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Earendil smiled and held his hand out to Miyuki.

"Hold my hand," he instructed her, "and stay close. As beautiful as the volcano is, it is also very dangerous. So you hold my hand tightly, all right? Don't let go."

He wasn't going to let anything happen to her. He would make sure that she was kept safe.

Haldia smiled and motioned for the others to follow her as she started up the volcano.

"The rock is softer than other rock," she told them, crouching and running her fingers over the black rock, "but it will still hurt if you fall, so you must be careful."

As they went, she pointed out the various trees and shrubs that took advantage of the ashy rock of the volcano and grew along its sides. She kept an eye on Celeb as they walked. Despite his healing, she wanted to make sure he didn't hurt himself again.

Earendil was glad he had worn his boots now - though the rock wasn't as hard (though it felt just as hard) as regular rock, there were a lot of sharp places, and he didn't want to injure his feet.

He looked down at Lin and Miyuki. They were both in bare feet, and he couldn't help but worry about them.

"Careful where you step," he told them softly. "I've been noticing a few sharp spots ..."

Not to mention, if there were ever any loose rocks they would dig into their feet.

It was a while before they reached the summit of the volcano, and once they reached it, Haldia held out one arm to hold them back.

"You must be very careful here," she told them all seriously. "If you fall in, there is no coming back."

Earendil knelt to the ground and peered carefully over the edge into the mouth of the volcano. Far below, liquid rock burbled and bubbled slowly like a thick lake.

Earendil glanced over at Miyuki. She seemed pretty steady, but he oculdn't help but worry anyways.

"Careful," he murmured. He looked down again, squinting to look at the edges of the crater. "I don't see any of those flowers Kelirahc told us about ..."

Haldia smiled and sat down indian-style. "They are usually closer to the top than you are looking, if you mean the one that Kelirahc picked to save Amarerd's life."

"Those are the ones that I mean," Earendil nodded. "I have been eager to see them."

Haldia pointed. "There ... just a little below us. There is one."

Earendil leaned a little further forward and tried to peer down. It was hard to see a small flower when he was looking into the glow of the lava, but soon enough he did spot it: very small, about ten feet directly below them, a little red flower growing out of the rock of the crater. There were no leaves, just a slim stem, and the petals were about the size of his thumb.

"I see it," he murmured with a nod.

Earendil looked over at Miyuki, then shuffled a bit closer to her. "Here, lay on your belly," he told her. "It's a bit safer to lean further that way. Then if you look straight down ..."

He helped her shuffle forward a bit, keeping one hand firmly on her back so that she wouldn't fall. With his other hand, he pointed down at the lone flower. "See it? There?"