The Magi's Society

Mevi allowed herself to be led by the unknown pull. It was as if she both knew where to go but didn’t. Her legs, it seemed, were of the opinion of knowing where to go without her thought’s consent. Dragging herself further into the crowd, approaching the glimmering hull of the Barge’s edge, Mevi and Odion approached the far reaches of the dream-city. Where structure and architecture began to bend and intertwine with the ground and walls, leading to an unknown depth beneath.

The entrance to the City of Light seemed to be accurate to her distant memory; a wide and unknowably tall archway, jeweled with icons and inscriptions written in glowing colors of all types. The height of said archway was likely taller than the great barrier that surrounded the refuge on Mevi’s home moon. Even with hundreds of souls passing under the archway, the ease of navigation was remarkably lightened. More creatures desired to enter the main road than leave, and comparably, few creatures wandered the great corridor. Light shone from seemingly every surface despite no obvious illuminants.

Mevi continued to push through the crowd, while Odion followed effortlessly behind her. The statue-man would occasionally mumble to himself as he seemed very interested in studying the subtle facets of Mevi’s dream. The stone-faced, and stone-willed, man followed Mevi without questions or loud observations. It felt, even, that he hadn’t spoken in a while as he studied the immaculate terrain they traversed past. As Mevi began to formulate some question for the man, the dream opened from the unending corridor to a great hall of admittance. The large foyer was strangely empty, compared to Mevi’s memory of the place. A line of golden-clad sentinels watched the opposite wall, where ingress tubes were presumed to connect to various docked vessel’s Slipaways. Their backs were turned, and Mevi looked at the empty expanse with some growing anxiety.

The golden warriors stood tall, even when standing so far away, and the looming presence pressured Mevi’s will to begin submitting. The stalwart guardians were almost more intimidating while facing away, Mevi could not see their face masks and could not hope to spy some spec of humanity within the dark slits of their helm. They were like autonomous constructs, who judged impartially and delt their skewed justice without hesitation. The memory, Mevi almost forgot, began to slowly play out. The ingress tubes, opened to allow their Slipaway’s contents to flow outwards. Dark shrouds seemed to pour out of the opened gateway, and their source followed in an uneasy unison. Stepping out at nearly the same time, 12 god-like figures walked into the open space. Despite a dark shroud passing forward before their exit, each shone with a brilliance not unlike Lord Falcier’s. The great show of light, color, and magnificence seemed to be a rivalry between the glowing figures. Despite their show, Mevi couldn’t comprehend any figure except Magi Falcier. The others were blurred, and what details were obvious were only the gleaming spectrum of colors around them, yet even the colors were dimmed and dull to an almost monochrome. It seemed as if Mevi’s memory was incomplete, and missing vital portions of some significance. Odion’s voice startled Mevi, as she was intently terrified of the approaching figures, “Interesting. Your Maige seems capable of fabricating scenarios you could not possibly imagine. But a Magi, whose brilliance was not directly seen, is out of its capabilities. I will archive this.”

Mevi’s heart raced after the sudden opinion, but gathering herself she asked, “Odion, can you tell what here we need to accomplish to progress? I wasn’t even here when these events happened.”

“I cannot know for certain without further study. It must include you, or else the dream would be impossible.”

With the lack of a true answer, Mevi continued to watch the dream play out. As the twelve Magi walked, they one-by-one disappeared as if disintegrating into the air. The area was left with an almost eerie quiet, and the bright brilliance that continued to shine seemed less without the display from the competing Magi. With the Magi gone, there were a few short moments of quiet, but soon acolytes poured from their Slipaways and out onto the foyer floor. Dressed in their varied colors, combined into twisting patterns or unique settings, the curious children were held back with the vocal leash of their superiors. As the bulk of the acolytes were entered onto the Barge, Mevi felt a sudden pull again. From a far exit, Mevi felt something calling to her from within the hidden interior. Then she walked out onto the foyer floor, now suddenly in another version of herself standing beside a past Kalesi.

