With Lufa's help, a guide was arranged who showed them the way through the Yatil Mountains and across the western border of the Caliphate of Ekbir. Fortunately, their horses had been recovered, and the grateful Exagians made certain that Mika's group left with heavily laden supply bags.
Neither Mika nor Hornsbuck nor Lotus Blossom had any interest in encountering any of Ekbir's large army, and they did their best to maintain a low profile as the princess's time for birthing drew near.
They wintered in the thick of the Udgru Forest, enduring the cold of Fireseek and the brisk, damp winds of Readying and finally, the soft sweet breezes and gentle days of Coldeven, the land renewed itself and life was born, in a continuing affirmation of hope.
Two cublings were born unto the princess, easily and without much pain, for which Mika was eternally grateful. One was male, the other female, and both appeared to be entirely wolf. And yet… and yet there was that niggling doubt, for the female had blue eyes and the male green, and their limbs seemed slightly longer than was seemly for ones so young. Their pelts, while dense and sleek, felt more like hair than fur. Mika looked into the princess's eyes and wondered.
One bright morning in the month of Planting, Mika, Hornsbuck, Lotus Blossom, RedTail, Tam, and the princess and the two pups, who frolicked at her heels, stood on the shores of the Dramidj Ocean and looked across the blue waters draped with heavy mists toward the distant island that still, even now, held the answer to their lives.
There was still much to be done. The princess had a throne to claim and a kingdom to rule, as well as the problem of how to regain her human form.
Hornsbuck was committed by the code of the Wolf Nomads to see the mission through to its conclusion, no matter what was required, and RedTail would follow him to the ends of the Oerth.
Lotus Blossom was determined to follow Hornsbuck and prevent him from throwing his life away in the name of that stupid Wolf Nomad code of honor.
Tam was determined to follow the princess and the man to whom he owed his allegiance, hoping that their purposes-and their paths-did not differ.
And Mika… ah, Mika. Mika was determined to go to the island and find the magic blue and red gems that would return his hand to normal, restore the princess to her human form, and remove the curse that was slowly tainting his manhood. And, when that was accomplished, he hoped that the princess would finally show her gratitude for all that he had done in a most womanly fashion. After all… what would she have done without him?