After a rough night with little sleep, Catherine scouted the mountain she had ended up on, looking for landmarks. An hour of searching was all that she needed to come to an alarming conclusion. Somehow, this wasn't any mountain that connected to the valley she had entered.

All that she knew for sure was that her location was somewhere east of Priscilla and north of Void Reizu. She would have to conjure a flying animal for a better view.

At least this would throw off any pursuers. She had somehow skipped other mountains and valleys and ended up far from her starting point. No one would be able to track her. She was free. Hopelessly lost, but free. The sword was hers to keep.

That morning she befriended a pack of wolves by summoning them one at a time and getting them accustomed to seeing her as an ally. Their memories of the area were helpful, but led her no closer to discovering what mountain she was on. They also shared the meat of a goat they had killed, and showed her where to find water to drink and wash herself and her clothes in.

As she ate, she could hear her sword whispering to her. Not in words, at least not words of a language she recognized, but what it wanted was clear. When she and the pack had eaten enough, she plunged her sword into what remained of the goat and watched in fascination as it dried up before her eyes. There was barely any of the goat left to drain, but she felt wonderful from the wave of vitality that washed over her.

She knew that if the goat had still been whole and living, the sensation would have been practically orgasmic.

With a full stomach and a wolf pack to watch over her, she felt confident enough to spend some time viewing the area from the eyes of a crow, taking note of the layout of the land and its vegetation. There were large black towers to the northeast, and a glowing forest south of there. The towers appeared to have been abandoned, but perhaps there was something useful there that she could salvage. She was very much in need of basic supplies, like rope and a blanket.

She sent the crow higher, as high as it was willing to go. In the west, she found Priscilla and counted the mountains between there and where she was now. Her mind's eye compared the sight with maps she had memorized prior to her escape. Never had she thought she would travel this far, though. Which mountain was this? Terra? Bethany? Kaila? She supposed it didn't matter.

When she disconnected from the crow, she looked at her wolf companions relaxing nearby. "Okay, friends," she said, "I'm going to need you to show me how to get to those towers. The glowing trees are a little weird, but we shouldn't have to get near them."

She thought for a moment. "Glowing trees. Could that be the Mietha? If so, walking among those trees would be as dangerous as entering the myst. I do wonder what's actually in there, though… Hey, don't look at me like that! Even I wouldn't stroll casually into certain death twice."

The wolves didn't understand her, of course. The words were there just to help her feel less lonely. She wiped away her bird sigil, replaced it with the sigil of a wolf, and smiled. Getting to practice and experiment with conjuration was something that she thought she would never be able to do.

One by one she connected, then disconnected her mind with each wolf using only a single spell. This way she was able to convey her intentions with the entire pack. Unfortunately, she felt a stubborn refusal from each at the thought of accompanying her to the towers. The area was not as abandoned as she assumed, as the wolves shared memories of the smell of people near them.

"Okay, fine," she said. She could push harder to command one to go with her, and the rest would probably follow, but that seemed like a mean-spirited and unnecessary thing to do. She pet them goodbye and set off without them.

It didn't take long for her to reach the outskirts of whatever village this was. No climbing was required, so she merely had to walk the distance. Despite the sun directly above and her attempts to use magic to dry them, her clothes were still damp from their cleaning. Luckily, the air remained warm and pleasant.

That the sun had not moved much and her clothes were yet to dry made her reflect on just how much she had accomplished in very little time. She allowed a bit of pride into her heart, since no priestesses were around to chide her for it.

The village was surrounded by a wall, much like her own village. Yet unlike Misyrea, there were no shelters constructed outside by those unable to afford to live within. The wall was tall and black, made of the same eroded materials as the towers she had seen. Even though it appeared more ancient than Misyrea's wall, it had withstood the elements far better.

She took her time following this barrier, looking for a good place to climb, when she stumbled across the gated entrance. There were no guards anywhere in sight, so she walked up to the portcullis to have a peek inside.

A voice from behind her said, "This is unexpected."

Catherine jumped and spun around quickly. The voice was from someone in black armor. She was certain that no one had been nearby, but this stranger had been standing just behind her. Catherine felt suddenly aware of her hands and how far they were from her sword.

"There were three others that slipped by, are they with you?" the armored one asked. The voice that projected from the helmet was masculine, but the almost imperceptible reading from her conjurer's sense and the slight hints of body language hinted a distinctly female anatomy under the stranger's armored shell. Since she began using her conjurer's sense more frequently, it had become harder to turn off completely. Even outside of using a spell, something was still there, like seeing light through a closed curtain.

Catherine said, "Forgive my rudeness but, are you a man or a woman?"

