Time for Plan B

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When Dawn woke up, she was alone in the room. Sunlight was already shining through the window. How long had she been asleep? Rubbing her eyes to clear them, Dawn crawled out of bed. The room was devoid of her companions’ belongings, and Dawn immediately feared that they might have left her. Would they do something like that? Well, they did only promise to help her get to Baign, nothing else.

After drinking some water, Dawn pulled on her socks and shoes. There wasn’t anything else to eat in the room, so she downed a couple of granola bars. Since no one else was in the room, and Dawn didn’t know that they would be back, she packed up her things, first filling the water jug Duens had given her.

Dawn was even gladder to have Prall’s hat today—the sun was shining down brutally and it was still fairly early in the day. If he hadn’t loaned it to her, she would have fried by now. The streets were full of people milling around, shopping and carrying stuff. Dawn stepped down into the street but quickly jumped back up to avoid a wagon that came barreling by. It was pulled by a striped donkey of some sort—but Dawn didn’t know what it was.

She decided to walk further into town and look for either Xander or one of the musicians. At the very least they could tell her the best places to look in Baign for her friend. As she went by, Dawn peered at the wares being sold.

It was a lot like the outdoor markets she’d seen in a history class video on third-world countries. Food was piled high on various tables and mats on the ground, and clothes and weapons lay stacked here and there. Dawn felt really small as she darted between orth. It was hard to stay out of the way when they took up so much room. She couldn’t help but notice how many stares she got, but she tried hard to ignore them. It was probably because she was dressed differently than the people around here.

The hold was sort of barren, in Dawn’s opinion. There wasn’t a tree anywhere in the place, just row after row of buildings and wall-to-wall paving stones. Most of it was dust-colored, too. The people kind of resembled the place as well—they weren’t the most cheerful or happy-looking. They all looked tired and worn out.

Dawn was beginning to wonder if she would ever find anyone she knew when she heard a familiar voice. Prall! Dawn looked around, trying to find him. Finally she spotted him across the street, in front of a food stall. Darting between hulking orth, Dawn ran across the street to meet up with him.

Prall looked down just in time to see Dawn trip over an ill-placed foot and tumble toward the ground. He reached over and snagged her by her pack, hefting her upright. He was surprised to see a wry grin on her face.

“Thanks, Prall. Twinkle-toes, that’s me,” Dawn quipped. “Um…”

Prall frowned down at her. “Why are you out?”

“There wasn’t anyone in the room when I woke up, and everything was gone, so I figured you all had taken off,” Dawn said.

Prall shook his head. “No, we were going to go fetch you later. You looked like you needed your sleep. But since you’re up, why don’t you just stay with me for the time being?”

Dawn nodded. “I’ve been looking around, but I don’t know where anything is.”

“Ah. Well, after we finish here, we have to go meet up with Zhaen. She’s submitting a petition at the bardic guild,” Prall said. Dawn watched as he paid for a big bag of something edible. Everything on display was dried and brown, so she couldn’t tell what it was.

Walking down the street was a lot easier when Prall was there to clear a path, so Dawn enjoyed the second leg of her exploration much more. The orth walked faster than she did, however, so she had to run occasionally to keep up. It wasn’t a bad trade off in her opinion.

Zhaen was waiting for them when they arrived at the bardic guild hall, a nondescript squarish building like every other one they’d passed. She looked oddly at Dawn until Prall explained what had happened. “Well?” Prall asked.

“We perform this evening. They provided suggestions, as usual,” Zhaen replied, smirking. Orth holds weren’t her favorite to perform in, since their bardic guilds were more staid than dalhari ones.

“Good. That will get us out of here much more quickly,” Prall replied. He didn’t like Baign all that much, since it was a pretty monotonous hold.

“Should we take her to the Agraka?” Zhaen asked in dalhari. Prall nodded.

“Huh?” Dawn asked, not following the conversation. Sometimes they just slipped into these other languages and she couldn’t understand them.

“We’re going to go to where the other humans are,” Zhaen replied.

“Oh! To see if Xander is there!” Dawn exclaimed, excited that she might find him right away. When Prall began to walk off, she eagerly followed, chattering away at Zhaen for the entire trip over.

The human part of Baign was a little more interesting than the main part because the humans had painted their buildings different colors. It certainly broke up the boring sameness of their construction. Dawn felt relieved to see other people that looked like her wandering around. Prall led them to a light green building near the center of the Agraka, where several young humans were lounging around.

“Hello and good morning,” Prall said to one of the teens. “Is your instructor here?”

