It took Castilla and I three days to reach every triage center set up in what remained of the White City. Initially, she was just my escort, but as soon as she saw how effective my gift was, she took on the role of manager too. She saw too it that I had plenty to eat, lots of rest, and was not mauled by crowds of desperate people, which became a problem for us on the second and third day.

"Are you tired?" she'd ask me every fifteen minutes.

"No, I'm fine," I'd tell her and keep on working.

"Do you want something to drink, maybe?" she'd ask a little while later.

"No, thank you," I'd reply before moving on the the next person and then the next.

"Maybe we should take a break. I don't want you to wear yourself out," she'd whisper into my ear so that the patient I was working with wouldn't overhear.

I didn't know whether to laugh at the way she mothered me or to cry with frustration. This intense micro management she did wasn't something I was use to at all. And her kind of 'caring' was altogether suffocating. All I wanted to do was my job - healing the sick and injured - and do it uninterrupted if at all possible. But, no matter what I did or said to her, Castilla was determined to make sure I was properly taken care of. It was overwhelming to say the least.

At some point, I realized that she couldn't possibly understand my heart, my desire to redeem myself in my dead mother's eyes, or my determination to wipe my slate of sins clean by healing as many people as I possibly could each and every day until I expired. I was driven, from a place deep in my heart, to affect as many lives as I could as fast as I could. But, she didn't know my story and I was too ashamed to share it with her.

She also didn't understand, couldn't understand, that it was thrilling me to be doing what I'd been born to do and not to have to hold back. This was the first time in my life that I had free reign to heal whomever I pleased and to heal as many as my heart desired (or my fingers could reach).

I'd never felt more in sync with Kinabuhi then I did while we roamed what was left of the White City. It was energizing and exhilarating. But every time I got on a roll, Castilla was there interrupting me questions about resting, eating, drinking and so on. These things were not important to me though. I could do without them all until we'd reached everyone in need. She just couldn't comprehend that I wasn't hungry for food. I was hungry to use my gift.

If I had thought Castilla's management style was stifling on day one and two, I soon learned on day three - the day we had to find me some bodyguards - that she could be a thousand times worse. In truth, I wasn't sure I was going to get a chance to heal anyone on the third day.

It started when we left the Council Room that morning. Throngs of survivors were waiting there to meet us. These weren't people who needed to be healed from one injury or another. These were people who came begging me to bring their dead children or their dead parents or their dead wife back from Pashwa - the city of the dead.

Castilla, seeing we weren't going to be able to get anywhere without help, wasted no time finding me three bodyguards. I was a little stunned at first by her insistence on them. It shocked me to the core that she thought I was important enough for bodyguards when I was just a slave - well, former slave. And it further surprised me when she was able to round up, quite easily, three willing volunteers who were all freeborns I might add.

Four days ago, when I was just a slave, I never once dreamed of having something so excessive as my own bodyguards. That was a luxury only the wealthiest of freeborns had. Even Goren, who accumulated great wealth, never had a body guard. But, Master Bangkai, on the other hand, had several. She flaunted her wealth by purchasing the best of the best in the city.

Clearly this was not the same situation, but I still felt I didn't deserve it - all Castilla's care and concern. It was hard to accept good will from freeborns after a life in captivity. Still, I didn't question the necessity of having bodyguards that morning. I could see for myself that they were essential if I wanted to get to all the open clinics on our list because we were quite literally pressed on every side by people who wanted me to bring their dead love ones back to life.

News of a god-like woman in a blue harka had spread to every possible nook and cranny left in the city. Overnight, I went from being a relatively invisible former slave, hardly a figure worth batting an eye at despite the beautiful silk harka I wore, to a nearly holy figure, whom people crawled on their hands and knees through the worst kind of filth to get to.

But these poor people, who the bodyguards and Castilla had to push through so that I could reach the clinics we hadn't been to yet, weren't looking for me to heal them. They wanted me to bring their dead whose bodies lay buried under a ton of stone, or whose corpses were rotting in the open, or whose bodies were washed out to sea and never seen again, back to life. They didn't seem to grasp that I was just a healer and not a miracle worker.

It was slow going that day. Not just because of the masses of survivors that met us everywhere we went but because Castilla took micro managing to a whole new level when she thought my physical safety was in question. It was a wonder to me that she even allowed me to leave the Council Room that morning, bodyguards or not.

Still, we managed to reach every infirmary left in the city by dusk. And, despite Castilla interpreting me five times more that day than the two previous days combined, I was able to heal all those we encountered. So, come the end of the day, I felt like I had accomplished something important. I felt like I'd done something worth while and that everyone's efforts that day were not in vain.

On the way back to the Council Room, though I was on a bit of a high, Castilla didn't notice or didn't care, and proceed to scold me about my empathetic nature.

"You can't be so soft hearted, Hashy," she quipped in an irritated voice and quite without preamble. I was lost for a moment wondering where she was going with this impromptu lecture. "You can't save everyone. You just have to say no to those people," she huffed.

