The pair went to work and I was an exemplary patient, mostly because my exhaustion overtook me and I drifted in and out of consciousness. A few fractured dreams ripped from memories came to me. There was the river and my flailing about in its merciless waters. There was me standing before the great Diyedi Tree in my old world, its shining fruit tempting me to a new life I could never have imagined.

  The last dream felt incredibly real. I stood in an unfamiliar room facing the closed doorway with my back to the space. A faint glow around me caught my attention. I lifted my arms and saw that the soft light from my adventures around the forbidden pool had returned.

  “What is with me and glowing?” I muttered to myself.

  A soft rustle of sheets made me turn. I gasped.

  Dadan lay on a low bed. Sheets covered him up to his neck and his face was as pale as the bedclothes. His breaths were short and harsh to the ears. Beads of sweat collected on his brow.

  “Dadan!” I shouted and my voice had an echoing sound to it.

  I rushed over to the bed and collapsed on my knees beside him. My shaking hands grasped one of his that lay atop the sheets. He felt so cold and clammy. So much like death.

  “Dadan!” I shouted as I rubbed his hands to bring some warmth to them. “What’s wrong? What happened to you?”

  His eyes flickered open and he rolled his head in my direction. A fog covered those once brilliant red orbs, dulling their color. A lump formed in my throat which I forced down. He parted his lips but no sound came out.

  I shook my head. “Don’t try to speak if you can’t. Just rest, okay?”

  His eyes slowly rose and came to a stop above my eyebrows where they widened. I blinked at his surprise and brushed my fingers against my forehead. The bandanna was gone and a faint warmth told me my crescent moon shone brightly upon my brow.

  He tried to speak again but I couldn’t make out any words. I shook my head as tears pooled in my eyes. “It’s alright. You’ll be fine soon. I mean, what could stop the most powerful god in the world, right?”

  Just his broken crystal.

  A shudder ran through me at the memory. His pained expression took on a faint hint of worry. I rallied my spirits and shook my head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m with friends. You just get better so we can see each other again alright?”

  I started back when his hand slipped through mine and dropped onto the bed. I lifted my hands in front of my face and watched as they became translucent. My heart skipped a beat and I stumbled back onto my feet. All of me became see-through and I felt a strange lightness envelop me.

  Dadan stretched a hand toward me. I rushed forward but I ran straight into a pale cloud. My senses were muddled as I turned in a circle. Everything had been swallowed by the mist and I felt the lightness reach my head.

  “Anna! Anna, wake up! Please wake up! You have to wake up!”

  That voice. It was Arian. She sounded so worried.

  “Arian!” I shouted as I raced in the direction of the sound. White fog completely surrounded me but I stumbled along through the impenetrable fog. “Where are you?”

  The toes of one of my feet scraped the invisible ground and I tripped forward. I threw up my arms and braced for impact. An impact that never arrived.

  I shot up and my forehead slammed into that of Arian. She was flung back and a huge pounding pain drilled itself into my head. We both clutched our foreheads with one hand and scrunched our faces up.

  Grandmother stood to one side with a solemn expression on her face as she bobbed her head. “That is why you cannot stand too close to your patient.”

  Arian plopped herself back by my side and grasped my unused hand in both of hers. “How are you feeling?”

  I clutched my forehead and winced. “I’m feeling like this is going to be a goose egg and not just a chicken egg.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Her face fell. “I am very sorry. I did not-”

  I bobbed my fingers on the top of her head. “You don’t have to apologize. It was more my fault than yours.” I looked about the cave and discovered that torches had been lit. The light from the entrance was a pale imitation of the early morning sun I had last known. My face fell and I returned my attention to my friend. “How long have I been out?”

  “Most of the day,” Arian told me as her features turned glum. “I. . .I was very worried about you.”

  My heart fell. “I’m sorry. I. . I guess I was just having some really strong dreams and couldn’t get out of them.”

  Grandmother’s eyebrows crashed down and she limped over to the bed. “Couldn’t get out of them?”

  I shrugged. “It’s just an expression. They were just so real that I felt like I really was-” I clamped my mouth shut. How could I tell them that I was in Dadan’s bedroom with him lying on the bed like that?

  Arian’s hands quivered a little and her voice matched the shaking. “Your cheeks. Why are they so red?” Sometimes my friend really needed to still that curiosity of hers.

  I slapped a smile on my face and shook my head. “I’m fine, Arian. It was just a dream.” Grandmother narrowed her eyes and leaned in close to me. I leaned away from her and cleared my throat. “Anyway, I’m sorry I worried you guys.”

  “There is no need for you to apologize, either,” Arian insisted as she offered me a smile. “I am just glad you are well. Dian will be relieved to hear you are awake, as well.”

  I cocked my head to one side. “Dian? Has he been here?”

  “Several times since you fell asleep,” she revealed.

  Grandmother turned away and a few grumbled words floated out of her. “Everyone’s been trudging through here. It will take a week to sweep out all the mud. . .”

  I leaned in close to my friend and kept one eye on our hostess as I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I think we should go.” Arian bit her lower lip. My eyebrows crashed down. “What is it?”

  She hung her head. “We cannot quite leave. You see, in order to distract my brother I told him to fetch a new set of clothes for you and bring them here.”

  I inwardly snorted. I’m sure he was only too eager to be digging through my clothes. I managed to present a grave face to my friend. “I see. Well, we’ll just wait long enough for him to-”

  “Arian! Arian!”

  The frenzied shout came from outside the cave. A shadowy figure appeared at the entrance and stood stiff for a moment. Their head whipped to and fro before appearing to stop on us. The figure plunged into the grotto and rushed past Grandmother, sending her spinning on her heels.

  “Stupid whelp!” she snapped as she staggered before catching her footing. Our hostess waved the tip of her cane at the figure. “Watch where you are going!”

  The intruder didn’t so much as flinch against the scolding. “Arian!” the person shouted again before they dropped to their knees at the feet of my friend. The lantern illuminated Jin’s frantic eyes as they darted over Arian. He was attired in worn and mud-splattered clothes that still loosed a cloud of road dust all over the bed.

  He patted her up and down like an overeager police officer. “I heard something happened to you at Grandmother’s cave! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  Arian managed a faint smile as she shook her head. “Only if you do not desist on patting me so hard. It is Anna who is injured.”

  Confusion replaced fear and his attention fell on me. “Anna? Your mistress? She’s here? What’s happened to her?”

  Arian bit her lower lip and bowed her head. “We do not know. . .”

  “None of that now!” Grandmother scolded her as the old woman limped up to the bed. “No weepy tears and wet faces for a trifle! Your friend is fine and ready to get out of my bed!”

  “You heard the lady,” I agreed as I flung the covers aside and swung my legs over. “Time to get out of here.” I tested the waters, so to speak, and my feet instantly puddled beneath me.

  Arian clapped her hands on my shoulders. “But you cannot walk!”

  “Then I’ll carry her.” The offer came not from Jin but from the shadow that followed him into the cave. The torches illuminated Dian’s smiling face along with the bundle in his outstretched arms. He sauntered into the cave and pushed the bundle into Jin’s unwilling arms before he knelt in front of me. Dian opened his arms and grinned at me. “May I have the pleasure?”

  I swept my arms down my body. “I don’t have any choice.”

  Dian swept me into his arms and drew me close to his chest. His eyes twinkled as we met face-to-face. “I hoped this would happen but I never thought it would be this soon.”

  I had to suppress an eye roll. “I

  Arian snatched my bundle of clothes from Jin and followed us. The befuddled man blinked a few times before he hurried after her. “Hey! Wait for me!”