It takes another two days to leave the woods. They don't end gradually like they did at the beach. One moment we're surrounded by trees, and the next we're in a vast desert. Well, sort of a desert; it's more pebbles than sand. It's filled with low-lying, brightly colored plants and gigantic cadmium red and burgundy rocks. Many of the rocks are piled high in odd gravity-defying arrangements. Just looking at the mammoth boulders precariously heaped on top of one another makes me nervous. Walking next to them is both awe inspiring and heart stopping.

It's peculiar how these rocks managed to arrange themselves in this way. Some look freshly assembled and jagged while others have eroded away to form inexplicable shapes. We just passed one that looks like a donut on its side, if the donut was three stories high.

I'm liking this part of the journey because I can clearly see where we're heading. In the far distance is a wall of mahogany red rock, jutting up and down as high as the skyline of Manhattan, only stretching out farther. It's comforting in a way. It's familiar, even though it's rocks and not buildings. I wish I knew what a gorge was so I'd know exactly where we were going.

The sun is setting over the wall of rock, but the sky is brighter. When the trees, ended so did the night. A pink line, like a jet trail across the noon sky, marked night and day. I prefer the blue, even if the setting sun makes it kind of pink.

It only takes about an hour before I admit that this part of the journey is the worst yet. It's hot and extremely dry. There's no path, but the plants are spaced far apart, so it's easy to traverse the gravelly ground. My sneakers are worn through. They were cheap shoes to begin with, and they were never meant for hiking. I feel every stone under my feet, not to mention the tiny pebbles that love jumping into my shoes.

I don't know how long it takes us to arrive at Smivler's Gorge, but I've been staring at it for days. It's just a split in the rock. From far away it's a hairline crack in the mammoth skyline wall but now that we're up close, I can see that the opening is wide enough for the four of us to walk comfortably side -by -side and still leave room for the numerous plants and trees growing in it.

"Wow!" jumps from my mouth. With those few steps, I've entered another world. I spin in a circle, studying the cliffs on both sides. This is how tourists must feel when they visit New York City for the first time. The walls are so high that staring up at them makes me dizzy.

"It gets even more beautiful the further we go in," Jonah explains.

I want to climb the honeycomb rock face, sit on one of the frightening overhangs, and study the unusual striations that range from gleaming orange to blood red. The vertical cliffs on both sides are so tall they make me feel very small and inconsequential. I'm not worthy of seeing something this astounding.

The trees have long branches with poofs of tiny bright leaves at the ends that remind me of poodles. They add to the splendor by singing a low-tuned song that sounds like something I once heard coming out of a church. We follow the dirt line traveling down the center of the gorge, but just off the path are dense exotic plants with broad multicolored leaves that are bigger than I am.

I yawn and Jonah looks down at me. "Are you fatigued?"

"Yes, and I'm starving."

"Dathid, do you think it's safe to camp here?" Jonah asks even though he's already taking off his pack.

"Sure," is all Dathid says before dropping his bag. He might be tired too.

Jonah makes a fire and we eat dinner from the food the faeries packed. I sit on the ground with my back against the gorge wall and study my surroundings. Jonah soon joins me.

"I wish I brought my brushes with me," I say to him. "This place gets more amazing with every new spot we visit. I want to paint it."

Jonah smiles at me. "Tomorrow you must tell Lenox to meet you on the other side of the gorge."

"Why?"

"Because the gorge will get narrow and the footing will be less stable. Plus, you won't be able to convince him to walk through a cave."

"Why am I the only one that can talk to him?"

"Lenox is your pegasus."

Why do I have a pegasus? Why is he mine? Why am I the only one that can talk to him? I want to ask Jonah all of these questions, but I'm afraid of the answers, so instead I ask, "What language does Dathid speak? What's that accent?"

"Gàidhlig."

"And what language do you usually speak?"

"English. I'm from Brooklyn."

I'm surprised by his answer. "Do all Knight Crawlers speak English?"

"No, we speak the language of whatever region we are residing in. Knight Crawlers do not have a land or a language."

I may have discovered something, but I hope I'm wrong. "Okay, well, why does Lenox speak English if he was raised with the faeries?"

"Because Lenox is yours."

"So, when he was given to me, he just suddenly knew English?"

