Maddy: (quietly) Soshkay? There's no need to hide your mourning from me. Goodness knows, you have seen enough of MY tears.
Sey: (deep breath) Maddy, who is with Sey?
Maddy: Nerayda, the Wizard of Water. She's trying to help Sey stop having that nightmare every time she sleeps, and she said I should go find you. She said that you might have need of me.
Soshkay: (sigh) I killed them, Maddy. I killed both of them. Colby. And little Sesshy. I killed them.Maddy: No, Soshkay...
Soshkay: But I did. My decision to leave them killed them as surely as if I had run them through on my own sword. I killed them. It's my fault they're dead.Maddy: No, Soshkay.
Maddy: No... you did your best for them. You left them with your three strongest, bravest men. Men, that I have no doubt, died trying to protect them. We did our best for them, Soshkay.Soshkay: We should've brought them with us, Maddy. We should've found a way...
Maddy: It is easy to think such things now, to second guess, now that we are safe and settled. But at the time... no... we barely made it out alive with just Sey. There was no other way. We did our best for them.
Soshkay: I failed them, Maddy. Their deaths are my fault.Maddy: Their deaths are the fault of the madman who caused them, not yours. There is no one to blame for this but the Wizard who sent firebirds to murder them. Do not let him distract you with your grief, and with blaming yourself. Do not let him pick your heart to pieces as he did Sey's mind, Soshkay. Focus on him. This is entirely HIS doing and HIS fault.
Soshkay: You're right, Maddy. (deep breath) And he will pay for what he has done. They were children! They never got a chance to see the world, or to really SEE anything.... Sesshy never got to know who she really was...
Maddy: Well, in my heart, I believe that they are running like wild things through the fields of the Summerlands. They will never again know pain, or fear. They will never know war again, or hunger or thirst.
Maddy: And I believe, with all of my heart, that when we are done walking this path, we will join them there. We will see them again, Soshkay. I know that we will.
Maddy: And when you we them again, would you rather tell them "I moped around and blamed myself for what happened, and the Wizard who murdered you continued on, ruining more lives and destroying homes"? Or, would you rather tell them "I saved Sey, and I avenged you, and you can see the head of the Wizard who killed you if you peek over the western clouds and look for the pike upon which it is impaled, right there, in front of the Treehouse"? Hmmm?
Soshkay: (nodding) Yes... you're right Maddy. He will pay for this, and he will pay dearly for it. For Sey's memories, for the lives of those children. And when I see them again, they would be proud of how they were avenged. Yes... you're absolutely right.(meanwhile...)
Sesshy: HELLOOOOOOOOOO.....
Sesshy: (sigh) I hope you know, my daddy is GENERAL SOSHKAY! And you are going to be in SOO much trouble for this!
Sesshy: Wait until he gets here! He's probably on his way RIGHT NOW! And when he finds out you put me in an iron cage with no food, or blankets or NUFIN! OH! You are gonna GET IT!!!!
Sesshy: (quietly) I'm sure he's on his way.
Sesshy: I'm just a little cold... and thirsty... and... and I wish he'd hurry up and get here. (sniffle)