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Balischo woke up to a beam of light from the coach window streaming across his head. His face looked down on the floral pattern of a blanket. He turned himself over, and found himself looking up at a woman in a fancy robe. Her sandals lay gently across his belly.

Balischo moved back toward a wall of the coach, and sat up, staring at this exotic woman. He did not speak.

"My name is Gloria. I am seeking Princess Astra, whom I believe is in the Caves of the Dragon. Vedagaisic told me that your tribe is trying to rescue some of those trapped in the caves and in a hidden valley. Am I right?"

Balischo nodded.

"I need to overtake them. I can make their task easier. It seems that some of your elders were given a vision of an Aqualarian sorceress in the formal dress of the college. I am indeed what you call a sorceress."

Balischo stayed frozen. He was alone, inside a moving box, with a very powerful woman. He had heard a story about a goddess that became very offended when a man unwarily saw her bathing, and turned him into an antelope that was torn to pieces by hunters of his tribe. And the Aqualarian sorceresses seemed to him to be about as powerful and as capricious as goddesses. He feel asleep expecting to be guided into the great city of Themyscira by Vedagaisic. He was now alone - without his horse! - in a moving box, and probably indecently close to a sorceress. Any moment now he expected to be interrogated. He felt helpless.

Gloria said, "You are Balischo, right?"

Balischo nodded very slightly.

1. Gloria then said, "We are near the trading station at the Istria and Marcion. I will tell you what I need from you then. Do you understand?"
2. Gloria then said, "Can you speak?"

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