I blink the tears from my eyes to study Cora’s countenance, which remains drawn and sober. There’s something so lost in her deep brown eyes, and I realize she’s probably feeling about as raw as I am right now. I may be vulnerable and on-edge, but she sounds so disconsolate that I simply can’t bear i

“No.” The first priest concedes, bowing his head. “It isn’t.”“Will you at least tell me your names?” I inquire, feeling far more bold than I did a few minutes ago, “I keep calling you one and two in my head and it’s confusing.”“I’m Silas.” The second priest offers me something akin to a smile, “an

“She appeared to me as if she’d been there all along – one moment I was alone and weeping, the next I was awake with this glowing being before me. It physically hurt to look at her, as if I knew I was gazing upon something I was never meant to see.” Reina’s attention turns back to me, and I’m surpri

“Very well then.” The Goddess concedes, “Reina?” She sweeps her hand towards the inner temple, and one by one we file inside. I introduce Cora, Roger and Philippe, and I’m infinitely grateful that they continue to refuse to leave me alone with these mysterious characters, no matter how many times th

Everyone stands, ready for action, ready to follow me out into the desert to meet whatever the Goddess holds for us there. ________________ In the end, we don’t all go into the desert. Instead, it is only Cora, Reina, and I who prepare to set out into the sands. Roger puts up the biggest fuss at