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"You prune the entire vineyard?" Ellowyn asked timidly

"Yes The harvest is worth the work You could eat these now, but they would not be sweet enough Culling is an i one Like you When it fully ripens"

"The Medium does not listen to me," Ellowyn said softly "I mean…I cannot even hear it It is my fault"

"Why do you think that is?"

"Because I as you have told htens ht will be I wish I could have warned my friends before it was too late for them Before all the Abbeys have fallen"

"Have you ever seen a forest burn, child?"

"I have not"

"There is nothing left but char and ash Everything left behind is soulless and void There is nothing living – or at least that is how it seems But frorow The forest renews itself It takes tiood and evil in this world If we did not intervene here, the grapes would all turn wild They would all beco A chance for a rebirth Letto the vines that have grown so wild and unruly, so untain anew The Mediu…it will destroy everything, much like the fire in the woods I ht will coo far from here – to a land of safety In the ships"

"Where the other Pry-rians have gone," Ellowyn stated simply "It is far across the sea Do you knohere?"

"No I will not be going, you see"

"But why? If you know the Blight is co, why cannot you leave as you warn others to?"