(ZOOM FOR DETAILS!) Aranée returned to a completely changed world, one she little recognized. She had not simply awakened to full consciousness. Rather, for weeks she had had moments in and out of clarity like a tiny boat pushed through a string of sunny islands by a raging dark sea. Sometimes her wake times had an oddly surreal dreamlike quality, and other times crystalline clarity and stark reality. Lucidity occurred more and more frequently until one day she just slipped into a somewhat regular schedule of listless wake times interspersed with fitful sleep. She was startled to discover she was in the abandoned mountain fortress. Mubela and the others had found an intact portion of the crumbling structure and transformed it into a reasonably comfortable refuge. A part of her was very curious about this object of her previous attention - but her physical and emotional wounds prevented her from acting on it. Galen... Galen was gone. She had of course already known this, but the knowledge did not prevent a wave of despair from wracking her when they finally told her. The searing grief hurt far more than the savage wounds that severely injured her body. Mubela and the others were very kind to her, but they could not fill the vast empty void within her. Amikas constantly hounded her to ambulate to hasten her recovery. But she hurt so badly from her physical wounds that she had no desire to move - and her emotional wounds made her not care if she ever recovered. She had countless cuts and punctures to her arms, torso and abdomen; an arrow wound pierced her shoulder; and she had a deep wound from a heavy crossbow bolt in her upper leg. It was a miracle that no major vessels or vital organs had been hit, but she had lost an incredible amount of blood nonetheless. And of course she had lost their unborn child. Quiet tears spilled unchecked down pale cheeks. Even that small part of him was gone. --- TO BE CONTINUED! View episodes in sequence for the entire story, links below. Please leave a comment or suggestions, your words mean more than you can imagine... Image and story © 2011 by Larry Hodge