The Enchantments: Book 3 - The Key of Sorcen

Chapter 21: Uhimbi

Soft pastels of light blue clouds shown through the gaps in the trees as the moon bright and menacing cast deep shadows around the encampment. Usually, such a beautiful scene would have made Simeneon stare in awe but now she couldn't take her eyes from the large stone temple.

Simeneon stayed where she was as the others went to bed to prepare for the long day that awaited them. She, on the other hand, couldn't sleep, thousand of images raced through her troubled mind keeping sleep as a distant memory.

She got up from her sleeping bag discarding it gently so she could find it later in the dim light of the sky. Walking slowly over to the large rock she ran her hands over the rough surface hoping for some divine inspiration, something to give her any indication why they were here.

Nothing.

What did she expect? Was every question she ever had going to be answered? Of course, it wasn't and she knew it. What she really wanted was some direction, some idea where she would go from here. She wanted Dr. Miller to talk to, but that was quite the impossibility right now.

She sighed then stepped backward not taking her eyes off the rock face. Sitting back down Simeneon wanted to go to sleep and forget about all the questions that raced through her head but it seemed far-fetched.

Before long her eyes drifted from the stone, stared through the gap in the trees, and watched as the clouds drifted lazily over the brightness of the moon. In fact, it was kind of eerie lying in the middle of a rain forest staring out a starlit sky.

Slowly the images of the last few days began to drift gently from the recesses of her mind and as softly as the breeze blew the top of the canopy in circles, Simeneon fell asleep with the supple sounds of the forest wafting all around her.

A night of fitful dreams pushed Simeneon to the breaking point. From an outside observer she looked like a normal sleeping child, but deep inside, well that was another story.

She opened her eyes quickly as a sound startled her awake. Large clopping noises ricocheted around the bulky box of a dark room. Clumps of straw under her body pushed back the warmth, but the gaps between the boards running vertically from the ceiling to the floor whined with the constant breeze that filtered through.

Simeneon shivered and pulled her dusty sweater in closer to her body. She felt the floor shake and she almost lost her balance but it wasn't long before she could easily maneuver around the expanse. Reaching up she felt her once brushed hair and in its place was a frizzy dirty mess.

"What the heck is going on here?" She asked out loud.

If she expected an answer she never got one, instead, the wind within the large area began to increase exponentially. She felt her hair blowing like dry wheat as the air swept around the expanse. Feeling the pressure across her chest she was suddenly shoved back against the far wall. The contact left her dizzy and she slipped to a sitting position staring across the floor at the other wall that was now glowing through the cracks in the boards a brilliant white.

Suddenly a door began to open and she could see the landscape rushing by. She was on a train and where it was going she couldn't begin to know. The door incredibly blew outwards and disappeared somewhere as the wind from outside knocked it to the ground.

The blinding light increased in intensity and Simeneon had to hide her head to protect her eyes. All at once she saw something out the corner of her eyes and movement somewhere in the beam. She squinted trying to catch a glimpse of what or who was stepping into the train car, but the longer she looked the more her eyes began to tear up.