Elfborn

The Dream World Speaks

Stepping past a stunned Nona towards the area where she had lain ill for nearly a month, Naneen held up the k'suthin.

"Satvori," she said softly and almost instantly the room was filled with the magic of the Word of Power, working on the ancient dream portal. Which flared to brilliant life as the tiny runes incised into its surface abruptly came to life with a wash of soft red color.

In synchronization with the appearance of the runes on the k'suthin, a wrinkle appeared in the air in the center of the sleeping room. A wrinkle that quickly spread into the characteristic portal shape that Naneen had seen before with first her own portal and then with the portal stone she had used to escape the Vestican before she woke up.

If one was to look closer at the wrinkle, they would see a fine network of what looked like living vine plants, growing quickly over the space that was being created, forming the portal as well as delimiting its parameters. And then the vines were swelling, pulling space literally apart as they pulled away from each other, to form the portal. Naneen leaned forward as she watched space itself part, a subtle thing that she only knew was happening by seeing the dream world appear behind the portal, the familiar place visible through the tears in space.

With a final ripple, the rest of normal space was pulled to the edges of the dream portal and Naneen found herself staring into the even lit dream world version of her sick bed. And almost immediately recoiled as she spotted a dark figure lounging against the back wall, arms folded calmly over its chest.

It was the same creature she had seen sitting on top of one of the wagons when she first woke into the dream world! The one that seemed to be watching, observing something unseen. It had finally discovered her.

A silent snarl on her face, she began to gather the magic that would stab through the portal and burn the creature down. Only to hear Max shout from behind her.

"Wait!" the lean Hybernian barked, holding up a forestalling hand as he felt the swell of magic gathering around Naneen. He recognized that figure. But ... how? Now, however, wasn't the time to consider that. If he didn't work fast ...

"Don't attack!" He stepped up to Naneen's side as the young woman from Askant turned to stare at him with incredulousness, Words of Power on her lips and tongue, ready to be spoken in combat.

"Why?" she tautly asked. "What is this creature to you? Do you know it?"

"In a manner of speaking." Max grinned tightly.

The creature, meanwhile, pushed its way away from the wall to stride towards the open dream portal, its face hidden in the darkness of its deep cowl. Yet Max knew that walk, that carriage of its body, almost as well as he knew his own. Despite all reason, it could only be one thing.

"Taolin," he said softly and, with a soft laugh, the creature beyond the dream portal bowed low.

"The one and only," the elf that had once existed only in Max's mind, said in clear elven.

Having only heard about this mysterious creature that had filled Max's mind with the ability to fight as well as the need to go north, Misha and Nona quickly joined Ollie to step forward and see this creature for themselves. A creature that, if one was to look on either side of the portal, did not exist in the real world.

"But how? I thought you only existed in my mind!" Max said, a puzzled expression on his face as he switched to elven.

Pulling back his cowl to reveal his familiar elven features, Taolin shrugged, his eyes flickering from Naneen back to Max.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have dreamed so often about me, my descendant," he replied softly. "Before I knew it, I was here, in the sleeping world." He looked down to tug at his dark colored tunic. "Almost as hale and whole as I was, when I was alive." He looked back up, a frown on his handsome face. "Which, according to everything I know about your ability, is somewhat of a mystery to me. I was only supposed to exist in your mind. Not here and alive in a manner of speaking."