Despite common sense and notions of good health, fitful sleep filled with nightmares feels as though it is worse than having not slept at all. A situation made all the worse from having a dangerous supernatural entity sitting at the foot of your bed and watching you as you sleep.

And it was catching up to Omid.

He had made it through the trials of early morning in a house with one door while being stared down by a Kirzallan on a mixture of adrenaline and what little refreshment he had been able to distill from a poor night’s rest. He had even managed to streamline breakfast into as painless a meal as possible, still while being stared down. Seeing the good in both camels looking well rested had even given him the tiniest bit of positivity to carry him for a while.

None of it lasted past early morning, and several hours into their trek through The Great Desert and Omid’s mind was threatening to wander once more. 

Sareen was leading them to the mountains, by Omid’s estimate. He spent so long thinking of how to ask where they were going without dying that he talked himself out of asking in the first place. Instead he just focused on the mountains, and how even the most innocuous looking peak was the focus of all his wild imaginings at the moment. As long as he focused on that far off bit of almost nothing that was growing on the horizon he could stave off the overwhelming reality of being stuck in a sand sea with an extremely lethal woman.

Every one of Masel’s steps across seemingly endless sands drew him closer to the mountains, and as he grew closer his mind started wandering to dangerous and troubling places.

Who exactly were we going to meet there?

Someone and something supernatural no doubt, now stop thinking about it.

Might I be a sacrifice or offering once we get there?

If that was your only purpose it would be far easier to just turn you into a glass figurine and magic herself there, now stop thinking about it.

What hope is there of standing up against any of that?

More hope than simply laying down and dying, now stop thinking about it.

Omid was roused from his daydreaming by the sound of Sareen speaking a spell and causing a large rock formation to burst from the sands. Just close enough to make him flinch and just far enough that the camels only lightly complained. As soon as he verified it was only Sareen’s mad ministrations and not some new horror emerging from the sands, Omid returned to his paranoid daydreaming.

Was that a known mountain range or was it too another one of Sareen’s creations? Perhaps that of another Kirzallan? Aren’t mountains also the domain of Kirzallans? What if the mountains were in her way and all the hopes and wonders you were assigning to them would vanish in an instant to her whims as Taljir had?

That one knocked Omid so thoroughly out of his musings that it caused him to haplessly stare around as he regained his bearings. A quick survey confirmed his worst fears: he was still very much a normal human, sitting on a very normal if good camel, traveling through The Great Desert, in scorching heat, under the light of three suns. Two moons faintly visible in the sky hanging just over the head of a young woman who held the great power of Earth under her domain. Breathe in, breathe out. Smell your breath and the salty stink of your own sweat on that scarf offering you the only privacy you may ever know again. Feel your heartbeat and settle back into the skin of a young man hopelessly out of his depth against beings of far greater power than he may ever attain. Maybe just maybe you’ll survive this so you can go continue being nothing more than just an unimportant man always wishing for more.

Omid rolled his shoulders about, shaking it off as his mind slid back into his body after having an uncomfortably surreal moment of awareness. Now, where was he?

Another large dune leveled out into nothing at Sareen’s command, revealing more mountains at the horizon.

“Why are you doing that?”

She has her reasons most unknowable, don’t think about it.

What was she really planning for him?

Don’t think-

“What do you mean?” Sareen pulled at the reins of her camel to bring them all to a halt, turning and looking back as Masel stopped while Omid sat in a confused daze.

He let one of those questions slip. Which one was it?

“Uhh…” Omid thought fast, panic setting in as his eyes shot open. “You know me, curious about all things magical...and the like. So just...getting to know one’s companions on a journey to pass the time.”

Sareen stared for a time, unblinking, as Omid gave a silent prayer to any god that would listen that his end at least be a quick one. Her gaze burning like tiny twin indigo suns greater than any suns presently sitting in the sky combined before she answered with her own question.

“Why would you keep a garden?” Her question was plain, and the lack of anger behind it let Omid dare to not feel overwhelming terror in spite of her still piercing stare.

Once the terror was down to manageable levels of setting it aside for later, and after his eyes darted about in hurried thought, he gave his answer. “There are...hmm, many reasons I suppose. For most, it is for food. To survive. And to those that have no worry of that it is...ah.” Omid believed he was starting to get it, but continued as he locked eyes with her. “A hobby. Something to do for the simple joy it brings. To display rare plants and that you can attend to their exacting needs. That you could even afford such a thing is a statement on its own.”

