(Photo by Amine M’siouri)

Nis blinked her eyes and found herself lying on the floor of the hut. Lesch and a few others were by her side and talking in worried whispers to one another while one of them held something that smelled strongly of rotten eggs up to her nose. He noticed Nis’ eyes opening and pointed excitedly.

“She’s awake!”

Nis sat up, noticing the chair she’d been sitting on was toppled over. She must have passed out.

“How long was I out?” Nis asked, rubbing the side of her face where she thought she could feel a bruise developing from hitting the floor.

“Not very long,” Lesch assured her. “Are you alright? Does this happen often?” She asked.

“I just haven’t slept much since,” Nis hesitated while she tried to count the days but gave up as they all blended together in her memory. “I think I’ve been up for three days, maybe four.”

“Let’s get you to a bed, then,” Lesch said and she and the others helped Nis to her feet. “Your companion is already in the neighboring house, resting. You can join her there and we will bring you dinner this evening.”

Nis nodded vaguely. It was still a struggle to stay awake and she was grateful to those who were helping her along. In the dim corner of the room, movement caught her eye and Nis looked to see what it was.

The hut vanished, replaced with a sitting room filled with soft chairs and a few short tables. A tall mirror rested before her, only it wasn’t showing her reflection. Some other woman, several years older than Nis, looked back at her.

“I give warning to all of my future lives,” the reflected woman stated, “to keep secret all that I have concealed. My commands shall be passed down the generations and any breach will be dealt with swiftly. I have bent my whole will to this and will reach out across lives if I must to keep you silent.”

The woman was a bit taller than Nis and her gaze had been slightly above Nis’ head but now she met Nis’ eyes.

“Do not press me into violence,” she warned, “I will not hesitate in doing what I must.”

Gentle hands helped Nis down onto a bed. The mirror and sitting room were gone and Nis found herself in a space filled with beds. Meric lay on the next bed over from Nis, her eyes shut and a damp cloth draped over the side of her head where Trow had struck her.

“We will return this evening,” Lesch reminded Nis as she and the others began to withdraw. “If you need anything until then, feel free to ask any of us.”

Even as tired as she was, the woman in the mirror renewed Nis’ fears about hurting others. She grabbed Lesch by the wrist, holding her back while the others left. Only when Nis was certain they had all gone did she whisper, “I can’t stay here long, it isn’t safe.”

“Don’t worry,” Lesch assured her. “We have the one you brought with you and we will keep an eye out for the other. Neither will be allowed near you.”

“No, it’s your safety I’m worried about,” Nis told her. “I have a past life that has secrets and she will kill to keep them secret.”

“You don’t need to worry. You are the one living now. Your past lives have no power over you.”

“This one does.”

Lesch didn’t appear to know how to respond to that. Instead she withdrew her hand from Nis’ grasp and began to make her way towards the door.

“Get some rest and we can discuss things once you’ve regained your strength.”

Nis wasn’t sure whether or not she wanted to sleep now. She used to always look forward to her dreams but now she felt dread over what life she might dream about. She’d hoped that the farther into the Unexplored Wastes she went, the more dreams about Mel’s life she would have. However, the only life she’d been dreaming about in recent days were from the one threatening to hurt or even kill those Nis gave too much information to. The problem was, Nis wasn’t sure which pieces of information were supposed to be kept secret.

However, as worried as she was, Nis couldn’t resist the pull of sleep any longer and she gave herself up to it, hoping her fears were unfounded.