It was slow going, but Lili eventually made it to the end of the tunnel. She found no respite there, however, for the tunnel opened out into a great, deep pit, open to the sky (and thus the source of the light) and filled with a raging whirlwind. Lili plunged into the pit but was immediately thrust up against its wall by the force of the whirlwind. She held on tightly to her shield, certain that its weight alone was all that was keeping her from being swept up into the wind herself.

As Lili was puzzling on how to get around the whirlwind, she heard a sharp and metallic voice in her head.

"Ah, the human child is here," said the voice.

"She is the cause of this," added a second voice. It was distinct from the first voice, but possessed the same metallic timbre.

"I am the cause of what?" Lili asked. "What have I done? Where are you?"

"We are right here where we have always been," said the first voice.

Lili peered around the edge of her shield. She fancied that she could make out human-like forms in the whirlwind, but they were insubstantial and wavery, fading in and out of view as she looked for them.

"Are you the Sylphs?" Lili asked. "I'm trying to get to Raindancer World. The Gnomes told me that the way there lies through your region."

"Raindancer World!" snorted a new voice. "We should have known. It's all fun and games for the humans! But what about the corruption which continues to spill over from their realm?"

"What corruption?" Lili asked. She remembered the Gnome's reference to corruption, but didn't understand what it had meant. "I was just looking under my porch when I fell into the Gnomes' home. I helped them to stop an avalanche. Then I came here."

"An avalanche," repeated the first voice. "So the corruption is affecting our northern lands as well."

"That too, is your fault," declared the second voice.

"But I haven't done anything!" Lili insisted.

"Why not?" demanded several voices at once.