He’d found her not long after the second night controlling Caracara Talos. The first night had been an unexpected success. He'd found a comfortable place to lay the body and in a fit of fancy decided to visit his old jailer Litaelim. She'd be an old woman now and he knew she wouldn’t be expecting him. He’d felt like there was still unfinished business between them. Now that he was in a Dreamer body again and able to project himself, it was a bit safer to confront her. To his annoyance however, he did not arrived in Litaelim's dream. Instead he found himself in one of her daughters dreams, a woman named Frey'yala. He was irritated at himself, it had been a long time since he’d used dreaming controls and he’d forgotten how inaccurate they could be. Not that this sort of thing was uncommon when dealing with Enki’s realm. Yet For the past hundred generations or so he’d honestly blamed the dreamers for their ineptitude. He’d even made a few of the weaker ones cry over their ability to project themselves into a specific place. Now he felt a bit chagrined at his past behavior though there was really nothing for it. Those dreamers were all dead, remembered only by him and maybe a stone on Enki’s shores.

He’d intended to leave immediately, then he noticed the woman was dreaming about Ochre. Intrigued, he had dug deeper into the woman’s dream. She was the escort Litaelim had sent to Soren. She had been close to the girl apparently, only a few days journey. She'd intended to visit her sister, another one of Litaelim's daughters and likely Soren's mother, for Shamash day. There couldn't be that many Yunadaya left. Litaelim had told Frey'yala of the impending trouble for the girl and her family and her dreams and emotions were a tumult. It had made it easy for him to remain hidden while he watched. the dream was still a tangled mess to sort out. He didn't learn much about the girl Soren, but it was enough to pique his interest. She had somehow manifested Ochre and the act of creation had apparently rippled through reality where Litaelim had felt it. He decided to seek out this girl's dreams the next night, which turned out to be easier than expected.

That next day however, everything started to go wrong for Caracara's body. He was not fit, at all. The Huella-Cull had to stop frequently and rest. He was forced to heal some of the major wounds with his void energy on a couple occasions. This resulted in large gashes of pitch black where scar tissue should have been. He’d also forgotten how wild Meridian could be. He’d foolishly gone trouncing into the jungle without so much as a glance at supplies. No weapon, no food, no water, no nothing but the clothes on his back. He’d forgotten how flimsy mortal bodies were. While he’d been imprisoned, his Dreamer jailers took care of all that themselves. He was soon covered in small angry bites, soaking wet, and hungry and thirsty. He could even feel the bodies exhaustion. More than once, some kind of wretched white squids had tried to grab him and pull him into the trees. Only by putting one to sleep with one of Caracara’s dreamer gifts and jumping into a jungle lake was he able to escape. It was completely undignified for a being of the void. When he'd finally dried the body off some what, it began to rain. It was still early but he'd had enough of the physical realm already. So he laid his body down and put it to sleep.

*

Once he’d projected into Enki’s realm he sensed it, almost immediately. Ochre. It was like a beacon to most any creature of dreams. He was far away from where the Ochre was, physically. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem except for Ochre being in both this and the physical world. Still with the information he'd gleaned from the girls escort he was able to find her without too much trouble. He simply willed his projection next to the girl. Perhaps a little presumptuous if she could see him. He seriously doubted any dreamer could perceive him unless he wanted them to. Sure enough he felt vindicated by her oblivious expression when he arrived.

He’d found the Ochre in the pocket of a Yunadaya girl, yet he didn’t touch it. She’d remained catatonic, staring out at the ocean. When he’d Looked around, he’d been surprised by how tranquil it was. He knew others would show up to this free meal. Sure enough he began sensing them all around, approaching from everywhere. In fact he realized they had become surrounded in a matter of moments.

Slathering cairn boars paced on one side looking more like panthers with long snouts, showing far too many teeth and tusks. fifty or more masked shadows filled another side like a crowd at some inhuman masquerade. The masks were each different expressions, from elation to abject terror yet all unique. They cocked their heads in a jerking motion, this way and that, as if trying to get a better look. Still other snake like creatures watched patiently, their two heads swaying in unison. They wore vestments emblazoned with the stars of galaxies. The garments shone and hurt his void eyes if he looked too long. They all kept their distance though, giving them about thirty feet in any direction, which he thought was curious. He had no trouble projecting right next to the girl. He’d even seen a few of his brothers and sisters milling in the crowd. They were young ones and clearly more interested in him than the Ochre.

