The rain quickly started coming down hard. Soren wasn’t sure where she was. She had tried to follow the path the crowd had taken out of town. Yet in the pitched night it was hard to see where anything was. Every person she thought she was following, turned out to be a strangle of bushes or odd flickers of dying light. For the first time in many, many nights there was no lightning to light up the surrounding area. Only the sound of torrential rain guiding her and she prayed to Enki it was not in circles. Soren knew there was a bend in the road but had to guess at her direction. She was beginning to think she had accidently gone off the trail at some point, it was so difficult to tell anything in the wet blackness.

As she walked, Soren became more and more frantic. She tied to find some hint of her parents or the crowd or anything at this point. The rain was cold and she had long been soaked through. Suddenly, as she tried to take another step, her foot landed not on solid ground but a splash of cool water. She tried to counter balance her weight but the muddy edge of the creek gave way under her other foot. Then Soren was submerged in the raging creek, thrashing and desperately disoriented. It was no longer a creek either, but a raging river.

The water moved incredibly fast and Soren struggled to get her head above water. She realized she didn’t even know which way was up. At one point her foot struck what she thought was the creek bed. She desperately tried to swim in the opposite direction, only to realize her foot had actually struck the side of the creek, not the bottom. As she tumbled over and over, her lungs began to burn. She knew she’d soon open her mouth and breath whatever was out there, mud, water or air. Just then her head broke the surface and she gasped a half breath before falling back under the water.

She tumbled around in the water again and again. This time however Soren was able to orient herself to the surface and fought for another breath. She was rewarded with a full breath of air and not a little muddy water as well. Gasping, her flailing arms hit on something floating in the water. It hurt but she instinctively gripped at it, only realizing after what she was clung onto. Wet musty fur covered a rigid body of some work animal, a mule-horse she thought but couldn’t be sure in the blackness. Soren clutched at its neck hair with all of her strength, side straddling the dead beast and keeping her head just above water. She tried not to think about how long she’d be able to hold on in the rushing water.

Eventually, Soren’s fear frozen mind forced her to climb atop the creature’s body. She was surprised to find the body much less buoyant than she'd thought. As she moved to climb the stiff thing, it bobbed down into the water and Soren almost lost her grip. She only managed to stay on as an odd turn in the current pushed her toward her life-raft instead of away from it. She managed to get on top and though still slightly submerged, she was able to relax her grip just a bit as she floated along the rushing creek that was now a very wide river. Soren had no idea how big or deep the river was. She knew she couldn't see either side though in the near pitch black of the storm that didn't necessarily mean much.

An hour later it was still raining just as hard. Soren still couldn’t see her hand in front of her face and had no idea how fast she was moving or how far she’d already gone. Certainly, way past the Everett’s property by now. From there, Soren knew the creek moved south, meandering more or less through dryer and dryer country until feeding into Caterwaul Lake. As far as Soren knew, the lake had been dried up for hundreds of years. Most people who knew of the place, and there weren’t many, called it a ‘lake’ as a kind of joke. It was the last landmark before entering the Shallow Desert, the liminal drylands that eventually led to the Deep Desert.

Caterwaul Lake was still at least a hundred miles away from her families farm. Soren had never been anywhere near that far south. In fact, she only knew of it from a passing Northern scholar who was heading out to search for lost wreckage or some such nonsense. Tucks had wanted to go with the man but Soren had felt something in the man that scared her and had convinced Tucks to stay behind with her.

In her mind the gray polyhedron flashed, then disappeared again and Soren lost her sense of despondency, leaving only grim determination. She raced past miles and miles of drylands turning into wetlands. Suddenly, Soren felt the body of the mule-horse below her snag on something. It jerked once, jostling her and almost throwing her from her raft before she kicked at a limb that jutted from the bank and freed them. Soren was too scared to try and swim to either side of the river. She didn’t know which side to head towards or even where to go in the darkness. She never learned to swim all that well and wasn’t sure she could make it to a side or up the bank in the quickly moving water. She lay back down, hugging the rigid furry beast below her, breathing in the wet musky smell of the dead thing.

Six hours later, it had finally stopped raining though still utterly dark out. Soren still couldn't see either side of the river. The rush of the water hadn’t slowed at all. Soren actually thought it had sped up a little as she was carried by the flood. The mule-horse had snagged only one other time. Soren was able to hold on even as the beast turned over, completely submerging her once again in the cold water. She was able to feel the wall of the creek with her feet and had pushed the body off the snag. Now, Soren was back on top, hugging the fur with a loose grip which was all she had the strength for.

