Free Conflict by Pedro Urvi Page A

strong sense of duty. Every day with him had been a delight, and to her surprise she found herself looking forward to the next day, to seeing him again and spending another evening with him, enjoying his company, his smile and his warmth.
    Still, those thoughts were foolish; her duty was with the Order of Tirsar and the Healers, and there was no room in her life for feelings like that.
    The strange mist now covered everything. It was as though she were sinking into a deep reverie, so that what was happening no longer seemed weird or threatening.
    The medallion flashed bright brown.
    Nothing happened.
    There was a new flash.
    Nothing.
    A third flash came from the jewel.
    And the medallion stopped shining, dimmed. The mist faded gradually. The young man with emerald eyes did not answer the summons of the Medallion of Earth.
    Pity, but perhaps better this way.
    She then realized where she was, surrounded by savage Usik in all likelihood, who if they found her would kill her.
    Or perhaps not.
    The hard truth was that she was alone. And alone she must fight and get out of there. It was time to move, to act whether she wanted to or not. She had to survive. Her clothes would still take a while to dry completely, but the temperature was pleasant and there was no risk of catching cold. She was still wearing the corselet of the Protectress Sisters’ armor, as well as the arm and leg pieces. She took them off and dried them thoroughly, one by one, so they would not rust. She went over the few possessions which had survived the river and put the armored pieces back on. She only had the dagger and a couple of leather pouches attached to her girdle: one contained medicinal plants, the other an ointment that encouraged scarring and prevented infections in wounds.
    She stared at the roaring waterfall, in all its splendor and magnificence. She had to go up-river, that was all she was certain of. The problem was how. It was clearly impossible to climb the vertical wall of the high waterfall so she tried to find a feasible alternative. She would have to go around the cliff and find a way to get to the upper reach of the river. After considering both sides of the wall, she finally decided to go right, as that side looked less steep and difficult.
    Filled with optimism, she began the search for a way out of the endless forest.
    She walked all morning, hardly stopping to rest, with her optimism gradually dwindling in the face of the difficulties of what she was attempting. To make things worse, she had not found a way to reach the river again. No matter how far she walked, she could not get all the way around the endless upland above her head. And what made her heart sink even more was that with every step she took, she moved further away from the river.
    Her surroundings, on the other hand, had not changed, there were still great oaks and firs wherever she looked. The underbrush, jungle-like, reached her knees and made her wonder at the variety of plants, many of them totally unknown to the Healer.
    Oh Helaun! This doesn’t look good . The course of action she had chosen that morning, full of hope, was not turning out as well as she had expected; the river was nowhere to be seen. Her heart sank as she wondered what to do, but there were no answers to be found. Trying to look on the positive side, she had been supremely lucky to survive the river and the waterfall. She was alive and would stay that way. I’ll manage to get out of these woods.
    As she went around a big oak on her right, she found some wild berries. She inspected them carefully, suddenly hopeful.
    They’re edible berries!
    The discovery made her forget her troubles at once. It meant she would not die of hunger. She had glimpsed several deer among the trees to the south. But I can’t even hunt a rabbit, and anyway, how could I catch an animal as big and wary as a deer without my bow? Once again she felt impotent, foolish and ashamed of being a well-bred ninny unable to hunt for