Only then did he really notice the girl, or notice the girl noticing him that is. The woman Litaelim sent to escort her was right. This Soren was strong, trying to sense her gifts, he found himself completely at a loss. Normally, he had a very good intuition about dreamers. He could generally gauge the strength and number of controls they had. He'd only ever come across a few other beings who’d managed to blank out his senses. Then there was the fact that at the same time, she’d somehow shielded them from all the other beings. She’d even blocked those made of pure void like him.

There was clearly something special about the girl, he just couldn't figure out exactly what. It was a mystery of creation and he wanted to solve it. This was the reason why living in creation was so alluring to him. Yet he’d quickly tempered his excitement over novelty. First impressions were vital to mortals and their short lifespans. Coming off as over excited was a good way to scare them off. Over the years he'd learned the most effective way of getting what he wanted from mortals was to slowly build trust. It was a long game but for a being of limitless time, it was less than an inconvenience. Besides, she could easily prove to be a good source of information in the coming decades. if nothing else she’d be an incredibly powerful Dreamer for him to control some day. If he could manage the feat that is.

So after getting over the shock of her perceiving him, he decided to ingratiate himself to her. He told her a few inconsequential tidbits, let slip a few secrets and she had begun to trust him, just like that. Mortals could be innocent like that. The part about taking the place of Litaelim's messager was inspired. He'd been lucky to catch the Dream of the woman coming to escort Soren. He knew the best lies were the one's hidden in the truth. He could hide himself in this truth and start the process of slowly gaining the girls trust. He had been so smug as he offered the tendril of dream connection to her. It really was as harmless as he'd made it seem. He couldn't help laughing when the girl removed the tendril only to reattach it. She was quick on the uptake he had to give it to her. He was giddy by the time she began to disappear and he prepared himself to leave as well, dodging the crowd of dream entities looking on. That was when it had all gone so very, very wrong.

*

How he forgot Soren had been in Enki's realm physically was beyond him. He had to chalk it up to being so rusty when it came to controlling a dreamer versus being imprisoned by one. It was suppose to of been a small trickle, a wisp of connection between them. The tendril of void connected them only when they both projected their Dream selves into Enki's realm at the same time. Projection to projection, the tendril was completely benign. He had used them thousands of times with his sisters and brothers. He'd made tendril connections with other dream entities and even a few other Dreamers, before they began imprisoning his kind. It was an easy way of keeping track of each other. Of course, the last time he'd used it was many, many generations ago. The same innocuous tendril, when attached to someone physically, was akin to permanently tying his soul to theirs. The Huella-Cull were beings of pure void, they had no physical body.

As he thought about it, he remembered being very careful not to attach one of his tendrils to anything physical once upon a time, before he'd been captured. He was a fool. He had tied his void projection to her soul, inescapably. He wasn't even sure returning to the void could sever the tie. The worst part was, it worked mostly in the girls favor. While Soren probably didn't have many secrets, he was a creature of the void with eons of experience. He had grown used to the way being of creation lied without lying. telling half-truths and sins of omission were now his calling cards. While the void was pure truth, creation was rarely so neat. Not to mention he'd planned on taking control of her at some point. The flow of information could not be cut off or severed. He could try to mitigate the damage for a while, but if she wanted to know something, there'd be no stopping her. Of course the same was true for him but that was utterly inconsequential as she was a mortal child. His perspective alone might drive her insane.

“How are you here?! How am I hearing you?” Soren asked, grating in his mind. She immediately heard the front door downstairs open and slam shut and so did he. The perspective of two perspectives was disorienting and he willed himself to turn off Caracara's perceptions.

“I-” He began but was cut off by Yalina calling from downstairs,

“Soren?” she heard her mother call in a fearful voice,

“I’m awake mama.” She called back down. Thinking fast Soren yelled,

“Don’t come up yet please, I’m gettin’ dressed.” She heard her mom walking up the stairs anyway and before she could protest anymore her mother burst in the door.

“Soren! Where have you been!?” her mother said in a rush, striding into the room with determined worry. It was the first time in Soren’s life she’d seen her mother truly scared. Yalina Pickett’s hair was tangled and disheveled and red rimmed circles rounded her already bruised eye-sockets. Her eyes were bloodshot and even with her tanned complexion, Soren could tell her mother was pale with exhaustion.

“Mama?” Soren said earnestly, worry furrowing her brow.

“Soren, where have you been?” her mother asked again, this time a bit softer.