She felt the water below her and it still terrified her, yet the end of the rain gave her a new sense of hope. If she could get out of the water without drowning, she might actually survive the night. Just as the small glow of hope entered her mind, the water began to slow, as if responding to her. She felt the slowing current though she had no idea where she was or where she was heading other than south. Finally, after another hour in gripped fear, the water slowed enough for her to release her grip.

Her hands ached from staying clenched for so long in the cold water and they burned when she tried to work them open and closed. After the feeling returned somewhat to her fingers, she worked her legs up, straddling the semi-buoyant mule-horse on its side. It was another three hours of drifting in utter darkness through somewhat calmer waters, before Soren finally came to a manageable speed. the clouds had thankfully parted and the stars shown in unimaginable numbers. So vast and radiant, Soren struggled to find familiar constellations. Not knowing what else to do, she remained on the mule-horse.

In the light of the stars Soren could begin to make out her surroundings. She saw the storm had moved off to the east, an ink blot on the sea of stars. The banks had been widened considerably by the waters but Soren could tell the walls on either side of the creek had begun to take shape. She inferred that the water was finally beginning to recede. Soren’s exhaustion was palpable. Had it not been for the dead creature below her, she knew she’d of passed out, long ago. At this point she had been awake for two days and almost two nights straight. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she didn’t get some sleep soon, every fiber of her being told her to sleep. She realized she hadn’t heard Caracara the entire night. Or perhaps she had been ignoring him. Her mind was so muddled with fear and adrenaline and exhaustion is was little surprise.

“Caracara?” she asked to the night, she was surprised by how raw and hoarse her voice was from the fire. It felt like a disjointed injury as she froze in the cold water. Soren waited a while before she got a reply.

"Soren. I'm glad you made it through the night. I'm sorry I had to leave. That, man. Madrid. You've met him before?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Not by choice though."

"I see. Well. I had to return to Enki's realm. He, he's dangerous even to me. I'm not sure what he could have done through the connection between us but if he catches either of us, I believe it will not go well for the other."

"I agree. We'll stay far away from him for as long as we can. I don't know if he'll go after my family or not. He said he wouldn't but I can hardly believe anything he says."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Prudent. For now we should assume he's after you and will leave them alone. where are you?"

"I have no idea, south I guess. I got thrown into the creek er, river whatever. Haven't seen much of anything except this dead mule in front of me. I've been floating on this thing the entire night. Dawns coming on soon though. I should be able to make my way out of the creek. If I don't die of exhaustion."

"Ok, hold on a bit longer then. let me know if you need my help. I'm trying to get some info about Madrid here in Enki's realm. I'll contact you in a bit."

"Sounds good." Soren said. Not two minutes later, she felt something brush over the top of the mule before it slammed into her head, her head snapped back before falling forward onto the mule unconscious.

*

Soren opened her eyes to find herself in a desert. It was still the middle of the night. A bloated white globe shone dim blue across the dunes. The dunes were waves caught in time and the shadows of clouds raced across their surface giving the impression of ripples. The stars were innumerable and shocked Soren with their radiance. She was sat atop a particularly large ridge. Off in the distance in front of her, she could make out the beginning of a canyon range. She looked around in a quick jerk that made the dunes ripple all the more.

She was completely alone, only the soft sound of wind accompanied her. She rose and felt the sand under her, cool and somehow familiar. She began to slide down the huge dune, taking huge steps as her feet softly fell into the light sands. Small landfalls followed her path eroding and stopping themselves behind her. She made her way up the next dune, then down then up again. She didn’t know how long she walked, couldn’t remember how long it had taken, it was at once an eternity and no time at all. It was an impression of time but not the thing itself. Then she passed an obelisk, then another before she was in front of the imposing canyon.

The sand gave way to slickrock and Soren felt the still warm rocks on her bare feet. She walked down the sloping rock, the canyon twisting and turning. She looked up to realize that though light still poured in, she could no longer see the sky. The narrow slot canyon was lit with a thin band of light. Soren ran her fingers through it, playing with the sharp star beams.

She continued down into the canyon and soon it began to slope steeply downward. She was soon squatting, crab walking forward with her hands on the ground. A bit further and the dry slickrock turned to smooth marble. She suddenly lost her traction and began to slide, immediately picking up speed. Yet she was unafraid for some reason. The wind whipping, she actually felt herself go airborne a few times and thought that if she wanted to, she could just start flying. Finally, her slide began to slow and before she realized it, she was on her feet walking again.

Once again she couldn’t remember how long it had taken her to fall, only that it was a long time and no time at all. She walked through a large teardrop shaped tunnel. At its apex and basal, narrow slots cut into infinity. Above Soren could see the multitude of stars shining through. Below, unknown blackness seemed to shine with its own negative light just as brightly. The wind rushed through the thin slot above, making odd whistling noises and Soren felt the pressure urging her forward. Ahead she saw the tunnel open up to some huge chamber. As she reached the edge of the tunnel, she saw a massive sinkhole easily a mile in diameter.