It didn't take me long to realize she was talking about the people who stopped us everywhere that day and continually held us up asking me to bring their dead back to life. Each time it happened I took the time to gently explain that didn't have the power to bring anyone back from Pashwa. I only had the ability to help the living. I thought it was important that they should know I was no miracle worker. But Castilla did not agree.

"Besides," she continued complaining, "death comes to everyone. Who are they to demand you reverse the natural order of things and demand you bring back their dead?"

I never said a word. I learned her questions were not meant to be answered. She only wanted me to listen. And, as a slave, well, former slave - something I had to keep reminding myself of a thousand times a day - I was very accustomed to listening.

But Castilla's moods were surprisingly changeable and in the next moment she was saying, "Hurry," in an excited voice. "If we are quick we'll get to see Castor tonight."

I was relieved the lecture was over and excited at the prospect of laying eyes on Castor again. I hadn't seen him since the day he rescued me from the kurku and we had heard rumours only that day that some of the rescue team members had died attempting an ill fated rescue. It was frightening to think that Castor could easily be one of these dead men the others talked about.

I quickened my pace substantially. I was anxious to see how he was doing and didn't want to miss our chance to see him.

Castilla, I learned during our time together, was half in love with him. She asked me every day to tell her stories about his days in Master Goren's estate. I said very little. In part, I didn't know  much about Castor beyond a few old memories about healing him and a handful of second-hand stories I could remember from the other slaves.

However, I really kept quiet about him because I was jealous. He was the most precious person in my life now that my mother and Det were gone, and I selfishly did not want to share him with another person. Especially, not a handsome looking freeborn woman, who was openly trying to grab his attention and didn't mind in the least that he was once a slave. In my eyes, she had a very real chance of winning him over and that made me uncomfortable, even nervous. So, I kept what I could from her.

It wasn't that I secretly harboured any romantic feelings towards Castor. In truth, I didn't really understand how I felt about him. I just knew that I was drawn to him and had been since my youth, and I didn't want anything to break that bond now that we had been temporarily reunited.

The Council had designated a make-shift rooming house of sorts for anyone working in the Council or directly under them - that included Castilla, myself, Castor and everyone else who was directly involved in rescue, rehabilitation and rebuilding. The building they chose was a partially standing elementary school, which was located very near the Council Room and the roofless auditorium. Someone had gone in and cleared out a half dozen classrooms and that was where we slept and ate. If Castor was back from the latest rescue operation, this is where we would find him.

I heard the hum of his life force long before we saw him and a sense of peace washed over me. I could feel, even from this distance, that he was well and had not been injured that day. But I didn't tell Castilla that he was here. I kept this information to myself as she looked and asked around. I hoped she'd give up looking and go eat or bath. Then, while she was occupied, I would go find him first. However, I felt his life force getting stronger and realized he was coming to us.

I was delighted when he came through one of the half-standing buildings near the school and headed straight for me. Castilla was turned in the other direction and had not seen him yet, which meant that this moment was all mine. I smiled at him and remained still. I didn't want to alert Castilla to his arrival if I didn't have to.

But, he hadn't walked a few steps before I realized something was wrong. His face looked black and his steps were quick and heavy. His heart rate was elevated and mine began to race in response. His eyes swept over the staffers around us as he made a direct line for me. I looked around us nervously too and felt the hairs on the back of my neck begin to rise as my stomach plummeted.

Just before he reached me, Castilla had turned, saw him and stepped directly between us. To my utter astonishment he just pushed her aside with a gruff, "Excuse me," and then grabbed my arm. He spun me around the other way and we walked off at a brisk pace.

Castilla, not put off it seemed, came after us asking, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

When Castor did not respond but only picked up his pace, she came back with, "I'll tag along."

To this he replied with a sharp, "Not if you want to live you wont."

Whether it was what he said or the way he said it, I couldn't say, but Castilla stopped in her tracks and never said anything more. I watched her over my shoulder. She looked hurt and puzzled. I gave her a worried look. I was also in the dark and didn't know what was going on any more than she did.

Castor pulled, pushed and dragged me through rubble trails and houses heaped on houses until we came to solid wall. There he stopped, hefted up a metal door, which was lying prostrate on the ground, and revealed a hidden set of stairs leading underground.

He flicked his fingers at me and I quickly stepped down the stairs and into the dark space. Before he'd even shut the door, my harka began to glow and provide the same blue light it had for me in the kurku. I watched Castor secure the metal door in place and then turn to me with amazement. Surely he had expected us to be plunged into darkness, but here we were, engulfed in a rather bright blue mist.

"She's coming for you," he blurted out as he looked over my harka with astonishment and reached out a curious hand to touch the mist that clung to the harka and to me.

I knew straight away who 'she' was and felt my knees begin to tremble. Reaching for the wall I leaned into it and closed my eyes for a moment as I let out a shaky breath. She still terrified me. I'd survived three earthquakes, a tsunami, being trapped in a burning inferno and nearly drowning in the kurku, and yet even the thought of her made me feel so ill my head throbbed and my stomach churned.