The stranger seemed about to remove their helmet, but then lowered their arms as they thought better of it. There was a hint of a laugh. "Of course if anyone could tell, it would be you," they said. "I could be both or I could be neither. Answer my question first."

"I came alone," Catherine said. "Do I know you? You sound as if you know me, but I'm not from around here.

The armored one shook their head and adjusted something on their helmet. The voice that came from it was now female. "Of course not, you should be in Misyrea." She held up her hand. "No, don't ask those questions yet. Honestly, I'm not ready for this conversation. That's one trog tunnel I don't want to open yet. As for my gender, most know me as a man when I wear this armor. Only in rare, personal moments do I remove it completely. Moments for myself alone. Only then am I a woman." She shrugged. "Well, I suppose you could consider me a woman for now, as well. That's a secret between us, though."

"Who are you?" Catherine asked. "I'm Catherine, if you didn't already know. If we're going to be sharing secrets you could at least give me something to call you."

The armored woman seemed once again tempted to remove her helmet, but again stopped herself. Her fingers came to a stop over her breastplate, where they tapped against the metal as she thought. She said, "Between us, and solely between us, you can call me Shira, if you like. Do not speak to me in public. I'm going to let you in, by the way, but try not to draw any attention. This is a glitchen settlement, not a sapien one. You should have no trouble blending in with modern glitchen. But tell me, why did you come here? Did you run away?"

"I was exiled," Catherine said. She didn't know why it was so easy for her to share things openly with this stranger. Perhaps it was because this person spoke as if she already knew everything about her. Or maybe it was simply an effect of being away from people for longer than she ever had before. "I was cast out just before I would have joined the priesthood. This exile would have happened sooner or later though."

"But why here, of all places? And how? Your ascension into priesthood would have been too recent to give you enough time to get here." Shira leaned in closer. "Did you teleport yourself here?"

"What?" Catherine almost laughed. "People can't teleport themselves. How would they know where to go without a conjurer and a sigil at the other end? No, I have some magical ability and uh, flew some bug thing I accidentally conjured." It would be too embarrassing to admit out loud that she had stepped foot into the myst.

Catherine could feel Shira eyeing her suspiciously from behind the helmet. Shira said, "You being here of all places can't be coincidence though. What did the high priest tell you that sent you this way?"

"He didn't say anything about this place. I really did come here on a whim," Catherine said. "What are you tiptoeing around? Why does me being here seem so significant to you?"

Shira was silent for a moment. "I need time to think before I say anything else," she finally said. "If the high priest really did cast you out, there could be serious repercussions for all of Misyrea. Tell no one who you are or where you're from. The wild berries inside are all edible and the brooks are clean enough to drink from. You can find other food and water for free if you wander around enough, and no one will care if you squat in one of the towers. I'll find you, eventually, and either answer some hard questions or tell you that you'll have to live with not knowing."

The sound of the portcullis raising caused Catherine to look behind her for a moment. When she turned back, Shira was gone. She turned in circles, searching, but could not tell where she went. "Uh, did you just teleport?" she asked nervously.

With caution and curiosity guiding her, she turned once more to enter the village.

She emerged on the other side of the gate and gazed upon huts dotted amidst clusters of wildflowers and berry bushes. The material they were made of was unfamiliar, but otherwise would seem like any other sapien construct. However, the massive and imposing black towers looming above them were a chilling reminder that she was in a foreign land. She could not find an entrance at the base of any of them. Instead, she saw intricate balconies perched at their summits, with large doors and windows leading inside. Unlike the huts, they all seemed abandoned.

As she ventured into the village, the winding paths took her past both trees and tree-sized mushrooms. The air was filled with the heady scent of blooming flowers and the sweet chirping of crickets. An occasional murmur of voices drifted from the huts, much more quiet and relaxed than what she was used to hearing in Misyrea. The villagers seemed at peace here, their conversations soft and unhurried. It was a stark contrast to the bustling noise she was accustomed to.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at the simple strangeness of it all, and found herself eager to explore further.

As she made her way toward the center of the village, the huts and towers grew closer together, and the winding dirt paths gave way to rough, poorly maintained paved streets. She heard the distant sound of music and children playing. The lack of people walking about emboldened her; what few she saw were too focused on their own business to give her any heed.

The glitchen weren't anything like the bloodthirsty, conniving race she had been told they were. It was a bit disappointing, these people were… just people. Boring, ordinary people. But as she ventured deeper, she felt a sense of unease. In contrast to the overwhelmingly peaceful atmosphere, she couldn't shake the feeling of something sinister nearby, lurking just out of sight.