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Yamara

By: Phineas



This story, though seemingly unrelated, is the second part of the trilogy that was begun with Tender Mercies. The series ends (presently) with The Chaos Blade. 

Part 1 : Yamara

Chapter 1

Darkness. Darkness and pain, my first memories. Hiding in the closet of the room my mother and I shared while she conducted her business. I was too young to know what she was. A whore. Too young to know much of anything, really. I was only a few years old, perhaps five, I do not know.

The pain? Well, the pain came from time to time when one of the men visiting her would discover me. Some were kind, some were not. Most were not. The worst time was also the last. That was the time when a merchant with a fondness for abuse visited my mother. She had seen him before, but he was never so violent. That time, he beat her to within an inch of her life while he rode her, and then he hit her again. Again and again, the man pounded himself into her while his fists fell on her. When he was done, he must have heard my sobs.

Yanking the sheet that hid me aside, he stared down at me. A wisp of a girl, with dirty blond hair and big eyes. Big green eyes with trails of tears running down my cheeks. I have since learned that many people, indeed most, would be moved by such a sight. Well, in the town of Ossulmere, ruled by a corrupt council and powered by its deals with creatures and beings whose origins and powers are cloaked in dark secrecy, kindness and compassion had little place. It was a lesson hard learned, but his renewed virility and violent beating taught me well as he left me for dead alongside my mother.

My mother and I were both dumped out with the garbage in the alley behind the brothel. They knew I lived, but being so young and freshly violated I was not worth the effort necessary to help me live. Cradling cracked ribs and swollen skin, I hid amongst the garbage, making no noise lest the equally corrupt city watch should discover me, or worse yet, any of the beggars, thieves, or other unspeakable things that roamed the night streets of Ossulmere. In the end, I managed to heal and survive, eating what scraps of food I could discover and remaining hidden.

So many times I had seen my mother beaten or abused by her customers. I saw her cry and plead for mercy from them. I saw what little it had gotten her most of the time. I vowed then and there that I would not be weak. I would not rely upon the kindness and actions of others for my own well being. I also vowed, as I sat there huddled amongst stinking refuse to scared and alone to cry, that I would not miss her. I have almost never cried from grief again.

As soon as I had healed enough, I moved out, heading for the markets. There I learned to beg and to steal. Always poor, I spent several months living like that, always hungry and cold, but growing smarter and more wily by the day. My skills grew rapidly, and soon I attracted the attention of the Ornithrym, my hand caught in the wrong man's grasp as I tried to nick his purse.

In Ossulmere the thieves guild and the Ornithrym are closely related. Some say they are one and the same, though they are not. Most children in my position, if they managed to survive, would end up in the thieves guild, though perhaps 1 in 10 of those would make it to adulthood, and 1 in 10 of those die of natural causes years later. Such was not my case, by pure twist of fate.

I remember well the man looking at me, sizing me up. Then he stared into my eyes, an amused smile on his face. Then he said to me, "You're no thief, girl, you're a different kind of animal. Come to the Temple of Melnar and put this in the offering plate if you want a warm meal and a place to sleep."

He was gone then, but in my hand I held the sheathed dagger he had pressed into it. My mouth fell open as I beheld it, then I quickly remembered my position and hid it beneath my clothes. I did not take it out to look again until darkness fell and I was safely hidden amongst my garbage.

It looked big and powerful and so full of potential to me. A simple dagger, with no special work about its hilt or pommel save for an ornate O engraved into the crosspiece. Yet to me it was filled with hope. With that dagger, there was so much I could do. I could finally put an end to the older and larger beggars that sent me running every time they saw me, with unwholesome things upon their mind no doubt.

Even at that young age, I was no maiden. One man that visited my mother once discovered me and offered her a great price to have me. My mother refused at first, but as the price raised, her resolve wavered. In the end, I came to know the touch of a man far to young for any girl to know, and my mother was racked with sobs as she looked away. My pain and misery was such at that memory that I feared it would always be so, so when the older boys found me, I always managed to slip away. And now that I had a weapon, I could show them up again, for none of them had something so fine as forged and crafted steel.

Then reality set in, and I realized that no matter how fine a weapon it was, I had no idea how to use it. My excitement at the day's catch had sent me to my hole so quickly that it was a long and cold night filled with hunger pains. Winter was nearly upon me.

No, I did not go the Temple of Melnar that night, or for many nights thereafter. I kept the dagger hidden about my person and continued my life as I knew it. As much as the promise of a warm meal and safe place to sleep appealed to me, I refused to entrust my safety to the words of someone else. And even more so, the Temple of Melnar was a place to be feared by most. Halador, the world upon which I was born, has many Gods, and each has their own worshippers. Melnar is the God of Strife. He is an evil God, and why some men worship him is beyond me. But I suppose all manner of Gods are needed to keep a world balanced. Needed by who, I did not know, for I knew I did not need them. No God had helped me at any time. No, religion was not for me. I had heard of the great powers that clerics and priests wielded in the name of their Gods, but that was only for those with the means to pay for such services, and even then, to be a servant of such a being was just that, a life of servitude. I would live for myself.

A month later, nearly frozen to the bone by the harsh winds and cold weather that gripped the Storres Sea that Ossulmere had a harbor on, I finally relented and visited the Temple of Melnar. The guards at the doors eyed me with contempt. Inside there was no mass going on, but acolytes moved about, doing whatever holy (or unholy) things they had been assigned. I moved to the offering plate and pulled the dagger out from where I had hidden it close to my stomach. I looked at it for a moment, I remember, with hesitation and indecision weighing heavily on me. A cold gust of wind from the doors as someone else entered helped me make up my mind, and the dagger fell into the plate. I turned and walked to a seat in the cathedral, sitting down and looking around. I felt scared again, there was an energy in the very air around me and it seemed to push against me. I could taste it, and it tasted foul.

Then it was gone. I realized some time had passed, but I did not know how long. I heard footsteps, and glancing behind me I saw an acolyte approach. He stopped beside me expectantly. Not knowing what to do, I feared I was in trouble. I got up from the pew and stood before him, staring up at him, trying to pierce the darkness of his hood. He turned and walked away, and after a moment of hesitation, I followed.

Into the back of the temple we went, beyond many rooms given over to a variety of purposes, from storage to sleeping chambers to offices to even smaller, private chapels. Finally he opened a thick door made of bronzed wood and led me down a set of lighted stairs. Now we were in a cellar of sorts, and I soon came to discover, a small dungeon as well. Another flight of stairs down and another reinforced door and I was in a large room with tables and several people in it. Many of them looked at me as I entered, and I was struck by how they all appeared to be the sort of people I would expect to find in a location such as this, yet without exception, they all appeared to be healthy and in good condition, both their persons and equipment.

The acolyte led me through the room down a hallway to a door. Knocking upon it, he turned and left. I knew not to follow him, though inside my chest my heart beat so loudly and quickly that I feared whoever was behind the door would hear it. When it opened, I saw the man from the marketplace sitting behind a desk. Another man was sitting at a chair opposite him. I stepped into the room then, perhaps the hardest step I had taken up to that point in my life.

I looked behind me as the door shut. Nobody was there to shut it, which made the hairs on my arms stand up in concern. The only thing I knew of wizardry I had heard muttered in the brothel or amongst commoners, and it was always curses and whispers of fear and loathing. I had no place for sorcery in my life either, I had my wits and my body, and from them I would make the most of myself.

"She's a bit young," The visiting man said, studying me with his eyes. "And poorly fed, I doubt she's got the strength to survive a day, let alone the testing."

"She is, but look in her eyes, there's power in there, I think she's just what we need," The other man said, idly toying with the dagger I had possessed for several weeks.

"Did you like having this, girl?" He addressed me.

I glanced at him and the other man, seeing both of them watching me curiously. I had made my decision when I entered the room, there was no going back now. "Yes," I admitted.

"Would you like to have it again?" He asked me.

I shrugged, determined not to give them anything to use over me. In spite of how being armed felt, I knew that without the knowledge to use it, having the dagger did me little good.

"What is your name?" The other man asked.

"Yamara Blackcloak." My voice betrayed nothing, or so I like to think.

"Take your clothes off, girl," He said, though his voice was one of curiosity, not lechery.

I glanced at the man behind the desk, but he gave no sign to me, instead merely looking on with his own interest while he continued to toy with the dagger. I did as he asked then, having no other bargaining chip. Off came the rags that had become my clothing, from the overlarge bag I had gnawed and torn holes in and fashioned into a tunic, to the threadbare pants that my mother had patched time and again for me, which now showed new holes and tears in them. Nonetheless, they ended up on the floor beside me, for that was all I owned.

Both men showed surprise then, for while I was only 5 or 6 years old, my body already had a story to tell. Flat chested and hairless where it counts, what stood out about me was not my physical immaturity nor how skinny I was, but the scars that showed on my pale skin. Without a word from them, I turned slowly, arms stretched out, so they could see everything. My back and buttocks were much the same as my front, lightly scarred from serious injuries mostly long past. When I had completed my turn, the men looked at one another.

"Wounds that look as though they would have killed a full grown man on that slip of a girl!" The visiting man said.

"Aye, I told you she has hidden strength," My possible benefactor replied.

"But does she have a mind to match it?" The other man wondered rhetorically. "Come here girl," he ordered.

"How old are you?" He asked me after studying me more closely and muttering something under his breath that I later learned to be a magical spell. He reached down and clinically touched my hairless slit, sliding his finger up inside me quickly. I felt the pressure of it but no pain, only an uncomfortable sensation. Nowhere near as uncomfortable some of the sensations some other men had caused me, however, so I stayed where I was.

"I don't know," I admitted. Not only did I not know how old I was, but I had no idea then how to count.

"5 years old?" Said the man behind the desk. The other grunted agreement.

"Had I a daughter your age, I would kill the man that took from you what has been taken." To the other man he said, "She is no maiden, though at her age I trust that be no fault of her own."

The man behind the desk grinned and said, "Excellent, that will keep the Melnarians upstairs from wanting her for any of their unholy rites. They require virgins for their sacrifices."

