The sun was already setting when Shon and Tarun were halfway down to the green valley. The narrow trail was no longer covered with overgrowth, which was fortunate because in the decreasing light available, Shon and Tarun had a difficult time seeing their path. By the time they reached the bottom of the trail the stars and moon were out and the night air was alive with the sounds of hundreds of frogs, crickets, and other animals.

Shon and Tarun were not able to see much in the darkness, but they managed to find a somewhat flat area under a large tree where the ground was not very wet. The air had a noticeable chill down in the valley, and Shon looked forward to getting inside his sleeping bag and ending the long and exhausting day that he and Tarun had just had.

However, once his sleeping bag was unrolled and Shon had crawled inside, he found that his mind was wide awake with excitement for what revelations the next day might hold, as well as racing with questions about the prior events of the day. Sleep did not come as easily as he had expected.

“Tarun,” Shon said in the direction of the night sky, “are you still awake?”

“Yes,” Tarun replied from the darkness. “After seeing that dragon’s eyes, I don’t know if I will ever sleep again.”

Shon shuddered at the mention of the dragon. “I know what you mean,” he said. “Why do you think it ran away like that instead of eating us?”

“I don’t know,” Tarun said. “But it didn’t seem to like my pack when I held it in front of me.”

“Do you think it could still smell the Dragon’s Bane you had in there before we sold it?”

“Perhaps,” Tarun said. “Although I think there was more to the dragon leaving than just the smell of my pack. I think it may have been fleeing an attack.”

“What are you talking about?” Shon asked. He sat up and looked in the direction of Tarun’s voice, though he couldn’t see him. “We were the only ones there. What attack could it be afraid of?”

“I’m not sure,” Tarun said. “Do you remember those spines on its back and tail? For just a moment as it was leaving, it looked like one of them was an arrow sticking out of its tail. Perhaps it was from the hunter that the old man told us was in the mountains hunting the cougar.”

“That seems unlikely,” Shon said, laying back down. “I mean, if the hunter shot the dragon to scare it away, why didn’t he reveal himself to us afterwards? Besides, even I know that dragon scales are too hard for arrows to puncture. It’s one of the things that make them so dangerous.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Tarun said.

The dark, chilly air was quiet for a few moments while even the frogs and crickets seemed to calm down. Shon once again broke the silence. “I was thinking about my parents,” he said.

“You think that one of them shot the arrow in the dragon’s tail?” Tarun asked.

“What? No,” Shon said. “I mean I was thinking about whether we’ll be able to find them. Do you think we’ll find any important clues here?”

Tarun was silent for a moment before he replied. “I don’t know,” he eventually replied. “Grodin didn’t seem to think that their Soul Trees would tell us anything specific, but I hope they give us some information.”

“Yeah,” Shon said. “I guess if nothing else it will be good just to see if their trees are alive or dead. Although now that we’re actually here, I’m kind of afraid to find them.”

“What do you mean?” Tarun asked. “They’re just trees. Why would you be afraid of them?”

“I’m not afraid of the trees,” said Shon. “I’m afraid of what I’ll find out about my parents. I mean, if the trees are dead, that means my parents are dead and I’m an orphan. On the other hand, if they’re alive, that means my parents are alive but never chose to come back for me.”

“I understand,” said Tarun. “Still, we can’t find them tonight in this darkness. Perhaps you will feel more enthusiastic about finding the trees tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.”

“Maybe so,” said Shon. He then let out a long, deep yawn and the exhaustion from all the day’s events finally caught up to him. Shon laid his head back, and as soon as it touched the lining of his sleeping bag, he was asleep.

***

Tarun proved to be right about the effect that the night’s sleep would have on Shon. When he awoke the next morning, he nearly jumped out of his sleeping bag as he remembered where they were. Despite the chill in the air, Shon felt an intense mixture of excitement for exploring the valley and optimism for finding clues about his parents.

The sun was just rising over the nearby mountains when Shon got up to stretch and survey his surroundings, and the light reflected so brightly off the nearby lake that Shon had to look away from the water. Although he had been amazed by the sight of the green valley from above the day before, Shon found that looking around at all the different shades of green life surrounding him from within the valley itself left him truly in awe. It seemed like the only area of land in sight that didn’t have some kind of vegetation growing on it was the nearby lake.