Soren looked up and saw the huge bright globe in the sky. Had it moved since she was on the dunes? How long ago was that? Soren lowered her head intending to see how far down the sinkhole went. Yet her eyes caught as they came down. Her mind didn’t jump in confusion as it should have. In front of her, a figure sat cross-legged midair. She looked out at the figure but it was much too far away to see clearly. Suddenly she heard a melodic voice in her mind,

“You know your dreaming, right?” a bright voice said.

Instantly, Soren’s eyes snapped open. Yet she had her eyes open! The double vision was strange and confusing, the depth perception changing dramatically. She fell to her knees exclaiming,

“Ahhk, what did you just do to me!” She instinctively moved her hands up to her now second pair of eyes.

“Me? What makes you think I had anything to do with that. Relax, it’s just your other pair of eyes. You’ve always had them. Kept them closed, but always had them.” It said chuckling.

“Please! -eehgghh.” Soren exclaimed feeling the second pair of eyes just below her own. Or were they just above? She felt like she was going to be sick.

“Oh very well, very well. But you’ll eventually have to use them. The other set too I'd imagine.” Instantly, the sensation of vastly different depth perceptions vanished. She noticed it was a bit like turning half the lights off in a room. She could still see but, not like she could just a moment before. She rose again and looked out to the figure floating above the bottomless pit.

“You can come out here if you wish. It is a dream.” Soren instinctively took as step back. Dream or no, there was no way she was going to just walk out into nothingness.

“No way! Wanna talk to me? You’ll have to come over here!” she said crossing her arms. Without delay the figure moved towards her. It approached quickly and Soren took notice of its robes. A pale white color exactly matching the bright stars above. As she approached Soren took note of the dark tan skin and light tan eyes. Her head was shaved almost completely bald. She remained cross-legged as she approached, her hands clasped together in interlocking fists. She stopped well within Soren’s comfort zone and Soren felt the wind as she approached.

“Hello Soren. It’s good to finally meet you.” The woman said, Soren realized she was young, not nearly as young as her, perhaps in her early middle years. Soren still thought there was something off about about the woman and she couldn’t tell what exactly. Something about the way she looked at her, like she was telling a joke Soren wasn’t in on.

“Hello,” she said stretching out her hand. The woman smiled but did not take her hand so Soren dropped it. She stretched her legs straight down and said,

“My name is Litaelim. It is good to meet you.” She clasped her hands in front of her saying,

“Do you know where you are?” Soren looked over the should of Litaelim.

“Uh no, sorry.” She said,

“Sorry? This word does not translate properly, I think.”

“Translate?” Soren interrupted; they were both speaking Central.

“You will need to find this place. where we are.” She said this pointing up and ignoring Soren's question. The woman continued,

“It is still a distance from where you are. I think the help I’m sending will get you here safely but, hhmm you must hurry.”

“What… Where? Do you know where my family is??” Soren asked, trying to look past the woman. Yet her hopes fell with Litaelim’s expression.

“I’m afraid I do not know, please,” she held up a hand to silence her then continued,

“We have little time. You will soon be woken. Follow the woman who wakes you. You'll be in the desert and she, may try to desert you…” she paused, a smile crossing her mouth,

“You must convince the woman to take you. It’s the week of wind, she will want to use it to pass quickly. If you are lucky you can get here before weeks end. If you are unlucky well, you must follow her trail as best as you can. She will lead you to me and we must speak in person, its not safe, even here. Also, I believe a man is traveling near you going south as well. Convince him to come if you can, but do not speak of me or your dreams to either of them. Now hurry, it’s time for you to leave.”

“Wait, please. I need to head back and make sure my parents are all right. I cannot, will not, go with this woman. I don’t even know where I am! Not here or in the waking world.” Litaelim smiled warmly at Soren, yet the smile did not reach her eyes. She spoke and her words were like a blanket of warmth, yet there meaning disturbed her greatly.

“Your parents live. Soren for now, they are safer the further away you are. The best thing you can do for them is flee, that monster needs two things and your parent's get him neither of them. Find what awaits you in this, our Deep Desert.” Litaelim said this with a flourish of her hands. Soren was not convinced. It looked a bit like a parlor trick. She took her left hand and splayed out the fingers. She then took her middle and ring finger and gently pressed them under each eye. Yet as she did so a blinding light shone in Soren's mind. Her next conscious thought was opening her eyes to the blinding light of midday.

*