Upon reaching the lofty alpines of Gethia by pack mule, which was the only sensible track, they could see a narrow path winding up a steep incline before them. Ascending the cliff side path, daring not to look all the way down into the canyons below, Jess was reminded of her father’s words, “The path you fear is the only way to meet your true purpose.”

Danner only thought of making sure Jess was safe. He watched each step of her sturdy mule as she rode ahead of him. He loved her more each day, but couldn’t confess his feelings to her. Not now; not whilst he was her protector. Jess’s father bound him in that service and Danner’s honor made him loyal to his mission. As small stones loosened from under the mule’s feet and tumbled over the cliff his stomach knotted up but he would never let Jess far away enough that he couldn’t risk his life to save her.

The cliff’s perilous precipice finally opened into a broad, curved plateau, with strangely round, rose-colored cliffs on either side. On their stony face were the fabled petroglyphs - some over a hundred feet high. This was surely Saurwaal, the legendary boneyard of the giant pachyderm people, who left their historical records on circular glyphs, etched into the megalithic bones of their ancestors. This is where Jess would find the secrets she sought, so she might finally undue the curse on her family.