42. Syssi

42

SYSSI

S yssi walked into Allegra's room and closed the door softly behind her. The nursery was peaceful, filled only with the soft sounds of Allegra's steady breathing.

Settling into the plush rocker in the corner, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

Opening herself to a vision was always a delicate process. It was like trying to slip through the cracks in reality. Too much blunt force, and she would bounce back, the crack closing and refusing further attempts. Too little, and she wouldn't make it through.

Over the years, she'd learned to find the balance and let her mind drift with just the right amount of guidance on her part, not too much and not too little, and at the same time, trying to maintain a tether to the present. The last was the most difficult to pull off. To summon a vision and slip through the cracks in space-time, she needed to let go as much as possible, but if she lost her tether to reality, she wouldn't be able to find her way back.

Trust, clear conscience, and good intentions were required as well.

She needed to trust the universe to keep her from harm, or she wouldn't let go enough to make it through. The clear conscience and good intentions were just a hypothesis, though. Since Syssi had never had a guilty conscience or harbored bad intentions, she couldn't test whether negativity would impact her ability.

All these thoughts delayed the onset of the vision, but she knew better than to try to push them aside. She had to let them flow through her and run their course until her mind quieted down and entered the receptive state.

As her breathing evened out and she entered a relaxed state that was very similar to the one between wakefulness and sleep, she felt the familiar sensation of the world falling away. Colors swirled behind her closed eyelids, formless at first, then slowly coalescing into shapes and scenes.

A vast expanse of sand stretched out before Syssi's mind's eye—an endless sea of golden dunes undulating to the horizon. The desert landscape shimmered under the relentless sun, its heat almost palpable even though she was just a specter, viewing the scene but not a part of it.

Nevertheless, she felt the dry, scorching wind against her skin and the fine grains of sand that seemed to permeate everything. The air was thick with the scent of sunbaked earth and ancient stone, but she was probably just imagining it based on what she was seeing.

Smell was unusual in visions.

In the distance, jagged mountains rose from the desert floor, their rocky peaks jutting into the cloudless sky like the spine of some great slumbering dragon. Their shadows stretched long across the sand, offering some respite from the sun's glare.

As her vision swept across the landscape, Syssi noticed the ruins of an ancient settlement half-buried by the surrounding dunes. Crumbling stone walls and broken columns peeked out from beneath the wavy sand, a silent testament to a long-gone civilization.

A lone figure stood atop a dune, the form wavering in the heat haze. At first, Syssi thought it was a man, but as the vision coalesced, she realized that the shape under the loose desert garb was feminine. The turban was male, though, as was the clothing.

Was the woman pretending to be a man?

It made sense. A female alone in those parts of the world would not survive for long.

As if her thoughts got the woman to reconsider her position, her form started to waver, but before she disappeared, she turned, and suddenly, Syssi was right in front of her and could see her face, or rather her eyes, which were the only part of her face that was not covered with a frayed scarf. They were big, brown, and had golden flakes swirling inside of them.

They were familiar, but before Syssi could remember where she had seen them before, the female disappeared.

The sun began to set, painting the sky in breathtaking hues of orange, pink, and purple. The temperature dropped rapidly, and Syssi could almost feel the chill settling over the land. Stars began to appear in the darkening sky, more numerous and brilliant than she had ever seen in the city.

The vision began to fade, the desert landscape dissolving like a mirage, but the impression of that harsh, beautiful land and the mysterious woman lingered in Syssi's mind.

Suddenly, everything stilled, the kaleidoscope collapsing into a single point, and reality rushed back in.