I jerked awake from another dream about Ysrthgrathe. He was in my mind again. Invading my thoughts and dreams just like he had all those years ago. It made me feel unclean. Like something slimy had crawled across my skin.Caimbeul was asleep next to me. He snored a little and I gave him a bit of a push to make him stop. I wanted to wake him and tell him about my dream, but I didn’t. I had learned long ago that it was better not to involve anyone else in matters concerning Ysrthgrathe.Outside it was dark. I found flying to be strange, as though I were suspended in time and space. Another manifestation of my distrust of technology. Perhaps all this metal and cold, analytical thought reminded me too much of the Therans. The result of their devotion to purity had ruined so many. Like the Huns, they thought nothing of conquering and laying waste to any and all who opposed them. And like the Romans, they swallowed whole civilizations and digested them into unrecognizable pieces. They so believed in their own purity that they sacrificed the world.But all of that time was gone.
