On the Meldon Plain (The Fourline Trilogy Book 2) by Pam Brondos Page A

“thanks” to Annin.
    “All of you must travel swiftly.” Ethet gave each of them a stern look. “Once you emerge from the safety of the meadow, you’ll be in Nala territory. You have the map in your head, Soris, correct?”
    “Head Sister Ethes gave it to me this morning,” Soris answered.
    “Good.” Ethet nodded. “Traveling through the Meldon Plain is the most secure route. The Nala won’t venture anywhere near the flowers. You must rest before you leave the plain and enter into the southern tip of the forest for the coast.” She looked at each of them in turn, letting the admonition settle in. “You’ll have no safe place to stop once you enter the forest. If the Nala are bringing duozi into the woods like Natalie said, they will have sentinels looking for escapees. You’ll travel north once you reach the coast. I know the route adds more time to the journey, but I believe you’ll sense the Nala better in the open area near the sea.”
    “Sense them, Sister?” Nat asked.
    “Soris and Annin can tell if Nala are near,” Ethet explained. “Stay close to them, Natalie. Once you arrive at the cliff opening, it will be you who must lead them. Based on what Annin told me, you controlled your dream space and the Nala despite the remnant in you. Soris, like so many other duozi infused with remnant, would never be able to control a Nala without assistance if it entered his dream space.” Nat looked past Ethet toward Soris. His jaw tightened. “Your success in your dream space suggests that you will be able to maintain control of your thoughts when you do encounter the Nala.”
    “I won’t let the Nala control me, either, Sister.” Soris interrupted Ethet before she could continue.
    She folded her hands together and shook her head. “With more time, training, and treatment, possibly, Soris. But right now, I can’t be certain you will be able to maintain yourself once in the cavern. Rely on Sister Natalie and Annin if you feel yourself fading.” Ethet handed Annin three vials of yellow liquid. “Pure meldon-flower extract. Drink it before entering the cavern. It offers some, though not complete, protection against the effects of the Nala venom.” Without comment, Annin tucked them into a pocket in her tunic and buttoned the pocket closed.
    Ethet placed a sheathed sword in Nat’s hands. “Natalie, this sword is very old, designed by the first Warrior Sisters. They used it for the efficient beheading of the Nala. It was among a collection of items Ethes saved from one of the Warrior Houses.” Nat removed the sword from its sheath. Sunlight glinted off the sharp blade. A delicate vine-and-spear pattern was engraved above the fine edge. “If the Nala see it, their response will be . . . aggressive.”
    “They’re always aggressive, Sister.” Nat gently touched her thumb to the blade. A drop of blood welled into her fingernail.
    Ethet watched Nat sheath the sword. She gestured toward two Sisters guarding a stone stairway extending up the exterior wall of the House. The Sisters stepped away from the stairs, and Soris flew up the steps before Nat had her foot on the first step. His Nala eye glimmered in the sunlight when he looked down at her.
    “What are you waiting for, Sister?” he called from above, a smirk on his face.
    “That was fast,” she admitted. What else has changed about him? she wondered and proceeded up the steps. She glanced down. Annin tucked an orange vial into her cloak and nodded at Sister Ethet as if in agreement. She then pulled the hood of her cloak over her thick hair and ran up the stairs.
    “Annin!” Ethet called from below. “Did you reach Estos?”
    “No, the trip to Nat’s dream space took too much time. I’ll try before we enter the forest.”
    “Don’t. It’s too dangerous from this distance. You may end up in someone else’s dream space.”
    “I don’t think that will be a problem, Sister. He’s an easy mark for me,” Annin said confidently.
    They