Return to Eddeathra

That evening, Lauren had finished eating dinner. She had invited Ben over to her house. The whole time she had fiddled with the remaining piece of the Starstone that hung around her neck and constantly looked outside the window to see when the moon would finally rise and take its place governing the sky until the sun could return.

Lauren's younger sister, Allie, was talking non-stop to Ben about one of her favorite TV shows that had a new season coming out in the next month. Lauren lightly kicked Allie to get her attention. "Allie, why don't you go watch something? Ben and I have something to do." Allie's face saddened, but nodded and ran up the stairs to her parents bedroom, where they had a TV.

"Let's go," Lauren said as she stood up and straightened her black shirt. She grabbed her jacket from the couch as Ben followed her out the front door.

Lauren and Ben were plunged into darkness with only the light of the sun reflecting off of the moon to guide their steps. "Are you ready?" Lauren asked. The faint figure of Ben nodded. Lauren grabbed Ben's right hand and grabbed the Starstone with her left. A beam of light streaked across the sky and landed right on top of Lauren and Ben and the world went white.

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Lauren opened her eyes to see a bright blue sky with not a single cloud in it. Mourning Doves lazily flapped their wings as they glided across the sky. She looked over at Ben whose eyes were full of tears. "It's been so long since I was last here," he whispered to her. "Where are we?"

Lauren looked around. They were standing on a large hill that overlooked a series of villages below. People busily moved about continuing with their day. A large fortress loomed in the distance with a castle inside it. "I think we are at Cardell, although I don't know how we got here. The last time I came, I landed on a small island called Alavista. I wonder why we're here. Do I land in a different spot every time, or am I here because of Odi's call?"

Ben sighed and looked at Lauren. "Well, there's only one way to find out."

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Lauren and Ben walked silently through the busy village. People turned to stare and some whispered to each other. "Why are they staring at you?" Ben whispered.

"I saved them, remember? They probably recognize me." Lauren whispered back. She walked over to a man who was standing outside of a small building which appeared to be some sort of bakery. "Excuse me," Lauren said to him. "Could you please tell me how to get to Cardell Castle?"

The man turned around and his eyes widened. "Moonstar?" he asked and Lauren nodded. "Your back! Uh, continue down this street and the castle is right there."

"All right, thank you!" Lauren called as she and Ben walked away. "I wonder why he was so jumpy."

"Maybe he was just surprised and glad that you're back."

"Maybe," she answered. "But I still get the feeling that something isn't right.