Nannade might have left the clearing, but she was still in the forest. Like in a dream, reality was still malleable and bent to the whims of the dreamer. Who the grand dreamer was, she did not know, but it might be the embrace of the dreamers, or whatever it was they were embracing, and it wanted to keep her here. To unite her with her nature, both that of the crolachan and that of the serpent. She noticed this power when she tried to walk up the slopes along the brook. She intended to leave for real now. There was no goal keeping her here or drawing her further in.

She kept going up the slope. As easy as it had been to find the embrace of dreamers, that much harder it would be to get away from it. She kept her senses clear and keen.“In a dream, you do not feel with the skin, but with the mind” was what Faan once had said. Every dry twig, every grain of dirt, every patch of moss and lichen that her feet touched, she tried to take them all in, to remind herself what reality was.Whenever she felt that her foot hadn’t set down on the slope as she had intended, she would stop, look down and confirm she was still on the right track. It was a long and arduous endeavour, but it was the only way she could be sure to leave the forest for good.

She did not dare to climb and leap from tree to tree, she might just get lost in her joy again. The only thing that gave her direction was the heartbeat of the forest, slowly pumping the haze through the valley. She might end up leaving the forest at the wrong point and have to walk all the way around to reach her equipment and Aaka. She had to keep her goal simple to not lose it. Just getting out would have to do.

The days again passed. Hunting for food was still easy, but she needed to be careful, or the dreamer would take her in deeper again. To walk the forest and scout ahead while she was dreaming was useless, no semblance of reality remained in the dream of the grand dreamer, only the forest existed. Whatever dreamer was dreaming here, whatever the dreamers in the clearing had been embracing when their bodies turned to trees, it was a powerful being, the life force that filled the entire valley was its blanket and nourishment, all here existed just to keep the slumber going.

The girl followed the thin remnant of reality out of the valley, like a thread of yarn through a dark maze it guided her, always in danger of slipping out of her fingers or tearing altogether.

She finally cleared the last tree on a steep slope on the western side of the valley. No trail was visible to guide her. She breathed in the cold, harsh air, devoid of the soothing and intoxicating haze. It was like opening the window during winter. The warmth had fled, but the cold air brought freshness and took away the staleness she had come accustomed to. The reality was reassuring. For the past few days that she had tried to get out of the forest, her mind had been tensed up and ever vigilant. But out here in reality, the things required no effort to be perceived, they were simply apparent all by themselves.

She looked at her hand. The large acorn was still with her. Losing it would mean failing, even if her mind had been reassembled into an ordered state and at peace with the serpent. The priestess Nannade and the serpent Ssil were their own separate beings, confined in the same temple. Two heads conjoined at the neck.

She made her way northward. It was from there that she had entered the valley, there she would find her things and Aaka. She decided to move quickly and banish all thought of food and drink from her mind. Returning to the forest to hunt could mean getting lost for good.

Two days passed and the stone ledge she spent her last night on before entering the forest came into sight. She knew she must be close. Hunger gnawed on her entrails, luckily she had been able to drink at a few mountain brooks flowing into the forest. She cleared a last bend, clinging to the western slopes.

She arrived where Aaka had left her to absolve her test. The mound of stones she had used to hide her equipment seemed to have been frozen over, but it was the apex of summer and not a trace of frost or snow could be seen anywhere. As she got closer, she saw this wasn’t frost. It was spider webs, wrapped around the stones in many thick layers.

Nannade couldn’t see Aaka, but she was sure it was her doing. A prank? Or an act of boredom? Nannade was not up for jokes and shenanigans, she was hungry and wanted to get to her rations.

She called out for Aaka, and eventually, the spider crawled out of the mound.

“Did you do this?” Nannade asked, pointing to the mound with an accusing finger.

“Yes I did, but purely for our both benefit!” Nannade raised an eyebrow, but let the spider continue. “You see, I noticed lots of vermin being drawn towards your rations. With great effort I disposed of every single one of them and wrapped the entire structure in thick webs, so that none could get in. Of course I made use of the ample food I caught this way.”

Nannade had to sigh and got to unwrapping the mound out of what felt like ten pounds of spider silk.

When she had finally unpacked everything, she went straight for her rations. Most of them were still edible, some of the ox’s meat hadn’t been dried properly and gone bad.

After having her fill for the last two days, she decided to secure the acorn. She took one of the leather scraps and rolled the acorn into it, then she stitched it shut and with a single strand of sinew, stitched the small leather package to the inside of the backpack. As long as she didn’t lose the backpack, she couldn’t lose the acorn. All the while Aaka asked her questions.

Nannade did not reveal the pact young Nannade had made so long ago, but she did tell Aaka the final realization: the serpent and the priestess were their own beings, because they had different roles, living in the same temple. Although the temple may no longer share the blood of Nannade’s mother, it was still the same mind inside. “I am Nannade, high-priestess of the Just Serpent Ssil and caretaker of her temple.” She finished her explanation.

She picked up the black vial, looked deeply into it and whispered to herself “I did as you wished, Mammy. I did not let myself get broken and I am strong, but I paid a price. I hope you can forgive my transgression.”

After she was done, Nannade decided it was her turn to ask a question. “Any news on where I should go next?”

“Thanks to my ample food supply, I was able to contact Black Surgeon. He told me to lead you to Plirova, where you will get further instructions.”

Plirova. Formerly Pliranto, capital of the ancient Pliranti empire, now called the sundered empire.Visiting this city had always been on Nannade’s list of travels. She had heard great tales of the splendour of the rebuild city, but she never thought she’d go there under such circumstances.

Nannade went through the rest of her equipment. The sleeping bag had become moist and mouldy. She decided to leave it behind, it had become too disgusting to bear and probably would give her rashes and hives. She still had her blanket and cloak as alternative.

She got dressed and moved her camp up the trail, back on the stone she had made camp during her first day in this valley. Tomorrow, she’d leave the dream behind. She knew that she was Nannade. The blood in the vial would forever remain black and weigh down her neck, but to abandon the life her mother had died for and the purpose that had set her free, would be an even greater affront to her mother’s memory than casting off such a trivial trinket. She may have lost single ownership over her body and her subconscious, but that made her conscious decisions all the more important.