At first, all I knew was cold.

Then, all I knew was heat.

A steady, baking, familiar heat.

The heat of sunlight.

Though maybe that was too strong of a word for the sensation, at least at first. It was more like a faint glimmer of that heat I knew so well. A taste. A faint glimmer that grew and expanded with time.

Then there was the light.

And then... Then I felt even more. The sound of a strong breeze blowing nearby. The feel of something hard underneath me. Rock?

It was as if I was in a dream, everything more subdued, watered down. As if I was experiencing all of it through a veil. A thick veil, one that did more than just blur and separate. It was almost like a wall...but not quite.

And then...

It was as if someone turned the volume all the way to max. My eyes snapped open and I cried out involuntarily at the sudden bombardment of...everything.

I immediately closed my eyes again.

Everything was too much with that comforting veil ripped away. The feel of the sun beating down on me was hot, almost too hot, in a way I'd never felt. I was a creature of the sun. It could not burn me.

But even just the feeling of my hair slipping against my own skin felt like too much, the texture of the stone under me. The sounds and feel of the breeze was harsh. Like it had gone through some kind of nightmare modification, every noise amplified and discordant in some way.

I took a moment just to breathe. Even that simple physical movement felt too intense somehow.

All I could do was lie there and try to get through it, try to get my bearings.

What was going on? Why was a lying out here naked? Had I just changed? And why did it feel as if every inch of me, inside and out, was so raw and sensitive? After a few minutes, all of the signals calmed down a bit, enough so I felt as though I might actually brave the world around me.

Sitting up gingerly, I opened my eyes, half afraid of what I might see. The familiar desert landscape spread out before me. Expansive and beautiful in its stark glory. I took a moment simply to appreciate it, to let the beauty of home soothe me.

But then I got slowly to my feet, feeling a sense of vague urgency as I took a step on the hot stone, the heat warming the soles of my feet.

I frowned.

I knew I needed to do something...

I turned on the path I'd stepped down onto, my foot hitting something cool and slick that I hadn't noticed before. It was clear. A clear box of some kind, one side of it cracked. It looked like it had fallen...

I looked away from it, my eyes settling on a nearby plaque. A plaque with someone's name on it.

Feeling a vague sense of dread, I started down the path, noting more names. There was something significant about this place, about those names. It was right there at the edge of my mind. But when I tried to see it, I simply couldn't grasp it. It slipped away every time I tried to get a handle on the knowledge. Frustrated, I finally stopped trying, feeling a headache coming on.

Keeping my eyes on the path directly in front of me, I started down it. It felt wrong to go down for some reason, but I didn't see a path leading anywhere else. So I kept going.

It had to go somewhere, and somewhere was better than staying...wherever here was. Dubious logic, but it was all I had.

The path curved around, until the wall of rock on one side of me abruptly gave way and I saw the city spread out before me. A city built along the mountain's side with pretty roofs and narrow streets.

The capital. That piece of information rose up in my own mind, floating up from the murky depths that I couldn't navigate quite yet. This was the capital.

I stared at it, stared at the bustling activity going on in the streets. Perhaps there would be answers here. At least people to ask.

So I continued to follow the path, until it became an actual road instead of just sand under my feet. I was in the city. That was...good. It was progress, at any rate. But I needed to go up. I had a driving need to go in that direction. I frowned, trying to tease out why. There was...something... No, that wasn't right. There was...someone.

Yes.

Someone...

I kept walking. Straight to the center of the city, where I saw the first platform. I needed to go there. That would take me up to...

I heard someone let out a short scream and looked over, startled by the sharp sound. It was a woman with silky, straight dark hair and a wide-eyed child on her hip who burst into tears, staring at his mother. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide, her mouth still open in that scream that had me looking her way. Why was she afraid? I didn't see anyone attacking her as she stared at me.

Frowning, I continued walking. There didn't seem to be any danger nearby. I looked around again to make sure. And caught another set of frightened eyes, these ones belonging to an old man who quickly backed away from me, his eyes as wide as the woman's.

What was going on? After that, I kept my head down and hurried forward. I didn't know what was happening. But I didn't want to hear any more screams.

I made it to the platform, which was thankfully empty. I welcomed the quiet of the enclosed interior of the gondola, though I didn't sit down. I still didn't have clothes on. I looked down at my naked body. I needed clothes. Perhaps that was why everyone was reacting so strangely to me. Something didn't sound quite right about that, but again, it slipped away when I tried to hold on to the thought.

My mind wasn't working quite right. Some things came easily, others drifted away. Trying too hard seemed to almost make it more difficult see into those darker, muddled corners I wanted to understand.

That wasn't normal. Something I didn't need to be thinking clearly to understand.

At the next stop, a laughing group of schoolgirls stepped onto the car. But the one in front froze as soon as she saw me.

"Mira, what's wrong...?" The girl behind her trailed off as she caught sight of me as well.

And then all of them backed out of the gondola immediately, their faces frightened, though not one of them let out a sound louder than a gasp.

I frowned. Something was wrong. Very wrong. But I still couldn't dredge up what it could be by the time I made it to the very top, to the very last platform.

This was where I needed to go. To the top. I got out of the gondola and onto that platform.

I stared at the grand structure in front of me. Large and ornate and colorful. It was a lot to take in, But I needed to keep going. I knew that much.

So I walked over to the...palace. Yes, the palace. That was where I needed to be.

Someone stopped me before I could go in, a firm hand on my arm.

"Miss, you cannot just..."

I turned to look at the man. At the guard. He immediately let go of me as if burned, taking a large step back.

"You..."

He shook his head, staring at me. He, at least, looked more shocked than frightened.

"I need to go inside," I explained, gesturing.

He blinked at me. Deciding to take his silence as consent, I turned around and continued walking. There was some kind of commotion behind me, but I ignored it as I walked inside. I didn't want anyone to stop me now that I was close. I needed to go...

I wasn't sure. So I stopped trying to think. And let my feet guide me. Until someone stepped directly in my path.

"What are you...Adara?"

I looked up as the irritated voice trailed off into a soft question. My eyes colliding with stunned dark ones. I felt something burst in my mind as I met those eyes. A painful flash. Everything came back in a rush, my mind clarifying in a torturously brief second.

Sven.

The fire.

Nothingness.

"Sven," I gasped.

And felt everything go dark around the edges.

I felt my body start to topple, my control over it wavering.

But then hard arms wrapped around me.

And I knew I was safe.