The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

9.4 Captivated (Imorah)

They finished eating and the man sat back. "My wife was an angel," he said. "I never had to ask her to clean up once in twenty years."

Imorah looked around and realised it was quite a mess. She wondered if he was implying something. "Should I clean up ?" she offered. She would be happy to have an excuse to get out of the cave.

"She was truly a wonderful woman," he said, ignoring Imorah, and looking up to the roof of the cave. He seemed sad.

"What happened to her?" Imorah asked.

The man looked down at the ground and stirred the fire. "She died." And then after another moment, he said, "It was a horrible accident."

Imorah felt her heartstrings tugged by the man's pain. He seemed truly sad. She didn't know how to respond. What was culturally appropriate? In the Shelter, she would hug him, but she didn't think it was a good idea to hug this man. She felt shy about it.

"I'm sorry," she offered at last.

He looked at her briefly, and then looked away.

Imorah watched him. It seemed odd that he lived out here alone. Unnatural. She felt suddenly sure that he blamed himself for her death. After a moment, she asked, "Is that why you live out here, alone?"

He looked at Imorah and frowned. But then he said, "Ayah," and took a deep breath.

Imorah watched his face as it exhibited a range of emotions. She could sense confusion, grief... And guilt. Why does he feel guilty? she wondered.

They sat in silence for some untold moments.

Finally he turned to her and said, "What are you doing here in this desert? What are you looking for?"

Imorah had spent the entire time chewing her zabi thinking about what she would tell him if he asked this question. She had come up with, "I ran away from home."

"Huh," the man grunted. He looked at her and smiled. "Pale, yet brave."

Imorah smiled, shyly, and breathed a sigh of relief. She continued, "I'm going to live with my Grandmother. I'm looking for her. She might live in a village near here." She thought about how to word this, and then said, "Have you seen anyone... like me, before?"

"Another pale one, like you?"

Imorah nodded, biting her lip with excitement.

He took a deep breath. "Is her name, Liorah?" he asked.

Imorah's eyes went wide. "Yes! That's her name. That's my grandmother! You've met her?"

The man nodded his head. "Yes, she came to our village three—no, four years ago."

"What happened to her, my grandmother? Where is she now?"

"Zahra found her at the river and brought her home. But they took her. She is gone now. Long gone."

"Who took her?"

"The Iddies."

There he was, using that word again, Iddies, to mean The Praetoria. So, the Praetoria had captured Imorah's grandmother? "Where did they take her? Do you know?" she asked.

He pointed at the side of the cave, to his left and said, "Over the wall, into the city."

"The city?"

"Ayah," he responded.

Imorah blurted, "I need to get to this city. Where is it? How do I get there?"

The man began to laugh. "You? Hahaha!" he laughed. "Impossible."

Imorah frowned, her excitement deflated. "Why?" she asked.

"It's in the middle of the Great Bear desert. It will take you many moons to get there. You do not know the ways, you do not speak the language, you do not have the iddy."

Imorah thought about the moon she'd seen last night and wondered what he meant by many moons. "It takes many days to get there?"

"No, no, no, no," he shook his head. "Eighty days, one hundred days."

"Walking?" she asked.

"Ayah. Walking, donkey, and maybe carriage for some. And there are many towns and villages. They don't like outsiders. You're a pale one, like the Iddies."

"The Iddies are pale like me?"

"Ayah," he responded. "They don't work in the sun. They don't live in the desert. They live in the city."

Imorah contemplated this. She'd never heard of a city. She'd been told that all that was left was the desert and small pockets of humans, living in villages and small towns. "How big is the city?" she asked.

"Very big. There are millions of people living there."

"Millions?"

"Ayah, they live around the wall. They hope to get inside one day."

"There must be a way I can get there. I must find my grandmother."

"If you can get there, then you still cannot get over the wall. You need iddy," he said. He saw the look of confusion on her face and explained, "Identification." The word came out of his mouth with a sharp accent. Like 'ee-dent-ee-fee-cashun.'

"Identification?" Imorah asked. "Is that iddy?"

"Ayah. Only Iddies can enter the city."

Only people with identification? Imorah pondered. "I must go there," she said at last. "I need to try to find her."

The man was quiet for a long time. Then he looked up at her and said. "I can take you there."

Imorah's eyes went wide. "Really? You would take me there?"

He nodded. "Later. In the spring. In a few months, the rains will come. Then we can travel."

"The rains, in a few months?" Imorah slumped inside. I can't wait a few months.

"Ayah," he nodded, "The rains. You cannot walk through the desert without the rains. The rivers and wells and springs are now empty."

Imorah thought about the tiny creek running past the cave outside. It seemed very feeble.

The man got up and went to the back of the cave and got something from a shelf. He returned and gave it to Imorah. Another blanket.

"Sleep now," he said. "Talk tomorrow."

Imorah only then realised that the fire had gone out and they were sitting in the dark. She wondered how long they had been sitting there, talking for.

"Sweet dreams," he said, and walked out of the cave.

Imorah was surprised the man had left her alone in his cave.

She snuggled into the blankets, which smelled musty, but were dry and warm, and thought about her grandmother. What had happened to her? Imorah felt confused. She was so close, and yet so far away.  

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Author's Note: 

So, what do you think Imorah should do? Stay with this strange man, or go off alone and try to find her Grandma on her own? 

Thank you so much for reading!