Mevi was suddenly thrust into her past, forced back into a body that was once hers. Her senses were disarmed as the sudden change was processed, almost falling to the ground as she stumbled on her feet. Mevi almost tripped over the long coattails of her old robes, the elegant orange streaming out from under a divine white. A noble’s dress in every sense of the word, but for the strange emphasis on being travel-ready. The warmth she forgot from the blue undercoat was pleasant, and somehow made her feel more resilient than she actually was when she previously wore it. But the blue cloth that was draped over her shoulders covered only parts of the dress, and seemed to ruin most of its elegance. Kalesi looked down, watching intently as Mevi stumbled and then investigated herself. As Mevi looked up to her mentor, she was almost startled. Kalesi’s mask was greatly blurred, blending with the air in parts and dripping into the dreamlike liquid that hung around unknown objects. Yet both Kalesi and her mask appeared fuzzy, out of focus and melting into the dream. Kalesi said something, but the words were muffled and mixed into incoherent speech. Looking around herself, Mevi searched for Odion for an explanation. As Mevi searched, she couldn’t find her only stable companion. As Mevi watched helplessly, Kalesi continued to talk as if the dream continued like normal, but the tall woman slowly melted into the scenery until nothing remained.

Mevi was now alone, all that remained were the blurred faces of passing unknowns or masked onlookers. What few stable figures she held onto were gone, and Mevi felt trapped. As she began to fall into the dread, Mevi felt a stirring from her backpack. Something was moving, and she had almost completely forgotten the backpack was even there. Without any other clues on what to do, Mevi took off her backpack to investigate the clatter that shook the inside of it. As she placed the bag onto the ground, and reached to open it, a small creature leaped out of a crack in the fabric lid. The creature was fast, and it darted out of the opening and scrambled on the ground falling about itself. The thing seemed to be her stuffed animal, a small rodent-like creature that was crudely crafted in design of what Mevi had seen in old texts. Her once-inanimate companion was suddenly alive, and it spun about on its back to right itself on the polished marble floor.

The agile creature looked nothing like how Mevi remembered her stuffed companion; it was black as shadow and held gleaming ruby eyes. Then Mevi noticed something out of place, in its mouth a dull orange glow illuminated past its clenched teeth. As the creature stabilized itself and looked up at Mevi, it froze as it was stunned in some kind of fear, then she saw what was in its mouth. Clenched tightly in the creature’s wicked teeth was Mevi’s dearest treasure, it had stolen Mevi’s golden gemstone! Once Mevi noticed the gemstone she felt a voice yell within her “Catch that spirit!” Before she could realize what was the right choice, the small shadow rodent began darting away from the Slipaway tunnels and towards the golden sentinels. Abandoning her backpack, Mevi threw herself towards the rodent and began to give chase as it escaped her reach.

Mevi began her pursuit of the escaping shadow rodent. Some voice within her urged her to catch it, to snatch away the small gemstone from its clutches. Mevi’s own instincts increased this desire, for some short moments she forgot she was within a dream and only saw that someone was stealing her glowing treasure. The gemstone seemed to yell out a voiceless call to be saved, glowing brighter when the rodent might escape farther, so as to allow Mevi to follow its desperate call. Mevi could keep a stable pace with the rodent, as the creature darted back and forth to avoid stomping feet. Yet as Mevi approached the golden Sentinels, the fear they struck into her returned in full force. Despite the towering dread, clad in golden regalia, Mevi struck past the gathering lines of people to rush past their blockade and pursue the small rodent. Darting past, and under, the gathered queue of blurred faces a Sentinel reached out to stop Mevi. In her desperate fear, both of losing the glowing treasure and of the Sentinel’s emanating intimidation, Mevi found herself bringing forth another word from unknown places. From within her, just as the Sentinel would have grabbed her, Mevi shouted in an unknown language and this echoing power reverberated across the entire platform. Every entity within sight stopped moving completely, total silence gripped the area where loud murmuring once dominated. Taking no time to bask in her sudden power, Mevi darted past the reaching golden hand now frozen in the air. Searching desperately for the shadow rodent Mevi saw it. The creature was struggling, some of its legs were frozen and spasming in resistance to Mevi's powerful command. Only two of its legs worked enough to attempt to pull its body away, but even its working limbs seemed crippled by shaking. Mevi quickly approached the rodent, and grasped it tightly.

With the shadow rodent in hand, Mevi looked down at the thing’s squirming face. Its ruby eyes were gleaming in the bright light, almost producing a glow of their own. It struggled in vain against Mevi’s grasp but managed to keep its mouth tightly shut. Suddenly, from behind her, Mevi heard Odion’s voice, “Interesting, your Maige attempted to quarantine me when you were being processed into a new dream. I will archive its new abilities. Now, retrieve the star fragment, I must study it for archival.” Mevi turned to Odion, he was slowly materializing behind her, and was growing like a stone plant back to his normal stature.

