," she says. "Dreams are very important if you just know how to interpret them."

"Do G.o.ds ever talk to you?" he asks.

"No, I've never known them to talk to anyone but their priests," she tells him. "And even they don't always understand what they're trying to say."

"I think I have," he suddenly admits.

"Oh?" she says. "And what makes you believe that?"

"Ever since coming here," he says trying to avoid mentioning where he'd really come from, "there's been this little creature, about four and half feet tall. He appears and disappears in unusual fashions."

"And?" she asks, prompting him to continue.

"And, well, he gave me the Star of Morcyth," he explains. "Could he be Morcyth? He denies it though."

Shaking her head, she says, "I doubt it. Every G.o.d has minions who deal with the mortal world. This creature may be one of Morcyth's on this world."

"But he doesn't act like any I've heard of before," he tells her. When she glances at him, he continues, "I mean, he takes me to get pizza, that's a food where I come from. And then he takes me to a place of fun and amus.e.m.e.nt I used to visit as a child. It all seems rather pointless."

"I doubt if it is pointless," she says. "The G.o.ds and their minions never give straightforward directions to those from whom they want something. But whatever he's been doing, there's a meaning behind it. Usually the one who's experiencing it will understand at the appointed time."

"But why wouldn't they just come out and say it?" he asks.

"I don't know," she admits. "But that is the way they work, mostly. What you need to do is think hard about what transpired during each visitation and see if anything has a meaning other than what happened."

"Take my dream about the falling star," she says. "Did it mean a star actually fell? No, it was pertaining to you coming here. Why you were to come here remains unclear, but here you are. The G.o.ds see far into the future, or rather paths that the future may follow."

"Paths?" he asks.

"Yes," she replies. "Let me explain. Say I wanted you to go from here to my house. If I asked you to, you would turn and go straight there. But if I saw that the result of that would be for you to fall and hurt yourself, then I may not tell you to go there, but arrange, through another series of events for you to make it there by another path. A series of events that would enable you to go without hurting yourself. Does that help you understand?"

Nodding his head, he says, "I think so."

"Good," she says. "Now, you should try to go back to sleep if you can."

"Alright," he says, yawning. "I am getting tired again. Will you be alright here alone?"

Smiling at him, she nods and says, "I'll be fine, but thank you for your concern."

James gets up and walks back into the house where he pauses by the window again as she begins her song once more. He looks out and sees the three little creatures once again standing around her in rapt attention.

He goes over to his bedroll and lies down, letting the sound of her voice lull him to sleep.