The first thing Sophie could feel was water droplets tickling her skin. Everything in Serenvale felt so... alive. Linh had named her manor Serenvale as an homage to the gnomes who'd helped her build a house that looked like a treehouse, while still being sophisticated. Most of Serenvale was covered in trees, grass, and a large lake in the center. Sophie wondered if they were somewhere in Brazil since the air was so humid.
She finally spotted Linh and the twins, who were laughing at the bubbles Linh was making. They looked so peaceful, and Sophie hated to drag them into hiding, away from everyone they loved.
"Sophie!" Linh said, pouting when she saw her. "I thought I would have a few extra hours with the twins".
"It's a long story" Sophie sighed. "We... might need to leave the Lost Cities" she added as she filled Linh in about everything that had happened at Everglen.
"Oh," Linh said, "If you need a place to stay-"
"It's fine, Linh," Sophie said, "Just tell Wylie we said goodbye".
"I was afraid it would come to this," Wylie said, sighing.
"This is also our opportunity to find Adair" Sophie said, reminding them of their interspecial threat.
"Yeah," Keefe said, pulling out a blue leaping crystal, as Linh and Wylie waved goodbye.
"Where are we?" Sophie asked Keefe as they landed in a soft field.
"Germany, I think. I just need to-" Keefe said as a voice interrupted them.
"wer bist du?" the voice, most likely a human, asked.
"What does that mean?" Keefe whispered to Sophie, as he tried to hide Willow and Kenric.
"It means 'who are you?'" Sophie told him as she put her hands up in surrender as she got up.
Which was a good thing, since he had a gun.
"wir werden dir nicht weh tun!" Sophie yelled, trying to tell him that they were not going to hurt him.
"You look like one of them" the man said, raising his rifle, and he somehow sensed Sophie would be able to understand the English more instinctively.
"One of who?" she asked.
"The elves" he whispered, as he aimed his rifle.
Sophie couldn't move.
She couldn't breathe.
She closed her eyes bracing for the worst.
Just then Keefe pushed her to the ground as he turned the leaping crystal and they all leaped away again.