The edges of the parchment scroll were blurred, with only the approximate area covered by red cross marks. Lyle squinted his eyes, intensely studying the map, trying to decode their current position from the blurry lines. Nia's tentacles stood up like antennas, pushing aside the canopy above to let in a small patch of sunlight.
Lyle stood in the sunlight for three minutes, then stowed the map back into his pack.
"Did you find it?" Crumbs fell from Nia's mouth as she crunched on a biscuit, lazily sprawling on top of Lyle's head.
"Almost."
"But Lyle said that an hour ago, before Nia's pre-lunch snack." Filled with little hope, the hungry youngster had begun to treat the occasion like an excursion, only worried about the food supply in her backpack. Her tentacles slowly turned over Lyle's small leather bag, timing the end of the excursion. Three hours more, after which, regardless of what Lyle said, she would open the Skeleton Gate to go home.
