Despite its heat, Layard still felt a chill. He had been suffering from a growing fever for the past few days and was finding it hard to keep food down. Hunger and dehydration were beginning to tell upon him. As each pace of his horse brought him closer to a region that was nothing but a blank on his maps, so too did Layard feel himself drifting slowly from reality. He tried to concentrate on the world around him, searching about for landmarks that could anchor him firmly in the physical sphere and keep him from being consumed by the nightmare world of fantasies that was haunting him.In every direction, the plain was dotted with fortified villages, each dominated by a cylindrical, mud-walled fort. To the right were the distant Elwend Mountains, which separated the plain from the Luristan and Zagros ranges. Towering over the town of Douletabad behind them was the great peak of Kuh Arsenou. Layard paused and looked at its fine, conical snow-capped peak. The view looked familiar. For a moment, Layard had a clear picture in his mind, of a room with two great falcons, staring from a window at that very view.
