"Maybe the only way it can be reached is by swimming." Wulfsen said. "Is the girl a good swimmer?"

"It probably is. When I was outside earlier I looked off the shore as much as I could. Taking into consideration it was dark, there was no indication of an island." Xavier thought for a moment. "I couldn't say if she's a good swimmer or not. If they had her in a bubble, they were probably guiding her."

"Can you make the fake Nelek tell you where the island is?" Wulfsen asked.

Xavier glanced at the table and then downed his entire mug. "He escaped," he mumbled.

"How?" Wulfsen was appalled. "You must have had people watching him, chains, a cell..."

"We had him chained down and several knights watching him. What we weren't counting on, nor did we know at the time, that he would shift. Into something larger and stronger. If I hadn't seen it myself, I would never have believed it. Never in a million years. Our swords looked like toothpicks as the chains snapped."

Wulfsen groaned. "So we have no way to find the real Nelek, unless we take the girl out on a boat and throw her down with the anchor so she can tell us which way to go."

"None that I can think of. Hopefully we won't have to throw her underwater with an anchor. I'm kind of worried that they may have rendered her unconscious for at least part of the journey."

"What did the island look like?" Wulfsen asked.

pm[Private to Wulfsen Thornblade: I can't remember how Ila described it.]

pm[Private to Xavier DeVale: Get off your lazy arse and look it up!]

In reply to Wulfsen Thornblade (msg # 166):

PM

[Private to Wulfsen Thornblade: Too much stuff to root through. It would be next week before I could reply. So much faster if you just remind me.]

In reply to Xavier DeVale (msg # 167):

[Private to Xavier DeVale: *Scowls* Do you good to look it up for yourself.]

PM[Private to Wulfsen Thornblade: I'll show you!]



Xavier told Wulfsen everything Ila had said about the island.

[Private to Xavier DeVale: Cheater!]Wulfsen sighed.

"So Aislyn has no idea of where Nelek could be? Did her first husband ever take her swimming?" Wulfsen asked, desperate to find a way.

"From what I understand, the husband left Aislyn the night of the wedding, and left town the next day with another woman. I doubt there was ever time for him to take her swimming."

"Maybe before he married her." Wulfsen suggested, grasping at straws.

"Hmm. We would have to ask her I suppose."

"First thing in the morning." Wulfsen yawned. "See if anyone else knew these merpeople too. Someone must know something."

"Actually, I received most of the information from the other healer, Aalyssa. She's apparently the only one who believed Ila because she knew of these mermen from before. That should mean Mrs. Buckley and Mrs. Spenser as well as Mr. Buckley should know things as well."

"Good... We'll find him." Wulfsen said.

"You're right. There must be a way to find this island."

"Even if we have to sail up and down the coast and our to sea with this Ila." Wulfsen said.

"Better add a ship and crew to the list you'll have to send you father on the morrow regarding our needs. Good thing the keep is big anyway, that way no one has to sleep outside."

"Things are getting more expensive than my father anticipated." Wulfsen said. "But he can afford it."