Again the man grunted. Then he looked at me and said, "Girl - Yamara - you have the opportunity to join with the Ornithrym. All that lies ahead of you is a test. Pass it and you become one of us, to be educated and trained as well as even ourselves, should you prove worthy. Fail and you will die. Are you ready?"

"What of your promise of warm food and a bed?" I asked, staring at the man behind the desk to gauge his reaction.

"It is yours if you pass the test," He responded.

I nodded then and waited for what was to happen next. "Take this," The man said, offering me the dagger. "You will have need of it."

I stepped closer to the desk and reached out, my hand closing over the hilt of the dagger. I gasped then, for a sudden surge of energy flowed through me. Blinking, I opened my eyes to see I was elsewhere. Above me I heard cheering. Looking up I saw several men and woman sitting in seats around the pit I was in. It was a gladiatorial arena with walls easily 12 feet high. I quickly located the two men I had been speaking to only moments before, they sat quietly, watching me intently. I scrambled to my feet then, realizing that I had been laying on the sandy floor of the arena. Glancing at myself, I saw that I was still naked, but that in my hand I still held the dagger.

I saw no opponent in the arena for me, only a pile of bones where someone had long ago fought and died. The catcalls and jeering of the crowd died then, and the man who had given me the dagger twice now stood up. "As is the custom, the new recruit will fight the last recruit who failed, may Melnar favor you."

I cursed under my breath then, for the man began chanting and moving his hands in a funny way. If I had known he was a wizard, I never would have tried to pick his pocket in the first place. As for cursing, well, I had never really tried it to much before, but I had heard the men that visited my mother use those words many times, and now seemed as good a time as any for me to use them too. The words failed me when he finished his spell though, for the pile of bones I had noticed now began to animate. With grinding noises that made my spine ache, they shifted around and slowly stood up, resembling once again the human that they had once been.

It stumbled towards me, propelled by arcane means I had no hope of fighting against. I scrambled away from it, desperately looking for a place to run and hide from it. The arena was not that big, however, and there were no visible ways in or out. It almost cornered me once, its bony fingers scratching along my shoulderblade as I ducked away from it. I could feel the burn of torn skin and new I would have some fresh scars if I survived this thing.

Survival was always my main goal, and knowing that escape was not an option, my mind turned to figuring out how else I could survive. Hearing the cheering and jeering, I knew that I was expected to destroy this skeleton. I had no idea how, especially since I was armed with only a dagger and it was unholy creation powered by powerful sorcery. What had once seemed like a big and powerful weapon now felt small and puny in my hands.

I studied it carefully as it approached me. I was much more agile and quicker then it was, but I already knew it was stronger and more powerful. I waited and waited until I had an opening, the I darted in. Striking out as best I could with the dagger, I felt it scrape along the femur of the skeleton, then I was away before its swing could connect with me. I felt my fear melt away then. It turned to despair. I had no idea how I was going to defeat this thing when the weapon I had was all but ineffective against it.

I glanced up again and saw the wizard was concentrating heavily on the skeleton, apparently his spell required him to keep focused on keeping it moving. The other man sat beside him, talking rather animatedly about what was going on as though the wizard could not see it himself. I lost some hair then, the skeletons fingers taking a handful of it with it. I gritted my teeth in pain and dove through its legs before it could do more damage.

Now I was closer to the wizard and his companion. I turned to face them and, taking a desperate chance, threw the dagger at him. As I said, I had no idea how to use a dagger, either in my hand or when thrown, but perhaps Melnar really was favoring that day, for it flew straight and true. The pommel of it hit the wizard in the chest hard enough to make him gasp in surprise and pain. His concentration was broken, that was the important thing.

Less then a foot behind me the skeleton collapsed back into the pile of bones it had begun as. I wasted no time. Turning back to it, I snatched up the pelvic bone and threw it as hard as I could into the stone wall of the arena. I grinned as I heard it crack and saw it fall into several pieces. I scooped up some more of the larger bones, legs, arms, hips, and such, and raced to the other end of the arena. The wizard had recovered and was quickly recasting the spell. I began to feel energy grow in the bones in my hands, but I had reached the wall by then. I began smashing the bones into the wall, feeling them crack and break apart in my hands. Looking back, I saw what remained of the skeleton sitting on the ground, missing a rib or two, as well as its legs and the bottom half of one arm. I looked at the femur in my hand and felt the magical pull on it. Grinning, I walked towards the skeleton, the femur in my hand. I approached it on the side where it had no real arm, and easily dodged the slashing movements made by the stump.

I stepped in behind it and, using both my hands to grip it, swung the femur as hard as I could. It connected solidly with the skeletons skull, which smashed the femur into two pieces and sent the cracked skull flying. It slammed into the arena wall and fell to the sandy floor in pieces. The skeleton in front of me shuddered and collapsed, never to rise again.

The crowd was silent, stunned by what I had done. Then slowly they began making noise. It grew quickly, with some calling out loudly saying that I had cheated, while others cheered my innovation. The man sitting beside the wizard was stunned at first, but then began smiling. The wizard held up the dagger and then began laughing.

The air shimmered in the middle of the arena, and then the wizard and his companion stepped through. "Well done, Yamara, you are now a member of the Ornithrym. Put these on."

I took the bundle the wizard offered me and unwrapped it. I slipped the robe over my head first, grinning in spite of myself. While simple and a plain gray color, it was easily the finest garment I had ever owned. Next I put on the sandals. They felt odd, for I had never worn any before, but I knew them to be an improvement of my station in life, if nothing else was. Finally I took back the dagger I had thrown at him. I smiled a bit sheepishly when accepting that, but he just chuckled and said, "As long as you never try that again, I'm willing to forget it happened."

"We welcome this girl, Yamara Blackcloak, into the ranks of the Ornithrym as a trainee. Let it be known to all that she is one of us!" The other man said, addressing the crowd.

It was a moment of great pride to me. A time of the weak accomplishing something great. I rose above my station then, and I knew it was only the first of many such moves for me. Soon after that, I learned a great many things. I learned numbers, to read and to write, to fight, and a great many other things. From courtly etiquette to tracking an animal (or a man) through the wilderness, it seemed my training was to include anything and everything. I even learned the basics of both sorcery and priestly magic, though only as a means of defending myself against them, for I had not the talent nor the inclination to use such powers. In time I was counted quite adept at dueling with a dagger or short sword. I also took it upon myself to learn better how to throw daggers, just in case.


Yamara



After my first several months, the Ornithrym called upon me to repay what I had learned. My first task came to me. I suspect it was something to familiarize me as much as anything. I was to be a lookout for a Ornithrym raid against a merchant that felt he could slight the city of Ossulmere on the taxes he paid while he sold his wares. The merchant had many guards, but those were no match for the trained assassins the Ornithrym employed. As I said, I was the lookout on that mission, but I suspect I was to look on more then anything.

I took the images of what I had seen to bed with me. The cruelties that men had inflicted upon my mother and myself over the years were not the only cruelties I was to witness in life, apparently. Indeed, such cruelties had a place in the grand scheme of things, it appeared, and that was what I was to learn. I went out on many other missions, always seeking to learn and be of use. While those around and above me found me a reliable companion, none suspected my true motives were to learn as much as I could so I could make certain that none of the tactics and techniques the Ornithrym used could be used against me.

Having lost my virginity so young served two purposes. On one hand, it kept me safe from the Melnarians, those who worshipped Melnar. They did indeed often take young women to use in their rituals, but those young woman needed were primarily virgins. Secondly, it made me available for special intelligence gathering missions. I learned that a taste for young bed partners was not an uncommon thing among the rich or the nobility. As skilled as I became as a thief, a duelist, or a spy, my true weapon was knowledge. The more I came to know, the better I felt about myself.

I never forgave my mother for her choice of a profession, but I came to understand how she let herself become trapped in it. Many times I was offered to some rich passing merchant or minor noble with a desire for a rose whose flower had not been plucked. Oddly enough, they never seemed to notice I was no maiden, but the things I learned from them was the key to me. Never doomed to a life of prostitution, I used sex as a manipulative weapon. Indeed, later on in my life, once my body matured, I also came to know the pleasures of other women. It was never for my need alone, or at least, never for the passion alone that I did it, always there was an ulterior motive.

I became fearful when my time came and my body began to mature. My balance was off and my skills in the arena began to suffer as my body grew in spurts. My hips widened and my breasts became fuller, further off balancing me. I struggled as best I could, exercising and sparring relentlessly. Eventually I became used to my new body and recovered my lost skills, but it took 3 years. By then I was counted 15 years old and easily one of the most talented in the Ornithrym's lower ranks. My body had matured such that I ended up being 5'6" tall with a wiry and athletic build. My constant exercising kept my breasts very firm a nicely rounded, though not large and cumbersome. While my hips had widened with puberty, they had not done so unpleasantly. I like to think my well toned thighs and butt complimented me nicely.

Such were the improvements to my body that the Ornithrym chose me for promotion. Elevated from the ranks of street toughs, I was further educated on the arts of courtly intrigue and etiquette. Never having acquired a taste for magic, I was nevertheless visited repeatedly by wizards skilled in the arts of body manipulation. Over time and the repeated casting of many spells, my comeliness grew under their ministrations. When finished, I was as I am now, a pleasant sight to see I like to think. Still athletic, my breasts had filled out even more, though still average sized, they were full and cried out to be admired and fondled. My scars were dulled out and smoothed over, leaving many of them still visible, but only after a few moments of searching, for they seemed to blend in to my skin and escape attention. I had broken my nose a few times in my youth and it was straightened and smoothed as well. Even my teeth, which had shown a few signs of some minor gaps and twists here and there, were magically straightened and strengthened. In the end, I was a very dangerous tool for the Ornithrym.

I do not claim to be a siren so beautiful that I can lure men to their deaths. Far from it. I believe the intent was to make me attractive and desirable, but not so much so that my beauty drew attention and singled me out. Whatever the case, it worked well, for my training as a spy grew. Indeed, it grew from merely being a spy to even becoming an occasional assassin. My conscience knew no limits, for as much as I had taken from those willing to teach me, I knew my fellow men and women well. Under the appropriate circumstances, they would turn on me to further their own positions. I gave them no chance to do so.