“Wait, what happened? You disappeared and the dream seemed to… fall apart.” asked Mevi.

“Indeed, the portion of my essence that follows you was stolen away and trapped for a time. Your Maige seemed to be attempting a siphon of my power, but you managed to capture this dream’s guardian. With only minor prompting, I archived your quick reaction time as you chased the small creature.”

Mevi watched as Odion’s body grew back to his normal state, trying to understand what exactly happened, “I am… I think I am confused. Something is making things blur, and the memory became wrong.”

Odion thought for a moment, only now studying the environment around them, “Yes. This dream in particular seems unstable. Every part of it, except for that.” Odion pointed past the shadow rodent, which was now slowly dematerializing in Mevi’s hands, and directed at the glowing gemstone.

The gemstone was the only thing, beyond Mevi and Odion, that maintained a consistently stable form. Even compared to the two dreamers, the gemstone seemed to emanate such power that it forced a stability around itself. Mevi stared into the glowing rock, the rodent quickly melted away in the warm light. Mevi then pried the stone from the creature’s mouth, now holding her small treasure properly once again. It felt like an eternity had passed since she even recalled her small treasure. So much had taken place, she never found any real moments to release it and shed its playful light. Now, being embraced once more by its dreaming master, the glowing stone shone a joyous light that seemed to almost strengthen Mevi’s own mood. Odion studied the gemstone from a distance, having not moved closer but peering at it without pause or interruption. Neither had noticed when the dream began to fade and change once more, until the world around them lost all golden hue and instead changed to pitch dark. The only source of light came from the gemstone itself, and the two seemed to be within a dark cave of some kind.

Odion first managed to tear his gaze away from the stone, Mevi followed after she noticed him turning to look at their new surroundings. The two had been transported to a new dream, one within an unfamiliar cavern. Darkness hung around every object, and shrouded every direction. Even the glowing light seemed dim in the oppressive mists of pitch. Mevi didn’t recognize the place, and Odion didn’t speak any recognition, but something felt wrong. The other dreams always felt real in some way. Mevi could fool herself into believing she might actually be awake, but some unnatural air hung in this new dream. It provoked Mevi’s senses, causing her hair to stand on end and perception to heighten. She was acutely aware of every incorrect feature, drifting mass, melted dream, and inconsistency, but how did she know things were wrong? In some part of her, there was a knowledge of this place that she couldn’t place, and she knew something was here. Some presence lurked in the shadows, threatening her silently and telling her instincts to run away. It was only until Mevi heard a loud metallic thumping in the distance did she realize where the feeling came from.

To her left, within the dark void around her, a hard thumping jog echoed in the distance. It approached slowly, increasing in speed as it closed the distance between them. As the sound became almost deafening Mevi’s senses told her to run, but for some reason she couldn’t. Some part of her was so afraid that she was frozen in place. While Mevi looked on with horror at the approaching sound, Odion watched quietly with a calm disposition. As the sound grew, and approached so loud it was echoing only meters in front of her, Mevi’s mind demanded to know where or what this sound came from. Directly in front of her, the loud vibrations sounded in a cacophony of anger and frustration. Whatever produced the sound was right in front of her, and it passed over her, crashing and attacking the area around them. It was invisible, or possibly not even there at all. Odion mumbled too quietly for Mevi to hear his words, the loud crashing echoed around them in an almost crazed manner.

Mevi held tight her glowing light, and searched for some hint or clue to what was going on. The walls, that she could see in the dim illumination, were made of something. But Mevi could not tell what, the cavern was blurred and undetailed as if the memory was entirely missing. Approaching the walls, a hallway led off in a new direction and its material changed into some other wrong representation. The walls, floor, and even occasional rocks were all wrong or entirely incomprehensible. The loud vibrating echos seemed, mostly, correct to what she thought was right. But she knew some great and powerful source should be behind such thunderous noises, yet there was nothing. As Mevi stared in confusion, attempting to process anything as whole, Odion spoke up calmly, “This is as I expected from what knowledge is within the archives. Now, you must escape us from here, speak a word to dispel the entity around us.”

