Isa woke in twilight. The first thing she saw was open sky, and she smiled. Whatever else might have transpired, she was no longer deep underground in a tomb. She heard the murmur of voices and turned toward them. Lund and Mery sat with their backs to her. Alice and Dulrak both lay sleeping nearby.

The white cloth around Lund’s head brought the recent battles into sharp focus for Isa. She remembered the tall warrior and how he and Lund had exchanged blow after blow until the man punched Lund in the face, destroying Lund’s left eye and knocking hm out.

Is that why Ysel had given Isa the spare the dying spell? Had she foreseen all the troubles they would have. She gave an involuntary snort. You could consult with the goddess about that, she told herself.

The feather. No, she would have to give it serious thought before using the feather. Her hand went to her bag, as if to reassure her that she still had it.

At the sound, Mery glanced at her, mid-sentence. Whatever she’d been saying to Lund was forgotten as she smiled at Isa and waved her over. Isa got up quietly and joined them.

“I’m afraid to ask,” she said to Lund. “How is your eye? Are you in pain?”

“No, no pain. It’s a little tender.” He gently touched his temple and the white cloth Alice had fashioned.

“And magic can bring it back?”

Lund nodded. “I’ve seen it happen. I forget the spell.”

“Regeneration,” said Mery.

“Of course.” Lund laughed. “What else would it be?”

“First chance we get,” said Isa, “we’re getting you healed. It’s my fault you’re even in this place.”

“I leveled, so it’s not all bad.” He smiled.

Mery looked at Isa. “I leveled after the first time we fought that fucking mummy, so you must have leveled, too.”

“Hmmm,” said Isa, “I’ll have to check.” To Lund she said, “Did you carry me?”

He smiled and nodded. “Dulrak had Alice, so I carried you.”

“How far?” Isa looked out on the vast expanse of sand.

“A mile or two,” he said. “Not far.”

Mery patted his shoulder. “We had to move quickly. Dawn was breaking, and we didn’t know who else might be around. Dulrak led us here and took first watch.”

“Mery—” Lund lowered his voice even more. “Mery didn’t want to sleep. She didn’t tru—”

“It’s not that I didn’t trust him, but you have to admit, the dwarf showed up at an awfully convenient time. We don’t know his motives, his plans, his end game.”

“He fought like a tiger,” said Lund. “His flaming blade probably saved our lives. How can you—”

“I’m not saying we don’t owe him.” Mery leaned in. “I’m saying we don’t know him. But I did sleep, so there. Lund put you down, and we both stretched out beside you. Never been so happy to rest. And now,” she hiked a thumb over her shoulder, “he’s resting, and we’re watching.”

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“Why isn’t Alice up?” asked Isa. “Should I be worried?”

“Nah,” Lund shook his head. “I knew a guy once, he slept a whole day after a big battle. He was fine.”

“Well, I’m going to check on her at least.”

Isa sat down beside Alice and touched her hair. Alice’s blonde hair spilled on to the sand, and the growing darkness drained the color from both so that hair and sand blended together.

They’d almost died, both of them, and if that had happened, the sand would have covered them, covered their bodies, their faces, their eyes. Was this journey worth the risk? Ysel certainly seemed to think so, but She wasn’t here, so how important could it really be?

Isa had never questioned the goddess about that, had she? No, Isa had accepted the story, accepted the quest, and off they went, as if this was no more than a game.

She stroked Alice’s hair. But it wasn’t a game, and they needed to decide if they wanted to continue to the Shimmer or break off and find a way home. Isa had done it once; she could do it again, because suddenly none of this mattered. She’d lost 10 years of her life – Isa didn’t need to look at her notebook to know that it was true. She was scarred and bruised and tired. And for what?

It was practically a lark, the way she’d approached the tomb quest. She’d given it no more thought than she would have to any side quest in the RPG: here’s a chance to score some loot, get some XP, and who knows what else?

And she’d almost died – they all had! Life and death came down to Lund’s sword, didn’t it? If he had fallen….

“Isa? Babe, why are you pulling my hair?” Alice touched Isa’s hand and tried to sit up. Isa realized that she had been clutching Alice’s hair in her fist.

“Sorry. I was—”

“Where are we?” Alice sat up.

“A long-dried riverbed,” said Dulrak. He rose and stretched. “That was a good nap, by all accounts. Everyone feeling healthy and strong? We need to move on.”

“Why here?” Isa gestured at the boulders that loomed over them like bare trees.

“These stones offer the only shelter that seemed close enough. It’s just sand and wind and sky out here. Or haven’t you noticed?”

“I’ve been underground for a couple of days, so I haven’t really been able to appreciate the view.”

“The Yeckonner have a settlement north of here – Mefal – not half a day’s walk,” said Dulrak. “It will be cold work but traveling by night can be a blessing.”

Mery scraped at the sand with the toe of her boot. “What if I said we should split up?”

“We split the party once,” Alice started to say, and Mery talked over her.

“I mean, we four go our way, and the druid, he goes his way. Surely,” she said to Dulrak, “you were going someplace to do something when you stumbled upon us.” She crossed her arms and stared at him.

Dulrak frowned. “I was. I was indeed.”

Alice stepped forward. “I don’t think that’s necessary. We wouldn’t have survived— I wouldn’t have survived without all of you. Why break up now?”

“No offense,” said Mery, “but you are a junior member here. I’m not sure your opinion really matters.”

“Hey!” Isa stepped toward Mery. “Don’t be an ass. What are you saying? What harm can it do to get to the settlement, and then we figure it out. If Dulrak had wanted to kill us, he had ample opportunity in the tomb.”

“Kill you? Kill you?” Dulrak shook his head. “Humans. You think that everything revolves around you. Everyone. Around your wants, your desires.” He picked up his bag. “I’ll tell you this because Selvank encourages his followers to look always for balance and if they cannot find balance, to look for good. There is good among you, and so I say, Mefal is half a day’s walk, due north.” He pointed at the distant mountain range. “Look for the gap tooth spire yonder and keep that at your front.”

With that he slung his bag over his shoulder and turned east.

“Wait!” Alice grabbed his arm. “I don’t want you to go.” She turned to Isa. “You don’t want him to go either, right?”

Isa sighed. Why can’t this be easy? What’s Mery’s game anyway? The dwarf isn’t a bad friend to have, not at all. “Fuck,” she said softly. “Look, I don’t want to take sides—” Alice glared at her. “But I will, I guess. Let’s get to this settlement, alright? And then we can argue all we want while enjoying a hot meal and a mug of ale. Assuming, that is, that you really planned to continue north, Dulrak? Maybe you’re anxious to be shed of us.”

“Not at all. I’d planned to go to Mefal to trade there and check on a few things.”