Into the Darkness

Azriel woke when the yacht stopped with a sudden lurch. She cried out but luckily no one heard her. She peered to see the very first rays of dawn breaking. She wondered what had made the yacht stop and was trying to peer across the deck, when Farila walked up to her and shook her.

"Get up princess, time to leave."

"Where are we? Why have we stopped?"

"Oh...pretty little dumb thing....it's our stop. C'mon, lets wash your stupid face and pretty you up a little before you meet my brother."

"How?"

Farila jerked Azriel towards the changing room, and pushed her in.

"C'mon," she said. "Can't have you looking like a dead rag." She frantically pulled off dresses off the wire and threw them all over.

"Ashmeer...is here....?"

"No...but you will meet him soon enough. There is an island here where there is a deep cave. The way to the Blight is inside the cave."

"How is that even possible? We are hundreds of kilometers from the Blight?"