“What do you mean? There is only loud noise, there is nothing here.” Mevi had to yell to make herself heard.

“The sound itself is the entity that should be defeated, you must dispel it in whatever way you know how.”

Mevi didn’t understand, her other attempts thus far had been flukes. She had spoken some power in the heat of the moment, within some great panic. She didn’t know how to forcefully summon power that wasn’t channeled by her Maige. Regardless, Mevi attempted to summon some idea of power as Odion watched expectantly. Closing her eyes, and basking in the dream’s darkness, Mevi held out a hand and attempted to give a command, “Umm, stop! Go away!”

Odion did’t seem impressed, “Wrong, the archives have recorded at least two successful attempts at using Magik. You must summon the power, not just speak words.”

Mevi was frustrated, the loudness around her was beginning to become annoying and she wanted it gone, “But i’ve never done this on purpose!”

“Incorrect. You could not have summoned Magik by accident, only with deliberate choice could you have created an effect so potent.”

Mevi was more frustrated now. Odion didn’t seem to ever offer real advice, or even any type of help, only watching and judging her actions. She felt herself becoming angry, some element around her was infuriating. The cavern walls, the strange piles of nondescript rocks, and the loud noise assaulting her senses. She was furious, it threatened to overwhelm her common sense. Then she thought of something, what if her common sense held her back? In the moments where she produced her power, it was during panic and chaos. Her mind had little input on her actions, her instincts entirely took over her actions. She had felt herself moved by some unnatural force several times. It couldn’t possibly be that easy, but Mevi decided to try whatever she could to rid herself of the infuriating dream around her.

Focusing on nothing, becoming drowned in the cacophonous noise, Mevi let herself bathe in her own raw emotion. Whatever instinct within her seemed to hold answers beyond her limited ken. Her mind was clouded by the stimulus around her, but Mevi didn’t attempt to focus on anything. Her understanding was drawing some conclusion without her knowledge, and soon a feeling began to bubble within her. As the noise reached a crescendo, so did Mevi’s great fury of the lost memory. With her anger at its height, Mevi shouted a similarly alien word as before. Suddenly there was silence. The dream entirely stopped, and the terrain paused in its ethereal shifting.

As soon as the word left her mouth, the contents of its pronunciation disappeared with it. Mevi was surprised at her fast use of the strange power. Odion watched, and almost seemed proud or glad of the outcome. The feeling, and implementation, of this new power was entirely foreign to her. The Maige she used was much more simple, she could make a conscious choice of her desire and it reacted in kind. Yet maybe that was why it bled so much vitality from her; it was a forced power instead of a natural one. As Mevi pondered her newest oddness, the dream began to melt away. She knew, somehow, this would be the final test.

Mevi watched the terrain melt and disappear, and as it did her feet lost stability, and she fell. The earth was soft, and she was absorbed into it in an instant. She didn’t even have a chance to panic or call out before she was submerged into the dark substance. Falling through the world, the dream became thick with moisture and its temperature was oppressive. The darkness around her continued to grow in power, what small light came from her gemstone was almost entirely snuffed out. Then, suddenly, Mevi felt herself thrust out of the darkness. Clattering onto a metallic floor, Mevi scrambled to right herself and gain some amount of awareness. The temperature became normal again, as far as she could tell, but now a small light illuminated the room around her. Mevi was inside a metallic chamber, bolted and bound with metal reinforcement fastened against the walls. A single door stood as the only descriptive feature.

Mevi was confused, yet another dream she couldn’t possibly have witnessed. She looked around for the source of the light in the small room, but couldn’t identify its origin. As she investigated the room, she noticed something strange. Her body seemed small. Smaller than she recalled she should be, tiny almost, and she wore rags and tight bindings. Metal chains hung from her wrists, but clattered without being attached to anything as the stability of their image dissipated. A loud banging came from the door, and as she instinctively shrinked back against the farthest wall, the room was slowly opened.

Stepping inside the room was a woman, wearing a black coat that might’ve resembled one used in a lab. The woman held a cautious gaze, and her hair was pure silver and hung past her hips in wavy curls. She spoke, but the words were muffled and strange. She knew this person, but Mevi couldn't identify who they were or what exactly she truly looked like. As Mevi didn’t respond the woman became disappointed, and she called something behind herself and out the doorway. In the moment directly after she spoke Mevi felt a searing pain shoot up her legs and throughout her entire body. An excruciating buzz overwhelmed her senses, causing her body to spasm and crash into itself violently as it attempted to understand what was happening. Without knowing what was going on, Mevi screamed at the impossible pain. Like a reaction to her yell, the pain suddenly stopped but her body continued to spasm as it expelled the overwhelming stimulus. Mevi felt herself losing consciousness, confused and scared she closed her eyes to hide as much to give into sleep.

