In the middle of the night, Donna suddenly woke up. “Psst, Wicca,” she heard a hissing voice. “Wicca, wake up.”

She sat up in bed. Outside her window stood a large deer with beautifully branched horns. As she approached the window, she noticed that the animal had large wings, much like Camellia and Bartholomew.

“I am Peryton,” said the creature. “I came to take you to Camellia and Bartholomew.”

“But the Caliph wants me to go in the morning with his soldiers,” said Donna.

“Don’t believe him, Wicca. He just wants to lure you into the desert so he can kill you unobserved by the animals. All the humans here are slaves to the Evil Vizier. Only the animals are trustworthy.”

Donna hesitated. She remembered wha...

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