The boy nodded and pointed to an older man leaning against a nearby wall. The man saw them and stepped forward to join the group.

“May I help you?” He asked Prall. Most of his attention, however, was on Dawn. The intensity of his gaze unnerved her.

“This is Dawn. She’s has quite a story, and needs some assistance,” Prall explained. The teacher frowned and gestured toward the green building. Prall led them behind the teacher, into the shaded interior of the school building.

“So, please tell me this story,” the man said, looking pointedly at Dawn. She smiled tremulously and began recounting her tale, including as much detail as possible.

The further along her saga she got, the more upset the teacher became. By the time he got to the part where she met up with the musicians, he looked absolutely furious. Dawn looked over at Prall, who was as confused as she was.

Finally Dawn completed her story. The teacher frowned at her for a moment before speaking. “That is a very fanciful story, Dawn. How long did it take you to think it up? Weeks? Your parents and your tribe are probably worried sick right now. Why would you do something like this to them? You should be at home. It isn’t proper for a woman of your age to be wandering around with no protection, no husband,” The teacher ranted, scowling at her. He wasn’t done, though. “Irresponsible children! You won’t tell these lies to anyone else—I can make sure of that.”

Turning to Prall and Zhaen, he continued. “Thank you for bringing this runaway to us. It is a shame that our children cannot learn their place. And the lies! Such stories they tell to shirk their duties. We have many families here that can handle her.”

Zhaen stared in horror. She couldn’t believe that the teacher, the one human in this place guaranteed to sponsor and protect all children, would believe such things of Dawn! He obviously didn’t think she was telling the truth, even though it was obvious to her that the girl wasn’t from any human region she’d ever seen. Dawn even sounded different, using the trade tongue in ways no other human did. Even worse than not believing her, the teacher wanted to pass her off to someone to be little more than a slave. Humans might accept servitude within their communities, but she did not.

Prall was similarly dismayed. He had hoped that the humans of the Agraka would be understanding and supportive of the girl. She was quite likable, if a bit odd—but he thought that her unusualness was because she wasn’t from this world. But if this was the best that the humans of Baign had to offer, he had no qualms about Dawn remaining with their little group.

Both Prall and Zhaen were spurred into action when the teacher got up and reached for Dawn. She stood and backed away, using Prall as a shield. The man was determined to capture her and called out to the streets for reinforcements. The three of them ran outside, watching as a few humans rushed to help the schoolteacher. Prall picked up Dawn and began to run down the street toward the main part of Baign and out of the Agraka. Dawn held on for dear life as she listened to the shouts and yells of the outraged humans behind her. Something hard bounced off her pack at one point and she realized that they were throwing things at them. Dawn looked around for Zhaen but couldn’t see her—until she looked up. The dalhari had taken to the skies to avoid the rocks the humans were throwing and had gotten well ahead of them.

The humans chased Prall and Dawn to the edge of the Agraka, stopping right at the border. They wouldn’t follow into the rest of town, since orth predominated and wouldn’t take kindly to them chasing their prey though the streets like animals.

Once they were well inside the main part of the city, Prall slowed to a stop and set Dawn down. Zhaen appeared next to them, having been following them through the streets. Dawn looked up at the adults in terrified confusion. “What was that?” She whimpered.

Prall grimaced. “I’m not sure, but we should probably go find the others,” He said. The orth had a strong suspicion that the humans hadn’t just given up. They would have to change their tactics a bit, but it would still be fairly easy for them to get to Dawn anywhere in Baign, so long as they didn’t make a scene when they did so.

“But why did they do that?” Dawn asked them both.

“I don’t know that either,” Prall replied. “I’ve never seen anyone react that way to a stranger asking for help.”

Zhaen nodded her agreement. “Regardless, we should find Duens and Marni.” The three of them took off for the inn, glancing around every so often to check for the teacher and his accomplices.

When they got to the inn, they found Duens and Marni dozing in the room. They didn’t wait for their friends to ask why Dawn looked so scared or why they were all out of breath from running. “We’ve got problems,” Prall said quickly.

Marni swore under her breath. It had to be the human. Her suspicions were confirmed when Prall recounted what had happened. The story made her angry—not at Dawn, but for her. Not even she could find fault in Dawn for something she had no control over. “You think they’ll be back?” She asked the orth.

Prall nodded. “I would think so,” He replied. “They didn’t seem the type to just give up.”

Duens scowled. “What about performing?”

“We are supposed to perform this evening,” Zhaen said to him. “I’m not sure if we should, though.”

Marni jerked her head up. “Why not?”

