With a few snaps of Zeno's fingers the tent unrolled from Owen's pack and floated above us. It bent and curved until a structure with multiple rooms formed around us. Owen divided out the last of the food rations. It was an assortment of crackers, a loaf of hard bread, three strips of jerky, and two apples. Another worried look befell Owen's face. He knew it was not enough to last much longer. Our water supply was nearly gone. No more than a few mouthfuls between us. Owen pulled out a bowl from his satchel, filled it with cut apples, and passed it around. We were to save the last apple for tomorrow.

"Eat up everyone," he said placing the sorry pile of food down between us. "It's not much but make sure you eat and get some sleep. Tomorrow we focus all our energy on getting out of this sandy wasteland."

Soon the sun set and darkness covered the sky. Only a few times in my life had I ever seen so many stars. Owen started a small fire from a torch he had swiped from Vanity's mansion and stuck it in the soil. He maintained the flame with magic until his eyes closed and he collapsed on the sand. Zeno followed suit shortly after; his arms and legs spread like a starfish. I heard him snoring with his mouth open and tongue poking out. Hijinx remained awake fanning the flame with his tail. His fur had turned to a bright white; his eyes a glowing blue.

"Trouble sleeping, Hope," said Hijinx noticing my wandering, restless eyes.

"Eh," I responded not knowing what to say. Hijinx inched closer.

"It's normal to feel nervous when so many are expecting great and terrible things from you."

"You don't have to keep reminding me. Trust me. I haven't stopped thinking about it for weeks." I swirled my finger in the sand. "You don't really believe I am going to destroy the world do you?"

"Well, words can be misinterpreted, and prophecies incorrect. Maybe the word, destroy, in this case means a new life is to come?"

"That's silly," I said with a fake laugh. "Life from death. Ha."

"Where there is death, there is also life." Hijinx looked out over the darkened desert. "If a flower never died, then the seeds it held would never be released and no more flowers would grow. Though opposites, one cannot exist without the other. Destruction goes hand in hand with life. Death is not always the end."

"But how can I know for sure," I said clenching my fists.

"Well perhaps we can try something and find out, and if we are lucky, find a way out of this desert." Hijinx picked up Owen's wooden bowl in his mouth. He carefully placed it next to me. "How about we try using your power of Dream Scrying and take a glimpse at the future?"

"I can do that?"

The cat purred with delight.

"You have barely tapped into your true power. A fully trained Mirrorbender can do more than travel between reflections. Your ancestor, Mirrorbender Ewan, was exceptionally gifted in seeing the future. It was he who knew that one of his descendants would come back to Tartarus and in a time most dire."

"So I can scry my future?" I looked at the bowl. "I remember Martha saying it was dangerous."

"A sage would tell you that, yes. But sages have been known to say many things to keep Mirrorbenders from discovering the dark secrets even they keep. Besides, a little practice may do you some good."

"Ok. I'm going to try it." I paused. "Um. How do I do it exactly?"

"Fill the bowl with water, stare into it, and focus on a question you want answered."

I grabbed the last remaining water from Owen's pouch and filled the wooden bowl.

"Owen won't be mad, will he?"

"Of course not," said Hijinx pawing at the bowl. "Now give it a go."

I hovered over the bowl, breathing deep.

"Concentrate," whispered Hijinx. "Focus."

The firelight flickered in the small basin. I stared intently trying to decide on a question. Not one was standing out above the rest. Suddenly the water within the bowl rippled and swirled. To my astonishment, Laura's face appeared.

"Ah," said Hijinx. "See you did it. What question did you ask?"

"I asked about the end of the world? Why is it showing my sister."

"Interesting," said Hijinx. "I never heard you mention a sister."

"Wait," I gasped. "It's changing."

In front of Laura two people appeared. A man and a woman dressed in black suits and large round purple sunglasses sat at a metal table in a dim room. On the table before them rested a large briefcase with the letters EO stamped on the side.

"Who are those people?" I wondered. "What do they want with my sister?"

"Push further," hissed Hijinx. "What about Tartarus?"

I squinted my eyes and pushed with my mind. The image changed to myself standing amongst a forest charred to ash. Each tree had a twisted face wrapped in horror. I was walking through a fog to what looked to be a cave in a mountainside. A lanturn swung in front of me. The image then switched to Owen lying on a stone table, screaming and a dark hunched figure with long bony fingers reaching for his face. My mind started to wurl with more questions causing the image to skip. Next it showed a vision of my home engulfed in flames. My Abuelita lying on a hospital bed, a needle in her arm. Laura sitting in a chair alone in a white room. And finally, before I screamed, a dragon opened his mouth and flames erupted across the bowl.

Owen and Zeno bolted awake. In a panic I kicked the bowl aside. The water spilled and sunk into the sand. My heart raced and sweat stained my forehead.

"What the hell is happening!" cried Zeno.

"Are we under attack!" yelled Owen jumping to his feet and activating his WEAKs. Yellow light filled the tent replaced by two daggers.

Zeno noticed my distress.

