Wilran made her way towards the center of the upper plateau where a clearing was made in the camp. It was common to see the refugees in the area use the space as a meeting place. During mealtimes, tables were setup in long rows where food could be shared. During those times, fellowship between the races of Sainta were common, but its gatherings were often short. As soon as most were done with their gruel, they were once again off to do the tasks specifically assigned to them.

  The rest of the day the area was used by a plethora of younglings; save for a few who were too frail to be given a common task. At times when Wilran needed a pick-me-up, she would walk by the clearing to watch the young elves, humans, halflings, and Galaks, frolic among its downtrodden plain. There she would stand and stare as a warm feeling blessed her heart. For the longest time, she never understood what compelled her to watch. She had assumed it was a yearning of what she herself had missed out being orphaned so young, but that changed the moment she stumbled upon one of their games.

  The younglings had developed a five on five game whose purpose alluded her. The best she could figure, their goal was to get a ball to the other side of the plain without being tagged. At one point she observed a sideways toss to the smallest halfling on the field. The young male was so surprised he caught it, he immediately turned and ran straight into a Galak three feet his senior.

  In that moment she felt the halfling's pain as if the youngling ran into a stone wall. She scrunched her face in sympathy, and proceeded to run onto the plain, but stopped as the Galak reached down and set the halfling on his own two feet. With a slap on the back, he cheered for his opponent, then placed the ball back into the laughing halfling's hands. It was then she realized what the allure was. The younglings lacked the sadness in their hearts that laden down most of the camp. They didn't have much, but they had each other.

  Now, there was no game or tables. Instead, the space was occupied by a large gathering of Saintians that had found their way to the middle of the plain forming a thick crowd. Whatever occupied their attention was too small to see through its mass and all Wilran could hear was the continue beating of the drum.

  "What's going on?" Wilran said to the human in front of her, however she received no response. She tried a female to his right, but again no one answered.

  It's as if the beating of the drum has hypnotized them.

  Finding no other option, Wilran forced her way through the sweaty bodies. She pushed limbs small and large all of which rubbed the day's grime over various parts of her own body. In one case, she caught a pungent odor forcing a small amount of bile up her throat and she barely managed to suppress its verge upon the mass.

  Surprisingly, no one resisted. The crowd might have been thick, but she plowed through their numbers with ease. In less than thirty seconds she made it to the other side its tangle to find Delphi and Elineia. The former had a small drum strapped to her exposed shoulder, while the latter's face was contorted in bewilderment. Her hands laid awkwardly at her side and while Wilran could see Elineia stare in her direction, her focus was on the crowd itself. Not a single body moved. Not a single voice whispered. Not a single eye blink. Not a single aura brightened.

  "What's wrong with their..." Wilran started to say but was interrupted by Delphi's quick one-two of the drum.

  Da-dum.

  Light flashed around Wilran. Something had changed in the atmosphere snapping Wilran's attention back to Delphi. An uneasiness settled in her spine and she could see Elineia run a single hand up her opposite arm and rubbed it. Wilran expressed a similar desire to do the same, but suppressed it. Instead, she attempted to ask another question to the obvious instigator.

  "Delphi, what's..."

  Da-dum, came a second one-two beat. For a brief moment, Wilran found herself alone on a plain. Dread filled her body as crowd, friend, and dwelling disappeared leaving her stranded as far as the eye could see. Panic attacked her nerves. Even the fear she faced battle had not risen to this level that now caused her to shake in her boots.

  "Elineia?" Wilran asked once the crowd returned. Her voice cracked two octaves higher in a failed attempt to hide her fear. The response in Elineia's voice told her she wasn't being irrational.

  "I feel it too."

  Delphi ignored them. She fixed her large blue eyes straight unto the distance as she gave the stretched lambskin a beat in a rhythmic fashion accenting the first note.

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  As the Prophetess played, a large cloud of mist rolled through the area. Wilran watched it gather from their feet and spread the length of the field. It's cool touch and swirly gray sight only caused the trepidation in her spine to rise. Small goosebumps formed among her arms and once more she got the desire to rub the fear out of them. This time, she didn't resist. Wilran brought both arms up towards her shoulders and made her way next to Elineia just in time for the mist to overtake the crowd. Still, Delphi continued to beat the drum while eying them soullessly.