It was at the age of 18 summers I learned quite accidentally of the merchant who had slain my mother and nearly myself. After several weeks of research, I sneaked past his guards and into his estate house. I paralyzed him with an injected poison and then, once I knew he was paying attention, I whispered quietly into his ear who I was and why I was doing it to him. Then I slit his throat. His wife never knew until the very next morning when she awoke next to a bloody mess on her sheets. I told him I was going to slaughter his wife and children as well, and he went to Hell thinking that. I never did touch them though, for my quarrel was with him, not them.

Shortly after that I became a member of a regular group of people. A special unit, there were several such groups that the Ornithrym employed to journey into the world and adventure for them. This took place for two more years, until one of the men in my group, a demented priest of the God of Disease, upset one of the higher ranking Ornithrym leaders.

We were sent on a special mission then, not so different from the rest of them actually. We were to infiltrate a village not far from Ossulmere called Shallowglen and use our priests magic to poison the town's water supply while another group served as a distraction. It turned out that we were betrayed. Our group ended up serving as the distraction, and I only escaped with my life because I happened to know a wealthy farmer in Shallowglen that would bring his goods to Ossulmere to sell from time to time. I managed to escape the guards that chased me long enough to pick the lock on his door and slip into bed beside him. I silenced his suspicions as best I could, taking him to the height of passion several times that night. My companions were killed trying to escape that night, and the next morning before the farmer could awaken, I had slipped away and headed for a city along the Storres Sea named Ironmouth Bay.

Ironmouth Bay was less then 10 days ride from Ossulmere, however, so I knew I was not safe there. I chartered passage on a boat and set sail across the Storres Sea, heading south towards the Carsian Empire. It took some time, over a month in fact, but eventually I reached a far away city named Euwon. From there, I planned to head by ship through the Storres Sea to Westdeep Port. However, pirates intercepted our ship, and as soon as it became apparent to me who would win, I joined the pirates side.

I became the captain's consort quickly, and headed back to the Pirate Isles with them. Being a band of cutthroats and thieves, eventually word somehow reached the Ornithrym of my continued existence. While I'd done nothing wrong in my eyes, apparently my ability to breathe upset somebody, for someone was dispatched to stop me from enjoying that liberty so much. It was a wizard, of course, and wizards, I am not afraid to say, bother me. They do not fight like normal people, they hide and skulk about and then pop up long enough to zap you with some nasty magical power before sneaking away again. Nothing as legitimate as a knife in the back.

It turned out I got lucky, this wizard upset some of the locals in the Pirate Isles and I got the drop on him before He knew where to find me. Push came to shove though, and before I knew it he had summoned up what appeared to be a particularly nasty spell to deal with me. Not much liking that idea, I used my refined dagger throwing skills. Dagger got him right in the throat, point first this time. One thing about wizards, all that time spent studying tends to make them a rather weak and anemic lot. Well, his spell was so close to being finished that it could not just drain away and be a good little spell. It had to turn into some wild magic. When the dust settled, I looked around and realized I was no longer on some nameless isle amongst the Pirate Isles. I was laying on the ground in a small rocky gully with a convulsing wizard drowning in his own blood a few feet away from me.







Chapter 2

Then I noticed two things. The first was how hot it was. Unbearably hot, in fact. The sun beat down mercilessly on us, and a quick glance around me showed no vegetation or even shade in which to hide from its harsh effects. The second was that I felt burdened. It took me a moment to figure it out, and when I did I was left speechless. I felt as though I weighed more then I had before, though my body and equipment was unchanged.

The wizard had died by now, of course, and I crawled over to him and pulled my dagger out of his throat. He did not seem to mind when I went through his pouches and robbed him of everything of possible value.

Not certain what I would do with all the strange things I had found on his body, I nevertheless was concerned that I might have somehow ended up in a location so remote from anything I was used to that anything I could use to barter for my continued well being might come in handy. More of that survival instinct I had learned at a young age. It did not help me when I heard a faint raspy noise, like something hard sliding along rock.

I looked around myself quickly and saw nothing, then I glanced up at the narrow walls of the gully. I hate to admit it, but I was caught off guard then. Surprised even, by the large reptilian head rapidly descending towards me. Before I could draw my sword to strike at it, its fangs sunk into my shoulder. I staggered back from it, and it let go easily. I prepared myself for a fight and was again caught off guard when it did not advance on me. In fact, it seemed to almost be ignoring me, turning its attention instead towards the dead wizard.

I backed away from it slowly, thinking that perhaps I could find a more favorable position to fight it from, or better yet, that I could just outrun it. Now that it was down in the gully with me, I could see it was a big insect of some sort. More of a cross between a lizard and a spider then anything. Easily 10 feet from head to the back of its abdomen, it was covered in some sort of hard chitin shell or plating that did not seem to limit its multi-legged movements in the least.

The spider thing examined the wound in the wizard's throat and then stuck out its forked tongue quickly to lick it. Satisfied with what it found, it continued to lap away at the congealing blood. When it had taken care of that, it worried at the wizards neck with its teeth, trying to force more blood out. Well, without a living heart to pump the blood, the critter was mostly unsuccessful. I stumbled then, trying to back away further. The creature had changed tactics and was now contenting itself with slowly eating the wizard.

I tried to regain my feet but had trouble doing so, my legs did not want to obey me. I tried to raise my arm to brace myself against the rocky wall of the gully but it too, betrayed me by hanging limply at my side. I knew then why the spizzard (part spider, part lizard - a drugged mind seldom thinks rationally) had ignored me after biting me. I had been poisoned. I tried desperately to fight off its effects, but only managed to lose what little position I had and ended up rolling myself over onto my belly. I could smell the hard baked ground and feel the heat radiating off of it onto my cheek. Desperate to escape, my heart thundered in my chest and my breathing quickened rapidly. I realized I was helping the poison spread even further by doing this, but I was understandably a little bit upset at my inability to defend or protect myself.

Imagine my delight, or lack thereof, when I felt the spider try to bite me again in the back after several minutes. I considered myself lucky when I realized it had missed my skin and instead had only managed to bite into the soft leather armor. Then I realized it did not matter, for it had picked me up and was dragging me off somewhere to be his next meal.

A quick death, as it turned out, might have been preferable. Instead, I was ensheathed in a silk cocoon. On one hand, at least I was out of the sun. But on the other, the silk cocoon acted like a blanket and I was kept miserably hot. I do not know how long I was kept like that, but I know a few days passed before I began to feel that I could move again. Unfortunately, the cocoon was a prison from which I was not going to be able to escape on my own. Then the foul creature stuck his head back inside and bit me again, this time almost gently, and in addition to injecting fresh poison into my system, he stuck around and drank all of the blood from the wound. I was not looking forward to my fate.

No food and no water had already begun to take their toll on me, but from that point on, I began to lose my sense of reality quickly. During my increasingly rare moments of lucidity, I still struggled to try and free myself, but my conscious mind had mostly given up, it was the dark self centered bitch within me that would not die.

That was a good thing too, I think, because the next time I became aware of my surroundings I head the sounds of conflict. Eventually the sounds died out, and I wondered if the spider had won or if I had found something new intent on eating me. My hopes grew when I heard the sound, muffled and indistinguishable through the silk cocoon, of voices. What could be worse then hanging upside down in a cocoon for several days paralyzed from a poison while an incredibly hot climate took its toll on me? Nothing. Well, that is what I thought until my would be rescuers cut the silk holding the cocoon hanging from the rocky overhang above me. It was perhaps a 20 foot fall onto hard rocks below. The silk cushioned me quite a bit, I suppose, or otherwise I would have ended up more then just bruised and battered.

It took them literally hours to cut me out of the thing, apparently the silk was not the same as I was used to, for it was incredibly strong and resilient to cutting. When I finally emerged, I was still groggy from my ordeal and partially suffering from the effects of the poison. One of them, a very tall woman dressed in an outlandish outfit, gave me some water, which was warm and not particularly tasty, but very welcome nonetheless. I tried to look around and recover my wits, but instead I overloaded my senses and passed out again.

When next I awoke it seemed to be dusk. A small campfire burned nearby and I was wrapped in my cloak and laying close to it. The others were huddled around it too. First I saw the woman that had given me water, she smiled oddly at me and I noticed that she had distinctly elven features. Pointy ears, high cheekbones, anemically thin... definitely a elf. She had blond hair cropped close to her head, pale blue eyes, and was quite beautiful, in an outlandish sort of way. What surprised me was her clothing, she had a cloak pulled loosely about her body to protect her from the chill of the evening and a pair of comfortable looking boots on. The rest I filled in from my memory, which consisted of a loose skirt that fell only partway down her legs, several water skins, and a few weapons that I could not remember.

Sitting next to her was a giant of a man. Sort of. He was 9 feet tall if he was an inch. Black eyes and mottled green skin on a distinctly reptilian face. Even considering his size, I could tell that he was incredibly strong from the breadth of his shoulders and the look of his hands. He too, had a large cloak wrapped about him, but occasionally he would reach out and turn the spit over the fire and I could see that he wore some sort of scale mail that was made from the scales of a creature I was unfamiliar with instead of steel.

Two others sat around the fire, next to the giant iguana was a 6 foot tall man with coal black skin and deep blue eyes the color of sapphires. His cloak was thrown over his shoulders and he was ignoring those around him as he sharpened a weathered steel battle axe. The way he handled it I knew he was not only an expert with weapons, but that he was taking extreme care with it. He had a bastard sword at his side, a two handed sword laying on the ground beside him, obviously next to be sharpened and maintained, and a heavy crossbow across his back. He wore a set of scale armor similar to the giants.