Sareen said nothing before starting a magical chant and reaching out to an otherwise featureless patch of sand between the dunes. She made a grasping motion as though she were lifting at something, and a moment later the ground shook before a vast, gray rock monolith erupted from the sands. As the sands fell from the stone and settled, Omid saw massive blue veins of lapis lazuli running through it, punctuated with translucent bits of rock that looked as though once polished and cut would each reveal themselves to be gems worth a small fortune. The entire stone structure had to be the size of several houses combined, and anyone who found it would have wealth enough to pass onto their grandchildren’s grandchildren.

“You seem to be good at figuring things out, so long as you think about it.” Sareen said as her eyes hinted at a smile under that scarf.

Omid stared at the vast fortune before him, blinking idly a few times before turning to Sareen once more. “Many an idea seems like a good one until it is tested, and sometimes the reality is far different.”

The young woman looked over to her most recent work, and back to Omid. “Reality is open to negotiation. You simply need to pick the right words to say.”

There was no doubt left in Omid’s mind that there was a smile hiding under that scarf. From the sound of Sareen’s voice, it wasn’t even a malicious one. More than anything she seemed confident and even a bit encouraging.

“Well, I’m always looking to improve both my negotiation skills and my vocabulary.” Omid tried to give a nonchalant shrug, though he feared a bit of nerves snuck in to manifest a flinch.

Sareen gave a knowing nod. “An intriguing proposition. We shall see about that once we return home.”

And with a slight tug on her camel’s reins, she was off once more with Omid following. As he followed, Omid realized several things all in such quick succession that the precise order was lost to him. Sareen may have just agreed to teach him magic, he was not actually given a chance to agree or disagree, and they were going to her ‘home’ which was almost certainly not the ‘house’ he stayed in last night.

Omid grit his teeth, closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and by the time he opened his eyes again he had promised himself to worry about all of that later. For now, he resolved to focus on...something else, just not the dangerous young lady just ahead of him for sure. Was she even young? What did such a term mean to a creature such as she? Was she young for her kind but old compared to a human? Few supernaturals were studied well enough to know their natural lifespans, if such a thing existed.

This was the exact opposite of not focusing on her, Omid thought to himself with a small grunt. He looked off to the side, out into The Great Desert and saw the lapis lazuli and gem encrusted testament to Sareen’s power jutting out from the sands and commanding attention. It commanded attention only long enough for Omid to glare at it before turning to the opposite side of the desert, and for the first time in a long time the stark sight of endless waves of sand was comforting to him.

Though the sight of a miniature mountain of riches had reminded him of a task that he had been putting off for too long now. His head sagged as his eyelids hung heavy, and he reached for the lapis lazuli compass on Masel’s saddle. Still there, tucked in between other bits of assorted gear in a smaller pouch. Still a completely normal box unworthy of further inspection. But inspect it he did, as Omid held it in his right hand as he kept his left firm on his camel’s reins. His eyes darted between the small box and the Kirzallan still riding ahead of him.

She was still distracted, now causing several large stone pillars to burst forth from the sands in a formation resembling a massive hand. Omid unlatched the box, flicking it open to finally reveal the beautiful compass within. He stared down at it for a moment, once it was finally revealed. Not once on the journey so far had he dared to gaze at it, out of a sort of superstition he couldn’t even name. He had regularly checked to make sure it was still in his possession, but had always left it shut. To only gaze upon its beautiful craftsmanship once his fortune had finally shifted for better or worse.

Now here he was, fortune shifted for the worse with just enough glimmers of hope to tempt him into believing he had a chance at better. Omid wasn’t even certain what exactly that chance would be, but it didn’t matter much as he took the protruding ring between his shaking fingers.

To retrieve Taljir? Assuming he could, they would likely be far from food and water.

One turn to the left.

To escape the apparent ‘interest’ of a Kirzallan? He would need to find a new way back...somewhere, not to the caravan.

A second turn to the left.

To learn magic from a Kirzallan? Even considering that was to court insanity and believe oneself to be in a legend of old...and it would not be a quick process...not something Omid could return from any time soon.

A third turn to the left.

To learn even more of the supernatural? Of things long lost and hidden and never before imagined by humanity? To peek beyond the veil of the world as he knew it into something far greater? For whom? The greater good? For himself?

