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CHAPTER FIVE

ASUNburnt brightly in the clear sky above the wasteland, highlighting the arid earth and bare rocky hills A coarse red dust coveredwinds blew, the dust rose in sheets,almost impossible At such times I pulled on one of Harkat’s spare rainy particles - and the two of us sought shelter and waited for calhly - since Mr Tiny brought us to this desolate land and abandoned us Teeks crossing barren valleys and dead hills, where nothing lived except a few hardy lizards and insects, which we caught and ate whenever we could They tasted disgusting but you can’t be choosy if you’re stranded in a desert without food or water

Water was ourin the heat and dust was thirsty work, but water was in scarce supply and we didn’t have any canteens to store it in e found the occasional pool We’d fashioned primitive containers from the skins of lizards, but they didn’t hold ry withhis wishes - he ranted at radually abated Although he hadn’t thankedto accorateful

A fortnight earlier, Mr Tiny followed us through the doorhich collapsed into dust after him There’d been a brief rey cloud obscuringin a round, shallow, lifeless valley - and although it had been day when I stepped through the doorway, here it was night, albeit an uncoht with a fullstar clusters

"Where are we?" Harkat asked, his large green eyes filled onder

Mr Tiny tapped his nose "That would be telling Now, boys," he said, squatting and signalling us to squat beside him He drew a simple compass in the dust at his feet, and pointed to one of the arrows "That’s west, as you’ll see by the position of the sun torounds of a black panther You have to kill the panther to find out where to go next"

S, he stood and turned to leave

"Wait!" I stopped hi to tell us?"

"What more would you like to know?" he asked politely

"Loads!" I shouted "Where are we? How did we get here? What happens if alk east instead of west? Hoill Harkat find out who he used to be? And what the hell does a panther have to do with any of it?"

Mr Tiny sighed iht you would have developed an appreciation for the unknown by now," he gru it is to set out on an adventure without any idea of what’s colasses to experience the world the way you do, as solasses!" I snapped "Just give with some answers!"

"You can be very rude soain and paused thoughtfully "There’s much I can’t and won’t tell you You’ll have to discover for yourselves where we are - although it won’t ot here, obviously, through a y - I’ which If you don’t follow the trail west, you’ll die, probably quite horribly As for Harkat finding out who he is, and the panther ?"

Mr Tiny considered the question in silence, before answering "Solorified pond, really - which I like to refer to as the Lake of Souls In it you can glimpse the faces of many trapped souls, people whose spirits did not leave Earth when they died The soul of the person Harkat used to be lies within You must find the Lake, then fish for his soul If you succeed, and Harkat learns and acknowledges the truth about himself, your quest will be couided safely hoed

"Hoe find this Lake - of Souls?" Harkat asked

"By following instructions," Mr Tiny said "If you locate and kill the panther, you’ll learn where to go next You’ll also discover a clue to your previous identity, which I’ve been gracious enough to toss in for free"

"Couldn’t you just cut the crap and tell us?" I groaned

"No," Mr Tiny said He stood and looked down at us seriously "But I’ll say this much, boys - the panther’s the least of your worries Step warily, trust in your instincts, and never let your guard down And don’t forget," he added to Harkat, "as well as learning who you were, you e it I can’t step in until you’ve admitted the truth out loud

"Now," he ss to do, people to torment If you’ve further questions, they’ll have to wait Until next time, boys" With a wave, the short,east until the darkness sed hi us in the unnamed, alien land

We found a s our heads into thethe rey skin looked like da drunk his fill, but it swiftly resumed its natural colour as the water evaporated under the unforgiving sun

"How far do you think we’ve co out in the shade of a prickly bush with setation we’d encountered, but I was too exhausted to display any active interest