Shon found Tarun not far away gathering small pieces of wood together and building a structure similar to the one Krall had instructed them to build for the campfire several days ago. Shon had seen Tarun do this a few times since they parted ways with the dragon hunters, and when he had asked Tarun at the time why he was doing it, Tarun had just responded, “I just wanted to practice so I don’t forget how to do it later.”

“Good morning,” Shon said as he walked up behind Tarun. “Your structure seems to be improving.”

“Good morning, Shon,” said Tarun, turning around to face Shon with a smile. “I didn’t hear you get up.”

“I just got up a little bit ago,” Shon said. “Looks like you’re starting to rub off on me though. I can’t remember the last time I woke up on my own at the same time as the dawn.”

“Actually,” said Tarun, “the sky has been light for a while now. It’s just that these mountains around us are so high that the sun is just now coming into view. This whole valley has been one big shadow all morning until now.”

“Oh,” said Shon, feeling somewhat embarrassed that once again Tarun had been awake so much longer than him. Then remembering his earlier enthusiasm, Shon added, “What do you say we have some breakfast and then try to find my parents’ Soul Trees?”

Shon and Tarun ate a quick breakfast of hard biscuits and dried fruit, and washed it down with some of the water from the clear lake nearby. The water from the lake was so cold it gave Shon a slight headache when he swallowed a big mouthful too quickly, but both he and Tarun found the water to be refreshing.

Finding the Soul Trees did not take them very long. For one thing, Grodin had told them that the trees were located close to the perimeter of the lake so their roots would always have easy access to water. For another thing, most of the normal trees in the valley had dark green needles on their branches, and the three Soul Trees stood in contrast with the leaves covering them.

As Shon approached the three Soul Trees, he tried to remember what Uncle Grodin had told him about them. Shon’s mother had asked for a cherry tree since it was her favorite fruit and she loved the smell of the blossoms, his father had asked for an apple tree because of the versatility of the fruit in recipes, and Grodin had chosen an oak tree because he thought it would most benefit the different animals in the valley.

Shon approached the trees and studied them closely, touching the bark of each one with reverence. The oak tree had grown twice the size of the other trees and had broad green leaves and a trunk so thick that Shon’s arms could only reach about a third of its circumference. The other two trees were much smaller. Their main trunks were about the same height as Shon’s head, and even their highest branches only reached about twice Shon’s height.

In contrast to the bright green leaves on Grodin’s oak, the leaves on Alla Nen’s apple tree were orange and red, and the branches held small yellow apples with brown spots. The color of the leaves made Shon think of his father’s robe that he was wearing, but the sight of the apples made Shon sad for some inexplicable reason.

Shon assumed that the third tree must have been his mother’s. Pedhma’s cherry tree was covered with much smaller green leaves that were somewhat wrinkled in appearance and gave the impression that they had only just started growing. The branches also had several small flower buds that had not yet opened.

The first several minutes that Shon spent inspecting the trees were filled with relief for the young wizard. The trees seemed to be alive and healthy, which meant that his parents were too… somewhere. But after the initial delight at finding and observing the trees, Shon soon began to feel a growing disappointment. There really was nothing about the trees that Shon could see that provided any kind of clues as to where to go next in his quest for his parents.

Shon began looking for any sign, as obscure as it may be, for what to do next. Were the leaves blowing in a particular direction? Were the branches pointing anywhere? Shon noticed that all three trees had moss growing on one side, but then he realized that so did most of the other trees in the valley.

With growing frustration, Shon held Stick in one hand and placed his other hand on the bark of his mother’s cherry tree. With all the energy he could muster, Shon reached out with his mind to the tree, but the only thing he could sense was the same vague sense he had been feeling for days that they were being watched. Pulling his hand away, he spun around to see if anyone was in sight, and saw Tarun reaching for one of the apples from Alla Nan’s tree.

“What are you doing?” Shon snapped. “That’s my father’s Soul Tree, not a snack!”

Tarun withdrew his hand from the apple. “I know,” Tarun replied calmly. “It looked like you were growing frustrated, and I thought that eating one of these apples might provide some magical insight.”

Shon felt ashamed for speaking so sharply to his friend. “I’m sorry Tarun,” he said. “You’re right, I am getting frustrated. Perhaps eating one of my father’s apples will give me some ideas. Since I can’t think of anything else, I guess it’s worth a shot.”