Zhaen stared at her. “Think about it, Marni. There are quite a few humans after Dawn, and thus after Prall and I. There may be enough orth in Baign to hide him, but I’ve yet to see another dalhari besides Duens and me.”

Marni nodded in understanding, but didn’t change her stance. “Still, what could they do?”

“Accuse us of kidnapping her, of her being a runaway or a runaway slave, or all of us of being thieves,” Duens answered. “It wouldn’t take much to convince the elders. We’re just strangers here; Prall is from much farther north. Those humans have lived here for a long time.”

The f’lh reluctantly agreed. She didn’t like the idea of them not getting paid again because they would soon have nothing to use to pay for food. However, she also didn’t want anything bad to happen to Dawn, except for maybe losing her voice.

“So we’re leaving now?” Duens asked the group. One by one they nodded. Dawn gaped at them. She couldn’t believe that they were just going to leave like that, just for her. It was one thing to let her travel with them, but this was way beyond anything she’d expected, and she didn’t know what to say, other than that she was very happy that they had a plan for getting away from those people. What was it that Spike had told her once? She remembered it being something about always having a backup plan. They probably hadn’t been thinking that this would happen, but she got the impression that they’d been in situations before where they needed to exit someplace quickly and with a minimum of fanfare.

Zhaen opened her pack and pulled out a pile of pale fabric. Once it was unfolded, Dawn realized it was some sort of poncho-type garment, only a bit longer. She squeaked as Zhaen threw it over her head, letting the material drape over her arms and body, well past her knees. Well, it certainly covered up her clothes, which made her stand out. As soon as she shouldered her pack, they were out the door.

Prall led them through the streets of Baign, winding their way between houses and shops. Their original plan had been to travel west, through the Kas desert and into Asdrad, a neighboring orth region. They still wanted to do that, but since the Agraka was on the western edge of the hold, they had to find a way to get around it. That meant that the quintet had to exit on the north road, then walk around the hold along the wall and pick up the west road just outside the gates.

Dawn looked back at the receding city. While she was immensely relieved to have gotten out of that situation, worry was starting to really gnaw on her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t completely banish the feeling that she had made a very serious mistake.

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By the time Zhaen called a halt to the day’s travels, Dawn was about ready to drop. The further west they walked, the hotter it got, until she was sweating nonstop. As they’d walked, she had noticed how the trees had slowly given way to little shrubs and flat grasses. After half a day’s journeying, there wasn’t a tree in sight—thus no shade. She hadn’t seen any water either. She didn’t know a lot about traveling, but even she could see they were getting into a desert-like environment. Water was going to be very important.

“Um, guys?” Dawn said quietly.

“Hmm?” Marni hummed as she built a fire. Dawn couldn’t believe they were going to have a fire. It was really hot!

“What about water?”

Duens looked over at the girl, surprised that she would have thought of that. So far Dawn hadn’t proven herself to be the most observant of people. “We’ve got enough for tomorrow and the next day.”

“But what about after that?” Dawn pushed. She didn’t want to die of dehydration in a foreign desert, not without finding Xander first.

“By then we’ll have reached the next village on this road,” Prall said. Since this was his home region, he was in charge of making sure they were adequately equipped for the trip. It wasn’t going to be comfortable by any stretch, but they’d survive.

“Ok,” Dawn said, settling back against a rock she’d found near the fire. The sun was setting quickly and Dawn watched the colors turn and fade on the horizon while Duens fixed dinner. It was, yet again, yimkia. Dawn was already growing tired of the stuff, and she’d only been eating it for a couple of days. But then again it filled her up really well, which was good, since from what she could tell, they were going to be suffering before too long. Prall had commented that he’d spent the last of their money buying food in Baign, and that they had just enough to reach their next destination, which Dawn took to be the village he’d just mentioned.

By the time dinner was ready, the sun had set and Dawn understood why Marni had built a fire. As soon as it got dark, the desert cooled off dramatically. She scooted closer to the fire to eat her roasted yimkia. It wasn’t so bad that way, much softer and easier to eat. After she was done, she wrapped up in the cloak Zhaen had loaned her. Then she got out her blankets and cocooned herself in them, using her pack as a pillow. After a few minutes she was asleep, lulled by the soft chirping and creaking of the desert.

The next morning Dawn was woken by Prall, who held a hand over his mouth when she started to speak. Dawn frowned in confusion, but said nothing. Looking around the camp, she saw that everyone was awake and getting ready to go, but nobody was saying anything. No fire had been lit, which meant yet another cold breakfast. When she was done folding her blankets and stowing them away, Marni handed her a small drawstring bag.

