35th Day of Winter in the Year 520 AV
With the passage of time within her Dominion being difficult to gauge, Ialari slept when she was tired and woke when she was not. There were no real signs of the transition from day to night as such things happened as she willed it. Having spent her time awake communing with her Dominion and pondering the various aspects of reality, Ialari found herself growing tired. Thus it was the life she lived within the Ukalas; ever pondering, trying to piece together the secrets that made up the weave that was herself. It was the lead up to embracing one of the pieces of her soul that hung from the Tree of Death that ever loomed over her claimed space within the fabric of all things. Sitting in front of the statue of the great coiled snake she’d crafted years prior, Ialari stirred from her meditations with a yawn. She’d been procrastinating on her return to Mizahar and to Syka. As much as she wanted to, it was not so easy to leave her Dominion. The dangers of spending too much time in the Ukalas included a transformation. The longer one spent there, the harder it was to leave. Simply being there affected not only the body but also the mind and even the soul. The fact that she knew she needed to leave was important as the it was the last thing to vanish when one was there too long.
Having resolved herself to leaving after a much-needed sleep, Ialari had prepared her gear and went over in her mind how she would reintroduce herself to the world. Instead of leaving through the Cave of Everywhere’s Door, she would open another door directly into Syka through the Panacea. It would be jarring to anyone who witnessed it but would also present an opportunity for some form of explanation. It was something she couldn’t keep hidden forever; her time away and sudden arrival. A conversation seed as she had come to think of it as.
With a bit of exhausted stretching, she stood and proceeded to walk over to the makeshift bed. Crafted from wood, leaves and bits of cloth, it was simple yet comfortable. Taking one last look around her at the beauty that had been created from the depths of her own mind, Ialari laid down upon the bed and allowed sleep to overtake her.
Waking was slow and foggy. The sounds of seabirds echoed in her mind while the distinct scent of the sea filled her nose. Opening her eyes, Ialari blinked several times and stretched her legs. As her mind pushed through the fog of sleep, she slowly realized that she was no longer lying in her bed. The ground beneath her felt different; as if she were laying on sand. Her eyes opened abruptly and light overcame her. Now awake, she quickly sat up and looked around. The ever-familiar sight of her Dominion was gone, replaced by a scattering of palm trees and sand. The sounds of crashing waves were all around punctuated by the calls of seabirds. The salty, fishy smell of the ocean tickled her nose.
“What the…?” She muttered as she stood. Looking around, Ialari found herself standing on what initially looked like the coast not unlike the place where she’d anchored her Dominion on the eastern coast of Syliras. At first, she thought that maybe the landscape of her Dominion had shifted as it had done years prior. This thought quickly vanished since she knew that that her enhanced bond with the Dominion had eliminated such shifts. Closing her eyes, she reached out and focused on that bond, reaching out to the Ukalas. She found nothing. The bond was not there, she was no longer in the Ukalas.
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