Valena couldn't fathom what she was seeing. One moment she'd been chasing the assassin. The next she was standing ankle deep in sand, staring up into a dead sky amidst a dead land. It didn't make sense. None of it did. She turned back to the assassin and the vitriol inside her returned with a vengeance. Sulana stalked forward with the Razor pointed at the assassin's heart.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," The assassin had her strange weapon out of its holster in an instant. The jewel on the hilt glowed brightly. "Lest you want to die out here."

Valena bit her lip. Fought back the tears stinging her eyes. "You killed Rouse you bitch." She was surprised to see remorse in the assassin's eyes then.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. I only came for Saint Friar. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to bring him back!" Valena dared to move closer, too angry to care if she lived or died. Her thoughts felt like a branding iron in her head burning away all logic and reason. What she wanted more than anything was the assassin dead. Her body torn open by the Razor. Spilling blood into the hungry sands.

"Stop. Now." The assassin's lips were pressed into a hard line. "I mourn the loss of your teacher but I will not hesitate killing you if I have too. Trust me. I've done it to others for less."

Valena fought to keep her grip on the Razor. Her hands trembled like leaves in the wind. One more step. One more step and she'd be close enough to attack, but the memory of Rouse's scorched corpse held her back. The gaping hole in his back. The smell of charred meat that made her stomach churn. Why? Why had he jumped in front of her. Why was she allowed to live and not him?

A fat droplet of blood dripped off of the cuff of the assassin's jacket. It disappeared into the thirsty sands leaving only a faint rusty outline behind.

"You're bleeding," Valena found herself saying.

"That man. Rouse. He cut me with the blade you have there," The assassin kept her weapon trained. "He'd have done more too if I'd let him."

A heavy silence permeated the air save for the burning howl of wind and the terrifying rumble in Valena's ears. She worked her jaw, trying desperately to find the words. "Where the fuck are we?" She growled.

"As if you'd understand," The assassin shot back. You're just a child. Less than even. Trapped in your own ignorance of the bigger picture. Telling you would be like me trying to teach philosophy to an insect," She turned and walked down the dune. "A waste of time and breath."

"Wait!" Valena charged after her. A sharp crack erupted in the air. The sands in front of her exploded into heat and glass, showering her in glowing shards. She stopped, skidded and fell back on her heels. The barrel of the assassin's weapon smoked. The crystal on the hilt now inert.

"Don't think I missed on purpose," The assassin hissed. "Because next time I won't."

"You can't just leave me here!" Valena pleaded.

"Of course I can. It was your fault for coming after me you stupid girl. Not mine." The assassin tapped the strange weapon to her shaved temple. "Take some responsibility for your own actions. As we all must do." And with that the assassin walked away disappearing down into the cleft of the dune towards the wastelands beyond.

Valena sat there dumbfounded. She felt the tears coming then. The hard sting behind her eyes. The corners of her vision starting to blur. It wasn't fair. None of it was. Rouse's death. Being stranded in a place she knew nothing about. She cursed and threw the Razor against the ground. The blade sank into the sand and quivered before coming to a stop.

Valena closed her eyes and sucked in a hot dry breath before opening them. Even with the sun a gaping hole in the sky the world was still incredibly bright. The very air glowed a sickly jaundice color radiating hues of apricot and rust. A hot wind whipped past, dry and musty smelling like the air of the Monastic Libraries back in Villdesong.

A tear rolled down Valena's cheek and kissed the sands below. It hissed for the briefest moments before fizzling away. Just thinking about home made the terror of her situation all the more real. She was well and truly fucked.

At very least she should stay armed. There was no telling what kinds of things lurked in this goddess forsaken place. She searched for the Razor and found it sticking out of the sand. Valena reached for it, and then stopped dead in her tracks. A thin red string slithered past the blade. In the direction of the assassin. The Kineblood! Even after all this time the effect still coursed through her veins.

But already it was starting to wear off. The string grew more and more faint with every passing heartbeat.  Her eyes traced over the row of rusty spots in the sand and a horrible thought took shape in her mind.

*

Damn this blasted Link Sulana thought. Damn its blasted heat. Damn its course, rough sands. Damn it all. Already her lips were starting to crack against the furnace like winds, her throat as dry as parchment paper. She reached for her canteen to drink and found only warm stale air. Her stomach grumbled in protest. No water. No food. Damn it all.

"Are we there yet?" The voice grumbled in her head.

"How am I supposed to know that? You're the one who's supposed to give me directions." Valena said. She stepped over the desiccated remains of a strange animal, it's six eyed skull staring out towards the horizon. It's elongated spine slithered like a snake farther up, connecting to a stubby looking rib cage. Valena felt her stomach churn once more and swallowed dryly. She needed to find the Adviser quickly before she ended up like that.

"We are out there. We are calling out from the mind of the other, but our voice is so faint. So far away. We must get closer."

Sulana rolled her eyes skyward. Cryptic as usual the voice in her head was. Cryptic and whiny. She meandered down another dune, pumped her legs up the next one and stopped at the crest. High above the rent in the sky lay bare like an open wound. Staring at made the back of Sulana's mind itch. What had happened to cause such a thing she wondered, and what did it mean for the Link? Had she arrived too late? Had the Adviser already succeeded in ending this age?

