Ashleyien’s head felt like it would explode and she felt a little queasy as well, but she was more worried about her friends. She knelt down in front of the Elven Mage and lifted his head so she could meet his eyes. “Thothalas, you didn’t fail. I thought you did amazingly well. You made the portal and held it long enough for Dawn to get back safely. I think that shows tremendous power. I know that Sterling is alive, somehow I’d know if he wasn’t. He’s smart and resourceful, I don’t know what his backup plan was but I know he’ll find a way out of Venger’s castle and take Zak with him.” She gave him a gentle smile, “C’mon Thoth, you did the best you could, that’s all any of us can do. You have to pull yourself together so we can get out of Tuculcha’s fortress, the sooner we’re out of here the better I’ll feel. We have to get to Gareth and save him and if Sterling and Zak aren’t safely back here by then, maybe Gareth can save them for us.”
The warrioress gave the bunny a little pat on the head. “C’mon Cadbury, you guys did your best, now it’s time to get out of here. I’m proud of both of you.”
Ash smiled at Dan, “As soon as he pulls himself together we’ll leave here as quickly as possible. I guess you were right to think that we should have just left Zak, now we’ve lost Sterling as well.”
As turned to Alexia with a smile, “Are you okay? Nothing wrong I hope. You did great in forging the charm with Thoth.” She turned and faced all of them, “I think we all did the best we could and there’s no use beating ourselves up about it. Sure I wish I could have done more, but I did what I could. Now let’s move out.”
