Whoever it was didn’t so much as flinch at the sound of her voice. Seeming unaware of her presence, they turned away from her to face the nearest wall, placing a single hand on it.

Her heart picked up, fear beginning to rise at who this figure might be, or whether or not this was their land, and she was trespassing.

She had nothing but the skin on her back to defend herself with if they attacked, while they could easily be hiding a weapon or two beneath their cloak.

Fuck, she couldn’t even tell if they were human or Magyki, and if Reniya had taught her anything over the past week, it was that her physical skills meant nothing compared to a Magyki in control of their abilities.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

All right, kill them with kindness, right? It wasn’t her fault she was there, and maybe they were in the same predicament and just as confused as she was. And if they weren’t, then that meant they’d had to have entered from somewhere. Which meant she could exit. That’s what she needed to focus on.

“Kültha!” she called out again, raising a hand and jogging forward. She only made it a few feet before she stumbled, slicing her foot on an exceptionally sharp shard she hadn’t seen.

She hissed, jumping back and balancing on her good foot. Her blood coated the glowing rock, and she watched as it faded back to an almost invisible gray.

She cursed, darting a nervous glance to the stranger, but they still weren’t looking at her. It was like she wasn’t there at all. They just continued staring at the wall, tilting their head as they analyzed the softly glowing shards.

“Hey!” she yelled, automatically switching to the common tongue as pain radiated up her leg and panic began to build. Why couldn’t they hear her? “Can you help me, please? Or tell me where I am? Hello?”

She frowned when her chest suddenly warmed, but it was quickly followed by a flicker of confusion that didn’t belong to her.

Jaren.

Her heart squeezed. Even asleep, he’d sensed her pain and immediately woken to check on her. She took a deep breath, the knowledge calming her racing heart. Knowing she wasn’t alone, even when she felt like it, gave her the confidence she needed.

Jaren wouldn’t let anything happen to her and would wake her any second now.

Steeling her spine, she walked faster, clenching her teeth through the pain radiating up the arch of her foot. She needed to use what time she had and figure out why her mind kept transporting her to this gods damn place.

When she was only a couple feet away, the stranger’s back still to her, she ran forward, reaching out to grab their shoulder, hoping beyond hope, she didn’t get stabbed.

By the blood still leaking from her burning foot, it was safe to assume a dream dagger to the heart would hurt just as bad as a real one.