Dreams of Imahken

Words, spoken are secrets in cipher,

Anilee arrived home in the middle of the night, famished and exhausted. After a month's travel to return, she wanted nothing more to do with the expedition, slamming the door in Tyza's face.

Tyza fell still in a sullen, grief-stricken state, unwilling to involve herself any more in the matter of the ruins. Her purpose had been getting Sator out of the forest alive with Anilee in tow, which slowed their journey severely. Had Tyza not been lucky enough to kill a deer on the way through the forest and find a brook in the prairie, they would not have gotten out alive.

Tyza stared blankly at the massive white door of the Uthman's mansion, locking eyes with the gargoyle knocker before turning away. She spent the night in the New Heraldsburg hospital next to Sator. With the constant travel, diminishing supplies, and humid conditions, Sator's wounds continuously reopened despite the constant maintenance Tyza did. His head showed signs of infection near the end of their return journey. The doctors said he would recover from his fractured skull if he didn't go septic, but the infection had gone untreated for a dangerously long time.

She said nothing to anyone beyond what was necessary, keeping the golden chalice close in her backpack while she sat at Sator's bedside, feeding and comforting him. He could barely talk, struck with a high fever and debilitating side effects.

The dingy beige blankets of the run-down hospital scratched at Tyza's head when she sat up and brushed her stark white hair back, swishing just above her shoulders by now. Her thumb caressed Sator's cheek, her dark eyes still dewey and red, as they had been since she lost Illus. Her heavy heart and dreary head did her no favors, devoid of all energy to function after focusing on survival so long. She sat by Sator's side and waited for him to wake up. If he didn't wake... no, that wasn't a possibility in her mind.

Early the next morning, Tyza woke up to a knock at the door, her eyes still puffy and red from getting no sleep.

"Thank you, nurse," the commanding voice of Colonel Raymus Uthman was discreet and reserved today. He stepped into the hospital room in a long black coat and black slacks, wet from rain.

Tyza's eyes acknowledged the Colonel, but she was too tired to think of anything to say.

He stepped forward, taking off his flat cap and holding it before him. "My daughter informed me of the expedition this morning. I apologize that I was not here sooner. You have my deepest condolences."

Tyza rubbed her tired eyes and took a deep breath in. "Thank you, Colonel."

He passed an envelope across the bed to Tyza, then turned to Sator, still asleep and fighting off his fever. "Ani told me what happened, but I would like to hear the truth from you and Sator when you're ready."

"What did she say?"

The Colonel sighed, taking a seat across from her. "My daughter refused to speak to me until this morning. Then she told me that Illus left her stranded in the ruins, attacked her when he came back to get her, so she ran off without him."

Tyza sneered at the air, cursing under her breath.

The Colonel noticed and cleared his throat. "I have no reason to believe such an outrageous story, even from my own daughter. Illus was one of the best men I knew, and I would not have entrusted my daughter to him if he was not. You both came such a long way from when I took you in. I..." He stopped, afraid of worsening Tyza's bleak perspective.

Tyza's eyes welled up more fervently, her eyes overcome by the pressure of tears. She held her hand over her eyes, trying not to break down in front of the Colonel, but her head exploded with memories of her brother, always by her side through the streets, through the military, as the one who walked her down the aisle of the her and Sator's tiny wedding in the reception hall on base. And Sator, her best friend, her lover, her husband. He had become everything to her off a chance meeting at the pub, and her entire future as she envisioned was with him, and hopefully children. All of that was quickly crumbling in front of her, and she couldn't take it anymore. Her facade of strength broke apart. Hiccups and sharp breaths accompanied the streams of tears from her eyes.