Sleep, allusive and dangerous evaded Yanni once more as the spirits woke her, urging her to move. Lifting her tired head, she gathered her things, turning to identify the one she should thank.
“My blessing,” Yanni bid one of the many memories she saw surrounding her.
Keeping herself low, she hoped to clear the final distance with the last of the freshwater she had required to make her departure. Using her staff to part the plants before her as she moved, she could hear the search party she had been alerted to finally get within hearing distance.
The distance she needed to breach was now short, and her pursuers appeared to have picked up her scent. Hunting drakes were quickly closing in, their unmistakable bolting slithers sounding much like a sharp wind across grassland.
Using her staff to steady her, she hurried down a large slope towards the water that came into sight as she reached its peak. Snatching a rope from a branch without pause as she continued, she quickly dragged forth the raft that had been hidden beneath bracken and foliage. Dropping her over ladened pack onto the raft as it crossed over onto sandy shoreline, Yanni swung her staff in warning as the hunting drakes began to close in.
Hurrying backwards into the water, dragging the raft behind her, Yanni knew if she could withdraw far enough into the water the drakes wouldn’t dare approach her for fear of drowning. Heaving the rope towards her with immense strength, the raft snapped clear of the shore and began to float.
Drawing up the remaining rope, Yanni pushed the raft past her so she could lay herself upon it and paddle with her hands. This was everyone’s last chance. If she failed to escape, it would spell the end of her herd.
Fortune favored Yanni. For foul or fair she was free of certain death and had given herself over to fate. Trusting the foreign voices and their reassurance that a better life was waiting should she give herself to the tides in journey, she celebrated the seldom achieved moment of safety and meditated.
They were still reaching towards her. She was still being reassured that the resurrection of her herd would be achieved if she gave herself to their calling. If their intent was devious, she cared not. She would deal with it all as it came. Death would have been a certainty had she ignored them.
In this manner Yanni drifted.
Not keeping track of time as she shielded herself from the glare of the sun by day to use the same blanket to keep her warm by night, when land finally came into sight she had been a single day without water. Regarding the approaching shoreline hopefully, she marvelled at the vast stretches of greenery she gazed upon.
Encountering an older human woman wandering the beach she made landfall on, Yanni was pleased to discover that not only did the woman not appear to be hostile, but the language barrier was minimal.
Receiving council and directions, Yanni carried herself south along the causeway as instructed, reassured she was in no immediate danger as the few she passed appear to pay her little heed.
“I seek sanctuary,” she informed the gate guards as she approached.
Wandering west along the road, seeking council from the spirits that soon attached themselves to her, Yanni found herself in the center of the city. Unsure what to make of the scene as a town guard was facing their demise, she faltered briefly as Ghull finished the guard off. The reaction from the others present made it apparent this was not an unusual event of any sort, so she forced herself forward as she was noticed too late to go around.
Unsure if the voices that beseeched her from afar had perhaps been tricking her, after discovering these new lands kept their dead behind gates, their minotaurs in mazes, and their gods locked in temples, Yanni let the spirits of the city guide her through the labyrinth. Settling her indecision on her conversation with the Minotaur of the Maze, Yanni would take the city as her new home if it would have her.
Departing the labyrinth, directed by the spirits of the city, she soon found herself outside the Monk's Guild door. Accepting council from Brother Sundial, Yanni accepted the nameless spirits had spoke true. In this place she would once more be safe. In this place, the spirits of her tribe could once again be reborn.