To Stay or To Go?

Once Astra had washed, and had eaten some plantains and some figs from the palm trees, she and Fred discussed what they should do. "Staying here must be preferable to trekking across the desert," Astra said. "We have shade and fresh water here. And perhaps eventually the oasis will bring us to the edge of the desert."

"But some exceedingly powerful magician must have enchanted this oasis to move like this," Fred pointed out. "Perhaps he sent it to collect us, and by staying with it we are going to be carried straight into his trap."

"Or her trap," Astra said. "That may well be true, but even so it must be better than striking off on our own again. We couldn't survive more than a day or two in the open desert."

"I suppose you are right," Fred conceded.

They remained awake, talking, for the rest of the night, for in this climate it made sense to sleep during the heat of the day. When dawn eventually broke:

1. They saw a tower in the distance. The oasis seemed to be heading for it.
2. They saw a range of tree-covered hills not far away. The oasis had brought them to the desert's edge.
3. They could see nothing but sand surrounding the oasis in every direction.

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