The Cave

The townsfolk of Umrah gave me more than enough food to last a few days,
I continue my journey with a full stomach, and a good night's rest,
though for a moment, I do miss that soft inn bed,
these thoughts are soon forgotten as I make my way through the desert region of Gahom.

Gahom is a dry, seemingly endless sea of dust,
populated by small Homrah towns,
these towns are few and far between, but they have everything needed to survive,
the people of Gahom are a proud people, known for their fantastic machines.

Unfortunately the night is very dangerous in Gahom, there is very little cover from Jokkyl,
these flying creatures are quiet, but deadly,
they fear very little save Nehom, the 'dead sands',
these serpent like creatures swim beneath the sand, 
they fear humans, but will prey on Jokkyl foolish enough to land.

I find a cave before the sun goes down, I prepare for the night,
I start a small campfire, and get out my cooking supplies,
the good people of Umrah gave me some strange tea, Guuza Berry they called it,
soon the sun is completely out of sight, the desert is black and all but peaceful.

I pour some water into the pot to boil, soon followed by the dried berries,
a sweet smell fills the cave, the people of Umrah are very kind indeed,
I cut a loaf of bread into three parts, and then one of those three into two halfs,
I wrap the bread up again, and put it back into my bag,
the tea is ready, I grab a cup from my bag and scoop some of the strangely blue drink up,
I take a sip, it is exquisite,
it tastes of sugar, and some other strange sweetness I have never tasted before,
just as I reach to take another sip, I hear a sound.

I lay down my cup and reach for Ignis, moving closer to the fire I slowly unsheath him,
Nehom cannot swim in rocks, and Jokkyl are not known to venture into caves,
perhaps, I hear it again,
now clearer, it can't be,
a human voice.

A quiet human voice, and now I can tell that whatever it is it must be in the cave,
again, this time much clearer,
undoubtedly, a human voice.

I point Ignis out at the darkness and call out to whoever is hiding in the cave,
the person murmurs something in response, and I can tell now that it must be a girl,
she slowly comes out of the shadows.

She is undeniably beautiful, she doesn't say a word,
she looks at me with clear blue eyes,
I ask her what she's doing here, she points to the back of the cave, 

and in the darkness I can barely see what turns out to be a small camp bed,

ah so I am in the wrong here, unbelievable.

I sheath Ignis and apologize,
I did not realize that she was camped out here, it must have been too dark in the cave,
she most likely fell asleep before I arrived, which would explain why she didn't say anything before,
she was here first, and I should have been more cautious.

The girl remains quiet, she must be about my age if not younger,
I invite her to the campfire, realizing that I am not hostile, she joins,
I explain to her that I am making my to the Tall Lands, 
that I have heard the call of Mother and am going to find answers,
the girl cracks a small smile,
she says that she is on her way to the town of Raen, just outside the Tall Lands,
I can tell from the way she says it that she is determined to make it.

She is a mage, she tells me,
she was raised and trained in Alfarann, a town close to Umrah,
a town where she was revered as the strongest mage,
she was a role model for the children, an unattainable prize for the men,
until she was cast out, exiled,
Alfarann is experiencing a great drought, crops refuse to grow and a plague has cut the population,
the neighboring towns refused to help, lest the plague befall them,
the townspeople of Alfarann blamed the mages, claiming it was there fault for bending the will of Faeyur,
Faeyur is their god,
all mages were ordered to be executed, the girl chose to run,
to find help from the great mages of Raen, the Elder Three,
Dwilmer, Dofnir, and Umhar,

she hopes that they could help cure this plague.

Hearing her story I cannot help but feel sorry for her, she remains stoic,
I offer her some Guuza berry tea,  reluctantly she accepts,
we drink up all the tea, have some bread and Ilkinn meat,  
I spread my bed out on the opposite side of the cave, preparing to close my eyes and rest,
with Ignis by my side, I fall asleep to the sound of the crackling fire,
in my dream I hear Mother, her voice has become somewhat distorted,
but as I dream deeper, I hear her true once again.