June 27th

When one crosses the border of our country (Burtintuf) heading west, they find themselves in a thick forest. The forest is infested with all kinds of beasts and monsters, whom, if encountered, will kill without thought. Those woods are rarely escaped once entered. After the forest, which stretches for miles and miles (nobody knows exactly how far), there is a scorching desert, with blistering heat and nonstop winds that range from 60 to 100 mph, more often than not. The visibility is awful, which actually worked to our advantage (I will explain in a second). And then finally after making it through the desert one will be in the lovely country of Ehlmrick (to which I have never been to). That was the path we took. Fun, right?

Summer and I knew we did not have long before people would follow us, with orders from the prince to bring Summer back to him. And also to bring me back dead or alive. So since Summer's home was so close to the western border, we had no choice but to head in that direction. If we were to try a different way, we would have had to go through the country, which would have raised the risk of getting caught. I knew the people going after us would not risk going into the forest.

Even before entering it, the forest is an eerie place. Summer and I stood before it, just staring. A shiver ran down my spine. I swear you can feel the aura of the creatures within. Then Summer spoke. “you really want to do this?”

“Of course. We can't go back now. We have to do this.”

She gave me a sidelong glance and a tiny smirk. “Well at least I have you to protect me.”

“And protect you I will.” And with that I led the way into the forest.

Our walk was undisturbed for all of the beginning. We had maybe gotten a mile in when the ground dropped. And yet, even though the forest floor was getting lower, the tops of the trees were always at the same point. They were getting taller, and bigger. Soon the trees were so big that I felt as if I had shrunk to only a foot tall. And that meant that the creatures that lived there were bigger than I had imagined, as well. (Always a lovely thing to find out midway through a journey.)

We continued in a more or less straight line. The further we got, the darker it got. And then we started hearing rustling noises in the distance. Each time there was a noise we would freeze for what was probably about fifteen to twenty minutes. Summer was becoming paranoid (not that I blame her).

I became careless. I was always looking for something that would pop out at us and stopped paying attention to our surroundings. I did not see the big divot in the ground. As I stepped in it my knee locked and I lost my balance. I put my arm out to protect myself from the fall, but I smacked it against a fairly massive rock. My skin did not break but it felt like there was something wrong with the bone. I figured it was a fracture.

The noise that accompanied my fall brought creatures attention to us. The next thing we knew there was what looked like a giant red and yellow lizard with quills all over. Summer gasped. “That is a replargon lizard. I have read about them. Their quills are covered in poison, which the littlest amount could kill an elephant.”

“Well then I suggest we run.” We turned to do so, but more of the creatures were coming out of the trees. We were surrounded.

“Climb that tree. They can't climb, so we should be safe.” And so we did. We climbed the closest tree, just in time to see the creatures reach the base of it. “We still need to go higher. Although they can not climb they can jump very high.”

When we finally stopped climbing we were about fifty feet up. The creatures were quite persistent in their attempts to reach us. We sat on a branch way up in the tree for a half hour. None of the creatures left. They were always watching us, waiting for us to come down.

And then an idea hit me. “We could probably make it from tree to tree across these branches. We would be able to continue through this forest, and hopefully out.”

“I guess it is worth a try,” Summer agreed. The trees were close enough together that it was possible. We started moving slowly from tree to tree. The creatures followed, but seeing as we never got any lower, they could still not reach us.

Although our pace was slow, we did make progress through out the day. Well that is until the branch Summer was standing on broke. I was close enough to grab her arm. I did, and at the same time grabbed the tree as to anchor myself to it. But the instant Summer's full weight was on me I realized my arm was not going to hold for long.

The pain was beyond anything I had ever felt. I have been beaten or in fights, and still it did not compare. It felt like the bone was being pulled in half. And even worse, I knew that if I did not relieve the stress it would be. So I had two options. Either I drop Summer or I grew and broke the branch I was standing on, due to increase in weight. Neither a good option.

But so my mind instantly was back on the idea of saving Summer. I did not care what happened to me. Our eyes met for a second and I knew she saw inn them what I was going to do.

She screamed at me. “No. Don't do it. NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!” Even though I knew the instant I hit the ground the lizards would be on me, I had already made up my mind.

But then Summer's eye glowed blue. And in an instant the weight was removed from my arm. Summer had disappeared. I realized I was still gripping something and looked in my hand.

Sitting on my open palm was a naked Summer. I swear I almost fell off the branch from shock. “Wait. Summer, what is going on?”

She smiled up at me. “Unshrink me and I will tell you.”

“What!?”

“You think I did this? No, this is your skill, not mine.”

“How could it be mine? I did not do this to you.”

“Of course you did. As I said before I have no skill in height change. You have to will me bigger. That is what you do in order to change your height, right?”

“Yeah, but I have never done it to anyone else.” She gave me an annoyed look. “OK. I guess I technically did it to you, if you are in fact correct. Alright. Let me give it a try.”

I concentrated on making her bigger. And before long she was growing in my hand. Before she got to big, I placed her on the branch and sat down beside her. I continued while holding her hand, for support.

When I was done she grinned broadly. “See. I told you you could do it.”

“Yes, alright. So I did it. Now explain what happened. And why are you naked?”

She blushed at my question. “Um... well, my clothes don't change sizes like yours, so they are down there.” She pointed to the ground. Kicking myself for asking such a silly question, I looked down at the ground. Sure enough there they were.

“Um... this bark is a little uncomfortable on my bare skin. Do you mind shrinking me a bit and just holding me or something? Then I will explain everything.”

“Oh. OK.” Grabbing her hands, I started the shrinking process. When she was back in my palm I grabbed a handkerchief that I had in my pocket. I draped it over her shoulders, and she rapped it around herself.

“OK. Where to start? I have two last names. Outer ones, I mean. One is Coltaire which literally translates to control, and the other is Keuyf, which translates to key, or unlock. So more or less, I can control peoples skills through them, and also unlock their potential. So in your case, I made you shrink when we faced Donald and then I just unlocked your potential, a bit, at least. I guess your height shifting is not confined to just your body.”

All of this info was stunning. “That is so cool,” I breathed. She grinned again. “I guess that might come in handy later.”

“OK. OK. Enough talk. We need to get going.”

I stood. “Well, you can't walk like that, so I guess I am just going to have to carry you.”

“Whatever. But one last question. How is your arm?”

I had totally forgotten it until just that moment. The pain came rushing back. “I had not realized it was that bad when I had done it. Catching you made it worse. But I can live with it. Once we get to a city I can get it healed.”

Summer rolled her eyes. “You don't have to act for my sake.”

“Don't worry. I would not do such a thing. Besides it would not work if I tried.”

I started to walk again. Surprisingly we were out of the forest only a few hours later. The lizards had not followed. And as I jumped down from the trees we were greeted by a lovely view of the sandy air of the desert. The sand reached hundreds of feet up in the air.

“Do you by any chance know how wide the desert is?” I asked Summer.

“I believe it is two miles wide.”

I did a few calculations in my head and determined that if I grew to fifty feet tall I could make it through in a matter of minutes. And if I calculated for having to not be seen I would just shrink before we exited. And so that is what we did. Summer had to stay small because if she didn't she would have walked into the village naked. We bought her clothes there.

There was no healer so we are continuing to the nearest big city, which is called Freta.