Dio had to chuckle when he saw the vehicle that Ogan and the man with the white curls had cobbled together, more poorly than well. The two of them had mounted Ogan’s transport platform onto an axle connecting two large, crooked wheels made from thick tree slices. Looking more closely at the wheels, Dio realized they must have used tree rings to form a shape that was at least roughly circular-but in the end, what they’d created was more elliptical, with several dents they had somehow tried to smooth out.

  It was still beautiful.

  Somehow, it was exactly the small imperfections that made the construction feel almost alive, as if the two men’s creative spirit had seeped into it. The tree rings, which gave the wheels an almost hypnotic effect, were uneven too and seemed like little secrets waiting to be discovered.

  Little secrets? Why would that description come to mind? They’re just tree rings! I must have seen them many times in my former life!

  Maybe. But here, in this dream, they felt special. Dio thought back to the circle Ray had seen, and the one the priestess had drawn in the sky. To how Ogan and Des had called his drawing in the dirt “pure”... and they were right. The shape had been beautiful. But the rings showed the influence of the Dream, which had not allowed perfect circles to form in the tree’s trunk. What had caused the irregularities in the shape of the rings? The soil? The twilight, which seemed even but still pulsed unpredictably in the sky, introducing small, sudden disturbances during the tree’s growth? Maybe...

  “Dio, this is AMAZING!”

  Brela yanked him out of his tangled thoughts by tugging on his arm multiple times, laughing as she pointed at the vehicle.

  “May I present to everyone: the wheel! Now attached to Ogan’s transport platform!” proclaimed the white-haired man, rapping a hammer against one of the wooden discs.

  Many of the onlookers began to laugh. The air around Dio seemed to overflow with cheer, and suddenly he had to giggle too.

  How could we have forgotten the wheel?

  Now that it stood before him, it seemed so obvious...

  But judging by the others’ reactions, no one had thought of such a simple construction before. Dio didn’t know why, but suddenly it felt completely natural-like he had known wheels so well in his previous life that he no longer even noticed them.

  “There he is! Dio! Come here! Hey Lot, Dio here gave me the idea! Just got here and already full of energy!” Ogan laughed and waved enthusiastically.

  Dio considered slipping behind one of the others, but he wasn’t fast enough. Before he could decline, Brela had already nudged him forward and nodded brightly toward the vehicle. He could feel the curious gazes of the still-laughing crowd settle on him, and he stumbled awkwardly over to the two men. Ogan clapped him on the shoulder so hard he flinched, and the crowd applauded.

  “No, it was your idea! I just mentioned the circle-you thought it through yourself!” Dio waved off the praise, trying to find somewhere to look that didn’t lead to an excited face.

  “Well, yeah, but that was the spark! That’s what gave me the idea to use the circle to make my work easier. Don’t get me wrong, most of the glory still rightfully belongs to me!” Ogan laughed.

  “The circle?” Brela asked excitedly.

  “Yeah, exactly. You all remember, don’t you?” Lot asked.

  The people around him exchanged briefly clouded glances-but then lit up all at once.

  “Yeah, of course. I know what a circle is,” someone muttered.

  “Me too, I guess I just somehow forgot it? Or pushed it away?” someone else chimed in.

  “Right, but now it seems so obvious. Looking at those wheels, I almost feel foolish,” Brela admitted, blushing slightly.

  “Let’s celebrate! Eat together and enjoy this moment!” Ogan suggested, pointing to the large fire pit resting cold and dormant in the center of the wide square nearby.

  Dio watched the others as they slowly made their way toward the center of the settlement. The faces that had once seemed dazed were now glowing-broad grins and cheerful conversations filled him with a sense of delight. Brela bounced up and down beside him, but unlike the others, she seemed more thoughtful now, shaking her head with a quiet smile so that her braids whipped around her.

  “Everything okay?” Dio asked after she squinted, as if trying to focus.

  “Oh, it’s just... I find it confusing that I forgot what a circle is. But what’s even stranger is that I think there’s more. I feel like I forgot something else that’s connected to it. It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t reach it…”

  “It’ll come back to you. After all, realizing that there’s something missing is already a good first step, isn’t it?”

  She smiled at him and stopped bouncing.

  “You’re right,” she said.

  When they had finally settled around the now-lit firepit, Dio was already looking forward to something to eat. He hadn’t had anything since arriving in Daw, and although he wasn’t driven by real hunger, his stomach had started to growl now and then. He stared thoughtfully into the flames for a while, letting his mind rest-until Lot broke his quiet.

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  The white-haired man handed him a small loaf of bread that gave off an appetizing aroma. Dio ran his fingers across its browned, partly blackened surface and enjoyed the warmth he could feel at his fingertips. When he finally took a bite, he nodded and closed his eyes. A mix of sweetness and a hint of saltiness blended together, and the soft inside of the loaf melted on his tongue. It felt to him like the bread itself was a little piece of joy that flowed straight from his palate into his mood, making everything seem even more cheerful than it already was.

  “This tastes amazing! How do you get it to be so sweet?” he asked, looking around for whoever had baked the bread.

  “Sweet? That bland stuff?” Lot snorted.

  Dio blinked.

  “Bland? It doesn’t taste bland at all! It’s almost refreshing!”

  “Well, it’s just bread. Made from ground grain and water. That can’t possibly taste sweet,” said Brela.

  Dio looked down at the little loaf in his hand and took another bite. Again, he tasted that light salt and delightful sweetness.

  “Incredible!” Lot suddenly exclaimed, after finally trying a piece of his own bread.

  Others around them also looked up in surprise as they took their first bites. Brela squinted again, this time to examine her loaf more closely.

