“Not you.” She said, flicking her pointed hat above the brim.

  “Are these… others who have been ensnared by the illusion?” asked Hoxley. “But what killed them?” Robert approached the first body that had been a sizeable man with a satchel of goods still clenched in his boney hands. The tip of his broom pushed the body over to reveal an empty canteen with the cork removed. He moved another and another, each with empty canteens.

  “They didn’t know they were trapped and ran out of water.”

  “What is this…sorcery?” asked the prince.

  “Such magic power…this can only be the work of the lich.” Said Idris. “We must leave this place at once.”

  “But how?” asked Morell. “How do we keep from becoming like them? I don’t want to die here.”

  “They didn’t listen to my words.” Whispered the voice on the wind.

  “There’s that voice again.” Said Idris. “Show yourself!” He declared to the wind in every direction. “We see through your wickedness!”

  “I can hear you…but I cannot see you.” It said.

  “But if you could see us, what would you do then?” Asked Hoxley.

  “Many things I could show you.” Said the voice.

  “Could you show us the way out of this desert?” She asked.

  “Yes, I could.” It said. “But you must find me first and release me.”

  “Release you from what?”

  “The shadows… the shadows that bind me.”

  “Shadows?” Siouxsie asked the others “But there are no shadows here.”

  “There is one shadow in the desert. If you hurry, you may find it in enough time to survive.”

  “Riddles?” asked Hoxley. “Find a shadow that shouldn’t exist? How can we find you?”

  “Find my voice to find the shadow.”

  “But your voice is coming from every direction!”

  “You will not find me using your eyes.”

  “This is nonsense!” said the prince. “Riddles upon riddles!”

  “Perhaps not.” Said Hoxley, closing her eyes.

  “There you are.” Said a voice in not just in her ears but in her mind.

  “What do I do now?” she asked

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  “Keep them closed and let me guide you.”

  With her eyes closed tight, the voice no longer seemed to be coming from all directions at once. It seemed to be guiding her…south. With no options left to her, she gripped her spear tight and began walking.

  “Hey! Hoxley! Where are you going?” asked Morell. The faun girl gave no reply but instead continued walking away from the group.

  “I say we follow her.” Said Siouxsie as she started walking the same way.

  “We’re following a faun girl with her eyes closed whose being led by a ghostly voice in a desert full of the dead?” asked the prince.

  “Yes.” Robert said looking back over his shoulder “I don’t think we have another choice. You’re welcome to stay here with the dead people if you like….I wouldn’t.” The remaining members looked stunned at one another before begrudgingly moving along.

  Hoxley walked blind across the desolate landscape, her companions close behind. Every so often she would speak to the void that guided her and changed her course.

  “Who are you?” Hoxley asked

  “I cannot remember who I am supposed to be, although i know I should be somebody.” The answer seemed odd enough on its own.

  “If you cannot remember, how do you know?” Hoxley asked.

  “I feel it.” said the voice. “I know I should be somewhere, but I know only the nothingness that surrounds me.”

  “Then we have something in common.” Said Hoxley. “We too are caught up in a similar situation.”

  “What’s it saying?” asked Prince Damron. “We can’t hear it.”

  “Close your eyes and follow me.” Said Hoxley.

  “How am I supposed to follow you with my eyes closed?”

  “Here.” Hoxley said, holding her hand out for him to take. “Come walk with me. Everyone! Catch up and take one another’s hands and close your eyes.” The others stowed their weapons before catching up. Idris stood next to the prince, followed by Robert, Siouxsie, and lastly Morell, who eagerly jumped at the chance to hold the witch girl’s hand.

  “Your prison is not my design. said the whisper “It was made by another.”

  “I can hear what she’s saying.” said Morell.

  “Another you say? Do you know who that person is?”

  “It was a dark one, an evil man with a face I cannot remember. He took me from where I was and used dark magic to make me as I am. Here is so much I can’t recall, but I know I was not like this before…”

  “Then she’s been cursed.” Said Siouxsie. “How awful.”

