Sebastian

will manifest that wish — but not necessarily in the way you intended… or even wanted . People hear the words, but they're full of wind wishes—
    things they want now, are desperate to have now, only to forget about those same things tomorrow because those things did not truly feed the heart.
    So we walk among them, feeling the resonance of the bedrock wishes, the true dreams of the heart. And we whisper to Ephemera, Don't listen to that wish. It's not a true wish . Or, Yes, that's a true wish.
    Alter the currents around that person to provide the chance for him to take the first steps of the journey that will end with the heart having what it desires .
    One of us would resonate with that yearning heart for a moment, showing it the possibility, giving it the chance to take those first steps.
    Some hearts will back away from the journey, too fearful to leave the familiar even though it withers.
    Others will leap forward and never look back, bruising the hearts left behind. Pain will force some to begin the journey. For others, love will be a beacon that keeps them moving forward.
    We walk among the people. So do the others. As we are drawn to the Light and the feelings that resonate with the Light, the others are drawn to the darkness that dwells within the human heart.
    The people call them the Dark Guides.
    Ephemera manifested them, too, because we who follow the Light could not resonate with the hearts that yearned for the Dark.
    There will always be such hearts. There will always be that choice. If that wasn't true, then a heart that walks in the Light has made no choice at all.

    — The Lost Archives

     
     

 

     
     

Chapter Eleven

 

     
     

     
    Simple stone markers stood sentry at the beginning of a dirt path that curved down the hill. A step away from those markers, Sebastian pulled Lynnea into his arms.
    He watched. Waited.
    No nightmarish creatures appeared between the stone markers.
    Weak with relief, he closed his eyes and rested his cheek against Lynnea's head, rubbing one hand up and down her back to offer comfort.
    "You're all right?" he asked quietly. "You're not hurt?"
    "I'm all right, but…" Lynnea turned enough to look at the markers. "Where are we?"
    "I don't know. Whatever landscape this was connected to." He opened his hand and stared at the piece of smooth, white marble.
    Peace folded around him like a warm, soft blanket. Fear diminished with every breath.
    He could almost see the air shimmer like a veil between the sentry stones. If he stepped through them in the other direction to enter whatever landscape lay beyond, fear would have a savage bite, and the world beyond the veil might be filled with things that would rape courage and murder hope. But here…
    Slipping the piece of white marble into his jacket pocket, he looked at Lynnea. "We'd better find out where we are."
    She nodded, but he wasn't sure she'd heard him. She seemed quietly dazzled by the feel of this place.
    They started down the hill. The trees that had blocked the view on their left ended at the curve in the path, revealing a small lake. A handful of tiny islands dotted the lake, and a light shone on each one.
    Another light moved steadily away from one island, and in the day's last breath, he saw a man walking across a bridge back to the shore.
    "Hey-a," Sebastian called, using the folksy greeting that was commonplace in the landscape Nadia called home. Even in a friendly tone, a raised voice sounded wrong here—disruptive, almost obscene—but the man stopped on the shore, lifted a hand in greeting, and followed the path around the lake that connected with the path down the hill.
    "Welcome, welcome," the man said when Sebastian and Lynnea reached the bottom of the hill. "I am Yoshani, a fellow visitor in this part of the landscape. You have missed the evening meal, but there is always something in the kitchen for late travelers. Come. We'll get you settled in the guesthouse, and then you may wander as the heart wills." He turned and led them up another hill. "Have you traveled far?"
    "In some ways," Sebastian replied.
    Yoshani nodded. "So it is with many who find their way to Sanctuary."
    Sanctuary . "I never thought I'd see this place," Sebastian said, the words barely voiced.
    But Lynnea heard him and squeezed his hand to indicate she understood.
    She didn't understand. How could she? She was human, and someone like her could have found her way here at any time.
    But she hadn't. When her heart was