Listening to Emily Smith and realizing that at some point in writing more stories in the From the Shadows universe, I HAVE to have the crew stopped by a powerful entity who insists they play a riddle game before it allows them to pass, and they are all stumped, and Riss is like AT LAST MY TIME HAS COME and hits the entity up with things like
What is the cherry that has no stone
and
What is rounder than a ring
and
Find me an acre of land between the salt sea and the seashore, plough it with a ram’s horn, sow it over with one grain of corn, shear it with a sickle of leather, and bind it up with a peacock’s feather ...
and the entity just implodes and the crew stares at Riss as they continue through clear space, and she says Ha! And my high school guidance counselor said folk music would have no practical benefit on my life.
And Captain Miles buries his head in his hands and wonders once again why all this has to happen on his ship.