The last one of my rescuers was undeniably a human woman. Golden hair with reddish highlights framed her brown eyes and delicate face. She looked far too innocent and beautiful to be amongst such a group, but then she looked at me and our eyes met. I could instantly tell there were hidden strengths and secrets within her. She wore a cape wrapped around herself as well, but it was open in front to allow her to reach out and help the giant cook the meal. Her arms were bare, as was much of the rest of her body when I finally caught a glimpse of it. She wore a strange looking one piece light tan colored outfit consisting of a bustier that was open at the sides below her breasts and in front, revealing the top of her well defined stomach. The two pieces of fabric that covered her ample breasts connected just below her navel. From there it turned into a loin cloth. Two additional straps rode high on her hips and joined her outfit where her loin cloth began for additional support and also to support the saber at her side and several daggers concealed about her person. Like all the rest, she had several waterskins close at hand.

"How are you feeling?" The human girl asked me, her accent so strange she had to repeat herself before I could understand it.

I tried to speak but found my voice was not ready yet. After coughing against the scratch in my throat, I opened my cloak and pulled out one of my own two waterskins and took a drink out of it. Somewhat relieved, I was finally able to answer. "I've been better. Where am I?"

I glanced at the food cooking, thinking some food would do me good, even though I was still very light headed and nauseous from my ordeal. I was surprised to finally recognize it as my former captor, or at least a section of him.

"We are five days east and north of Neewon, on the eastern edge of the badlands there," The girl said to me. I call her a girl because while I was only 19 years old myself, she seemed a few years younger then I.

The names meant nothing to me. My blank look was noted.

"Where are you from?" The elf asked me, studying me carefully.

I took another pull on my waterskin and pulled my cloak back about me, hot as it had been during the day, it was cold at night. "Ossulmere, originally. Am I in the southern parts of Halador now?"

"Halador?" The human asked me, equally confused about the name as I was about Neewon. "Ossulmere? Where are these places?"

"How did you get here?" The elf asked again. The lizard-man paid little attention to the conversation, focusing mostly on the meal. The human man seemed oblivious as well, instead concentrating on his weapons.

I considered my situation as best I could, which was not saying much. Hungry, tired, sick, and dehydrated, I had little choice but to hope my rescuers continued to treat me well. "A wizard attacked me in the Pirate Isles, I had apparently upset someone or other at one point and they decided they did not want me to continue living. Well, as the wizard tried to cast a spell on me, I managed to stick him in the throat with a dagger. The spell apparently went wild and both of us ended up here, although he was dead in a matter of minutes from the wound. Then that giant spider attacked me, the rest you know." I left out my involvement with the Ornithrym, I figured it was better to keep quiet about that for now, just in case.




Yamara



"Pirate Isles? I've never heard of them, are they in the Sea of Lost Souls?" The girl asked me. "Oh, and that wasn't a spider, that was a silk crawler."

The elf seemed to be on to something, however, for she spoke up before I could ask what in the nine hells the Sea of Lost Souls was. "Magic? What is that? Do you mean psionics? Does none of the areas we speak of sound familiar to you?"

I shook my head, a little surprised by the possibility, but not to badly, since I already knew I was not in the same place I had been. I glanced up at the night sky, looking for the familiar constellations of Halador. My mouth fell open then, and I can admit to being totally caught off guard. "Farther..."

"What do you mean? You're farther from your home then you thought? Is it on the other side of the Sea of Lost Souls?" I had to give the girl credit, she really was trying to understand and help.

"Look," I snapped at her, "I have no idea what a Sea of Lost Souls is! I've never heard of any of these places you mention, and I'm really very lost here! And why in the nine hells is that sun so damned small?"

That got their attention. The jolly green giant stopped turning the spit and instead stared at me. The man stopped sharpening his great sword and did likewise. The elf's eyes widened as she figured out what I was about to discover. The girl was on the same pace as me though, she looked up and looked back at me in surprise. "That is Kurth, the smaller sun that is always in the sky. Yorinn has only just set an hour or so past."

Kurth? Yorinn? I had no idea what those names were. "This isn't Halador, is it?" I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper.

"This world is called Acathia," the elf responded gently, ahead of me and realizing what a shock I was beginning to go through.

"Oh wow," The girl said, playing catch up. "You're from another world! The soothsayers were right! Did you come from the sky too?"

"My name is Sandala, you are welcome to come with us if you like," the elf woman said to me, indicating I should try and ignore the girl.

"Yeah, my name is Brina, please come with us, I'll tell you all about Acathia if you tell me about your world!"

I was a bit annoyed by the girls enthusiasm. I caught the man scowling, and decided that the more I looked at him, the more he reminded me of a dwarf, even though he had no beard. Or any hair at all, from the looks of him. The giant / lizard / man just looked on with interest, but at least he was turning the spit again.

"I will travel with you, my name is Yamara," I said to them, trying to keep my mental balance.

Brina opened her mouth to say more but Sandala stopped her by leaning over and laying her hand on her arm. "Brina, Yamara needs to eat, drink, and rest some more, save your questions for later."

Brina appeared annoyed, but nodded and smiled at me again. I took another drink of water and found myself suddenly numb. I drank more and found that I had nearly emptied one of my waterskins already. I nodded thankfully to Sandala and laid back down to rest a bit.

"She's not having any of my water," I heard the man mutter as he went back to working on his weapons.

"Kryl, shut up you witless Acathian! Can't you see she needs our help?" Brina snapped at him, favoring him with a blistering look.

"Is that what humans are called here?" I asked, sitting up too quickly.

Kryl shot me a dark look before he got up and put his weapons back about his person and stomped off into the cold night.

"Nay, Yamara," Sandala explained to me. "Acathians may have once been related to humans, but for countless generations they have been bred for fighting, either in armies or for gladiators. Very tough, very strong, and very powerful, but as you can see, they can be rather difficult too. Kryl is a hard worker and a very reliable man to have at your back, but he's as stubborn as a nezmir."

Before I could ask my next question, Sandala laughed lightly and said, "Sorry, a nezmir is a giant lizard used to pull wagons and caravans. Very unreliable though, it's not uncommon for them to eat their handlers."

I nodded my thanks to her, then shook my head at all the new information. I finished off my first waterskin and laid my head back down.

"Don't worry about Kryl, he just doesn't like changes much. He's happiest when he has some hard work set out for him and nothing to slow him down." Brina said, smiling at me again and trying to make me feel at ease.

I nodded again, to caught up in my own thoughts to appreciate her good intentions. I glanced at the giant and said, "Alright, then what are you?"

"Arktan," The giant said, pointing with his thumb towards his chest. "I am Faradwim."

I nodded. Of course he was, it made perfect sense. I stared up at the night sky, wondering if one of the tiny dots above me was Halador and how I would ever get back there.

The silk crawler was cooked fully soon. I was hesitant to try it, but I had to admit that it tasted pretty good. The meat was rather juicy, which made my mouth water more. I was well on the road to recover after my second helping of it. By the time we were done with it, I was ready to sleep some more. I still had so many questions, but my body demanded that I follow its orders first.

I never saw Kryl come back to the camp and stare long and hard at me. I never heard the four of them have a conversation about including me in their group, or at least Sandala and Brina arguing with Kryl about including me while Arktan just sat quietly and listened unless someone specifically addressed him. I had no idea of the decision they reached until I awoke the next morning to Brina's gentle touch on my shoulder.







Chapter 3

More shocks kept coming my way. First of all was our method of transportation. I rode with Brina in a large covered wagon. What was unique about it was not the wagon, though it was an odd design, but the mounts that pulled it called rasteers. Four large four legged insects were harnessed to the wagon, each roughly four feet high and eight feet long.

Arktan and Kryl both had leashes attached to immense lizards that were 16 feet long. The lizard, called an larassu, had a thick turtle-like shell on its back and belly, and a scaly and tough skin elsewhere. A large carriage was on the back of the larassu, called a howdah. Both Arktan and Kryl rode on their own respective mounts.

The larger sun, Yorinn, was just rising as I saw this, and already the day was getting so warm the sweat was beading up on my skin. For the time being I did not mind, for that meant that I had enough water in my body to sweat. In spite of the growing heat, Sandala had no mount. She carried her equipment, including several full waterskins, on her person. When we moved out she easily matched the pace of the mounts with her long legged stride. She made running look so effortless and easy I wondered at just how incredible a world this Acathia was.

Several hours later, amidst incredible amounts of sweat, I finally spoke to Brina, who had been chattering away at me incessantly the entire time. "How big is this desert?" I asked her.

She turned and looked at me, an amused look on her face. "Well, the badlands we're in now we'll be out of in another hour or two I think, which is good because that means we'll be entering the scrub beyond them and our mounts can forage for food, instead of relying on the stores we brought. Those larassues eat a lot of food too! My rasteers aren't that bad, they don't eat that much."

I filed away the information about the mounts for later use. She had not explained to me what I really wanted to know. "No, I mean, when does the desert end? You know, grass? Trees? Water... that kind of stuff."

"Well, um, we're heading towards the ruins of the ancient city called Guthmoor, we're hoping to find metal treasures there. We should be there in two more days if everything goes right, is that what you mean?" Brina said to me. "I mean, there's an oasis a few days southeast of Guthmoor, there might be some grass and trees there. And water, definitely some water."

I shook my head, "Wait a minute, you've been chattering about the city-states run by cruel tyrants, how slavery is commonplace, how Sandala is the descendent countless generations removed from some hero of her people named Tarolla, and how supposedly the last time visitors came from another world they came from the skies and it is only a legend spoken by the ancients. But you can't tell me when summer will end or how big this desert is?"

"What's summer?" Brina asked, glancing at me while she was busy guiding the rasteers. "It's always like this here. Always hot and dry. I have heard stories of great forests far to the north and the south and supposedly there is water aplenty there. But between you and me, I don't believe it. Just like all the rumored lost cities of gold and steel. But if you're from another world, then maybe those aren't rumors either!"

I had explained to Brina that magic had brought me here. A ruined wizards spell. I had not fallen from the sky as the mysterious legends she recounted. Apparently great ships had come from the sky, bearing her ancestors. There had been great battles and an eventual peace. She was kind of vague about it all, but I suspect that these legends were vague as well. Thousands of years is a considerable amount of time to keep a story straight, after all.

