“You growled and twitched in your sleep. You must have been having a nightmare.”
Flashes of feral memory rose up like tantalizing mist-echoes. “A nightmare, of sorts.” She frowned as she tried to remember. “But it wasn’t all a nightmare.” In fact, the dream in which she hunted with Mrra, in which she had been part of Mrra, held a great deal of pleasure. Nicci was strong and exuberant, her instincts singing, every muscle alive as she bounded along, free in the world. Her human lips quirked in a smile.
Thistle knelt beside her pallet with a look of grave concern. “I thought maybe you were dying. I’ve been trying to wake you up. Your eyes were open, but they were all white, as if you weren’t there … as if you were somewhere else.”
“I was somewhere else,” Nicci said. “Gone on a journey. I was with the sand panther, and we were hunting.” She lowered her voice, quiet with wonder. “I didn’t remember my body here at all.”
She went to the low table and splashed her face with water from the basin while she recalled riding inside the sand panther’s mind, as if she were an animal dream walker, like Jagang. But while she had dreamed with Mrra, her body here had remained in a deep trance, completely helpless—and that concerned her. Nicci did not like to be vulnerable. She could never allow that to happen again unless she was in a sheltered place, watched over by a guardian.
She straightened her soft shift and combed her blond hair. “If Nathan has found his maps, we will prepare to leave today,” she said, hoping to distract the orphan girl. “We have done all we can at Cliffwall.”
The girl nodded. “With the Lifedrinker dead, the valley is safe. Someday, I’ll return.” She flashed a bright, optimistic smile. “The people of Cliffwall will write about this in legends, won’t they?”
“I have no wish to be a legend,” Nicci said.
They would need packs filled with supplies, fresh travel garments, mended boots. Nicci was still uneasy about having the girl accompany them into unknown dangers, but Thistle certainly was resourceful, fast, clever, independent. Her loyalty and dedication made her a worthy companion, and good companions could be an asset when traveling.
Nicci thought about the great unexplored continent of the Old World, where there were new cities and cultures … perhaps with oppressed people, enslaved lands, or ruthless rulers who would need to be brought into line for Lord Rahl’s golden age. With a twinge and a shudder, she saw the vivid images from Mrra’s mind: the searing white-hot pain as the handlers branded spell symbols into her hide, the great city, the huge coliseum, the wizard commander, the bloodshed.
The great city … Ildakar. The word came to her, but she couldn’t be sure. Was it a name that Mrra had heard but not understood? The sand panther did not comprehend the handlers’ speech, only the pain they inflicted. Ildakar …
She and Thistle went together to the dining hall, where breakfast was being served as the scholars gathered, ready to dive into another day of research. Simon consulted with two other researchers, comparing notes on an old volume with faded letters. Nathan and Bannon were there already at the morning meal, chatting together.
Seeing Nicci, the wizard gestured them over. “We have what we need, Sorceress. Mia has found ancient maps, which show the landscape as it was three thousand years ago when the documents were hidden behind the camouflage shroud.”
“The roads will have fallen away, by now,” Nicci said. “Armies swept across the landscape, kingdoms rose and fell. Cities were abandoned, while new ones were built.”
Nathan shrugged. “True, but cities are cities, generally built on crossroads and waterways, near productive mines or fertile farmlands. If there was a reason for a city thousands of years ago, the reason is likely still valid.” He reached over to tousle Thistle’s curly nest of hair, and the girl grinned and reached up to muss his white hair in return, which startled him. He laughed and said to the group, “And if the cities are different and the land has changed, then that is what exploring is all about. Besides, I need my magic back.”
“We all need you to have your magic back,” Nicci said. “We’ll leave as soon as possible. The Lifedrinker is dead, and I have saved the world, so I have fulfilled the witch woman’s prediction. Now we go to Kol Adair.”
Nathan could barely contain his eagerness. “True, true, my dear sorceress—but what makes you think you will be required to save the world only once?”
With an embarrassed frown, Bannon ate his oat porridge. “Before we go, I really want to say good-bye to Audrey, Laurel, and Sage. We’ve become very good friends.”
The wizard had a twinkle in his azure eyes. “Yes, I suspect very good friends indeed.”
Bannon flushed. “But I can’t find them. They went away somewhere with Victoria.”
Nicci vaguely remembered seeing the group of women through Mrra’s eyes in the dream hunting the night before, but she had not seen them since. She said, “If you find them in time, you can say your farewells. But we are leaving.” She felt restless, determinted to find Kol Adair for Nathan, but also to continue her mission for Lord Rahl, to move on to other kingdoms, provinces, cities, and towns, all of which needed to know they were now part of the expanded D’Haran Empire.
A mousy young woman dashed into the dining hall, her short brown hair windblown as if she had just run a great distance. Sweat glistened on her forehead. The young scholar, Mia, had often helped Nathan find required tomes in his search for defenses against the Lifedrinker. Now she ran up to the scholar-archivist. “Master Simon, something’s happened out in the Scar! I can’t even begin to explain it. You must come and see.” She looked around the room and also spotted Nathan. “Nathan, you have to see. It’s a miracle!”
Simon ran his hands through his mussed brown hair. “What is it?”
In response, Mia led them all into the tunnels through the heart of the plateau, jabbering. “Who could ever have expected this? Wait until you look through the window alcoves. It’s remarkable.”
The crowds grew larger as they moved through the corridors, following Mia. Simon asked, “Where is Victoria? If it’s so important, the memmers should see this as well.” He seemed to be trying hard to include them, but no one could remember seeing the matronly woman or her three acolytes. Finally, they reached the window wall that looked out upon the vast valley. From here, they had viewed the extent of the Lifedrinker’s spreading devastation, but now they stared out at something exceedingly strange.
Nicci came forward, focused on the sudden, dramatic changes that had occurred overnight.