46. The Streaming Water

At the end of a busy street, there was a quiet lane heavily overgrown with maple trees. Steep, rocky mountains stretched behind the swath of murky brown woods. According to Oswald’s map, Slathar was concealed just beyond the path.

Leila was sitting on a swing, leaning against rough hemp ropes. She hid herself among the gorgeous golden foliage, and was listening to the leaves rustling in the wind.

Since they arrived at the Craggy Mountains, she had felt a sense of inexplicable exhaustion. Her mind was working slower as well. The whole morning, she had been observing the cotton-shaped clouds in the sky without taking much notice of her surroundings, as if the clouds weren’t far-off from the ground, but floated above her, only skin deep. Leila’s senses seemed enhanced. She could even predict the weather hours in advance. The humidity in the air rose, and the clouds grew darker as sparrows flew lower. She knew that heavy rainfall would hit the town very soon, as the morning chill had alre