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Lazarus shared a tent with Professor Jacobs. Royce slept outside. His fur kept him warm. The women—Cindy, Grace and Della—shared a tent. Sleep was the last thing Lazarus wanted, because he slept in the crystal, but he finally rested, snug in a warm blanket.
He couldn't remember any dreams, but awoke to the sound of Professor Jacob's snoring and also to the noise of people moving around outside.
He stood and stepped outside, and saw the Elves preparing to leave. Royce was waiting for him. The Elves’ tents were already packed and stacked on a cart with two large horses attached to it. Professor Jacobs awoke, and stepped out next to him.
He yawned. "I guess I overslept."
The sun was barely lighting the camp and the coldness of the morning still chilled the air.
"I did too," he said. "I’ll wake up the girls."
He saw Groton approaching. "The others are waiting for you. Cindy didn't wake you? They're ready. Do you want some food?"
"Yes," Lazarus said.
"Don't worry about your tent. We will pack it for you. Follow me over here," Groton said.
Professor Jacobs also followed him. Lazarus saw Cindy and the others sitting on the ground, eating.
Cindy said, "Hey Lazarus, I didn't want to wake you guys. I heard your snoring."
Lazarus looked at Professor Jacobs.
Grace said, "You both were snoring. We looked inside, but you guys didn't hear us when we spoke to you."
"You tried to wake us?" Lazarus said.
Della started to laugh. "Yes, we did."
"Okay, okay," Professor Jacobs said. "Could we have some food?"
They sat cross-legged next to the girls. Royce sat away from him. They were given beef jerky and water. Royce looked at the jerky and scoffed.
"I am not hungry,” he said. “I can hunt later. I smell the scent of animals." Royce’s lips curled in a gruesome grin.
After they were all finished they got their stuff together.
Professor Jacobs spoke. "I think you should have this." He handed Lazarus Merlin's Amulet.
"No," Lazarus said, "you should hold it. I trust you." Lazarus gave it to him. He wondered if the Professor would be okay out there on the woods. Then he thought of Della. She would be his protector.
Gathering his belongings, he remembered all he had was his shirt and pants. He wished he had more clothes and could take a long bath. He couldn't remember when he took a shower. He must have smelled bad.
Broethon was suddenly next to him. He hadn't heard the elf approach.
"Are you ready, Alpha Mage?"
"Please, call me Lazarus."
"Yes, Lazarus. We are all packed and ready. We don't have enough horses for you, but you can sit in our cart. Your bodyguard creature can follow next to the cart, however," Broethon said.
Royce was about to say something, but Lazarus said, "That will be fine. How far is the city?"
"It is two day’s ride from here. But my scouts are telling me a group of orcs are coming toward us."
"We can protect ourselves. We have magic, and Royce," Lazarus said.
"Be it so, Alpha Mage, my soldiers have been fighting these orcs for ages. We can handle them. Let us fight for you."
They were led to the cart. Climbing on board, he nodded for Royce to follow them.
"I am faster than these puny horses. I will be fine," he said.
Lazarus asked, "Are you hungry?"
"I am fine. I will hunt later." Royce smiled that wicked grin.
As they sat in the cart, Professor Jacobs looked at Royce. "That is the biggest Grog I have ever seen. What is his story?"
Lazarus explained. "Royce is also an Alpha Mage."
Grace added, "He is not a pet. Are you forgetting what he did to Mathew? He helped us open the gate, so now we should be done with him."
"No, the Vvong Queen manipulated and controlled him. She played him against us," Lazarus said. "We also need him. We don't know what other dangers we will face."
Cindy agreed with Grace. “We're fine without him."
"You do know he can hear us, right?" Lazarus said.
"I don't care," Grace retorted.
The cart moved off and Lazarus glanced over to Royce. The large Grog lopped along on all four legs. He didn't look at them, but Lazarus knew he’d heard.
Professor Jacobs said, "I wonder why the moon looks different?"
Lazarus shook his head. He also wondered why this was the case. "I don't know. Are we in a different solar system, or are we on an alternate Earth?"
He scanned around. He heard the clatter of the horse’s hooves against the ground and the gentle chatter of the Elves. The sun here shone like the sun on his Earth, or upper Earth.
"Maybe we can ask the scribes at the city's library," he suggested.
"Lazarus, we can get to the city faster if we take my giant Falcons," said Cindy.
"I don't think we should go by ourselves. We are strangers here, and we should respect the people," he said.
Professor Jacobs spoke next. "I believe we should stay with the Elves. They can help us and they also need our help."
Lazarus understood Professor Jacobs. He wanted them to think beyond their mission and wanted to help other people. Yet, he didn't know enough about this war between the Elves and orcs.
"Della," he said, "are there orcs in the Hive?"
"No, the orcs were the dark race that sided against us," she said.
Professor Jacobs turned to her. "The orcs sided against you? Was there a war?"
"I don't know the whole story. I was not born during those dark times."
"What do you know?" Professor Jacobs asked. "Tell us things you might have only heard of, as we can always look into it later."
Lazarus noticed how the Professor collected his data by interviewing and checking. He wanted to read the Professor's book, if ever time allowed it.