As Mevi’s eyes opened a moment later, she was in an entirely new situation. Strapped to a table, Mevi was restrained in a similar sterile room as before. Here, however, Mevi had been thrust onto a table, and felt a continuous numbness that coursed in her body. Cold vibrations echoed in her skin and body, a tingling feeling that occurred where one couldn’t feel anything at all. Concerned, and confused, Mevi tried to strain her head to see more of the room. She could barely see the metal walls and parts of the bare floor. As she struggled, some new door opened and several blurry figures entered. Holding strange devices of unknown torture, and wearing the same black coats as the woman before, Mevi writhed against what bondings held her against the table in an attempt to escape. It didn’t help as the figures loomed over her, discussing something in unknown words and hushed tones. Mevi saw as a new figure entered the room, wielding some wicked type of knife. Mevi panicked with the obvious danger, but the others held her tight to the table. She felt something course into her numb arm, had she been injected with something? Was that why she felt numb, were they putting chemicals into her body? As the new sensation coursed into her, her mind blanked again into unconsciousness.

Awakening later, Mevi was in a comfortable chair. Confused, and terrified of the unknown figures, Mevi began to search her surroundings. It was a familiar space. Tall bookshelves, scarce decorations, a warm glow like a firelight, and comfortable seats styled after the old texts. As she looked around herself, concerned what was happening, a figure entered the room. To her complete surprise, it was her grandfather. He was frustrated, almost angry, but as he fully came into view he composed himself. Sitting down at a seat opposite her own, Mevi’s grandfather spoke as if to himself, “Oh what waste. Her brain is scrambled and nothing even came from it… I doubt you even know what I am saying.” His voice seemed more full than she remembered, it was less old and held more command despite his calm demeanor.

Mevi did understand him, but as she tried to find words to speak her voice only croaked and cracked.

“Oh indeed? Well I appreciate the company regardless of the quality of conversation. What waste indeed…”

A noise sounded from further into the abode, past the furniture and in one of the doors that almost hid behind the large bookshelves. Mevi felt some sudden fear at the new approaching presence, but wasn’t sure why.

Mevi’s grandfather was fast to react, “Quick now! Back to your room, before your grandmother sees you. I will find texts with pictures for you at a later time.”

Mevi felt her legs racing her away and out the still open door. As she exited the space she heard a door open from within. Mevi hid against the tall hallway wall, its length was thankfully empty of any of her relatives. As the new presence entered, a voice declared in a elderly feminine tone, “Meanar, if I find another datapad left in the bedsheets, I will have your head.” The voice paused as if distracted by something, and began anew, “Did you house that thing in here while I was asleep? You’ve given that cretin enough charity as it is, it will not enter any space I am to live in. Do you understand me? It is useless already, if it made our house filthy it would be less than useless.”

“Yes of course, I was just checking up on her.” Mevi’s grandfather seemed defeated, what little youth and command seemed to drain from him quickly.

“That thing is not one of ours. It is pointless to treat it as such. It exists to serve a single purpose.”

Mevi was conflicted, but invested in the voices of her grandparents. Yet as their conversation might continue, Mevi heard another door open somewhere within the hallway. Her years-trained instinct had her sprint away from the spot and towards her small bedroom. Before any other noise was heard, she had crossed the distance and closed the door of her room behind herself. She was back in her own room, her original room before Kalesi. The dream seemed to be from some long time ago, there was no bed or furniture. She had no bucket or mop, even her small rodent stuffed animal wasn’t where it might’ve been. Only a rough blanket, with the beginnings of sewn flowers, laid on the ground.