“I came into your room yesterday morning, looking in on you, and you had left without saying anything. When did you leave? Your father and I were both in the kitchen all night. why didn't say anything?” Soren looked at her mother, guilt beginning to wash over her. Yesterday morning? She thought, looking at the light flooding into the room from downstairs. The vibrant orange of midmorning lit up the room. No, not midmorning, mid evening Soren thought as she examined the quality of light streaming in. That would make it, two nights and almost two days! Her mind reeled at the implications. Surely she hadn’t spent that long in the dream world, in Enki’s house. Yet, there could be no mistake in the way her mother looked at her. Fear, confusion and relief contorted her mother’s exhausted features. For his part, the Huella-Cull was equally shocked. He knew time flowed differently on Enki's shores when you were physically there. Yet it also meant she'd pulled him and by extension Caracara through multiple days. He wondered if it was a product of the Ochre, Soren, the void connection or some weird combination of all three.

“Mama, I, I don’t know. I…” Soren wasn’t sure how to explain what had just happened. How could she tell her mother she had just helped her bring her father inside, not four, maybe five hours ago. It should be early morning of Shamaday, longest day of the week. Once again, her head began to swim and this time she wasn’t sure she could blame it on The Shifts.

“I…” she tried again before Yalina stopped her.

“Stop. Come with me. I’ll make tea and we will talk about it downstairs. Your fathe-” Soren cut her mother off,

“Papa! How is he?” She exclaimed,

“He will be fine. We were lucky it was Canclunight. Not so sure he’d of passed the night otherwise. I took him to Cottonwood to get the arm set by Mr. Hayes.”

“Dr. Hayes Mama,” Soren instinctively corrected her mother. Her mother paused, looking at Soren with some kind of frustration Soren couldn’t readily identify.

“Yes well. Come downstairs, I will make tea.” Her mother finally said.

“Yes Mama” Soren said quickly. She still held the gem of Ochre in her hand. She squeezed it a bit tighter as her mother stood and left the room before putting it one of her pockets. She'd need to sew the small one up. When her mother was out of earshot Soren sat up in her bed and hastily whispered,

“Uhh, Caracara?”

“Soren.” Came the dour voice in Soren’s mind,

“What happened, how did I miss almost two days? And why do I have this mark on my arm.”

“I'm not entirely sure about the missing time. It could have been a product of coming to Enki's shores in your physical body. Though that is only speculation, as many Dreamers have come to those shores and never experienced missing time that I'm aware of. As for the mark, that will take longer to explain that I hope we have time for later. For now,” And the Huella-Cull concentrated on the mark on her arm. He willed the manifestation of their connection to flow into the Dream realm. It took more effort than he'd anticipated but after a moment the mark began to fade. It was still there of course, simply more in the Dream realm than this one. The connection would be more visible the next time they were both in Enki's realm. Here on Meridian, if anyone looked closely enough all they'd see was a wisp of smoke climbing up the girls arm. With any luck though, this would make it easier to explain away. "This will have to do. Hopefully I can find a more permanent solution with more time.

“Thanks.” Soren said falling back into her pillow with exasperation. She thought for a minute. The thought of lying to her mother about where she'd been made Soren’s stomach turn with guilt. Though the thought of actually explaining what she'd just experienced didn’t make her feel much better. Soren knew at best, her mother would think her delusional from the day before or, had perhaps permanently lost her mind.

Yeah mama, sorry I’ve been gone for two days. No, just vacationing in Enki’s house. Yup, oh also, a Huella-Cull followed me back and is in my mind, talking to me. Soren suddenly had the terrible thought that maybe she was going insane. For his part, the Huella-Cull froze. He had thought himself quite sneaky, yet the girl aparently had known what he was from the beginning. It was not entirely unwelcome news, at least the girl he'd attached himself to was no fool.

“Your not going insane.” the voice sounded in her mind.

“Oh great, you can hear my thoughts!?” Soren said in a whisper.

"I believe this will take some time to explain. Time we do not currently have. for now be at ease knowing I cannot possess you, I do not reside in your body but am talking to you through the connection."

"That does not put me at ease Caracara. Please remove the connection, now. I need to speak with my mother in private and...." She pulled the sheets off her as she spoke. Still dressed from two days ago, Soren saw the dried brown stains covering her clothes. The memories of Tucks and her brother returned, though strangely, the emotions attached to them did not. She just felt numb.