  “It even looks much nicer! So round. Normally it’s just a lump of baked dough, but this one is so nicely shaped. Almost like a…”

  “…circle,” Dio finished her thought, glancing around once more.

  He spotted Wes and Reab arriving with a new basket of bread to serve the growing crowd gathering in the square, drawn in by the joyful sounds of lively conversation and the smell of good food. Slowly, he stood and gave Brela and Lot a short nod before walking over to the two men, who were already distributing their basket’s contents to the cheerful, hungry people.

  “Hey, you two! This is really delicious bread!” Dio greeted them, and Wes gave him a wink.

  "Yeah, it’s not quite what I had in mind yet," Wes said, "but when I told Reab about our journey, he suddenly lit up and started baking these loaves while I was still talking. He was completely fired up with joy, but thinking back to my own new idea, I can’t blame him. Remembering something is always exciting. But having a new idea is just as wonderful..."

  "I just had to bake," Reab laughed, handing Dio an especially large loaf. "For so long I’ve only made bland bread-and didn’t even realize it. Sure, it filled people up, but it never brought them any joy. It was just there. Like background noise. And that’s what it felt like to make it, too. I mean, there was always a little satisfaction, sure-but now... now it’s almost like baking has so much more meaning!”

  “It’s really delicious! How do you make it so sweet? And that salty touch-how do you get that?” Dio asked, still chewing.

  “I don’t do anything different. I just mix the ground grain and water,” Reab replied with a smile.

  Dio stopped chewing and gave him a sharp look. He could’ve sworn he tasted other ingredients. Was he imagining it? Had he misjudged it? He chewed again and closed his eyes. No-there was definitely sweetness. And a hint of salt...

  But it made no sense to keep pressing. The certainty in Reab’s voice hadn’t sounded like a lie. Dio thanked him again and soon returned to sit near the fire with Brela and Lot, who were now joined by Ogan and Des-who, judging by his exhausted expression, had just come back from working in the fields.

  Brela was excitedly telling Des about the wheel and the bread, with Ogan and Lot trying now and then to add something-but they couldn’t get a word in over her flood of words and finally gave up, smiling.

  “So much new stuff. Feels strange, I have to say! Not bad, just... strange! I mean, there’ve always been new discoveries when newcomers arrived here, but it was just little things. A flower here, a new animal there…”

  Des bit into his bread and looked absently over at Wes and Reab.

  “And now we’re all sitting here on this square, celebrating and enjoying ourselves. We’ve never done this. I don’t even remember ever using the firepit at all…”

  “Me neither!” Brela chimed in.

  “It’s funny how such a simple symbol can spark change,” Ogan said with a grin.

  “It really is fascinating,” Dio mused. “A simple shape, and yet it has such a huge effect. I wonder why?”

  “Oh, who cares about that,” Brela pouted. “I’d rather know what’s on the tip of my tongue. What I’ve forgotten.”

  “I wonder...” Dio turned to Ogan. “The wheel-Ogan, do you think you remembered it, or did you invent it again?”

  Brela gave him a light jab for ignoring her, but Ogan stroked his chin thoughtfully.

  “I’m not sure. I think I remembered it. It just came to me, like out of nowhere, when I saw you draw that circle in the dirt. It seemed so obvious then that I needed wheels. To make my work a little easier…”

  “I see.”

  “Hey, Dio, aren’t you going to help me out?” Brela cut in. “I’m the one with the problem here! I still don’t know what’s bugging me!”

  “How am I supposed to help with that?” Dio raised his hands in defense. “I was just the messenger.”

  “But you ask questions that really make people think!” Brela insisted.

  Dio sighed.

  “All right. You were going to show me the forest anyway, weren’t you? We could go together, look around for something new that might inspire you. After I’ve rested a bit. Maybe that’ll help.”

  Brela clapped her hands.

  “Yes! That’s what I wanted to hear. We’ll figure it out somehow! Two explorers in the woods! On the trail of a lost memory! That sounds like an adventure!”

  “As long as you keep that stuff away from me! Adventure, ugh! Too much hustle and bustle,” Des waved off preemptively as Brela’s gaze flicked his way.

  “Well, that’s your decision,” she said, trying to sound cheerful, but Dio could hear the disappointment in her voice.

  “You two go on ahead. I’ll try to be a little creative and carve something. Maybe a plate? That’d be useful. Worthy of that good new bread!” said Lot, gazing toward the fire.

  “Good idea. I’m going to test out my wheels. Maybe I can improve them myself. If not, I’ll come find you and get on your nerves, Lot,” Ogan laughed and clapped the white-haired man on the shoulder.

  They all joined in his laughter, and Dio felt how the closeness of the others was spreading within him as well. It was as if they were now with him in his thoughts, similar to how the distant light reminded him of Ray-except the glow of the people around him, those he was sharing these joyful moments with, felt different. The connection to Ray was more like a sense of safety and shelter, almost like the core of his world. The new feelings taking shape inside him now were more about community and trust, about cheerfulness and lightness, even if it was different for each person.

  Brela, for example, was more like a whirlwind of energy and joy. Des was a glimmer of calm and slowness.

  Dio paused. He’d almost missed it - but the connection to Ray had become a little clearer again, even though he was sure she still wasn’t coming toward him. Still, he felt her more present now, though the feeling was somehow also more washed out. Her light suddenly flared brighter, outshining everything else inside him, and it kept growing. As if a part of her was doing something that...

  A tremendous rumble echoed across the square.

  Dio snapped out of his thoughts, but as the roaring sound swelled, his connection to Ray grew sharper and sharper. He felt the ground trembling beneath his feet, the earth shaking in steady pulses. Brela gasped, and Lot and Des exchanged confused glances. Ogan rolled to the side as one of the firewood logs toppled and shot toward him.

  Then… everything lit up.