Omid’s finger’s clutched the ring tight, before releasing it as looked up from the compass and to Sareen. The smallest frown crossed his lips as his brows pushed together, and he looked back down to the compass. The three suns reflected off of the fine brass disk, and he caught a glimpse of his own reflection before it was blocked by his fingers once again taking hold of the ring.

A fourth turn to the left.

“Sands take you the way of all flesh.” Omid whispered to the compass, any feelings of foolishness at the act vanishing as the once beautiful construction quickly weathered before his eyes. The brass disk now dulled and unreflective, and the lapis lazuli now resembling plain stone that would require a bit of imagination to see as blue.

Omid shot a quick look to Sareen, and found no reaction from her. Not daring to take his eyes off of her as he watched for any sign that he had been found out, he breathed a restrained sigh of relief a moment later when she made a large rock formation burst from the sands with a large cavern plain for all to see and be tempted into. 

This was followed shortly by Omid slapping his face in exasperation at what was obviously a trap being laid while he was helpless to watch being a source of comfort and relief.

Sareen looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow not even a second later. “What was that?”

“Waking myself up.” Omid lied at the speed of lightning, then slapped himself again to commit to the lie. Though technically, it was based on truths. “The bed was wonderful but it always takes me two or so nights to adjust to new sleeping arrangements.” 

“I see.” Sareen said, still turned about in her seat. “You are used to frequently changing sleeping arrangements?” 

“Well, not frequent but it’s happened enough that I know what to expect by now.” Omid responded, a smile creeping up to his eyes that belied relief of having dodged another arrow.

Sareen said nothing, only bringing a hand up to gesture for more.

Omid hesitated, lightly biting at his tongue while proceeding with care and avoiding her eyes. “Really it’s nothing too interesting just-”

“I have stated many times now I find you interesting.” She politely yet firmly corrected. “Proceed.”

Once more, Omid realized that she was in no way asking as his pupils shrunk to tiny dots of black lost among the dark brown. “See...I worked in a library. Sometimes I would fall asleep there, and it got easier the more I slept there overnight...on long nights working.” He paused to clear his throat, venturing to make eye contact as he continued. “Other times, I would journey to another city to help exchange books and scrolls and other research materials. And there I would face all the same, ah, experiences of sleeping in...unfamiliar places.”

A smile returning to her face, and a simple yet satisfied sounding “Interesting indeed.” allowed Omid to breathe easy once more, and to dare at something bold.

“How so?” He asked, as plainly as she did so often.

“For having spent so much time in places of learning that you sleep in them, one might expect you to be averse to risks and danger.” She quickly responded as she brought her camel to a stop before pulling down her scarf to reveal a bright smile. “And yet here you are.”

Omid pulled the camels to a stop, and kept eye contact with her as the suns stood high in the midday sky above them. “I am a fool who wanted an interesting life, rather than just reading about interesting things.” He said as he followed her lead and pulled his scarf down, being too far gone now to grasp at that last bit of privacy. “As long as I’m smart about it the dangers aren’t as bad, so goes my thinking.”

“How has that been working for you thus far?” Sareen asked, brow raising as the smallest of smiles graced her lips.

“It was all going quite well until I met a dangerous woman, and...oh damnit...I feel there’s an old man out there with a grin larger than the entire world due to how right he was.” Omid sighed as he buried his face in his hand. 

When he finally looked back to Sareen, her confusion was clear. “And I am...dangerous to you?” She asked while tilting her head, staring Omid down.

Omid held her gaze, pursing his lips for a moment as he recalled countless stories of supernaturals of great power with an ego to match. He gave his simple response, and hoped that there was no humility hiding within her. 

“Very.”

Sareen’s smile returned with a vengeance. All confusion gone, replaced with elation and teeth gleaming like pearls. “A love for knowledge and danger are a powerful combination, Omid. We shall have such fun together!”

A smile is meant to instill warmth and happiness in all who see it. For Omid, he had come to associate Sareen’s smiles with the knife’s edge between safety and further danger. Of having dodged one peril as he fell ever closer to some greater impending threat. All to be dealt with at a later more convenient time and place. In the meantime, start with a smile.

"Wonderful! I sure do love fun!" Omid said with the most forced smile he had ever given in his life.