The Huella-Cull was once again startled by the young girl. So she had managed to put something into that infernal prism in her mind. He quickly reassessed the girl. If she could already open the prism, she could potentially imprison him. He was not going back to that life, not now when he'd only just tasted freedom again. If it came to it, he'd have to possess or destroy the girl, though he'd hoped it wouldn't come to that. He was an eternal optimist after all, if he could make it a working relationship, like the one he'd had with Litaelim, perhaps they could both retain their freedom and become more powerful than the sum of their parts. That was all still decades away, for now he'd need to lay the groundwork for a friendship with the girl. She was clearly much quicker than she'd let on, a good sign in his opinion. He'd need her trust if he was going to gain any semblance of freedom or control out of their connection. Besides, it'd be much easier to control her or have her killed if she trusted him.

As Soren sat down at the kitchen table, Yalina came up with a cup of hot tea and set it in front of Soren. She looked down at her daughter’s lap. Soren followed her gaze for a moment before realizing what her mother was staring at. Dried blood flaked from her leather trousers and the top part of her undershirt. Dirt, dust and filth covered what the blood did not.

“well I suppose it was about time for a new pair anyway” her mother said quietly. Soren’s memories once again came unbidden, but without the memories they felt gray and brittle, unreal in a way. She once again brought up the image of the geometric container and could somehow sense power from the thing. Feeling of grief and loss emanated from the prism as she studied it and it almost felt as if the physical world around her flowed with the emotions. she quickly pushed the prism from her mind, not wanting to remember those feelings. As if a storm cloud had passed and the suns once again shone, Soren looked at her mother and smiled. She brightly asked,

“A new shirt too?” and Yalina smiled back and nodded.

“Summer is coming and we’ll have much to do.” The implications battered Soren. Without her brother, there would be that much more work for all of them around the farm. Soren felt she had to say something to her mother, yet what could she say?

“mama, Louis. He… I got him out, out of that mound. Tucks and I, we buried him. I, I think I did it right.” She was struggling to get it out, but her mother just nodded and sat quietly for a time before saying,

“You put the symbols of the twelve on him.”

“yes mama, how, How did you know?”

“Soren, how many times must I tell you, you are of Enki’s house. He guides you little one.” At this Soren felt the tears begin to slide down her cheek. In that moment she knew she’d never be able to explain where she'd been these last two days. She took the guilt of the lie and once again opened the geometric box in her mind. She stuffed the guilt in there along with the rage and unbearable pain of her brother and Tucks death.

“Mama,”

“I’m sorry I left. I wanted to find him. I wanted to find the man who did this to Louis, to Tucks.” She said it flatly and couldn’t meet her mothers’ eyes as she spoke.

“Mama, I looked, but I couldn’t find him. He’s gone.” Finishing, she was finally able looked up at her mother. She desperately wanted to contradict herself. Yet she knew she’d never be able to, never be able to tell her mother what she could do. Yalina just nodded and remained silent for a long time. Finally, her mother rose from the bench and crossed to look at the setting suns.

“Soren, I know this is hard but you must listen. I can feel something happening. It is coming. Your father told me what that monster, that Madrid said to you. How he knew your name.” Soren’s heart quickened and she thought she could see the green pulse of the gem peeking out of her pocket. Her mother continued,

“You shouldn’t have gone after him. That was a fool thing to do. But, you won’t be safe here either. I believe he'll come back for you. I do not know why but he will. I think it best if we go into town, at least for a while. Your father and I have talked it over with Mr. Hayes and,”

“Dr. Hayes mama,” Soren interrupted again, Yalina turned back to her daughter with forced calm,

“Yes, your father has to stay in bed with his broken ribs anyway, so it makes for a good excuse with The New Shamash. I told Dr. Hayes we want to be together for new year and he agreed to rent out his upstairs to us.”

“In Cottonwood?” Soren asked, though she knew the answer,

“Yes, little one. I came back here collect a few things and to see if you’d come back. Finish your tea and we can be off. If we go quickly, we won’t have to walk in the dark.” Soren took her mug and gulped the lukewarm tea down and rose. Moving across the kitchen table to where her mother stood. Her mother stopped her and put both hands on her daughters shoulders. Looking into her eyes, Yalina Pickett whispered to her,

“I love you, you are safe now.” Soren forced herself not to bite her lip and looked into her mother’s dark brown eyes.

“I love you too mama.” She said and was surprised at the fierce edge to her own voice. The two figures embraced and for the first time in days Soren really did feel safe.

“Go now, Louis should have a spare shirt and trousers for you. They won’t fit but it will be good enough til I can make you something.”