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Speaker 1: Hello, friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. After finding

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Speaker 1: the small, beautiful clearing, Esther and Ariah sleep. When Esther

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Speaker 1: is woken up, Ariah tells her she has been sleeping

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Speaker 1: like a rock and that she has been trying to

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Speaker 1: wake her for quite a while. Esther tells Ariah that

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Speaker 1: she thinks her dream didn't want her to wake up,

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Speaker 1: that it was trying to tell her something. The Magical

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Speaker 1: Book of Dreams, Part twenty four. The canyons were eerily quiet,

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Speaker 1: but Ester's footsteps would echo every so often, bouncing off

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Speaker 1: the walls and creating a chorus of footsteps that followed her.

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Speaker 1: It confused her and made her a bit scared, like

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Speaker 1: someone was following her. The air was cool and dry,

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Speaker 1: filled with the faint scent of ancient earth. As she

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Speaker 1: navigated the rocky terrain, trying desperately not to slip her legs. Aching,

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Speaker 1: Esther heard a voice calling out to her. It was

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Speaker 1: distant and faint, almost lost in the echoes of the canyon.

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Speaker 1: It was her father's voice, calling her name over and

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Speaker 1: over again. He sounded fine, but there was an urgency

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Speaker 1: in his voice that she had not heard before. She

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Speaker 1: tried to follow the sound her eyes, searching the vast

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Speaker 1: expanse of the canyons for any sign of him, but

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Speaker 1: he seemed always just out of sight, his voice coming

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Speaker 1: from an unknown place, echoing off the canyon walls, leading

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Speaker 1: her further into the maze of rock. Esther Esther, Esther, Esther,

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Speaker 1: It's time to wake up, Riah said, standing over her,

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Speaker 1: shaking her shoulder. Esther woke with a start, her father's

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Speaker 1: voice still ringing in her ears. Was it the dream

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Speaker 1: calling to her or Ariah the dream felt like a

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Speaker 1: sign drawing her onward through the unknown realm. Or you

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Speaker 1: were sleeping like a stone. I've been trying to wake

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Speaker 1: you for ages. Now it's first light and we must

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Speaker 1: be going, Ariah said, as she busily packed up her bag. Right. Sorry,

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Speaker 1: I think I was dreaming and it wouldn't let me wake,

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Speaker 1: like it was trying to tell me something. First. Esther

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Speaker 1: said as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. I'll

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Speaker 1: leave the dream analysis to the elders, but you need

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Speaker 1: to brush yourself off and get ready to leave. We

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Speaker 1: don't have far to go before we enter the deepest mist.

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Speaker 1: I think it best to go through there while we

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Speaker 1: have as much light as possible. Ariah said, her seriousness returned.

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Speaker 1: Here have something to drink. Esther stood up, brushed herself off,

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Speaker 1: took the water sack Ariah carried with her, and took

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Speaker 1: a deep drink. She took out the weird food that

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Speaker 1: she had been carrying in her pocket. It doesn't get

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Speaker 1: easier to eat with age, she thought, taking a bite

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Speaker 1: the texture of dragon candy and chewy vegetables remained. We

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Speaker 1: don't have far to journey before we reach the canyon,

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Speaker 1: Esther said, remembering the root the map showed her Ready,

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Speaker 1: princess Aryah said, I have heard many stories of people

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Speaker 1: disappearing when attempting to come this way, So let's not

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Speaker 1: let the short distance influence how seriously we take this walk. Yes,

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Speaker 1: let me check the map one more time. There may

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Speaker 1: be changes, like telling us to turn around and enjoy

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Speaker 1: a hot bath at some bathhouse surrounded by lovely greens

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Speaker 1: and the smell of fresh flowers. Oh, you are a

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Speaker 1: dreamer as well, a I said, laughing at her. What

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Speaker 1: does your map tell us no change? Esther said, putting

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Speaker 1: the glowing book back in her bag, slinging it over

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Speaker 1: her shoulder, and starting to walk. She took the lead

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Speaker 1: without being asked. This didn't go unnoticed by Ariah, who

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Speaker 1: followed her with what might have been considered a smile.

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Speaker 1: Before Esther and Ariah left the clearing, they stopped and

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Speaker 1: took a moment to appreciate what they saw. It might

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Speaker 1: be a while before we see something like this again,

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Speaker 1: Ariah said. As they walked, they felt a shift in

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Speaker 1: the atmosphere. The world beyond the clearing seemed even more

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Speaker 1: muted and colorless in comparison, the weight of the realm's

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Speaker 1: transformation more noticed. They tried to quicken their pace, but

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Speaker 1: both almost lost their footing and had to slow down.

