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Elena felt as if she had been doing nothing in al her life except walk under a shady canopy of high branches It wasn’t cold here, but it was cool It wasn’t dark, but it was diht from the bloated red sun in the first Dark Di in a constant dusk It was unnerving, always looking up for the sky and never seeing the ht well be up there Rather than sky, there was nothing but tangled tree branches, clearly heavy and so intricately entwined as to take up every bit of space above

Was she crazy, thinking that ht tiny moon that you could see from the outside of the Nether World Gatehouse? Was it too tiny to have an atravity? She had noticed that she felt lighter here and that even Bonnie’s steps seeo of Stefan’s hand, and ju jump, but it hadn’t taken her anywhere near the canopy of woven branches above And she didn’t land neatly on her toes, either Her feet flew out from under her on mil ennia of leaf mold and she skidded on her rear end for ers and feet in and stop

"Elena! Are you All right?"She could hear Stefan and Bonnie cal ing from behind her, and a quick, iure out where ere by testing the gravity,"she said, standing up on her own and brushing leaves off the seat of her jeans, one up the back of her T-shirt, had even gotten inside her caroup had left uard them, and Elena didn’t even have spare clothes That had been stupid, she told herself angrily now Embarrassed, she tried to walk and shiet the crumbled leaves out of her top Final y she had to say, "Just a second, everybody

Guys, could you turn around? Bonnie, could you colad to help and Elena was astonished at how long it took to pick gunk away fro back

Next ti, Damon’s scornful telepathy cohty percent Earth’s gravity here and we could well be on a e hadn’t helped us with this compass, we’d never be able to find the tree’s trunk - at least not in time"

"And remember,"Elena said, "that the idea that the star bal is near the trunk is just a guess We have to keep our eyes open!"

"But what should we look for?"Once, Bonnie would have wailed this Now she simply asked quietly

"Well"Elena turned to Stefan "It wil look bright, won’t it?

Against this horrible half-light?"

"This horrible careed "It should look like a slightly shifting bright light"

"But put it like this,"Da his old 250-kilowatt se’s suggestion, we’l never find the trunk If we try to wander rando our way back And then not only Fel ’s Church, but il al die, in this order First, o vampires wil break with al civilized behavior, as starvation - "

"Stefan won’t,"cried Elena, and Bonnie said, "You’re just as bad as Shinichi, with his ’revelations’about us!"

Damon smiled subtly "If I were as bad as Shinichi, little redbird, you would already be punctured like an ee, enjoying Black Magic - "

"Look, this is pointless,"Stefan said

Daned sympathy "Maybe you haveproblemsin the canine area, but I do not, little brother"He deliberately held the smile this time so everyone could see his pointed teeth

Stefan wouldn’t be baited "And it’s holding us up - "

"Wrong, little brother So at the sa her hot forehead with cold fingers

Da backward "You only had to ask,"he said, with just the slightest e in return She felt feverish

It wasn’t al just straight walking Frequently there were huge mounds of knotted roots in their way that had to be climbed

Sometimes Stefan had to use the axe from his backpack to reen de It played tricks on her eyes, just as the round played tricks on her ears Several times she stopped - and once Stefan did - to say, "There’s so us!"

Each time they had al stopped and listened intently Stefan and Damon sent telepathic probes of Power as far as they could reach, seeking another uised as to be invisible or it didn’t exist at all

And then, after Elena felt as if she had been walking her whole life, and would keep walking until eternity ended, Damon stopped abruptly Bonnie, just behind him, sucked in her breath Elena and Stefan hurried forward to see what it was

What Elena saw made her say, unsteadily, "I think e"

On the ground in front of her and as far as she could see, was the star-studded darkness of space But washing out the light of the stars was a huge planet and two huge moons, one swirled blue and white and one silver

Stefan was holding her hand, sharing the wonder with her, and tingles ran up her arht touch on her fingers

Then Daasped For just an instant her body was completely unmoored She and Stefan automatical y wound their arms around each other And then Elena realized what they were seeing, both above and below

"It’s water,"she said, staring at the pool spread out before thee told us about

And not a ripple on it Not a breath of wind"

"But it does look as if we’re on that smal est moon,"Stefan said mildly, his eyes deceptively innocent as he looked at Daly heavy at the core of this ravity we nor on to so ic? This is a world we reached through the Nether World Why should logic apply?"He looked at Elena with slightly narrowed, hooded eyes

"Where is the third one? The grave one?"

The voice caht She was

- they al were - turning fro shi Bonnie;

And Elena with golden hair

They whisper and then are silent

They plot and I no longer care

But I must have Elena,

Elena with the Golden Hair"

"Well, you’re not going to have me!"cried Elena "And that poem is a colish class And you’re crazy! "Even through her anger and fear she wondered about Fel ’s Church If Shinichi was here, could he bring about the Last Midnight there? Or could Misao siolden Elena,"the kitsune said

Both Stefan and Da, Shinichi,"Stefan said "You wil never, ever touch Elena again"

"I have to try You’ve taken everything else"

Elena’s heart was pounding now If he’l talk sense to any of us, he’l talk toready for the Last Midnight, Shinichi?"she asked in a friendly tone, inwardly tre in case he should say, "It’s already over"

"She doesn’t need me She wouldn’t protect Misao Why should I help Her?"

For a moment Elena couldn’t speak She? She? Other than Misao, what other She was involved in this?

Damon had a crossbow out noith a quarrel loaded in it

But Shinichi just went ra on

"Misao couldn’t move anymore She had put al her Power into her star bal , you see She never laughed or sang any longer - never made up any plots with me She justsat

"Final y she asked ht we’d becoht into me But it didn’t help NowI can barely hear her

I’ve coy to travel through the dimensions If I put Misao into ain - but not where I left it last I’l put it farther up where no one else wil ever find it"He seeuess it’s Misao and I who are talking to you right now Except that I’m so lonely - I can’t feel her at all"

"You wil not touch Elena,"Stefan said quietly

Daroup at Shinichi’s words, "I’l put it farther up"

"Go on, Bonnie, keep ,"Stefan added "You too, Elena We’l fol ow"

Elena let Bonnie go so telepathical y, We can’t break up, Stefan; there’s only one coht hear you! came Stefan’s voice, and Da her to shut up,"Shinichi said "You’re ht out of your minds I didn’t think you were that stupid"

"We’re not stupid,"Bonnie said hotly

"No? Then did you figure out my riddles for you?"

"This is hardly the time for that,"Elena snapped It was a ain

"Did you tel theedy of Cae I’l tel them, then, shal I? I’l read it as you put it in your diary"

"No! You can’t have read er applicable! "Elena flared

"Letvoice ’Dear Diary, one of Shinichi’s riddles hat I thought of Ca Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the knight she loved, Lancelot

And here’s what I thought A lot of innocent people died and were , a queen, and a knight - couldn’t behave in a civilized way

They couldn’t understand that the more you love, the ive in to love and just share - al three of them’"

"Shut up!"screamed Elena "Shut up!"

My God, Damon said, my life just lapped itself