I awoke in my room above Tailor Fang's shop, to the sound of a deep masculine voice, but the words were muffled by the closed door. My eyes fluttered as I tried to fight off the immense weight of exhaustion that seemed to be pinning my entire body into my bedroll. Holding my breath, I was able to move my right hand by a few inches before the effort became too much, and the exhaustion once again made me slip into the darkness.
When I awoke on my low bed once more, the morning light was filtering through the thin curtains to bathe the room in a pale blue light. My eyes stung as they adjusted to the new light, taking in a vague human shape in front of the window as I blinked hard against the sun.
"Uh, wha-" my voice choked off with the dryness in my throat. I swallowed what felt like a spiked burr down my throat and I found my voice again, "What happened?"
"You've been out all night," Fang's voice was soft as she turned from the window to face me. "Whatever happened to you that left you so exhausted?"
"I... I'm not too sure," I mumbled as I tried to sit up, making a pathetic attempt to fight the sheets that had seemed to come alive some time during the night to set upon me. Finally out of the sheets, I sat, sweating and breathless but at least my eyes were focusing better now. I could see Fang, her face had an eerie blue tint from the curtains and she looked worried. "I'm OK now, though. I think," I had to admit, I wasn't convinced myself.
"Well, you should rest. I spoke to the Elder I was so worried, and he said you're not to leave the house for another day." She came over to me, kneeling beside me and putting her hand on my shoulder. "You stay here, young lady, I want you back on your feet and back to work as soon as we can. I have that huge order to fill and there'll be more next week I know it." Fang began to fuss over me, pushing my shoulders back down and tucking me back beneath the sheets. "I'll bring you something to eat later, just you rest now."
I tried to wriggle out of the sheets again, they were too hot and I felt the need for air, for the forest again, but I'd used what little strength that I'd recovered in sitting up. With a sigh I relaxed. What had really happened yesterday? My mind wanted to remember but there was something that wouldn't quite fit. I saw myself on the gate of Etherblade, the sun high behind me and there was this strange feeling. Some sort of power flowing through me like nothing I'd felt before, and a golden light shining below me.
It was no use. I turned over to lie on my right side, meaning to sleep and hoping that I'd remember something more when something dug into my thigh. I reached into the pocket of my trousers and my fingers found something smooth and metallic, warm from my body heat. I pulled it out, wrestling my arm from beneath the sheets one last time. It was the coin, golden light reflected from the window shone on my face and I could almost feel the warmth of it. So I hadn't been dreaming, I had made it to the top of the gate. That feeling, it was like something from another world, yet it was so much a part of me. Thinking about it made my head spin and I let my arm drop, the light reflected from the coin dimming with it. I was so tired, heavy with exertion and my head throbbed with pain now. Closing my eyes, I tried to clear my mind, but the darkness swallowed me and I was asleep.
The next morning I woke up with something like my old energy back and made my way stiffly down the narrow stars to the room we used as both a kitchen and a sewing room at the back of our shop. Fang was busying herself at the small stove and flashed me a concerned smile as I eased myself on to one of the high stools at the breakfast bar come cutting table.
"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked, setting a bowl of rice congee in front of me and putting a hand to my forehead.
"I'm fine." I assured her, though I wasn't one hundred percent sure myself as I stretched, the muscles in my shoulders protesting. "If it makes you feel better, just let me do something easy today."
"We've got a lot of new fabric needs cutting, you can sit in here and do that, but it will have to be later." Fang sat with her bowl next to me. "The Elder said you were to go and speak with him when you could get up again. So finish your breakfast and tidy yourself up a little, we don't want you going out looking like you've been asleep in your clothes for days, do we?"
"No, Fang." I said with my usual lack of enthusiasm, my mentor worried too much about appearances for my tastes, but I would hate to ever see her upset so I finished my congee and headed back up the narrow stairs. My knees were stiff and ached as I reached the top step and ducked through the curtain covering the small door or my room.
I changed quickly into my smartest trousers and tunic, usually reserved for celebrations, I knew Fang would send me back if I wore anything else, and this was the Elder of my city I was going to see. Maybe he could give me some answers, everyone said he was the most intelligent man in the city and he had seen so much. As I made my way back through the shop, I could only think of the past few days, even as Fang fussed and straightened my hair I was thinking of that strange feeling. I stepped into the sun with one thought on my mind, I had to ask the Elder what he thought had happened.
* * *
I was shaded from the ever present sun as I waited under the stone roof of the Elder's conclave, staring up at the huge stone dragon and waiting on the return of the clerk I had spoken to. People milled about me as I sat on a long stone bench outside one of the smaller office doors. I doubted that the Elder would grant me audience in his grand chambers, not even the local businessmen had that privilege these days. A lot had changed even since I had made my home in Etherblade, there seemed to be a shadow hanging over the city now with Wraith attacks feared at any time, food being short and trade routes dangerous. People were spending less time in the open, going out only when they had to and businesses were suffering. Fang was lucky in a way, people would always need clothes and warriors would always need armours, so we were staying afloat now by taking in more orders for battle wear than her famous embroidered tunics.
"Miss Nanashi?" The clerk stirred me from my melancholy, bowing to her, she nodded her head, clutching her clipboard closely, "The Elder will see you now, if you'd follow me into the office?"
I rose and followed the petite clerk into the relative darkness of the offices, the quiet sounds of outdoors fading and being replaced by the bustle of many secretaries sorting a million things at once. The clerk led me past many tables filled with ledgers and papers to the back of the offices where it was darker and she knocked on a wooden door, a rare thing in our city, then we both waited for what seemed like an hour until a deep male voice replied.
"Enter."