"No, he was trained by the Wiltonshire elves. He knows a dialect of Naga-Nuru that the elves speak."

"Naga-Nuru?" I repeat. "Then how does he understand me?"

"Because he was taught English and trained for you."

"What?" It's more of an accusation than a question. "How is he trained for me? I thought you just found out about me! How could you have a pegasus ready for me?"

Jonah puts his hand up to stop my questions. "We always knew about you. But we weren't sure what happened to you. Preparations were made, in case you survived. There were many pegasus trained in various languages in the hopes of your return."

I should be honored that these people are excited about me coming back, but his revelation fills me with doubt. I don't know anyone here. I just blindly followed Jonah. Could that night at Auntie's have been an elaborate ruse to trick me into coming here?

"That first night when you came into my room, why didn't you just take me then?" I whisper.

"Agatha, I was more shocked to see you than you were to see me. I never thought we would locate you. More to the point, I never thought I would be the one to find you. I thought-we all thought that if you returned, you would be with Lord Duradin. It was our hope that you would be incorruptible or at least salvageable, and that we could release you from his grasp." His words trail off as he becomes lost in his own thoughts.

He takes a breath and continues after a brief pause. "That night, I was rescuing a gremlin that was being hunted by your neighbors."

"Mr. and Mrs. Miller were trying to kill that thing!" His expression grows weary but he doesn't comment, so I continue with my questions. "So that thing, that gremlin...what happened to him?"

"He died that night."

"Oh," is all I can think to say. "Was he a friend of yours?"

"No. He was a young gremlin who fell into a trap."

"Oh," I say again because I can't think of anything else. I never knew anyone, who knew anyone who died.

Our silence continues for much longer than I'm comfortable with. "So that's why you didn't take me that night? Because the gremlin was dying?"

"No. I would've sacrificed him for you. I honestly didn't know what to do. I knew I could get to the faeries and back before Lord Duradin could give your foster mother orders. So that's what I did."

"So you were ordered to take me?" I've exchanged one set of jailers for another.

"Yes and no. As I said before, we never expected to find you. King Ohad was making arrangements for a rescue mission and I was sent back to assess the situation. Unfortunately, Lord Duradin was faster than we anticipated. I made a judgment call."

"So, you took me." The words are faint. I'm saying them to myself. I don't know what to say or even what to think. What would a rescue mission have looked like? I probably would've thought I was being kidnaped. However, if a threat was introduced first, like Lord Duradin, I would've willingly gone with my hero, even if he was the Angel of Death.

Jonah watches my mood sink. "Agatha, I didn't abduct you." He sounds upset that I would accuse him of that. "You have always had choices. You can choose to leave now. You can choose to stop and go into hiding, or you can choose to continue."

I don't want to talk anymore. I get up and head over to Lenox. "I thought I had choices with Auntie too," I whisper into the air.

Lenox is already curled up for the night. He lifts his wing when he sees me approach. At least I never have to question his motives. I lie in the comfort of his embrace while tears roll unchecked down my face.

I wake up the next morning lying on the ground with Lenox standing over me, smelling my hair. I must have been out cold because I don't remember him getting up.

"Lenox, let her sleep," Dathid orders, but Lenox ignores him.

"I'm up. I'm up." I groggily push at his nose. Usually, I wake up lying with him, but he seems to have been awake for quite a while, as does Dathid. "Where's Jonah?" I ask.

"He went up ahead. He should be back shortly. You need to eat." He hands me a biscuit and some fruit.

I was out of line last night. I might have permanently damaged my relationship with Jonah. I wish he'd hurry up and get back here so I can apologize. I eat my breakfast and watch Dathid efficiently break down our small camp when a long shadow appears on the gorge wall. I look down the path, hoping Jonah has returned, but there's nothing there, not even a bright light to make a silhouette.

It's definitely a shadow and it definitely is moving toward us. I brace myself because whatever it is, it will be upon us in a matter of seconds. Then without warning, the shape becomes three-dimensional and Jonah appears. It's so sudden that I jump and let out a small squeak. My face gets hot when Jonah and Dathid look at me questioningly. I focus on my fruit and hope they forget I'm here.

"'Bout time you came back," Dathid says.

"I went all the way to the opening. It's clear. Did you check above?"

"No. I was letting her sleep. She's only been up a short time. We can start out and I'll go up and have a look."