  “Could it have been a witch that cursed her?” asked Morell.

  “It is possible, but unlikely.” Said Siouxsie. “Magic like that is hard to come by…and even if someone had such magic and used it, the rest of the witches would condemn them for committing such a terrible act. No one person should have such power over another, witch or not.”

  “Agreed.” He said.

  And so it was that the companions continued on through the night, walking blind but hand in hand across a magic labyrinth with only the raspy whisper of the cursed to guide them along. In the silent hours before dawn, the voice told them to stop.

  “Open your eyes.” said the voice. The companions did as they were told and let go from one another but found their surroundings to be no different than the place they’d started from. Their eyes panned the landscape and found nothing but a singular jawless skull perched atop a rock the size of a fist.

  “Is this it?” asked Siouxsie.

  “More remains? This can’t be it.” said Idris, his head whipping about in every direction. “There’s nothing here.”

  “Hello?” asked Hoxley. “Are you there? Can you see us?”

  “I cannot see you…but I can hear you.”

  “The skull.” asked Robert. “Could it be a marker? A grave perhaps?”

  “What would be the point of hiding a grave here instead of the dunes we passed?” Asked Morell. Someone would have to be out of their head to start digging up dunes in a desert!” The prince grew more and more frustrated. His nostrils flared and his fist tightened around the handle of his shield.

  “This is madness!” He erupted. “Whispering voices? A desert that never grows dark? Magic illusions? I’ve had enough! We’ve wasted enough time with this foolishness!”

  “Please calm down.” Said Hoxley. “This isn’t the time for getting angry. It’s not going to get us any closer to getting out of this mirage any faster.”

  “Look around us, Hoxley! It’s a perfectly good time for getting angry! I’m sick of this heat! I’m sick of walking in this…this…nothingness!” he said, looking at the skull seated upon the rock on the ground. “And I’m sick of seeing dead people!” With that, Prince Damron took a stutter step toward the skull on the ground a reared his foot back.

  “No! Stop!” shouted Siouxsie “Don’t kick the-“She tried to warn him, but it was too late. His boot sent both the skull and rock skittering off into the distance. When his foot came down, it landed in the exact place where the two had been stacked. The second the sole of his boot touched the spot, an acrid cloud of black tendrils shot out of the ground, wrapping around the boys’ shoe and tunneling its way up his pants’ leg. The wisps grew and thickened as they raced upwards, surfacing and diving in and out of his clothes. Horrified, he screamed and danced in fear to get free.

  “Ahhhhhh! ahh! ah! ahhhhh! get it off of me! get it off! help me!” Prince Damron slapped and beat at his own body trying to free himself from the black entity. The others looked on in shock as well not knowing how to help or save him as the smoke continued to writhe just under the surface of his clothes. “Help me! help me!” Panicked, the others set to surrounding him and swatted and beat at the smoke as it raced out of sight and back again. Fists and hands pounded and beat at the wisps from head to toe until finally the prince cried out in protest:

  “Stop it! stop it! YOU’Re hitting me!” The others, alarmed by his words and not wanting to inflict pain upon him stopped attacking and ceased to move. When everyone was still, a silence fell over them. The smokey wisps had vanished. Everyone’s heads darted this way and that looking

  “What…what was that?” He panted.

  “I’ve not the slightest.” Said Morell. “Siouxsie? Robert?” he asked. “Do you know?”

  “Magic for certain,” Robert said. “None that we know.”

  “Now..” The raspy voice spoke in a voice that sounded as though it was somewhere only a few feet away. Hearing it, the companions froze to stand perfectly still with fear.

  “Now I can see all of you…”

  “Who’s there?” asked Morell, his eyes darting all around as he brandished his mace. “Show yourself!” he commanded. The others kept their weapons drawn as they each searched with their eyes for the source.