Brina paused a minute, considering something. I waited patiently for her to continue before I digested all of what she had told me. Finally she said to me in a tone that sounded like she was confiding a great secret to me, "My saber is metal! My father passed it on to me. Kryl has all those metal weapons too. He says he won his freedom in Borik as a gladiator, and continued to fight and won those weapons. Arktan has that steel two handed sword at his side too, but hit battle axe is just obsidian edged. And Sandala, she has a steel hand and a half sword that she once told me she got from her tribe before she left it. She was pretty drunk when she told me though, so she might have made it up. She uses it and that obsidian edged longsword, which looks more like a weapon made by elves to me."

"What about you?" Brina asked, suddenly eyeing my weapons with curiosity, not envy, "Do you have steel and metals where you came from?"

I had to laugh then, but I tried not to do so condescendingly. "Aye, we have metals aplenty." To show her I drew my shortsword and dagger, which reflected the sunlight from outside off their magically sharp blades. I also pulled my two throwing daggers out for her to see, surprising her I think because she did not know I had them hidden inside the cuffs of my sleeves. I also showed her my ring, though I did not take it off because I was afraid I might lose something so small easily, and it was very valuable to me as it afforded me magical protection. Finally I decided if metal was as rare as she made it sound, I might be a very wealthy woman. I opened the pouch at my side and let her look in it. I had 100 gold pieces in it, a small fortune on Halador, and apparently a vast treasure on Acathia, by the look of her eyes.

"Is that real gold?" She asked, shocked to see it. I nodded and her eyes grew somehow bigger. "You're rich! All that gold and steel, you could probably buy enough men to take over a city!"

I chuckled at that, and took care of my gear before asking, "I have several rare gems and jewels too, are those worth anything here?"

Brina laughed lightly, "Yes, they are, but depending on what you have, you're gold may be worth more. There's enough gold in your pouch to let you live the rest of your life in pampered comfort."

I opened another pouch and showed her the gems and jewels within it. A small part of me enjoyed showing off my apparent wealth, though another part marked her well and I knew if any of it was missing who I would confront first. My pouch had several agates in it, a few aquamarines, some black pearls, 2 opals, and my most valuable gems were 2 sapphires worth 5,000 gold each on Halador.

"Oh wow, that is incredible!" Brina said after she remembered to close her mouth at my pearls. She had never seen there like before. "I never thought I'd see that much wealth in one place!"

I chuckled and took care of it. Brina seemed lost in thought as she realized all that I had and how much it was worth on Acathia. I let myself reflect on the things she had told me then, and began to wonder if I would ever get used to the incredible heat of what appeared to be my new home. I was not even out in the sun and it was this hot, I dreaded getting out of her wagon.

"How do you survive this heat?" I asked after several long minutes had passed and I was finally growing tired of the sweat running down the valley between my breasts.

"You'll get used to it, really," Brina said, amused at my discomfort. "You're wearing a lot of clothes too, and dark colors, that's rare and, well, kind of stupid. Good gear at night I guess, but during the day, the darker your clothing, the hotter it is."

I nodded and considered my appearance. Tanned nicely from my time spent on ships, both pirate and merchant, I nevertheless wore a full suit of toughened leather armor, from my grieves to my tunic and long sleeves. And of course, it was a very dark brown in color, given to it from the time spent in boiling vats of oil that toughen and harden the armor. Further, my black boots came nearly to my knee, and the cloak that hung from my shoulders was made of black fur from a rare arctic beast as well.

I eyed Brina's outfit, the same that she had worn the day before, and considered my options. In my belongings I had a softer and lower pair of black boots called footpads boots, obviously not much of an improvement. I also had my black silk bodysuit I would often use for missions of stealth at night which was again, not an option.

"Look, I'm a few inches taller then you, but not too much, our bodies look pretty much the same, I have a bunch of spare clothes in that sack over there," Brina said to me after noticing my troubled look. I glanced at the bag she pointed to and after a moment of thought, walked over to it. I rummaged through it, examining the different things she had to offer. "Pick whatever you want, when we get back to Neewon, or wherever we end up, you can buy some clothes there, you sure can afford them! I have lots of clothes myself, I have a tendency to get myself into all sorts of different things."

I nodded at that, noticing she had all manner of clothing, from simple peasant clothing to rags I remembered well from my childhood to courtly dresses. Nothing as elaborate as what I had seen on Halador, but I attributed that to the inescapable heat of the world. I glanced at Brina again and remembered Sandala, both had outfits so revealing that in Halador they would be shunned for indecency in many places. Here I could appreciate the simplicity of it though, for I was near to passing out from the heat. 

I stripped off my clothing quickly, marveling at how damp it was from my sweat. Brina glanced back at me and I saw her eyes take in my body. At first she simply admired my form, something I noted but did not pay much attention to, then I heard her gasp slightly. "What happened to you? Were you a slave on your world?"

Ah, that explained it, she had glimpsed past the magic and seen my scars. She had the ability to look beyond the forest to see the trees within it that few people possessed. I admired Brina's ability to focus, and reconsidered her admiration of my body from lust to simple curiosity and respect.

"A slave of sorts, perhaps, but I did not think it so. Most of these are from the ungentle hands of men who abused me when I was younger." I said, leaving my past professions out of it.

"Ah," Brina said, thinking she understood me. I let her believe as she wanted to, for I did not wish to discuss my past with her without knowing her better. "Be careful to cover yourself when you leave the wagon, you are clearly not from Acathia, your skin is pale and the sun will burn you quickly."

I had always considered myself fairly well tanned, especially of late, but when I considered the skin I normally covered in comparison to the dark tan on Brina's body, I realized that she was right. I nodded to her and smiled, then proceeded to don some new clothing. I slipped on a halter top made of some type of cloth similar to cotton. It hung loosely on me, for while Brina was taller then me, she was also slightly skinnier. However, her breasts were larger then mine and that was what made the halter top loose. I did not mind, for it let the air flow between my breasts better, and perhaps any opponent I had would make the mistake of becoming distracted by my cleavage.

I went without boots or sandals, for mine were too large and hot, and she had nothing to spare. I eyed mine carefully, and decided that I could modify mine with a dagger and some needle and thread, which I had in my pack. I kept my belt with my weapons and pouches, refastening that about my waist. To add to it, I slipped on a loin cloth that reminded me of the outfit of a sultan's harem girl. I briefly considered doing a bit of a belly dance, then realized I was behaving oddly. I took a drink of water and moved to rejoin Brina. 

"Those look good on you," she said when I had moved back to sit near her at the front of the wagon. I glanced at myself and smiled. Having my background, I had never been concerned with modesty. Indeed, I often used it, or a lack of it, to my advantage. Still, I felt oddly exposed on this strange new world, but given the alternative, I decided it would have to do.

Later that day, during which I passed the time by learning of Acathia from Brina or alternatively trying to doze in the dry heat, Sandala led us to a small oasis. The oasis seemed to mark the end of the badlands and the beginning of the scrub Brina had told me about. As we moved to leave the wagon, Brina held out a light brown cape to me and said, "Put this on, it will keep your skin from burning as quickly." I noted that she had said, 'as quickly'. I smiled grimly. In the days ahead, I knew I was in for some serious sunburns.

The water was hot and tasted of dirt, but I drank of it deeply. We refilled our waterskins and Arktan pulled a large barrel out of his howdah and also filled it. I guessed it to hold well over 100 gallons of water, and was amazed to see him sling a rope over it and his howdah then pull on the rope and lift it back into the howdah. It must have weighed over 900 pounds, and regardless of the rudimentary winch and pulley he had designed, to lift that much weight made me reassess how strong the faradwim must be. The mounts were led to the oasis next, which had begun to show signs of not being bottomless after we were finished with it. By the time the rasteers and the larassues were finished, the oasis was nothing but some muddy water less then an inch thick.

I eyed the oasis thoughtfully, realizing that if it could be drained so easily, then Acathia must truly be a world plagued by perpetual drought. The scraggly trees surrounding the hole provided some measure of shade, but already my face, arms, and lower legs were burning with the heat of the indirect sunlight. Overhead the smaller sun burned an angry red, instead of the warm and gentle whitish-yellow of the larger sun that I was accustomed to.

"The oasis will refill in a day or so," Sandala said, coming next to me and noticing my stare was directed at the muddy hole in the ground.

I started, realizing I was not adapting as quickly as I would like to. I was very vulnerable then, and it was good fortune for me that I found people with no wish to do me any harm. "That's good," I said, letting her think that was my concern. "I am still trying to learn about this world. This is a harsh lesson on how truly dry it is here, and how valuable water is."




Yamara



Sandala smiled lightly. "Brina tells me you have enough gold and steel on you to buy a city. Is it so common where you come from?"

Sighing, I nodded, "Steel is easy to come by, we have smiths in every town able to produce the simplest things with it. Gold is not so common, but it is the currency with which most things are bought. Silver and copper is used as well, but gold is worth more, so I carry it instead of the lesser coins."

"Yes, we have silver coins here as well, and it is worth less then gold coins. But less then that are ceramic pieces, which can be split into 10 bits. The bit is the most common currency here, but a single gold coin is worth 1000 bits."

My eyes widened. I stumbled over the math in my head and quickly realized that in gold alone, I had a fortune if that was the case. "Then it appears I am indeed a wealthy woman," I said to her, my voice low. "But wealth can be a prison, for those who have it are plagued by those who want it."

Sandala smiled again, "You are wise, that will serve you well. None of us will trouble you for it, but you can be certain that others will not be so friendly."

"Where I come from, the company I often find myself in would as soon put a dagger in my back for a few silver. My thanks to you for your kindness, it is a rarity to find in any world, and from what I have heard, even more so here."

The elf nodded to me. "Brina probably didn't tell you, but our last adventure netted us quite a bit of gold as well, more then anyone should expect to see in a lifetime."

I chuckled, Brina was gaining more respect in my mind the longer I knew her. "Brina's not the excited little girl she acts like, is she?" I asked wryly.

Sandala laughed at that. "Nay, far from it. Our Brina is a rather exceptional thief. She's not bad in a fight I suppose, but she really earns her keep whenever we need to visit a town."