"Hope, dear, whatever is the matter. You seem frightened."

Owen noticed the wet sand.

"You were trying to scry weren't you?" He huffed in anger. "And with the last of our water!" He grabbed the empty bowl. "It's all gone, Hope! All of it! You used all our water!"

"I'm sorry," I cried covering my face. "I was practicing Dream Scrying. I wanted to see how to get us out of here. To see my future. I saw. I saw. I saw."

"At the expense of all of our water!" Owen was furious. "You realize we are going to die out here. You. You. You. You will never make it to Vetra. You won't destroy the world. That is because we will die in this desert! Forget your future! You doomed us!"

"Now don't get so dramatic," said Zeno.

"Why am I the only one concerned about this?" yelled Owen. "Huh? Why?"

Before anyone could say another word a loud HICCUP filled the night air.

"Did anyone hear that?" said Zeno looking out the tent door and over the sand dunes.

"Hear what?" asked Owen growing silent.

A hiccup followed by another hiccup echoed around us.

"Is someone hiccuping?" asked Zeno.

"It sounds like it's coming from beneath us," said Owen.

Suddenly the sand below us shifted up causing us to roll and tumble down the slope. Another intense hiccup echoed into the night air. At the bottom of the sand dune we looked with astonishment at the source of the sound. A simple face with two thin eye slits and a wide mouth had appeared on the side of the dune. The face turned to us and hiccuped.

"What manner of creatures *hiccup* wake me from my sleep?" said the sand face. "And sleep upon my head? Have you no respect?"

All of us exchanged glances until Owen spoke.

"Um, just a group of lost souls."

"Hmm." The sand face furled its eyebrows and puffed up its cheeks. "Humans!" He shouted. "Humans and *hiccup* a fairy. What foul and disgusting creatures." The sand face sniffed the air. A feat worth wondering given that it did not have a nose. "Wait. Not just any humans. I smell magic. Powerful *hiccup* magic. What are thee? A sage? A witch?"

"A Mirrorbender," said Zeno. We all shushed him.

"A Mirrorbender, eh," said the sand face with a sneer. "Lost the Mirrorbender be no doubt. In the cursed *hiccup* land of the Sanddrinkers."

"Sanddrinkers?" I said.

"Forgotten about us no doubt. The Aquavites, *hiccup* protectors of the sacred fountain. A race of beasts long since cursed to become sand after the water that gave us longevity hath runneth dry. No more our forms but dust until water touches our bodies."

"Ah, I see," said Hijinx. "I have heard of this ancient race. Long before Mirrobenders arrived there were beings called the Aquavites who worshiped and coveted the sacred Fountain of Youth. Such a prize they hoarded in the midst of a mortal world. Any who possessed the fountain gained immortal life. Desire sought others to lay claim and in the Aquavites selfishness to keep the fountain for themselves spilt much innocent blood. So much blood was shed that it stained the land. The fountain, a product of purity, became tainted causing its life giving waters to stop. Soon the forests and fields dried up, and a curse befell the Aquavites. Rain would never fall on the land again. Those whose lips had touched the water became sand as their bodies struck with a unquenchable thirst withered and decayed. Sanddrinkers became their new name." Hijinx approached the sand face. "Seems when Hope spilled the water it awoke you from your eternal thirst."

"Grateful," said the sand. "Beyond grateful, Mirrorbender."

"How many of you are there?" I asked.

"Look yonder, all around, every hill, every grain of sand," responded the sand face.

"Do you have a name?"

"It has been forgotten, but you may call me Ámmos." I moved my canteen and a little bit of water no more than a few drops swashed inside. The sand dune shifted closer to me. The face glaring at my canteen. "Water," it whispered. "You have *hiccup* more?"

"Perhaps," I said. I shook the canteen. "Not much."

"Give it to me!" demanded Ámmos.

"Not so fast, hiccup," said Owen. "I saw the way you moved. You can glide across the sand."

"Yes," cried Ámmos. "What be it to you?"

"I say we strike a bargain." Owen grabbed my canteen. "You take us across the desert and we give you the last remaining of our water."

"Sanddrinkers are proud. We bargain with no one. I will *hiccup* take that water. I will bury you."

"Hey," I said pushing my hand into the sanddrinker's face. "If you bury us, then we can't bring back any more."

Ámmos backed off.

"More!" he whispered shockingly. "How can I trust you?"

"You have the word of a Mirrorbender."

"Hmm." I could tell Ámmos was thinking.

"Come on," I said. "What do you have to lose?"

"You make a good point," said Ámmos. "Alright. *Hiccup* I will take you across the desert to the nearest human habitation. I expect my water in due time. Promise or come the next time you are lost in this desert, no one will help you. You will be buried under sand and wind."

"I promise."

"Then it is done." The Sanddrinker shifted. A staircase of sand formed on his side. "Up, up, you go."

"Thank you, Ámmos," I said as all of us ascended the dune.

In a flash and a whirlwind of dust, the Sanddrinker glided across the sandy landscape with us on it's back. We traveled well into the night heading for the rising sun.