Castor stepped toward me, gently took hold of my elbow, turned me in the other direction, and guided me further down the dark corridor we stood in. His hand was warm and his excessive life energy washed over me as we walked deeper into the darkness. I concentrated on breathing, the warmth of his hand, and on his life force. All these things combined helped to buoyed me up.

After several minutes of silence we reached another door, which Castor knocked on. Someone opened it up from the inside light spilled into the hallway dispelling the blue mist immediately. There was a Daaga on the other side. I didn't recognize his face but I did his build and his features. He didn't seem the least bit surprised to see me.

"Your bleeding, " I blurted out to him the moment we passed through the door. I could sense it right away. It was an internal bleed. A tare of some kind. If it wasn't taken care of he would slowly become very frail over time and eventually die. Not today or tomorrow but weeks from now after he'd lost all his vitality.

Without asking I instinctively flicked my fingers and the gift shot out from them. The yellow mist tinged with green flew up his nostrils and disappeared. He coughed and then choked a bit because it was so unexpected. But, a moment later his eyes went wide with relief and he took in a deep, relaxing breath.

"Better?" I asked quietly.

"Better," he responded with a a sharp  nod of his head. "I haven't felt this good since my youth," he offered with a wide grin. Then, bowing deeply at the waist, in a sign of deep respect, he said, "Thank you, Dhuuni."

"It's Hashy," I said to him as I looked around the little room he guarded. I watched his face break into a warm wide smile. It was rare to see Daaga smile and so easily. I looked over my shoulder at Castor. He wasn't smiling. He was giving the other Daaga a cool look not unlike the one that Takai had given Castor just before we all went our separate ways the other day.

"How are you called?" I asked the other Daaga as I turned my attention back to him.

"They call me Merp. It's short for Merplisk. You can call me either," he offered with another charming smile.

This time I felt Castor's life force spike and I could tell that Merp was getting on Castor's nerves. So, I just gave a little nod in return. Castor then moved us off to another corridor and another room. We passed by several other Daaga. There were even a few women Daaga here.

I was delighted to see the women. They were, on the whole, much more friendly and easy going then their male counterparts.   And, if I were underground for any length of time in close quarters with several unfamiliar Daaga, I was glad to know there would be a few women around to keep the men's tempers in check.

Castor opened a door and we stepped into a large cafeteria style room with a kitchen at one end and several long tables between the kitchen and the door we entered. The place was empty, but the smell of food lingered in the air. Castor directed me to a seat right beside the kitchen.

"Sit," he told me gently before he rummaged through some jars and cupboards and found us a plate of edibles, which he put down in front of me.

I had no stomach for food though and pushed the plate toward him with a wan smile.

"Later, then," he responded and pushed the plate to the right of us before folding his arms in front of himself on the table. Without waiting to be asked he began to fill me in. "She's on route for here and is due to arrive in the next couple of days."

"Bangkai?" I asked, just to be sure.

He nodded gravely. "She's already put the word out that she wants you found and delivered to her unharmed. So, you can't go above ground for now. We'll hide you here until we can get you out of the city."

I burst into tears and covered my face with my hands as I tried to get myself under control.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to him several times as I kept trying, but couldn't seem to get the tears under control.

I wasn't crying out of fear or desperation. I was crying because of kindness - Castor's kindness and that of the other Daaga. Clearly this was some kind of secret community and space they lived in, for whatever reason, and they allowed me in just to protect me. What had I ever done to deserve such fraternity from them? It was unfathomable to me.

When I was a little calmer he continued saying, "We've talked it over. We have friends in Garmeuth where we can send you. It's north-west of here by a thousand miles. It'll be an arduous journey, but she'll never go looking for you there."

I shot up from the table and grabbed his folded forearms with alarm. "I can't go north-west," I told him with urgency. My sudden outburst startled him and he sat back with a bit of a jump. Any other time I might have laughed, but not now. "Do you know the Ilian Sea? Have you heard of the Bitter Ilse?" I asked anxiously. "I can't go anywhere but there. I must get to the the Bitter Ilse even if the journey should kill me," I told him with conviction.

He looked properly stunned now. I could tell that he knew something about the Ilian Sea and the Bitter Ilse from the look on his face. I just couldn't tell if it was good news or bad news for me.

"How," he half whispered, "Do you even know that place?"

I released his arms and sat back down. I looked at the table top and ran my finger along the old smooth wood grain. Castor was my only friend in this world. A true friend, I felt. And, if I could trust anyone with the story Det had told me and the promise I made to her, well, I was sure I must be able to trust Castor.

The truth was, I was never going to be able to get to the Bitter Iles on my own. I needed a friend, who knew something of the world, to help me navigate my way there. I needed Castor. i just didn't know if he'd be willing.

Castor reached out a hand and stilled my fingers. I looked up at him, and he gave me a nod as if he'd read my thoughts. I smiled back gratefully. This was one burden I was never so glad to share with another living soul because my promise to Det weighed heavily on my heart and my soul.