As Mevi looked at her old room, a new presence began to shape in the dark space. No light reached into the small closet-turned bedroom, it wasn’t meant to be lived in. And within this darkness, shadowy hallucinations haunted her. Dark creatures loomed around her, and sprang at her with vicious attacks. Mevi’s memories of the horrible times when she forgot to use her gemstone flooded back. She desperately searched for her small gemstone, frantically throwing her blanket and scraps of material across the room at her violent specters. Her golden treasure wasn’t found, the fragment of hope that held her life together in such dark times didn’t exist. Mevi searched for herself, she had it in the dreams before, and refused to acknowledge the reality around her. Mevi was being attacked, thrown, and jostled by the dark entities that haunted her nightmares. They were let loose in these days, haunting her while awake and also stalking her dreams. As one dark entity approached, Mevi gave up her search. The creature reached down, and the fear of it erupted out of her in a glorious display. Refusing to be reminded of her dreadful nightmares, who now seemed to resemble the dark-robed figures of her dreams, Mevi forced some power within herself to take root. She summoned her instinct, in this moment she needed to defend herself and this entity posed a learned threat more than any other she had witnessed. The power she drew out of herself began to bubble up, but instead of a word banishing the creatures, Mevi felt something catch in her throat. The reaction gave the shadows pause, and then Mevi felt the power inside of her exit violently through blood and bile. Within the expulsion, shone a bright brilliance. It was, somehow, her gemstone that violently exited her to expunge the daemons haunting her.

As Mevi knelt to pick up the small fragment of golden gemstone, the dream fell away. Mevi was left, in a dark expanse, where a shining white seal held itself over a writhing dark pit. Three locks kept the dark pit at bay, it confined and controlled the misting shadow that attempted to seep out and into Mevi’s dream world. The bright chains dug into the dark expanse below, and feverishly absorbed essence from the weakened daemon. It seemed almost to be dying, the daemon was weak and lethargic. The entity that once haunted Mevi’s dreams was now held firmly in check, and being killed, by three bright locks. The locks, presumed to be her Maige, shuddered and quaked under the stress of the dark pit. As Mevi approached the edge, the locks began to shake violently, and Mevi could feel her physical body dying with the dark essence. As her daemon was slain, so was she it seemed. From everywhere and nowhere, Odion called out to Mevi, “You must destroy your Maige. I would regret to archive your death after so much progress.”

Mevi understood what she had to do. In some strange way she was filled with a new clarity. Reaching into her pocket, Mevi produced a small stone. The stone held only two watchful eyes that were dotted with green moss. Mevi knew this object was what little power Odion left her, and she allowed the power into herself. Crushing the stone, and being filled with an overwhelming sense of understanding, Mevi commanded her Maige to break. In a single moment, with words unknown and unheard, the maige shattered into sparks and dust. The dark daemon, which was once confined to a small space, erupted like a volcano out of the pit. The dark wave flowed out and washed over Mevi harmlessly. As the pit voided what terror was once held within, an empty chasm stretched infinitely down. It was completely empty, save for a single glowing power.

At the bottom of a bottomless pit, there laid a golden power. Some sleeping entity that was source to the daemon’s conception. The power shone with an orange, warm, light that was familiar and comforting. From her infinitely tall vantage, Mevi looked down at the source that was within her deepest darkness, and it was cracked. Some small part of it was chipped away and missing. Some small gemstone was lost away from its original body.

Mevi looked down to the golden gemstone still in her hand. She knew what she should do, but wasn’t sure if she had the strength to do it. To repair the core inside of herself, by sacrificing her earliest friend. Her precious treasure needed to fix what was broken, and she knew it was the right thing to do. Dropping the gemstone into the pit, the gleaming spec fell into the deep darkness until it collided with the golden orb deep within herself. The two orbited each other, and combined in an amazing display of color and radiance. Mevi felt stronger, full even, like she had taken in a great broth that warmed her against all cold. She knew, somehow, that her smallest treasure would no longer shine when she found it again. Yet with the added wholeness, Mevi felt confidence in her abandonment of the past and decision to go forward. She would do this, because Kalesi would fill what was lost.

As the golden light was revealed and empowered, so was the construct within Mevi’s mind destroyed. The mental walls, barriers, and traps were washed away by an angry tide of daemon’s wrath. Every trace of the Maige was erased and expelled into the deep cosmos within the dream-scape. Her mind was open to her again, and her lucid power returned fully to her control once again. As her mind was renewed, she felt her body awakening from its deep slumber. She would awaken soon, and she would find Kalesi. Her desire to be with her mentor drove her, and it only grew with her determination to escape her comatose state. Mevi was coming, and would make things right once more.