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Speaker 1: The veil of mists was more mysterious and stranger than

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Speaker 1: Esther had imagined. Thick fog enveloped the landscape, obscuring their

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Speaker 1: view and casting everything in a hazy, dreamlike quality. Walking

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Speaker 1: was treacherous, and the path forward was barely visible, a

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Speaker 1: faint trail winding into the gray. This place feels like

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Speaker 1: a dream, a bad dream, Esther murmured, her voice hushed

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Speaker 1: in the fog, or some kind of riddle, Ariah added,

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Speaker 1: her eyes scanning the nebulous terrain. We need to be careful.

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Speaker 1: The path is not just hidden, it changes. As they

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Speaker 1: ventured deeper. The mist seemed to swirl around them, moving

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Speaker 1: as if it had a will of its own. The

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Speaker 1: air was cool and damp, clinging to their skin. Sounds

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Speaker 1: were muffled, and the world beyond a huge feet seemed

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Speaker 1: to vanish entirely. The sensation was disorienting, like stepping into

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Speaker 1: another world where the rules of reality no longer applied.

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Speaker 1: At times, the mist thinned, offering brief glimpses of the landscape.

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Speaker 1: Stunted trees and rocks appeared like ghosts, before quickly being

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Speaker 1: swallowed up again by the fog. The path remained narrow

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Speaker 1: and treacherous, the ground uneven underfoot. We need to keep

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Speaker 1: heading this way, Esther said, becoming increasingly comfortable leading and

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Speaker 1: shore of her intuition. As they journeyed deeper, the silence continued,

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Speaker 1: broken only by their footsteps and the occasional distant noise

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Speaker 1: that was swallowed almost instantly by the fog. Time seemed

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Speaker 1: to stretch and bend, the concept of cycles losing meaning

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Speaker 1: in this endless gray, Esther, do you feel that Ariah

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Speaker 1: suddenly stopped or express intense? Esther paused, Tuning into the environment.

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Speaker 1: There was a change in the air, a subtle vibration,

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Speaker 1: like a low note, just out of hearing. Yes, it's

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Speaker 1: like the mist is alive. Ariah nodded. Keep alert. They proceeded,

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Speaker 1: now more aware of the missed deceptive nature. Occasionally the

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Speaker 1: fog would thin, offering fleeting glimpses of the landscape, gnarled

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Speaker 1: stone like trees twisted in strange shapes, patches of ground

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Speaker 1: that seemed to move and shift. It's like we are

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Speaker 1: going in circles. Esther said at one point, frustration creeping

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Speaker 1: into her voice. She was starting to lose faith in herself.

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Speaker 1: Ariah surveyed their surroundings. It feels like it, but I

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Speaker 1: trust you and the map's directions. You must trust yourself.

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Speaker 1: As they walked, Esther's thoughts drifted to her dream, to

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Speaker 1: the vision of the echoing canyons and her father's voice

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Speaker 1: calling out to her. She wondered if the canyons would

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Speaker 1: offer them any clues about her father's whereabouts, or if

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Speaker 1: the journey would only deepen the mystery. Esther and Oria

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Speaker 1: neared the edge of the veil of mists, with the

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Speaker 1: daunting silhouette of the echoing canyons just becoming visible through

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Speaker 1: the thinning fog, they started to hear faint sounds, the

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Speaker 1: distant trickle of water, the rustle of an unseen creature,

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Speaker 1: the soft creaking of stone branches in the distance. Again,

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Speaker 1: were lower, far more threatening sounds, which were becoming more

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Speaker 1: and more easily heard. Suddenly, Esther stopped her hand, reaching

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Speaker 1: out to Riah. Did you do you hear that? She whispered.

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Speaker 1: Ariah listened intently for a moment. There was nothing, and

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Speaker 1: then a low, guttural growl rumbling through the air. It

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Speaker 1: wasn't friendly. They froze, exchanging a quick tense glance. The

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Speaker 1: sound was too deep, too menacing, to be anything but

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Speaker 1: a sign of danger. Possibly chickalores are scalics. The growling

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Speaker 1: reverberated off the cannon walls in the distance, making it

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Speaker 1: difficult to pinpoint its direction. We need to be extra cautious.

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Speaker 1: Let's find a place to rest, gather our strength, and

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Speaker 1: try to understand what we are facing, Ariah suggested, her

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Speaker 1: eyes scanning the terrain for a suitable spot. Moving carefully,

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Speaker 1: the mist provided an open revealing a secluded recess facing

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Speaker 1: the cannon wall in the distance. This natural all cove

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Speaker 1: offered a degree of concealment from whatever might be chasing them.

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Speaker 1: How are your legs, Esther, Ariah asked as they settled

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Speaker 1: into rest. I don't know. I lost feeling in them

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Speaker 1: a cycle ago. What do you think is making the sound?