Dawn started to thank her, but the f’lh slowly waved a hand over her own mouth. Dawn realized that both Prall and Marni were telling her not to speak. Wondering about why she was supposed to remain silent, Dawn opened the bag. Inside it was a mixture of dried food. It looked a bit like trail mix, although she couldn’t identify most of the ingredients, other than the ubiquitous yimkia.

A few minutes later they were on their way again, all of them breakfasting as they walked. Dawn was surprised to find dried meat of some sort in the trail mix. It was kind of like jerky, but it wasn’t so tough she couldn’t eat it. The combination of that with dried berries was a bit odd, though. Still, it was food.

To Dawn’s dismay, the sun soon began to roast the desert with the same intensity it had the day before. She wasn’t sure that they really had enough water, since she was sweating it out fast than she could drink it in.

Zhaen closely watched Dawn’s condition as they walked on. That the girl wasn’t accustomed to such a climate was painfully obvious. She wasn’t doing too badly, though. The dalhari was rather impressed that she’d managed to remain quiet throughout the morning.

The night before, after Dawn had fallen asleep, the musicians had had a long talk. Taking Dawn on as a traveling companion was going to put a burden on them, since they usually made just enough money performing to cover their own expenses. Surprisingly, it was Marni that offered up what became the popular solution. The f’lh had suggested that one of them teach the girl to play an instrument. They were paid as a group, but the amount was based on the number of performers. If they could get Dawn proficient enough on something to work with them, she would effectively earn her keep.

Duens noted that it would also occupy a lot of her time, reducing the number of questions she could ask. Marni smirked at the comment. Zhaen agreed with Marni that someone instructing Dawn would be a good thing, but she felt that way for different reasons.

Zhaen knew a little more about magic than the others, since her father was a witch and had told her a lot about his work. The chances of Dawn ever returning to her world were slim to none. It would be best if she came to terms with that quickly and found a place in this world. As young as she was, she shouldn’t have a problem doing so. Zhaen didn’t want to just tell the girl to resign herself to staying, but it was probably what she needed to do.

Also, Zhaen could tell that worries plagued the girl. As much as she’d grown to like Dawn, she agreed with the others that what the girl had done was incredibly foolish. Eventually the enormity of what had occurred—complete isolation from all of her friends, family and familiar places—would start to crash in on her. In a way, Dawn reminded Zhaen of a friend of her mother’s who had lost his bonded mate. For weeks the dalhari had acted as if he was fine. Then one day he couldn’t ignore it anymore. She could still remember the screams and howls as his mind imploded, unable to function without his mate. Her mother had told her that it was because after so many centuries, he wasn’t able to live without the other in his mind—he wasn’t used to being alone. She had said that it was that sudden isolation that killed most dalhari who lost their mates. Even though Zhaen had been a child at the time, she still had a vivid memory of the event. It made her leery of ever taking a mate.

The dalhari hoped that Dawn didn’t suffer too badly when she realized what she’d done, and what the future held for her. No one could tell, though, so waiting was the only option.

Dawn was startled by Duens when he stepped up to walk next to her. He smiled and held out a water bag for her. She’d drained the container she was carrying outside her pack an hour ago.

After she’d drunk some of the water and tied the bag to a dangling strap of her pack, she turned to Duens. “How can you stand this heat?”

He shook his head. “I can’t. It’s horrible. But if you think you’re miserable, consider Marni.”

Dawn looked over at the f’lh, who looked quite pathetic. “How is it we’ve got enough water, when she and I are drinking as much as we are?”

Duens grinned and opened his wings slightly. “Dalhari don’t live in the deserts, but that doesn’t mean we can’t adapt to them. Our wings have a lot of surface area, so they cool our bodies off very effectively. Because of that, we don’t sweat like you do.”

“Oh, so you and Zhaen aren’t using much water?” Dawn asked.

“That’s right. But we really do have quite a bit of water with us. It’s most of what Prall’s carrying right now,” Duens answered.

Dawn looked over at Prall, who was carrying his huge pack like it weighed nothing. That certainly explained where all the water was coming from. She felt a bit silly, doubting the survival skills of a group of people who traveled like this for a living.

“So it’s okay to talk now?” Dawn asked, changing the subject.

Duens nodded. “Yes. We usually don’t talk much, if at all, in the mornings. It’s nice to have some silence when you spend so much of your time making noise,” He said, smiling.

Dawn shrugged. They hadn’t been making much noise since she’d joined up with them, but if that’s what they wanted, so be it. “So, what’s for lunch?”

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