The Dreaming Land

Chapter 8: Revelation

The temple of Tephim that Quintir was leading them to was quite far from Kalya City. It was in the western hinterlands, which was quite far from where they were now. They'd been on the road for for two days already, but were making good time. The western roads were fairly quite. Most of the traffic were trade caravans, and there were no major cities along the western road from Kalya, which gave them some comfort.

As they walked, Quintir rambled on, telling them about the fifth crusades over a thousand years ago, and how the moons came into play there. They learned quickly that Quintir was talkative once you got him started, and he had a lot to say about a lot of things. It helped pass the time, though, and keep conversations going. He and Orius were walking just a little bit ahead of the girls.

"... So then, and this is good." Quintir laughed, "Then King Harrier the second sends his army into the sand-sea just as Pehrun starts to burn, marking the beginning of its hundred year immolation. It turned the whole desert into glass and killed most of his army. Coincidence or not, I find that quite hilarious, right after he'd sent them to burn down one of Pehrun's temples."

"Didn't Pehrun's immolation destroy it?" Imara asked.

"Well, yes," Quintir quickly said, "but the irony is amazing."

Laughing to himself, Quintir continued. The road curved, dipping down around a rocky cliff face, connecting to a bridge around the bend. The further south-west they traveled, the more rivers they saw, cutting through the land. Slowly, the flats of the norther plains turned to hillsides, and now gorges. As they crossed the bridge and followed the curving path back up the other side, Orius could see the Benitian Mountains on the western horizon, peaking up over the tree line. Beyond those, even further, were the dreaming mountains.

Looking around at his friends, he felt the same feeling he'd felt a few days ago. He'd done alright trying to ignore it, but that wasn't going to work forever. He trusted them, but was that wrong? Should he be making this journey alone? He owed his life to Imara and Quintir, they'd saved him twice now. Orius sighed to himself, putting the thoughts out of his mind, and just kept walking.

Misha glanced back behind them and watched the road for a moment before turning her attention back to Quintir, who was still talking. Imara had seen her do this many times since leaving Kalya City. They were all a little shaken up, but she didn't seem all that rattled, but she could tell something was wrong. After a couple of moments, she saw her do it again, albeit briefly.

"Looking for something?" Imara asked.

"Just looking." Misha said.

"Is everything okay?" Imara asked, "It scared the hell out of Orius and I when we first faced them. I bet you're a bit shaken up, yourself?"

"Eh, I'm okay." Misha shrugged, "I mean, yeah it was kinda scary when that knight guy tripped me, but we're alive. So, whatever."

"Are you sure?" She prodded.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." Misha smiled, though it seemed a bit forced, "I can totally see Orius freaking out, though."

"Alright," Imara smiled, "and you're right, he did freak out."

"Aww," Misha teased, loud enough for Orius to hear, "Ori's a little wuss!"

"I'll drown you," He yelled back at them, "you hear me? I swear."

"Sassy are we?" Quintir smirked, "Right, where was I? Oh, right..."

Imara and Misha laughed to themselves for a moment before tuning back into Quintir's story, Orius just shook his head. Out of the corner of her eye, Imara could see Misha look back at the road behind them one more time, her smile slowly fading as her eyes fixated on something too distant to truly see.