Valencia had only been a member of the Peak for a few days, and already some stranger who watched from the shadows had gotten greedy. She had, perhaps imprudently, assumed that she could rely on the Vulcan Thinkers—whoever they were—to protect her from these situations. Evidently she had been wrong, and although it disappointed her a little, she wasn’t angry or even annoyed; she had never had to rely on others before.

She had learnt her lesson now, and she would not let this happen again.

But for now she had to deal with what had happened, which meant paying this mysterious ‘Badr’ a visit in order to straighten things out. Similarly, she was neither angry nor annoyed at him; she had merely been inconvenienced, wished that it hadn’t have happened, and was determined to solve the problem.

Upon arriving on Salem, for the second time in what felt like an exceedingly long day, Valencia was reminded to be grateful for the cooling saltwater on her back as she arrived on the shore of the Dunes territory. Pale gold sand stretched out before her as far as she could see, but she did not pause to admire the scenery, and moved ahead at a swift but gentle trot that she could keep up for extended periods of time.

She did not know who Evrona was, but since she had been stolen also, Valencia was expecting she might bump into her on her journey at any time.

By the time she had reached a small oasis the unforgiving heat had dried Valencia’s peaches-and-cream coat and was steadily cooking her from the outside in. It was not quite as hot as the Desert, but it was quite close. Pausing to drink from the refreshing pool, satisfied to have found a water source, she decided she would go no further.

She sought some kind of refuge from the sun in the small amount of shade behind a small dune covered in rough grasses by the water’s edge, and waited with impatient eyes for Badr to arrive.

tell me your secrets and ask me your questions