I felt a pang of disappointment that I was not dreaming of the floating islands, but I supposed that even a violent memory was better than nothing. Still, if I closed my eyes, sometimes I heard the sounds of the water falling off the islands and the distant cries of the white birds. Of course, the travels with Paug and his friends were reality. I had to accept it. But hadn’t the islands been my reality for so long? Which was more real? The bed was too soft and smelled of week old hay. I looked over at Iarin and Paug. Bright light from the two moons came through the windows and illuminated the room more than a torch would have. It was their first night in a real bed since their journey had started, so I was not surprised to see them in a deep slumber. We were in a small village on the south end of Brilla that seemed to specialize in cows, milk, and cheese. This was the only inn in the village, and we occupied two of their three rooms. From what Paug told me earlier, we still had a few days’ ride to Brilla's capital and about two weeks to Nia.
