The evening found Jacaerys mounted on an ornery two-humped camel, picking his way slowly across cooling sand dunes. Behind him trailed half a dozen men, some on similar creatures and others riding plow horses or donkeys. Among them were the old priest's nephew, who claimed to know the location of every oasis in the Great Desert; the man he had first spoken to, a competent if sullen man; and a few other farmhands and woodcutters who thirsted with piety or for a taste of adventure. The Godseer had gotten his mount from the caravan of a merchant who had had the bad luck to be in the town at the time -- though the man initially refused, the townsfolk had quickly persuaded him of what an honor it was to give up some small portion of his supplies to the Right Hand of Oraum. That was also how the small party had acquired a reasonable stock of water and provisions, carried by a mule that one of the townsfolk led along. 

Jacaerys had been advised to travel by nightfall, so as to avoid most of the terrible heat of the deserts. Though it was a roundabout path, the nephew assured him that it was possible to ride swiftly from one oasis to the next each night, and shelter at them during the day. The lack of light did little to alleviate the great desert winds, however, and so as the Godseer rode in quiet contemplation he held one hand in front of him to shield his eyes from the sand that kicked up sporadically around him.

Shortly after his conversation with the priest had concluded, Jacaerys had politely shooed the man away, leaving himself alone with the quickly-recovering boy he had healed. For several hours the Godseer had attempted to rekindle the flame that must have once burned in the hearth, but he could not manage to achieve the white flames of Oraum despite his best efforts and incantations. When Jacaerys emerged from the chamber drenched with sweat, he had told the priest that he intended to travel back to the Great Temple. "It may be that they do not know that the fires are going out," he had said, "and I must warn them. Or perhaps they have already devised a way to keep their own alive." And almost that quickly, he found himself preparing to depart from the village.

Presently the nephew pulled ahead, turning off slightly as he gestured at some sort of sandstone obelisk half-buried in the sand. "We're too far north, we need to turn left a bit." Jacaerys complied with a yawn, and fought with his mount to get it to turn its head in the direction that the young man indicated. He rubbed his temples; for all the wondrous healing that the Godseer had found he could perform, he still could not truly fight off sleep. With any luck, the first oasis would soon be upon them, and plentiful time to rest and wait for the moon to rise once more.