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Kelirahc was surprised by Shiro's assessment, and he thought a moment before answering Lin's question.

"It would have been ... about three hundred years ago," he murmured, "when my grandfather was killed. Some of the villagers, I was told, were in this area, and he came back to rescue them, since their spirits were not of flight ... he got a few of them out, but that is all."

Kelirahc smiled and put one hand on Lin's shoulder. "Do not worry," he murmured. "I have no bad memories coming here. On the contrary, when I was young, I would sneak off and come play here."

He looked around, his golden eyes glowing warmly in the lanternlight. "I always felt closer to my father and my grandfather when I was here. As if their spirits are living on through me."

"As long as you don't go too far and get too close to the inside of the volcano," Earendil cautioned Lin. "Though as long as the volcano is dormant, and you don't go in too far, I can see it being a good hiding place, yes."

He looked at Kelirahc. "How deep does it go?"

Kelirahc shrugged. "I don't know. I've never followed it all the way."

Shiro blinked at Lin. "Undoubtedly. After all, that's where it would have originated from. I can't say whether or not it would be safe to go that far, but I'm sure it would be quite a distance from here anyways. And if something were to happen - like the volcano becoming active or something - there would be no way for you to escape in time."

"I have never seen it active," Kelirahc murmured, "so I do not know what it would be like if it would awaken."

"There would be a bit of warning, I'm sure," Shiro assured them all, "so don't worry too much. There would be tremors at the least, I'm sure you would at least have a few days' warning."

Kelirahc smiled sadly. "Enough to make our village the size that it is, even after so many centuries," he murmured. "I am told that we were once almost large enough to be called a nation ..."

Earendil nodded and smiled faintly. "I am sorry, my friend," he said softly. "Truly, I am."

They explored a bit longer, and Shiro took a few more samples of the rock, and then Earendil announced that it was time for them to get back. Then it was just a short walk and a quick flight back to the beach, where everyone was already in the process of getting ready to leave.

They spent a full day collecting fruit from the island and bringing things back to the ship, and once the sun rose the next day, they took down the shelter piece by piece, leaving the beach in the same unspoiled manner they had found it upon first arriving.

Celeb was delighted to be back at sea again - it meant that Kelirahc and Leyenda could never leave him for very long, and Kelirahc was now as dear to the boy as his sister was. He had grown quite a bit during their time on the island, and, now seven years old, he was growing quite tall.

There was, however, the question of, where was Haldia going to sleep?

As Roydon called out orders and the sails were unfurled, Rhea spotted Haldia standing on the deck at the aft of the ship, staring out at the island that they were leaving behind. She came up behind her and smiled softly, setting one hand gently on her shoulder. "You can always go back, you know," she said softly.

Haldia just kept staring at the island. "I know," she replied, equally softly. "And I will. Someday. I had just never thought to leave my home before ... but I will come with all of you, at least for a while."

Rhea smiled and stood next to the Night Elven woman, gazing out at the island with her.

"You know," she murmured, "we're going to have to find a place for you to sleep ... the only extra bunks that are left are in the crew's quarters, and it's hardly fitting for you to bunk with any of them."