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  "Our world," said Delphi ominously. "Is not the only one."

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  "There exists another world..."

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da...

  "A world of spirit..."

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da

  "A world of mist..."

  Elineia started to tremble. Her body shook and Wilran could see small amounts of sweat forming at the base of her brow. Wilran herself hugged her friend, but sympathy was far from the forefront of her mind. She now clung to the half-elf for her own comfort and desire to find warmth from the cool sting of dread that now made its way down her feet.

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  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da

  "Only a few are granted passage..."

  Do-da-da-da...

  Do-da-da-da

  "Prepare yourself..."

  Yet still, the mist came, pouring from Delphi center using her own body as a source. By now the crowd was gone, lost in its haze. Wilran could barely see two feet in front of her quivering boots. She looked to Eleneia knowing that what was about to happen would pull the two of them away. Just as the beating of the drum crescendo with the pulsing fear that raged inside her, Wilran quickly grabbed her friend's hand, interlocked their fingers, and prayed a simple prayer to the Goddess.

  "Grant us peace."

  "Protect us," Eleneia added just as the mist swallowed the two of them up. Wilran couldn't be sure, but she thought she got a glimmer of a soft blue hue on the edge of Eleneia's outline. It wasn't much, but it was enough to send a small sliver of warmth from her heart.

  Wilran mentally clung to it, still grasping the hand of her friend. Around her, the mist became a deep milky cloud where she was unable to penetrate anything outside its haze. At one point she had even held up her other hand in an attempt to see it, but not even as she touched her own face with her slender digits, did she find its elusive presence.

  As time went on, the beating drum slowly faded from existence. In its wake Wilran was left with an inaudible beat that banged against her heart, that was muffled by the silence created by the mist. Below her the shift with a slight give of the surface. It wasn't enough to cause her to worry, but it was a noticeable change from the firm terra she had come to know.

  Wherever we are, it's no longer on the plateau.

  Eleneia pulled Wilran close into a hug while the mist around them started to fade. As she did, the air around them changed from the dirty rank of a refugee camp to a jumble of intoxicating scents that invoked feelings of warmth and heat deep inside her. Fragrances of creosote, musk, sandalwood, and naranga wafted around her driving her mad with familiarity. With its scent, fear abated. Moments later, Wilran could see her friend standing next to her as the rest of the scenery came into focus.

  Thousands of Saintians walked in a single line across a huge desert as far as the eye could see. Young and old, mostly Galak, streamed hundreds of feet in front of Wilran as she watched a scatter of elves, humans, halflings, and even the occasional satyr marching in her direction from an oasis off in the distance. The blank expressions that laid placid on their faces unsettled Wilran. Not a single one of them acknowledged her or each other's existence.

  In each of their hands, the Saintians carried a terracotta water jug expertly crafted in proportion to their body. As they reached the oasis, each in turn would pour their pitcher into the oasis, then resume their march back towards her direction. Wilran turned to see where they were going and as she did, she had a lingering thought.

  I know this place. It's...argh.

  Immediately Wilran's thought was disrupted. An intense light temporarily blinded her leaving a ring that could be seen behind her tightly closed lids. Its sudden exposure drew a sharp pain around the base of her skull catching her off guard. In a moment of weakness, she left out a soft cry or agony.

  "What's....argh!" Eleneia started to say. Wilran turned the two of them back towards the oasis, almost tripping over the sand in the process. She could see the light leave her lids and tentatively opened her eyes while mentally making note to avoid looking behind them.

  "Best keep this way," said Wilran. The scene before had remained largely the same, but now she could see a soft blue light near the base of the oasis.

  Eleneia bent over and pulled a dagger out of her boot. "What sort of magic is this? Why did Delphi send us here? How did we get here without the aid of the ionic crystals?"

  Good questions.

  Wilran watched the blue light slowly make its way towards them in the coming line, radiating from a shorter Saintian she couldn't see. "I doubt Delphi had anything to do with it. I don't know her that well, but I don't think she would have sent us here against our will. Something else must have brought us here."

  Something powerful.