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Speaker 1: Have they found us? I don't think any creature in

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Speaker 1: the mist can find much of anything. I suspect they

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Speaker 1: are having as much difficulty as we are. But this

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Speaker 1: is a good spot to rest and prepare for what

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Speaker 1: might come next, to make sure that we are heading

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Speaker 1: in the right direction. Esther practically fell down beside Riah.

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Speaker 1: They both sat quietly, listening, waiting for something to happen.

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Speaker 1: Huddled close together, they shared a drink of water. Esther

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Speaker 1: tried as hard as she could not to drink all

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Speaker 1: they had in one gulp. She couldn't believe just how

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Speaker 1: thirsty she was here, Ariah said, handing Esther more of

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Speaker 1: that weird tasting food you need to eat. I think

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Speaker 1: the final part of this cycle's journey will require more

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Speaker 1: of us. There isn't more to give, Esther said, trying

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Speaker 1: to be funny, but the truth was she really didn't

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Speaker 1: have much left to give. You will do fine, Ariah said, quietly,

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Speaker 1: seeing Esther's tiredness and increasing doubt. Ariah was taught by

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Speaker 1: the elders that simple conversations often had as much of

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Speaker 1: a healing effect as the best good men. Perhaps it

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Speaker 1: could help Esther. Tell me about your kingdom, the castles,

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Speaker 1: the famed mystical forest Shirewood, the best moments of your

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Speaker 1: life the worst, Riah asked, trying to keep her voice low,

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Speaker 1: to not give whatever was out there an idea as

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Speaker 1: to where they were. Their sounds still reverberating off the

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Speaker 1: cannon walls, it took Esther a moment to actually hear

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Speaker 1: what Ariah was saying. All this time together, they hardly

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Speaker 1: spoke beyond the most necessary, seldom about anything personal. Well,

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Speaker 1: I don't have much to tell you, As I've said,

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Speaker 1: I haven't been that far beyond Shirewood. Few from their

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Speaker 1: have except my father. Esther thought for a moment. The

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Speaker 1: best memories I have are all when my father was

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Speaker 1: home with us. He used to read to me when

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Speaker 1: I was very young. He told me stories of the

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Speaker 1: dragons flying high above the mountains north of the mystical

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Speaker 1: forest of unicorns and chocolate trees. That sounds delicious. Gimbal

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Speaker 1: has told me stories of fresh chocolate plucked straight from

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Speaker 1: a magical tree. When I was older, he would take

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Speaker 1: me for long walks, helping me escape my chores. He

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Speaker 1: used to get in trouble with my mother, but she,

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Speaker 1: in the end always seemed to forgive him. He had

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Speaker 1: away with people. It seemed you will see him again soon,

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Speaker 1: I am sure of it, Ariyah added. They then sat

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Speaker 1: in silence, Esther thinking of her father. Ariah focused on

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Speaker 1: the low growls that seemed to get farther and farther away.

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Speaker 1: The sounds and whatever was making them seem to have

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Speaker 1: moved on. Shall we continue? Princess Esther got up and

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Speaker 1: led them again along the path towards the canyon. Eventually,

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Speaker 1: the fog began to lift, revealing the transition from the

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Speaker 1: veil of mists to the edge of the Echoing Canyons.

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Speaker 1: The landscape opened up, the ground becoming rockier and the

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Speaker 1: air clearer. They stepped out of the mist and paused,

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Speaker 1: taking in the sight of the canyons before them. The

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Speaker 1: Echoing Canyons were a network of deep ravines and towering

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Speaker 1: rock walls. The muted light and shadow over the rugged

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Speaker 1: terrain gave the canyons a daunting appearance. Their voices and

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Speaker 1: footsteps echoed strangely distorted and thrown back at them from

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Speaker 1: multiple directions. It must have been very beautiful, Esther breathed,

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Speaker 1: her eyes wide, looking at the expanse before her and treacherous.

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Speaker 1: Ariah added, the echoes can mislead us. We need to

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Speaker 1: rely on more than our eyes here. As they ventured

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Speaker 1: into the canyons, the echoes indeed became disorienting. The wind,

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Speaker 1: the distant rumble of rock slides, and their voices returned

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Speaker 1: to them as noise. They navigated through narrow passages and

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Speaker 1: over dangerous ledges. Always mindful of the deceptive acoustics, Esther

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Speaker 1: would take out the map, making sure that they were

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Speaker 1: going in the right direction. Often it felt like she

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Speaker 1: just knew the way to go, like the feeling you

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Speaker 1: get when you have been on a route many times before.

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Speaker 1: We're getting closer, Esther said, a note of determination in

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Speaker 1: her voice. Ariah looked at her, a rare smile of

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Speaker 1: encouragement on her face. Yes, we are, and we'll find

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Speaker 1: your father. Esther, We're on the right path. Yes, I

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Speaker 1: can feel that we are, Esther said. As they pressed

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Speaker 1: further through the canyon and that's the end of this part.

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Speaker 1: Good Night, sleep tight.