Rein didn't breathe for a moment. The chamber grew hot as she watched Jaska intently. His head turned toward her and Rein prepared to run, but then he stopped moving. Rein's taut muscles ached as she stood motionless like one of Jaska's marble statues. When the Grand Master snored again, Rein rubbed the sweat from her forehead and tried not to exhale too loud. Keep it together, she thought.Then suddenly Jaska rolled over and Rein dove beneath a silver pillow. The cool satin felt relieving as she waited for confirmation that it was safe to emerge, but her heartbeat pounded painfully when she realized that Jaska had rolled over onto the key. She squirmed and wriggled around beneath the pile of silver, white, and gray pillows to make her way behind Jaska, and the weight on top of her increased her level of fatigue. Before she could emerge from the mound of cushion

Rein climbed above the cave where she and the empress had previously taken refuge and frantically scanned the island, trying desperately to remember where else she had stayed centuries ago, but her mind came up blank. Though, she realized that she could use a better, higher view of the island, and perhaps that could jog her memory. So she quickly climbed back down and dodged a few rabid creatures as she bolted to a tree and shot up its trunk. She nearly collided with a woodpecker when she got to a satisfying height, which immediately attacked her with its beak. After narrowly avoiding its savage strikes, Rein slashed its throat and continued to the cusp of a branch. Now that she had a better view, she scanned the island again and spotted a large black void approximately thirty yards away where nothing around glowed, shined, or gleamed. From what Rein could tell, it appeared to be void of wildlife as well. She didn't recall this spot fr

Empress Renée was confused. She furrowed her eyebrows and waited for an explanation from the Mystery Miracle Worker. However, she didn't get one."I thought we had already established that I won't give you the key," she said."Yes, and then I figured, 'what if she didn't need the key?'" the Miracle Worker replied. "You see, Empress, I know of an entrance into the Cataras Springs where you don't need a key. You can enter from beneath the island in which the garden is located."Renée processed these words. "I still need the key to know how much time I have left.""How does the key show you?" asked the Miracle Worker. She held out her hand to receive the key.

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