I nodded, that had been my assumption from the beginning, but it was nice to hear it confirmed. "And what of you and the others? I can't imagine Arktan being a thief, he's to big. Kryl seems to surly and reluctant to part with his weapons. Where I come from, most elves live in forests and wield magic as well as more common weapons of war."

Sandala raised an eyebrow at hearing that. "What is an elf? If you mean me, I am a pudarin. My lineage can be traced all the way back to the great Tarolla herself. My people are nomads, herders, and raiders. We wander the wastelands making our living as best we can in tribes usually numbering over a hundred. I am a warrior and a tracker myself, with an affinity for the wilderness."

"And what of your friends?" I asked, changing the topic to something less personal for her lest I say or do something she might misinterpret.

Sandala smiled, she obviously knew what I was doing as well. "Arktan is a warrior, if that's not obvious. He spent some time as a mercenary lending out his strength and skill before we met up with him. Being a caravan guard is a lousy job, and when his caravan was overrun by an pudarin tribe raiding it, he switched sides with us and gladly helped us escape. He looks and acts different and simple, but be warned, he's far smarter then you might think. Brina used to try and pull tricks on him, but the joke usually ended up being on her when he turned them around on her."

I nodded and took that information to heart. "The Acathian?"

"Kryl? He's a gladiator. A priest in Borik saw him when he was a young child and took him from his parents. Ever since, he was trained to fight in the pits for the amusement of the nobles, priests, and even the sorcerer king of Borik himself. He was one of the slaves in the caravan with Arktan and I when it was overrun by pudarin." Sandala said.

"Okay, so why were you a slave?" I asked, trying to learn as much as I could about them in case I needed it later.

"I was an pudarin in Borik at the wrong place at the wrong time," She replied, sneering slightly. "A thief had just stolen something from a priest and I happened to be nearby. Given the distrust of pudarin most people have, it was only logical that I be accused of it. Never mind that I didn't have what was stolen, I was captured and sold into slavery to line the priest's pockets."

Not really interested, but trying to keep the story going, I asked, "Did they ever catch the thief?"

She laughed at that. "No, they didn't. But Kryl, Arktan and I did after we'd escaped the caravan and returned to Borik to provision ourselves."

"Rather foolish to return to the same city you had just been captured in, wasn't it?" I asked, surprised that someone who seemed as intelligent and quick witted as Sandala did would attempt something like that.

"Our moment of fame was over before it began, fortunately," she explained. "Thievery and corruption is so common here that nobody remembered me, less then a week after it had begun. Kryl was a different story, for he was a favored gladiator, but my contacts within the city allowed us to remain hidden while we supplied ourselves."

"You said you caught the thief, did you turn him in to prove your innocence or just kill him to avenge yourself?" I asked, surprised at the chaotic nature of things that I was learning.

"Neither," She said mysteriously.

"Then what did you do?" My curiosity, I had to admit, was growing.

"Asked her to join us."

I made the connection quickly and started laughing. I glanced over at where the campsite for the night was being set up by Kryl and Brina while Arktan was caring for the animals. Brina was where my gaze ended up. I was learning all sorts of surprising things about her.

It was more cooked silk crawler for dinner, then some mild conversation as we tried to get a feel for one another a bit more. I showed them my weapons and saw Kryl appraise them expertly. When he handed them back to me, I saw respect in his eyes, perhaps not for me, but for the smiths of Halador. We doubled up on taking watch that night. I spent the first watch with Kryl, to his apparent disgust, then Brina and Arktan spent the next one together. Sandala picked up the third one on her own. The next day saw us in the same riding arrangement as the day before. I was no more used to the heat, but I was used to feeling it at least, so it came as less of a shock to me.



















Chapter 4

True to Brina's word, we reached the ruins of the ancient city of Guthmoor two days later. I had gotten to know all of them a little better, though I was far from placing my trust in them. Brina continued to treat me as a legendary hero that she idolized, though as our familiarity grew, she tempered it down a bit so that I felt that she considered me a treasured companion more important then the others. Trusting my own instincts about her, I kept my reservations about her, but responded to her warmly on the surface.

Arktan struck me as truly the strong but silent type. He possessed strength unlike anything I had ever seen before, and went about his tasks silently. I studied him carefully as best I could and came to learn that as Sandala had told me, he was not a dullard. The way in which he did things and even his lack of conversation at times showed signs of a keen mind. Occasionally I would catch him looking back at me, but when I caught him he would make an expression that reminded me of a snake trying to smile and then quickly move to do something else.

Kryl appeared exactly as he had been from the beginning. Arrogant, surly, and unpleasant. He reminded me of the dwarves I had met on Halador, always something to complain about. Unlike them, however, he showed no signs of ever enjoying life unless he had a task ahead of him that required all of his concentration. In fact, the longer we went the more unpleasant he became. Brina confided in me at one point that Kryl gets ornery when he doesn't have anything to fight for a long time. I did not consider 4 days a long time, but I was not from the same world as them, so what did I know?

I had learned about priests as well when I asked about the Gods of the world. There were no known Gods, but instead the priests of Acathia worshipped either one of the four elements or, in the case of priest, the sorcerer king of a city. That surprised me, to learn that the tyrants that controlled the cities were so powerful that beings could worship them and be granted spells. There was another type of priest on Acathia, a nature priest. They were called druids and reminded me much of the druids of Halador, save that these druids worshipped the nature spirit of a place and were granted their powers from that spirit, whom they were sworn to protect. Magic was non-existent in Acathia, from the looks I received when I asked of it. Sorcerer kings were not the sorcerers I was used to, instead they were powerful psionicists.

A psionicist, I learned, was someone with a powerful mind. Someone that could use their mind to affect others and in some instances, even the very world around them. Sounded like magic to me, just by a different name.

My head was abuzz with all the information I had learned in the past several days. I had begun to get accustomed to the heat, though by no means did that mean that I was able to claim immunity to it, simply that I could endure the 150 degree weather in silent misery. It was a moment of this misery that had me squinting through the shimmering heated air that rose off the ground when we reached Guthmoor.

I caught my first glimpse of the Sea of Lost Souls then too. Brina had finally explained to me what is was. It was sand, rock, and other bits of the world ground so finely as to be individually no larger then a spec of dust. The winds had blown these specks together in depressions across Acathia, leaving behind lakes and seas of this dust that was so fine that anything foolish enough to walk in it quickly was sucked under. Apparently at a depth of around 15 to 20 feet it was compressed enough by the weight of the dust that it became solid enough to walk on. However, only giants could reach that depth, and apparently Acathia did not possess any of them. To be sucked into the silt, I was told, is a painful and quick death of suffocation. Now that I saw it, I likened it to quicksand, for it looked harmless enough on the surface.

"So this is a city of the ancients?" I asked Brina of Guthmoor as we approached it.

She grinned and said, "Yeah, isn't it exciting? I've seen ruins before but never any this big. Look at how they fit the stones together, can you imagine how much skill that would have taken?"

I chuckled and surveyed the city. It was a good size one, I had to admit, but the walls were scarred and broken by the harsh climate. Many of the buildings we could see were equally broken down, and in many places the sand had been blown by the wind and covered up entire sections of it. If I had any doubt to the nature of the Sea of Lost Souls, it was erased when I saw the crumbling walls descending into the dust where once they had stood on solid ground.

The wagon stopped and I hopped out of it. Immediately the sun attacked my already burnt skin, making me grit my teeth against the pain. I knew that eventually I would tan down, but it felt like the sun would just burn me to the bone before that happened. I glanced about, squinting even more now that I had no cover, and noticed an occasional eddy of wind would blow up the fine silt and carry it far into the air before letting it drop so slowly I was further convinced of its dangerous nature.

"What now?" I asked, not sure of how they planned on exploring the ancient ruins. I knew how I would go about it, but they had their mounts and Brina's wagon to be concerned with.

"Well, usually Sandala and I head in to do a little scouting because we aren't as big and noisy as Arktan and Kryl are. Hey, do you want to come with us?" Brina asked me, a smile on her face as the idea hit her.

I knew damn well why she wanted me to go with them, she wanted to see if I was any good at what I did. Still, without a reason to stay behind, and with my own curiosity to see these ruins, I felt I might as well go along.

The others joined us in a few moments and Brina happily opened her mouth and said, "Yamara wants to come with us when we scout it, Sandala! Can she?"

Sandala looked at me with an amused expression, to which I rolled my eyes slightly. She hid a chuckle behind her hand and said, "Certainly, Yamara. From what we've heard, this place is abandoned mostly, so there should be little risk."

"Then let us be off," I said, loosening my sword in its scabbard and turning towards the ruins. A little surprised, the other two women quickly fell into step beside me.

We approached the ruins straight on, me angling towards the closest breach in the wall. The closer we got, the quieter we became. I noticed that we all slowed down a bit and began to choose our steps more carefully. By the time we reached the hole in the wall, I would not have known we were there if I had not seen us, so silent were we.

It was then that I felt something tickling the back of my head. I glanced behind me quickly, wondering what was happening. Nothing was back there save my two companions, and they only looked at me curiously. Shrugging it off, I stepped through the breach and glanced around as the tickle turned into a buzz. Several feet away from the wall were buildings, or at least the remnants of buildings. Broken down and in many places missing entire fronts, they nevertheless stretched away for several hundred feet.

Finally the buzzing resolved itself into a voice in my head that said, "Go back, you are in danger!" Then the feeling of something contacting my mind vanished, leaving me confused and wondering what had happened.

I spun around quickly and stared at Sandala suspiciously. I suspected her to be one of these psionicists I had learned of and I knew of no other way to speak in someone's mind then through magic, though they claimed no such thing existed. She looked back at me, wondering why I would stop in the middle of what was once an ancient road. I opened my mouth to say something when I heard a faint noise behind me, towards the ruined buildings.

I spun around in time to catch a small rock in the shoulder. It knocked me off balance it flew so quickly. It hurt as well, but it was not life threatening. Other rocks came flying at us too, seeming to jump from the very ground and attack us without anyone throwing them. Brina and Sandala both grunted as well as they were struck. More wary now, I dodged the others that came at me and looked for the source of the unnatural attack.

