“Be safe, Lani. Soon, not much of your home will remain.” Maur's words were stuck in me.

I was leaving for Capara soon with Maur's swarm. The landscape was fresh in my face, the fringes of my hair moved with pain like my eyes. I didn't mind if traveled too close to danger. Ryoken tribes were fleeing the pilot's shining lights. The specks reflected off my visor with passing degrees of worry. My people were fleeing east, trampling the countryside in a vain attempt to survive. I saw them splash through the rivers and stumble with their families, only to reach the eastern shores near Corsana, and wait patiently for death. It was hard to cross the rushing ocean straight by water.

The pilot's leeching scouts move in the air from afar. They erased those close to them from existence. The loving lights and feelings were consuming the Ryoken tribes like a virus. Few stood to resist. The ones who did, perished like expendable zealots. The stood against the redrawn world with their hatred and bandannas. Most of the Ryoken tribes were trying to follow the remnants of Lam Lathi to Capara. I was too ashamed to linger near the ones I was familiar with. They couldn't fly away like me. My jet-pack sputters. I make a rough landing.

I drop my heavy bag. It had my old messenger's gear. This would be the last time I saw my home like it was. I was on the eastern shore near Corsana. The swamps were thick and murky and I waded into the water feeling unsafe. I wanted to die with my people.

“This was Atjani's old home.”

I wade to a nearby shore and head up to the Corsana outskirts. I could smell the earthen soil in the lumbered walls. I strip out of my armor and equipment and put on my old messenger gear. The freshness of the dew tickled my fingertips. I breathe in and exhale with jittery sadness and fading excitement. This would be the last time I saw the Ryoken Island continent, before I flew over the ocean straight and onto the continental mainland. I quickly hide my jet-pack and gear behind a tree and dart into the city.

I enter a certain building and smell the musty air. The mugginess makes my clothes stick to me, as several green eyes look up at me and stare. Their cautious glances follow the creaking floorboards as I walk to the stairwell. I dart to the top. It led to a balcony.

The door closes behind me and I gaze out over the balcony. In the distance I see a vast light. It overshadowed the sun, like a second horizon. The pilot's looming new world was moving closer, but had halted for some time. He would reach Lapona soon and then here. I lean my hands on the balcony and stare out across the wooden city. I wait, as several boot steps follow me upstairs. I grip my tempest chains.

“This is a bad place for a Lam Lathi messenger,” says a hoarse voice.

I turn to see several green eyes. The resistance fighters were behind me. They eye my tempest chains with suspicion, knowing Lam Lathi had already been redrawn. I look around nervously, and lean up against the balcony railing. My knife was read to grab and throw, behind my leg. I didn't want any trouble.

“I'm staying here for now,” I say. “I'm fleeing too.”

The resistance fighters look at me. They wanted to kill me. There were six of them.

“Stuck here like the rest of us?”

“Yes.”

I didn't want to lie. I just wanted to find my old friend, Atjani. He had to be alive, somewhere. I think of my picture. I had gone exploring inside and ran into the monsters. The pilot had created new beings with our souls to guard anyone that tried to get into The Far Away Dream or its pieces. Neandeleria was infested too. I wasn't safe to be curious anymore.

“You're a little too pretty to be stuck in a place like this.”

The resistance fighters walk closer, but I step aside. There was table between me and them and I could kill all of them. I finger my picture in the back of my other boot. I focus. If anything happened, I would pull them all in and let the monsters kill them, by leaving them behind. No one would get to hold my hand and escape.

The resistance fighters weigh their odds. They could smell something funny. Finally, they spin a chair around and take a seat at the table. They pull a chair out for me. I take a seat cautiously. I sit on my hands.

“I'm looking for my friend, Atjani Kelsever.”

The resistance fighters look at me. A few of them laugh and respond.

“That traitor? He sold us out for Lam Lathi. He helped the creatures invade. Now, we're all dead.”

My eyes dart to the group. One of them leaves. He returns with a fancy drink and hands it to me. I take a sip. It tasted like strawberries with a sting of lemon. The group smiles at me. They were amused at my bravery.

“I respect you messenger. It's strange how enemies complete us sometimes. Without Lam Lathi around, I'm just a bum looking for a cause. I used to be a hero.”

I stare at the man and everyone introduces themselves with silent gestures. They pass around a cigarette and look at me. I could tell they had a lot to say about my old friend. They still didn't trust me. Even with Lam Lathi gone, the snake still had venom in its fangs. One breath and one bite could be their end. The group eyes my tempest chains by my side. They look at my knife and nod.

“Kelsever is dead. Our possessors saw him get wiped at Lam Lathi.”

“Serves him right for betraying our bloodline,” adds another.

I try to avoid the extra comments. I take a look behind me at our new glowing enemy. It felt like waking up at night, only to realize it was bright outside and already the afternoon. Soon the refugees would reach Corsana and then it would be over. A calm silence had overtaken the city. The inhabitants were afraid and looking for any way to leave. My eyes dart around the table and I continue to drink.

“What did you want to know about your Atjani?”

“Nothing.” I motion

I remain silent. The news made me sad. I could feel Atjani's own pain when he lost Melinal. News of his death was slowly sinking into my reality. I hoped he found her. I had to bring him back somehow. It wasn't fair that life had separated me from my travel friend. The budding flowers never grew. I was alone in the world like a real messenger. I was starting to think it was a curse. I pick at the table, reading the graffiti on its surface. It distracted me as I thought of nothing.

“Here was slang girl. I knew every dirty and nasty word my people ever taught their bodies. I knew what it was to be hated. I knew the true love I never found. I knew how to dance the stages and dream of romance in the night. I hate Lam Lathi.”

“Patience, child.”

“I still love Lam Lathi. I feel you.”

I complete the conversation, etching the last comment into the table with my knife. I hold my middle finger inward toward my palm and brush it up my chest, meaning “feel.” The others watch me, sharing drinks, and waiting for the pilot to come get them. The ships were overcrowded and many were prime targets for stray leechers to gather energy. Smaller groups were best, unless you had a hidden jet-pack like me. I knew I would be killed for it if anyone found out.

The resistance fighters grin. The day gets brighter and they head inside. I dart over to the balcony ledge and take one last look around. The natural air made me feel alive. I didn't know everything about my dreamer, but I knew I could create things. I also wondered if I could create things in the pilot's redrawn areas. It was his new picture, but it wouldn't be safe to try alone. I needed to be cautious and figure everything out slowly. I wished someone had the answers.

“Mmm....”