“This is a dream,” I said out loud, feeling slightly relieved.

The maiden I first met shrugged. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”

Her sing-song voice echoed in my ears as I jerked awake and jumped to my feet. Whipping this way and that, I looked for the maidens.

They were gone.

The air smelled damp and musty, and a soft breeze howled through the mouth of the cave I was in.

It was still dark, but I wasn’t lost in the darkness anymore. I ...