The sun has dipped below the horizon by the time you make your way to the healer's abode. The traffic on the main village thoroughfare has died to a trickle of weary fieldsmen returning to their homes after a long day's toil. Most give you a friendly nod or a wave as you pass by.

As your shadow grows short on the ground you climb the steps to the front porch of the healer's home. The Ring of Reverberation chimes gently as you raise your hand, knocking three times on the door with some small trepidation. Your last 'date' with Elana (if you could call it that) was your trip with her into the mountains. For all your experience as a negotiator for the bridge between this world and those beyond, you find yourself fighting to calm the butterflies swarming in your stomach.

The door swings inward.

“There you are,” she says, her eyes sparkling in the dim evening light. “Come inside. I'll be ready to go in a moment.”

Auburn curls bounce from her shoulders as she turns to step inside. You stand as a statue on the front walk for a moment before mustering the stones to follow.

The beds within the hut are mercifully unoccupied. Elana is stooped over in the corner, pulling on a pair of tall boots. You've seen the blue dress she wears once before—

(Twice, you remember with a shudder, the smell of the Grand Blossom still evoking threads of that nightmare place,)

—on your failed and interrupted dinner for two. Luckily, she's never been one to hold a grudge.

She straightens with a fluid motion, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a casual flick of her wrist. A perfumed scent follows as she closes the distance between you. One of your hands is suddenly held in hers.

“So,” she says. “What do you think? Pick a direction, and we'll walk.”

> North toward the mountain.
> Northwest along the fields.
> South into the Brush.
> Write-in