Why do they always talk about me like I'm an object? They do that a lot for expedience. If they talk to me, then they need to explain what they're saying. I agree that can get tedious. When we first started out I didn't want to know, but since this journey seems to be unending, I want them to include me in the discussion.

Of course, I'd have to tell them that and that might make them mad. I just need to get over it. They know what's best.

Jonah is quiet this morning. That's not unusual, but today I'm taking it personally. I want to talk about last night. I can see he's distracted because he keeps looking around. I lose my nerve. I shouldn't talk to him now anyway, because Dathid is directly in front of us. He's usually so far ahead I never see him, but today I could reach out and touch him.

I stop dead in my tracks when he unfolds his long wings. I know he's a faerie, but his wings are always so neatly tucked up along his back, like a backpack, that I forget about them until he unfurls them. Without a word, his wings flap furiously until they're a blur, and he starts the long climb up the gorge.

He ascends a good distance up the cliff when Lenox takes off after him, thrilled at finding a playmate. Lenox is faster and more agile than Dathid and makes a game of circling him and then dodging him when he tries to shoo him away. Lenox bumps Dathid in return. I'm not sure they're still playing when Dathid gives Lenox a solid push. Lenox responds by putting his muzzle under Dathid and giving him such a shove that it sends Dathid tumbling high into the air.

When he recovers, he hovers for a moment and then calls to Lenox. Lenox speeds toward him at a remarkable rate. As he passes, Dathid grabs his tail. Lenox doesn't like having a passenger and increases his speed as he climbs straight up the gorge walls. When he's almost to the top, he abruptly turns and throws Dathid free of his tail. The momentum shoots Dathid out of the gorge, and Lenox chases after him.

"He's going to be mad when he returns," Jonah chuckles, and we continue down the path.

Now that we're alone, I can't keep the words in any longer. "I'm sorry about last night. I was just tired. I know you didn't kidnap me and I'm not your prisoner. This is just a lot."

"I'm sorry too. I'm not trained to teach thirteen-year-old human girls, and sometimes I don't know how you'll react to things."

"It's just a lot," I repeat then change the subject. "So, I'm like...famous here?"

Jonah nods.

"I always thought it would be wonderful to be famous, but the reality of it is unnerving. It's because I can read the Orb?"

"Yep, you're the Keeper of the Key," Jonah corrects.

"But I don't have the key."

"Not yet."

I think about his cryptic response. "So what do I have to do once I get it?"

"No one really knows. Your mother was the Keeper of the Key, but she never had it either. It's assumed that when we locate the key, we'll know how to destroy it."

"Wait a minute!" I shout. "I'm supposed to find this key, and when I do, then we figure out what to do with it?"

"Yes and no," Jonah explains calmly. "My knowledge of the key is limited. There are others who know a lot more, but no one has ever seen it. So we're not exactly sure what it is or what to do with it."

I don't like Jonah not knowing, but to be fair, he's not really in charge of the key or me or any of this. He's just the lucky guy who happened upon me. It's weird to think that an entire world has been searching for me, waiting for me, and preparing for my arrival.

These people who are in charge, are they even right? Does the Orb lead to a key? And if it does, would that key unlock the portals? So far, they seem to know so little, and yet they're asking me to risk a lot.

"Agatha," Jonah says as if he's reading my thoughts. "We know the Orb will find the key. We know that we have to keep the key away from Ziras. It could be that simple. We will take this one step at a time. First, you need to be trained."

That gives me some relief, but I don't want to talk about it anymore. The footing is getting rockier and more unstable, so I turn my attention to that. We travel in silence for a long time and eat our lunch on the move. When the passage gets narrower, we stop so I can call Lenox.

After I whistle for him, he appears above us almost immediately. He's very high up so it takes me a moment to see that Dathid is clinging to his tail again. Lenox is descending amazingly fast, and Dathid's joyful cry is echoing through the gorge.

Lenox dives toward the gorge floor and turns just before he smashes into the ground. Dathid, however, violently hits the dirt and rolls a few times before coming to a stop in a cloud of dust.

I'm about to run to his aid because Lenox might have seriously wounded him. But when the dust clears, he's sitting on the ground with his legs straight out in front of him, covered in a layer of dirt, all disheveled and laughing. Why is being smashed in the dirt funny?