Her thoughts were pulled away by a warm trickle down her hand. She looked down just as a trail of blood reached the tips of her fingers, splattering droplets into the thirsty sands.

"Your wound isn't healing." the voice said.

"I can see that," Sulana snapped. She rolled up her sleeve. The makeshift bandage she'd ripped from her cloak was already soaked to the threads. The world began to spin for just a moment before she regained her senses. Damn it all but the voice was right. The wound wasn't healing. Whatever that bastard Limiren had cut her with must have been coated in something. An anticoagulant? Nano leeches maybe?

Sulana peeled the sticky bandage off and inspected the wound. It had been a shallow cut but enough to draw blood. The flesh around it was red and puckered but there was no pus, no sweet stink of infection. All in all she'd got off lucky, thank the stars.

"How the void am I going to keep this thing clean?" Sulana muttered to herself before an idea sprang to mind. She pulled her pack around, flipped open the satchel and pulled out Silv's decanter. With a pop she uncorked the silver animate. Silv lept from the bottle and slithered up her arm onto her shoulder.

"Hey boy. Who's my good boy?" Sulana felt Silv's cold body nuzzle against her cheek. Gently she picked him up with her free hand and held him close to her open wound. Silv's body began to quiver expectantly. "Oh you are a hungry fella aren't you? Well I've got just the treat. Go on now. Eat!" Silv jumped from her hand. His body wrapped around her flesh, stretching from elbow to wrist till he'd covered her entire forearm. The liquid-like body rippled before hardening into a solid silver sheet.

Sulana inspected her arm. Streaks of red coursed up and down Silv's body as he fed off her, but at the very least the wound was covered. Better than any bandage she could make at the moment.

"It'll have to do," she muttered.

"You're still bleeding." The voice said.

"It'll have to do," Sulana repeated, her voice sour this time. She placed the open decanter back in her satchel and continued walking.

It had felt like hours before Sulana saw a change in scenery. The dunes eventually terminated into a series of lolling, rocky hills speckled in scrubby grasses and small dead trees. Past those the land dipped into a twisting canyon carved no doubt from a river that had long since dried out.

Sulana slipped past the timid flora and began her descent into the canyon. She hugged the cliff side and stepped cautiously, avoiding any pitfalls or ledges appearing too weak to hold her. It was a painfully slow process and by the time she'd reached the bottom she was ready to drop. Her stomach was a twisted series of knot. Her throat as if she'd swallowed glass.

At the very least there was shade. The narrow striped walls of the canyon were smooth and cold to the touch that towered over her. Sulana slipped past, avoiding any beam of sunlight able to breach through the craggy roof of the canyon.

"You're dying." The voice in her head piped up.

"We all die," Valena said. "A little bit each day."

"You can't die. Not until you bring me back to the Whole One."

Sulana stifled a tired laugh. " You act as if I'm not trying."

"Water. We must find water. Your pathetic body needs it."

"Easier said than done. This whole place is bone dry. Dead as dead can get."

"Go find some."

A weary sigh slithered out of Sulana. "Like I said. Easier said than done. It's not like I'm simply going to stumble—," A sound froze Sulana in her tracks. She reached for her holster, eyes darting over the canyon walls, ears straining over the howling winds above.

Drip, Drip, Drip.

Sulana swiped her tongue instinctively over her cracked lips. The sound was coming up ahead. Hope burned like an angry flame in her chest as she slowly crept towards the noise. Through a narrow pass she found a cave carved into the wall. The air within was cool and musty and deeper still she heard the faint sound of  dripping.

Sulana sucked in a ragged breath and pulled the plaslock from her holster, letting the jewel burn brightly before she entered. Cold green light bathed the cave walls, casting shadows in all directions. It didn't take long to find the source of the  noise.

Water. A whole puddle of it carved in a shallow pool on the floor. Up above a small vein of the stuff dripped down a stalactite, welling up at the tip before plopping down into the well. Sulana's eyes burned with dusty tears as she fell to her knees and cupped the water to her lips.

She drank slowly and deeply, making sure to savor every last drop. By the time she was finished the pool was nearly gone, but it was enough. Sulana rolled onto her back and let the heat in her body creep into the cold stone floor.

Safe. She was safe. Safe from the heat. Safe from thirst. Enough to get by. For now. Sulana pulled her pack off and rested her head against the tattered leather. A few hours of sleep would do her good too. Just enough to get some semblance of life back. She closed her eyes and nestled in.

"What do you think happened to the apprentice?" The voice suddenly asked.

 Sulana perked one eye open. "I thought you only cared about yourself?"

"We do. At least, we thought we did," The voice was silent for a long time before it spoke again. "Do you think she's dead?"

Sulana felt something stir inside of her. Was it regret? Guilt? It was hard to tell. All she knew was that she hated the feeling all together. "I don't know." The voice stopped talking after that and Sulana dared to catch a few winks of sleep. All the while the gentle sound of water dripped slow and steady beside her.