  "It was rather strange," Eleneia mused. "One moment I'm talking to her about plans for the camp, the next she just stands up and walks out of the tent mid-conversation. Next thing I know, she's got a drum and is enchanting the refugees as if she's the damn Bard of Pearlview."

  "We should approach one of them," Wilran responded. "If we're here for a purpose, best to find out what it is sooner or later. No telling how long we're going to be out here."

  "I guess..." said Eleneia. She tucked her dagger up her sleeve. For a moment, Wilran wondered if it would do either one of them much good. Surely if the group wanted to attack, the two of them would be outnumbered. "Any thoughts on which?"

  Once more Wilran scanned the crowd. The blue light had continued to make its way towards the two of them. She was about to suggest making their way to the only thing that looked out of place, when Eleneia approached a female Galak. With a tentative smile, Wilran watched Eleneia greet the stoic figure.

  "Hello?"

  The woman refused to yield. Eleneia tried the Galak behind the woman, but received the same response. In the distance, the light blue pulse was getting bigger and Wilran could see a figure standing next to it. Unlike the solid mass of the figures that moseyed before them, its presence was faded.

  "There," Wilran said gesturing towards its apparition. "The blue light and the figure next to it. That's the only thing that looks different."

  Eleneia looked in the direction Wilran pointed and frowned. "I see no light. Is it by the oasis?"

  The faded figure was widely gesturing towards the light, but the source was too small to see from behind the Galak who walked in front of it.

  "No," Wilran responded confused. The light wasn't the same light as her prophetic abilities and she didn't know why Eleneia couldn't see it. "Maybe ten feet in front of it. Hard to tell at this distance. Don't you see the figure fighting with it? Clearly, its upset."

  Eleneia squinted in the direction. Wilran grabbed her hand in an attempt to guide her, but as soon as she did, her friend gasped.

  "I see them," she shouted in shock. "Is that..."

  Eleneia's eyes narrowed. With a smooth motion, she pulled out her dagger and charged towards the figure. In her haste, her arm caught the loop of Wilran's belt sending her off balance. Wilran tumbled towards the sand, now facing the other way and caught another glimpse of the blinding light. As she tried to compose herself, she heard Eleneia shout in anger.

  "I'LL KILL YOU!"

  Blinded, Wilran made it to her feet. As fast as she could, she turned and ran while her eyes adjusted to the back side of the light. By then, Eleneia was already a good twenty feet in front of her, fast approaching the faded figure now fully aware of their presence. Once more, she gestured widely, but this time to call out to them. If something was said, it was drowned out by Eleneia's threats.

  "My family! My friends! My home! Dead and gone because of you. I'll make you pay for what you've done. I'll replicate every scar; I'll decimate your smooth face. You will beg for death before I finally give it to you."

  When the gap between Eleneia and the faded figured closed, the figure stopped. With a mighty leap, Eleneia brought her dagger down hard into the figure's chest; or at she would have done if her dagger and body did not pass through. It was there, Wilran finally got a good look at her and stopped.

  "Rory?" Wilran called.

  Eleneia recovered and continued to attempt to drive her dagger into the faded figure, but there was no mistaking it. It was Rory. From the tattering red hair to the emerald green eyes, the figure that Wilran was running towards was the elf she had seen on the Lightmount rooftop five completions ago.

  "Why won't you die demon?" Screamed Eleneia. "I deserve justice. I deserve my revenge."

  Rory looked happy to see her. She continued to gesture widely towards her and the source of the blue light completely ignoring Eleneia. Wilran could see her mouth open and close, but no words came out forth.

  "Eleneia, I don't think that's who you think that is. That's...gasp...Thepa?"

  Finally arriving, Wilran got a full view of the source of the light; no longer impeded by the Galak's large frame. There in line, stood Thepa stoic as the rest of them. The only difference between Thepa and the others in line was the light that radiated from the pendant that clung to her chest and an unlit candle in her hands.

  "What's going on?" Wilran asked.

  Elineia continued her useless assault. Thepa ignored them, Rory looked at her with desperation and just as Wilran was about to put her foot down and shout at all of them to focus, Rory grabbed Thepa's pendent and Wilran's arm. When the connection was complete, a blinding light filled Wilran's head whereas she passed out on the ground for the second time in two days straight.