"That was a lot of fun," he says with a wide grin.

Lenox lands gracefully a few feet away, then promptly gives Dathid a powerful shove to the ground. He laughs harder. He stands slowly and by the time he's back on his feet, he's reverted back to his overly serious self. "There's nothing up there."

"Good," Jonah says with a smile.

Dathid and Jonah engage in a brief conversation. I'm not sure what it's about because they're talking too low, but it might be provisions since they're packing Lenox's saddlebags.

"It's time to tell him to go to the other side," Jonah says to me when they're done.

I point to the small bag Dathid's holding. "Is that enough?"

"It'll do."

Once Lenox goes, almost all of our supplies go with him. I hope he comes back. I'm pretty confident he will when it takes a lot of coaxing before he'll leave me. But he flies overhead and keeps an eye on us.

The path grows increasingly narrow, and soon the plants thin out until there are none. Eventually, the walls are so close together we have to walk single file. Jonah is too big to fit through easily, so he ends up flattening himself along the gorge walls with only his hand sticking out, holding his staff. It's wondrous watching him shrink and elongate his body like a shadow in changing light.

Jonah leads the way, and Dathid follows behind me. The footing is rocky and treacherous and I fall down several times. Sometimes Dathid catches me, but usually he doesn't. I have to climb over enormous boulders that are lodged in the canyon and worse, jump down from them. I even have to crawl under one, which is terrifying. After we climb over yet another colossal boulder, I'm met on the other side by a deep crevasse that makes me freeze in fear.

"You'll have to jump," Dathid explains from over my shoulder.

"I can't." My voice sounds pathetic, even to me. I'm not an athletic person and the jump is well over six feet long. There's no way I'll make it.

Jonah easily crosses the chasm by elongating his body and materializing on the other side.

"I can't," I repeat to Jonah. My entire body is shaking.

"You won't fall. Jump to me. I will catch you."

"I can't." My hands are involuntarily balling into fists. My feet are numb. There's no bottom to the crevasse. It's just deep, dark nothingness.

"Agatha," Jonah asserts in a firm tone. "If you say you can't, you'll be right. Stop fighting fear, and ignore it. Listen to me. Jump!"

I try to move, but I can't. I remember Reason telling Hope not to argue with Fear and just ignore her. Ignore Fear. Jonah won't let me fall. I have to do this. I have to jump. Stop thinking and jump. I close my eyes and leap into the air as hard as I can.

I miss by a lot. My feet never come close to the edge. I scream when gravity starts to take me. Jonah grabs my wrist, wrenching me to solid ground and his comforting embrace.

"Are you alright?" he asks to the top of my head.

A surge of joy bursts from me with a giggle. "Ouch," I cry and pull away, playfully rubbing my shoulder.

He smiles at me. "Walk ahead a few paces so Dathid can cross."

Dathid's wings are too wide to expand in the narrow passage, but he's able to leap to the other side easily. Once everyone crosses safely, Jonah flattens himself against the wall and passes me in order to lead the way.

"That's really creepy, you know," I say to him.

"He can't talk when he's like that."

"Why?"

"I should've known that a question would follow. I don't know, ask him."

Our progress is slow and silent. I have to leap over several other crevasses, but none as wide as the first one, and my confidence grows with each jump. Dathid helps me over the boulders, but my legs are shaking and tired. I'm worn out from the difficult journey, and my whole body hurts.

"We'll be stopping up ahead," Dathid reassures me.

Once we slither under another huge boulder that's wedged firmly in the gorge, the walls open a bit so the three of us can stand together. Jonah materializes again.

"I wish I could do that," I say to him.

"It's convenient," Jonah responds, then looks at Dathid. "Let's make camp here. She can rest. We have plenty of time."

Dathid agrees as he swings the pack off of his back. He removes some biscuits and fruit and hands them out.

I sit on the ground, holding my food, but I'm too weary to eat. Jonah takes my dinner away and tells me that it's all right to sleep. I'm not sure if I lie down or if I fall over, but I'm asleep before I hit the ground.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lenox is by far the favorite character. I love him too. I grew up riding horses and just wanted to create the perfect companion. Well, not perfect. Lenox is very far from perfect. A special thank you to Clare Winston for the drawing of my favorite boy.