Tarun picked the apple and handed it to Shon. He held it in his hands for a moment with great excitement and hesitance. Could something so simple provide any answers? He slowly brought the apple to his mouth and took a deliberate bite.

Shon immediately spat out the bite the moment after he had taken it. “Ugh! It’s complete mush inside,” Shon said with disgust.

“Perhaps that was just a bad one,” Tarun said, trying to remain positive. “Let me see if I can reach one with fewer brown spots on it.” Tarun reached high and stood on his toes to try and grab another apple, but before he could reach it, he fell back and winced in pain.

“What’s the matter?” Shon asked with concern.

“My foot,” Tarun replied. “It hurts a lot. The way it did when I first woke up in Life’s Edge.”

“Let’s take a look,” said Shon, momentarily forgetting about his frustration with his parents’ Soul Trees.

As they were removing the boot from Tarun’s foot, Shon asked, “How did you get this gash in your boot?”

“I, uh, had an accident trying to use the axe,” Tarun said, looking away. “It caused my sock to get quite soggy yesterday. It was uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to say anything.”

Shon removed Tarun’s sock and winced when he saw the foot inside. “I wish you had said something,” Shon said. “It looks like walking around in that soggy sock has given you a few pretty nasty blisters. We should have stopped to change socks.”

“When would we have done that?” Tarun asked. “I seem to recall we were escaping from a dragon for much of the way.”

“Fair point,” Shon responded. “Still, we should get these blisters cleaned up. Do you think you can walk over to the lake with me?”

“Of course,” Tarun replied with a smirk. “What’s the alternative? You carry me over there?” They both laughed.

When Tarun and Shon reached the shore of the lake, they decided it would benefit both of them to soak their feet in the cool water for a while. After removing their boots and socks and rolling their pants up to their knees, they both gradually began wading into the water.

As Shon walked around in the shallow water, he found the sensation of the cold mud and stone against his feet both pleasant and strange, though ultimately it did feel good on his feet that had walked so many miles in the last several days. At one point, Shon found an area where the floor of the lake dropped off abruptly, and when he looked over the edge of the drop-off, he could no longer see the bottom of the lake. He was about to tell Tarun about the drop-off when he heard a loud splash behind him.

Shon saw Tarun splashing his arms to try to keep his head above water, and he started to panic. He realized that Tarun must have stepped off a drop in the lake floor similar to the one he had just found, but he didn’t know how to rescue him. Shon had never swum before, and even if he had, he doubted he could rescue someone Tarun’s size. In his panic Shon managed to remember that Stick was at the shore, and he ran to grab it to try to pull Tarun to safety.

By the time Shon had returned with Stick, Tarun had disappeared under the water. He ran to the last spot where Tarun had been splashing, and tried lowering Stick into the water with a tight grip in case Tarun caught hold. There was a hard tug on Stick, and while Shon’s grip was firm, his footing was not, and he went splashing into the water where Tarun had been.

As he struggled frantically to keep his head above water, Shon realized that his wet clothes had become unbearably heavy. He mentally called out for help, but knew that there was nobody nearby to save them. Shon’s head managed to stay above the water for a few more seconds, but then went under. The last thing that he heard before his ears filled up with water seemed to be some kind of horn off in the distance.

Shon’s lungs burned for air, but he couldn’t manage to get his head back up to the surface. He could see the light of the sun rippling and wavering above him, but it seemed so distant now. Just a minute ago, Shon had not even thought about breathing, and now air seemed like the most precious thing in the world.

Just as Shon was about to give up and release the air in his lungs, he heard two dull splashing sounds from above, and suddenly something grabbed his arm and pulled him upward. A few seconds later, he broke through the surface of the water and began taking great, gasping breaths of precious air. He walked and crawled to the edge of the lake, and realized that Tarun was next to him, coughing and sputtering as well.

“How did you save me?” Shon asked as he started to regain his breath.

“I didn’t,” Tarun said between great coughs. “They did.”

When Shon looked where Tarun was pointing, he was startled to see Piggy and Solimar standing soaking wet and grim-faced looking back at him.

“What kind of idiot goes swimming fully clothed?” Solimar asked.