I found it a moment later. 10 spindly legged creatures came charging at us suddenly, emerging from behind broken walls and ruined buildings. Gaunt and lanky, they appeared to be the height of a man and ran on two legs, but they were bent over and grotesque looking. They wielded spears with heads made of sharpened obsidian, and had what looked like plates of larassu shell strapped on them for armor. I quickly drew my shortsword and my dagger, preparing for combat. Brina did likewise, but Sandala took enough time to knock an arrow and turn and fire it back towards where Arktan and Kryl waited outside the city. Unseen to all of us, it arced high into the air and fell only a few inches from Kryl's foot, sticking into the ground.

Battle was joined then, and I found that while the larassu shell armor the creatures wore was too thick and tough to easily penetrate, their skin was not. I had one disabled with a slash of my sword and thrust of my dagger, his blood being soaked up by the dry ground as quickly as it pumped out of his wounds. Nearby Brina had produced two throwing daggers and had thrown both to good effect, wounding one of the creatures rushing her badly enough so that when it reached her she could slip inside the swing of its spear and dispatch it with her saber. I was concerned about Sandala for she had no time to draw her bastard sword before 4 of the creatures were on her.

My fears were unfounded, however. I caught a glimpse of her briefly and saw her moving in a fluid dance like motion, her arms and feet striking out at the creatures to drive them back and give her room enough to draw her weapon. By the time she had acquired that room, one of them lay on the ground struggling to breath from a crushed windpipe and one of the others was cradling a broken arm.

Confident my companions could take care of themselves, I returned my attention fully to the other ones attacking me. More were emerging from the buildings to advance on us, and I quickly grew worried that there would be no end to them. My dagger took another of the things in the throat after my sword had parried its spear, but another took its place and then I faced two of them.

Fortunately for me, these creatures were not trained to fight together, and after a few blocks and parries, I managed to trick one of them into thrusting his spear at me while the other slashed with his. They ended up tangling each other up, and my shortsword thrust into the side of the one on the right, parting his ribs and cutting through his lungs and heart. I shoved him off my blade into the other creature, giving myself a moment to recover from the strike.

A roar from behind me somewhere distracted me though, and I did not move quickly enough to dodge another approaching creature. I expected them to use their spears as piercing weapons, but the large obsidian head they had on them they apparently felt was designed more for slashing. I barely managed to lean out of the way of the slash, and even then my success was not complete. The tip of the spear cut and tore the skin under my left breast, my ribs keeping it from sinking deeper. It came up and across, tearing the halter top I had borrowed from Brina into a useless rag and cutting a groove between my breasts and across my upper right one. It stung like hell too, but I had long since learned to ignore pain.

The roar, it turned out, was Kryl charging into combat. He swung a bastard sword around as though it weighed as much as my short sword. His strength and skill was impressive, I had to admit, for with each swing it seemed an adversary fell.

Arktan was a demon of battle as well, using his great size to benefit. Wielding a two handed sword, he literally cut his first opponent in half. In spite of the number of creatures growing to 23, I was certain they were going to deal with them now that Arktan and Kryl had arrived.

That required me to beat the things attacking me though, at least as far as I was concerned. After the spear slashed across my chest, I jumped forward inside the reach of it and plunged my dagger into the soft underside of the creatures chin, killing it instantly. The other one that I had managed to keep off balance and tied up so far was now ready to deal with me. He came at me with deadly intent, slashing overhead with his spear at me. I jumped to the side, pushing off the dying creature I had just stabbed, and felt the spear head snag on my borrowed cloak, but otherwise miss me. That tripped me up though and caused me to fall. With the wind knocked out of me, I saw the creature recover from his attack and turn to come at me again.

Behind me, Sandala was nursing a wounded arm and used her bastard sword in her other good arm. She had already claimed three of the humanoids that attacked us, and had wounded the remaining one that faced her. Brina had slain two herself, but two others had her slowly retreating as she tried desperately to keep them from wounding her any worse then the scratch on her thigh she had already taken. Kryl had slain four of them himself and, as I was busy raising my dagger and throwing it at the creature stalking me, he dispatched a fifth one. Arktan had a similar number of dead or dying humanoids around him, though it was hard to tell the exact number as his great strength meant that quite often only pieces remained.




Yamara



My thrown dagger missed, but it caused the creature to dodge to the side. That gave me the time I needed to jump to my feet and sprint over on its flank. It spun to try and attack me, but my shortsword cut across its upper arm, causing it to draw back in pain. My next swing took the spear out of its hand, leaving it defenseless. I approached it again, sword held ready to strike, and the creature looked at me with fear in its eyes. It fell to its knees and raised its hands in a supplicating gesture, begging for mercy. I gave it the only mercy I knew... and its head fell beside its body.

I snatched up my dagger then and turned to see how my companions fared. Sandala was pulling her bastard sword out of the rib cage of the last of her adversaries, though she bled freely from her arm and her side. Kryl and Arktan were both finished with their foes, but were to far from the rest of us to offer much help. Brina was still retreating from the last two, her strikes becoming more and more desperate as the creatures got a feel for fighting with each other against her. I decided to even things up a bit and sheathed my sword and dagger. I pulled the two throwing daggers I always carry close by and threw both of them, one after another.

Brina saw the flash of steel and jumped forward, ramming her saber into the bowels of one of the creatures. The other one turned to strike her down but stumbled and fell to its knees instead. My daggers stuck out of its back, one spearing a kidney and another a lung. Wrenching her saber free in a disemboweling move, Brina turned and lopped the head of the kneeling creature to finish them both off. She smiled at me and winked, then looked around.

I reclaimed my throwing daggers and looked down at the scraps of the halter top hanging from my shoulders. I pulled it off my shoulders and winced as I stretched and the gash across my chest opened further. Chuckling ironically, I figured I had some fresh scars coming. The blood ran down my chest and across my belly. I opened a pouch at my side and reached into it, my hand sinking deeper in it then should have been possible. I saw Brina watching me out of the corner of her eye and I smiled to myself. She definitely had potential. I did not see Sandala also keeping her eye on me, however.

I pulled a vial of pale blue liquid out of my magical pouch of accessibility, so named for its extra-dimensional space inside that could hold far many times what it should be able to, as well as its ability to let whatever the user wants to find (if it is inside the pouch) be found simply by willing it to be so, instead of rooting around needlessly for the correct thing. I took the cork out of the end of the vial and carefully took a sip of it, making certain I drank no more then a third of it. The liquid ran down my throat and felt cool and soothing, tempting me to drink more of it simply to fight off the effects of the exertion in the heat.

Brina gasped when I turned around and faced them. While the blood on my chest and belly was still there, the wound itself had rapidly began to close and knit together. In a matter of moments a pink scar was all that remained, though it was still tender to the touch. An added benefit I had not considered would happen from taking a drink of my healing potion was that my skin, already a bright red from the suns harmful touch, tanned down quickly. Inadvertently, I had just saved myself several days or more of painful sunburn and peeling. I popped the cork back into the vial and placed it back in my magical pouch.

"What did you just drink?" Sandala asked, coming closer to me. Brina approached also, her hand reaching out subconsciously to touch my chest where the slash had been.

"It was a potion of healing," I said, watching Brina as her fingers lightly traced the new scar then pulled back as she realized that she had just practically fondled my breasts.

"A potion? I have never heard of such a thing," Sandala said, a hint of awe in her voice.

"They are common where I come from," I told her. "Or at least common among magical items."

"We have something similar here, though none of us have any," Sandala said, considering what she had learned. "To us such healing can take place by consuming kuwami fruits."

I tilted my head and considered what she said. "You okay?" Kryl said as he came up on the three of us. He had already gone through several of the dead creatures belongings, and Arktan was finishing up with the others. Arktan had a slight gash on one of his cheeks, and Kryl was unwounded.

"Aye, we'll live," Sandala said, smiling at the Acathian.

He grunted and studied me for a few moments, not paying any attention to my exposed chest any more then he did the rest of me. Finally he met my gaze for a moment and nodded. "You fought well," was all he said to me before he turned away went to check on more of the creatures.

"I think he likes you," Brina said conspiratorially to me with a grin. I could not help but laugh at that, in spite of myself.

"He's in a good mood," Sandala explained, "he got to fight."

I chuckled and turned to look at the slain beings. "What were they? I've never seen their like before."

"Shissar's," Sandala said. "A small group of them, usually there are many more. And usually they are lead by a more skilled and powerful leader with psionic powers."

Something clicked in my head at that. "Then there must be one about! When we approached I felt something contact my mind, I thought it was magic at the time. It warned me to retreat because we were in danger. Then those rocks all came flying at us, remember?"

Sandala, Brina, and Arktan all looked around suspiciously then, remembering the rocks themselves. "I don't think that the shissar leader would warn you before attacking," she said doubtfully. "But the rocks are proof enough of a powerful psionicist being here."

"He was here, and he has been dealt with."

I spun at the sound, seeing a man wearing a light brown robe floating slowly down from the exposed upper story of a ruined building. He held out his hands to show that he had no immediate ill intentions toward us, but my hands rested on the hilts of my weapons regardless.

"Who are you?" Sandala asked. Kryl had seen what was happening and rejoined us quickly, scowling at the man but clearly excited at the prospect of more battle.

"My name is Keeden," He said, finally reaching the ground and approaching us with a smile on his face. "I have been hiding from those Shissar for many days now, always a step ahead of them. I and my companion have been troubled by them, but they were to many for us to deal with. I thank you for your intervention, and in return I dealt with their leader so he would not harm you."

He turned and looked at me then, a strange look in his eye. "It was me that contacted and tried to warn you. You have a strange mind, not like your companions or any I have ever touched before. I think there is a hidden potential in you."

I bristled at that. "I thank you for your warning and help, but I warn you once and once only, stay out of my mind."

He held up his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry to upset you, I was not 'in your mind', as you put it, I merely touched it to warn you and sensed the unharnessed power within you. I could help you find it, if you would like."

I refused to believe that he was willing to help me without some sort of personal gain, it went against everything I had come to know and trust. "And what do you get out of it?"

