In this week’s excerpt, Riwenne wakes up from her nightmare about Riqar City falling out of the sky. She’s had visions warning her of the future before, but this is the first time that she’s dreamed about something after it happened. What does it mean? Is there still something they can do to save the people suffering in the Eastern Province where the disaster happened?
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Riwenne Wakes Up
I bolted up, gasping for air. Smoke filled my nose and lungs. I was falling, falling—
Thud!
My bottom hit the floor. I coughed, but now I could only smell the salty tang of the sea air. Blinking, I focused my sleep-blurred eyes and realized that I’d fallen out of bed. This was my bedroom in Lyndamon, the first time I’d slept here in over a month. No fire or destruction surrounded me. I was safe.
Kyra, my girlfriend, leaned over from the other side of our bed, her face full of concern. “Another bad dream, huh? What horrible thing have you foreseen?” She was used to my visions of the future, a so-called gift from my patron goddess.
I rubbed my face, still feeling the heat from my nightmare. “I saw Riqar falling.”
Her frown shifted to puzzlement. “That already happened yesterday.”
I nodded. “That’s what Eberet said, so it can’t be a premonition.”
I reached for my bathrobe, which I’d left lying on the floor when I was too tired to hang it up last night. Kyra couldn’t complain about my sloppy habits since I’d spent all of last week in jail. Wrapping the robe over my nightgown, I struggled to my feet. “Can’t sleep after something like that. Think I’ll go downstairs and make some tea.”
Kyra nodded and reached for her bathrobe, too, hanging neatly from a hook on the wall. “I’ll go with you. I’ve been lying awake thinking about it, too.”
Even though her black hair with dark purple highlights never looked out of place, she still ran a brush through it, letting it fall in long waves down her back. She wiped her face with a washcloth from the basin.
Feeling self-conscious, I finger-combed my short, wiry pink curls and glanced in the mirror. My hair was sticking out even more. With a grumble, I used a little magic to neaten the mess. I’d kept trimming my hair to make it more manageable but this was as short as I was willing to go.
Kyra raised her eyebrows at the frivolous use of my powers but said nothing.
We shuffled downstairs and made some tea in the kitchen. The building we shared with our friends was actually an old cafe, abandoned by the owners when our city declared independence from the owners. The upper floors had enough rooms for us to sleep in and the closed business gave us space for team meetings. Sitting in a smaller booth in the dining area, we sipped the hot beverage. We were silent but I rested my head on Kyra’s shoulder, feeling her presence soothe my jangling nerves.
