20.

an oasis in a wasteland

Nobody had ever survived Johara. Not really, not in truth. She allowed a few to leave, but their minds were so scrambled from trying to process her that all they said was that she was 'a beautiful oasis'.

True, many plants grew in the cool, moist corners of her crumbling walls, but there was no lush garden. No large pool of clear, life giving water. A silver cage covered with silver vines.

Perhaps they thought of Johara herself of an oasis, secret and hidden from mundane life. A spot of beauty in an ugly world.