He appeared surprised at that question, but I knew it had to be a ploy. "Well, um, I suppose you could pay me if you wanted, but I don't really need it. Consider it another sign of my thanks for helping me stop the Shissar that were plaguing me and my friend."

I snorted slightly and turned at the sound of someone approaching. From between two buildings emerged a woman using a walking staff that I was certain could double as a weapon in a moments notice. She wore a revealingly low cut tunic made of some tanned animal hide I did not recognize that also exposed her sides through wide leather laces. She also had a shield on her left arm, boots and a sand colored cloak to complete her outfit. A moment later a female lion slipped out behind her. Both came to stop next to the man, the lion sitting down and panting in the heat as she leaned affectionately against the woman's leg. I studied her carefully, noting faint elven - oops, make that Pudarin - features in her face and tall but skinny frame.

"Allow me to introduce my traveling partner, Sarya. We came here several weeks ago because I have heard there is some psychic disturbance in this area and I wished to investigate it for my own curiosity," Keeden said.

"Hoping to find some long lost treasure?" I asked cynically.

He laughed and responded, "Well, of course... aren't you?"

He had me there, so I did not respond. Sandala looked around at the scene we stood in the middle of. A small tribe of dead shissar with an as yet undiscovered psionic leader, and an admitted psionicist in front of us. Apparently my suspicions were not the only ones to be raised.

"Where is the shissar leader?" She asked.

"Check that building over there, he should be on the first floor in the back near what was once a window," Keeden responded.

Sandala nodded to Kryl to go and check it out. He scowled but headed towards the building. I glanced at Arktan and then the building and felt a brief moment of pity. Standing 9 feet tall, he would have a hard time fitting in almost any human sized establishment.

Kryl came out a moment later and tossed the body of another shissar onto the ground in front of us. Dried blood had run from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, and there was bruising apparent around his temples. I shuddered slightly to think of the power of a man that could kill with his mind alone, and vowed that I needed to learn as much about psionics as I could.

"You are wounded, please, Sarya is a priestess, she can tend your wounds," Keeden said, noticing the blood on us and how Brina and Sandala seemed to be not faring as well because of it. Sarya looked at him questioningly, but he just smiled and nodded towards us.

"What sort of priest is she?" I asked cautiously. After all the talk of corrupt priests serving evil sorcerer-kings, I was not about to let one of them touch me.

"I worship the elemental powers of water," Sarya said defensively, looking at me challengingly. I could tell right there that the two of us were not going to get along.

"A water priestess? You travel in good company, Keeden," Sandala said, nodding her assent to Sarya to treat her.

Sarya came forward and examined Sandala's wounds. She studied them for a few moments before chanting low arcane words that I sensed were little more then nonsense. She grabbed the waterskin at her side and pulled the stopper from it. She let a few drops of water fall into the palm of her hand and mixed a strange powder from one of her pouches with it. When she applied the mud to Sandala's injuries the wound quickly healed, leaving streaks of clean skin amidst all the dust and dirt of several days travel. She moved to Brina next and repeated her process. The lion yawned in the heat and moved over to a spot of shade next to the wall. She laid down and waited patiently for Sarya to finish.

She left Brina and approached Arktan next, motioning for him to bend over so she could heal the scratch on his head. He smiled at her and thanked her quietly, offering her some of the ceramic coins he had taken off of the dead shissar. She smiled at him and shook her head, pushing his hand away. She moved to me next, and I could tell that if it were up to her, she would leave me to die rather then heal me. I smiled at her sweetly, knowing how much she must be irritated and enjoying it for some dark reason. She looked at my wounds carefully though, spending as little time staring at my exposed chest as possible, before deciding there was nothing she could do for me.

I had been healed many times by clerics in the past and I knew damn well that she saw no open wounds or life threatening injuries so she did not want to waste her time on me, but I was still sore and could have used a little bit of help. Rather then add any fuel to the situation, I just smiled at her and said, "Thanks anyhow." She returned to Keeden's side, refusing to look at me.

"The day grows long and now that at least this part of Guthmoor appears safe, will you share a camp with us?" Keeden asked us. I glanced at my newfound companions and shrugged. It appeared the others had similar feelings.

"Our thanks again, Keeden and Sarya, we would be glad to share your fire," Sandala said.

Being the individualistic person that I am, I would have figured that Sandala and I would rub each other the wrong way, since she appeared to be the leader of the group. However, we got along quite well thus far, and I was surprised by it. I admired her keen intellect and ability to react to situations as they unfolded with the group in mind. I had to admit, she did a good job of it, probably even better then I would be able to, since I would keep my own well being as a priority over anyone else. Then again, we had not butted heads over anything yet either, so perhaps our comradely nature would dissolve as soon as it was tested.

Nonetheless, we gathered what things we needed from the mounts and moved them within the city walls several streets away where Keeden and Sarya had already set up a camp. I grabbed another shirt from Brina's sack of clothing, with her permission, and realized that by the time we reached a tailor, I would probably owe her a fortune in clothing alone. Picking a sharp rock out of my bare foot I realized that I would gladly pay a fortune for a decent pair of boots.

Night, or the perpetual dusk that Acathia called night, came quickly after that, and we split up the watch amongst all of us in pairs again. This time Keeden got stuck with me on the second watch, and the jealous looks from Sarya told me far more then I suspect she wanted me to know about their relationship. I filed it away for future use, and spent my time speaking with Keeden about psionics, wanting to learn as much as I could about them.

By the time our watch was over, Keeden had showed me some of his psionic abilities. Igniting the torn and useless top I had worn before the fight with his mind alone, as well as weakening a piece of rock so that I could snap it in two with my fingers. The powers of the mind, he explained to me, were limited only by the mind. Pretty existential. By the end of my watch with him, I was seriously considering his offer to help me unlock the hidden potential he claimed I had. My questions remained as to how far I could trust him to tamper with my mind. He insisted that he would not look into my thoughts, but if he could do all the things I had seen him do, and I was sure countless more beyond that, then how could I trust him? He had pointed out that my companions would be there to protect me in case anything happened, but that made me wonder just how much I trusted my companions.

I felt as though I had the potential to open up a great new world for exploration, but my fear was that perhaps instead of a door to a new world, I might instead find a fake door with a poisonous trap instead. Worse then that was the thought that I might become dependant upon people, even if only for a short time. Even worse yet, what if I could not let myself depend upon them?



 Chapter 5

And so, after a night to sleep on it, I decided the very next day to let Keeden help me try to unlock my psychic potential. Having glimpsed the power I might have, I could not deny myself the opportunity to reach for them., whatever the cost.

I might have been better off had I not approached Keeden while he was with Sarya, but that would have stolen some of my fun. In a bleak world such as Acathia, I wanted as much enjoyment as I could get. "After our talk last night, I think I'm willing to enlist your help," was what I said.

It was not anything bad or misleading, but the look on Sarya's face showed that it did not need to be. She glared hard at me for a moment, then turned when Keeden responded. "Alright, let us try it tonight, when Yorinn sets. It will take me some time to prepare myself for it, and you would do well to relax and calm your mind beforehand as well, for it can be an exhaustive process."

Sarya's mouth opened and shut silently like a fish gasping for air. I fought down the chuckle and nodded, then turned and walked away. I could hear her start in on him as soon as I was out of earshot, and I could no longer resist the smile that found its way onto my face. Jealousy is such a foolish emotion.

For that day, Sarya and Keeden spent most of it by themselves, him preparing for the nights ordeal, and her waiting hand and foot on him. Kryl, Arktan, and Brina did some exploring of the ruins nearby. I waited and tried to spend the day resting and preparing myself, but that merely made the day lost longer. Sandala was nearby at all times, doing this or that, and always ready to talk whenever a question made its way through my thoughts. Even preoccupied as I was, I appreciated her kindness and wondered at the type of person that could show such a thing without any need or want for recompense. Somewhat bitterly I decided that I would owe her a favor later on, and that was surely why she was trying so hard to befriend me. More subtle then Brina, by far, but a similar bait to catch the Yamara fish.

So it was that when the time finally approached, I was more then ready to be done with it.

Keeden and I sat facing each other on the sandy ground, the campfire beside us casting flickering shadows across our faces. He threw some powder into the campfire which burned brightly and sent a pleasant smell into the air. I recognized it as simple incense, but suspected that he used it as a cheap parlor trick to try and increase the authenticity of his act. Then I had to admit, his act needed little convincing.

Taking his lead, I closed my eyes and let myself be lulled by the crackling fire and the smell of the incense into a meditative pose. Then I felt something brush up against the back of my head. It was like before, gently making contact with me so subtly that I barely knew it was there. Then the contact was fully established and our minds opened to each other.

I reveled in the sensation at first. It was so new and so wondrous, to be able to feel and see and read whatever thoughts were on the surface of his mind. Then I realized that he could do the same to me, and I took care to shield my thoughts by thinking about nothing. I felt his humor then, and heard him tell me to relax and to open myself up or else we would be unable to continue. Hesitantly, I relaxed my guard.

What came next stunned me. Our minds were already linked on the surface, but the convergence that took place left me feeling ... inadequate. It was as if our minds were working together, our memories were shared, our skills were shared, our ability to think and to reason was shared. To a limited extent, even our consciousness was shared. It was quite overwhelming for me, and so I sat there stunned and more then a little frightened.

Keeden spoke to me in my mind, trying to reassure me. Slowly I regained my composure, and he proceeded, sifting through my mind like a healer trying to remove an arrowhead from a wound and causing as little damage as possible with his knife. I was unaware of how long it was taking, for it seemed as though all of eternity could pass in a moment.

I reached out then myself, exploring his mind as stealthily as I could. I think he had not anticipated this, for he left no wards or guards up to protect himself. I discovered his memories and quickly plunged into them, experiencing his life as much as he had experienced it. That finished, I continued on, searching out his knowledge, trying to learn as much as I could both about Acathia and about him and what he could do. I was quite impressed by the time I had finished, for I realized that here was a man who's mental discipline was very powerful. Through his memories, I had witnessed him crushing creatures with the power of his mind alone. It was rather humbling for me.