A young maiden lay dozing on the forest floor, a slight itch across the back of her neck where the grass rubbed against her bare skin. She was lost in a dream world, and the dream was beyond anything she could have imagined in waking hours.

The world was dark and murky, the swamp sucking the girl’s feet into the mud. Just ahead, the still green water became deep, deep enough for even a hippopotamus to live in, and there in fact one lived. The girl had seen it, had stopped in fear of getting to close, but her horse had gotten away from her and stood just a few feet from where the hippopotamus had been seen not but a minute before. The young girl called out to the horse, trying to coax it back to her and away from what she expected to be danger, but the horse was thirsty and even though the water was grotesque, it had to have a drink.

As the horse placed its nose to the water, the hippopotamus emerged and attacked, attempting to pulverize the poor horse. The horse was not your ordinary horse though; this horse was string, fast, and cunning. The hippopotamus caught the horse’s leg, but could only hold on for a short moment as the horse reared back high and jerked its feet from the hippo’s mouth. A small amount of blood ran down the horse’s legs, and so the horse took its revenge. It brought its feet down hard on the hippo’s skull, crushing it with one blow, and the hippo that had attacked, well, it never did that again.

The young girl was ecstatic, for her horse had survived and she would no longer have to worry about the evil hippo. She ran to her horse and hugged it tightly about the neck, never wanting to let go. Little did the sleeping maiden know that the dream was of her mother, a story her mother had once told, but that only one side of her mind had heard, and that had been the evil side. Something within her wanted the two sides to meet, but they were not ready, and so little pieces began to be shared in her dreams.

A brisk breeze blew across the maiden, causing her to awaken. She glanced around, confused as to where she was and to where her cloak had gotten. She always wore her cloak to keep warm and couldn’t remember losing it, but it seemed that she must have for it was no where that she could see. She would have liked to have the cloak as she was chilled, but she just couldn’t find it. Added to the cold, she could feel an itch on her neck. She reached back and rubbed at it, trying to get the itch to calm. Caranrendis had always been fairly sensitive to grass, even as a child she would itch anytime she rolled in the grass. Her mother had told her that she was likely allergic, that people who were allergic to grass would itch when it touched them, but that it was nothing to worry about. The itch may become slightly annoying, but it would not hurt her as long as she did not take her nails to it. That was why she merely rubbed at the itch, she had always loved and trusted her mom, so if her mom said to rub an itch and not attack it with her nails, that was what Caranrendis would do.

As she tried to calm the itch, she heard someone come up behind her. She spun around, causing her calf to contact with the grass and another itch to form. She hated how sensitive she was to the grass, how it made her itch so much, and thought it odd that some days it was much worse then others. There had even been days when she had no itch after being in the grass for hours, but her mom had never been able to explain the reason for this to her.

After rubbing the itch, Caranrendis looked up to see a short tribal looking man standing above her. She gulped slightly because the man was covered in tribal paint and he held a spear that looked very sharp. She didn’t even know if the man could speak the common tongue, but if he couldn’t she didn’t know what she would do.

Even as she was thinking this, the man said, “Hello beautiful maiden.” She did not know that he did not truly think her beautiful, he just thought she looked like she could make a tasty meal. “It seems that you have an itch, if you come with me I could get you some salve. Our salve has been called the best around for relieving an irritating itch. You could join my clan for a meal, and warm up by our fire.”

“I would very much appreciate the use of your salve as well as a meal and a chance to warm up by a fire.” Caranrendis responded. She had no idea that the salve would not be to help her, but to make her tasty, that the man wished to warm her for eating and that the only reason she would share in the meal was that he planned on her being the meal. She followed the little tribal man into Talche'el, thinking that she had caught an amazing break.

When she entered the city and saw what kinds of creatures lived within, saw the hungry looks on their faces, she gulped deeply. I deeply regret trusting this man, it was not the best of choices I have ever made, she thought to herself. Just then, the man grabbed her arms and pushed her towards a large pot under which a strong fire burned. She also caught sight of her cloak around a tribal woman, it was probably this man’s wife. If she didn’t do something quickly, she was going to be dinner.