Aeolia

35: Possibilities

Frost felt the Dreamfisher's presence lingering beyond the shroud of water, waiting for him to emerge. The whisperer closed his eyes and stepped from the crashing river.

     The Kingfisher stood before him. "Do you feel it? Do you feel wiser now, heavier?"

     Frost gave a small nod in response. "I do feel it, I think I do."

     "Do you feel it within yourself, truly?" the great bird said, its forehead furrowed. "The water must filter through your body—all throughout, until you are weak with the wills of the river, until you can see all, if you watch closely. You must let the Mist soften your bones, enabling you to slip where only seekers can."

     "I can see, I really think that I can." Light glinted in Frost's upturned gaze.

     The Kingfisher dipped its head and began to walk towards the lip of the basin. Frost followed, passing through a curtain of leaves and emerging into Dreams' Lattice once again. He glanced up. There the stars glimmered—and above though hidden by the canopy, laid the Mist, and yet above, the glass panes enclosing this marvelous world. And beyond that, Frost supposed, were drifts of consciousness and tangibility, netting together and furling apart—

     He shook his head. These thoughts were nothing, nothing at all.

     He focused on the rhythm of his paws turning underneath him, the leaves dipping under the force of his tread. What power his muscles held, he thought. What influence the movement of one being had upon everything else. He looked up and saw that the bodies of Ravine and Spire were visible now—lying comatose among green folds, stroked by the ever-moving light and shadow of the trees.

     Anxiety curled in his chest at the sight. His assurance fled.

     "Are you ready?" the Dreamfisher asked as they came to a stop beside the still bodies.

     Frost hesitated. "Well—I've read birds before, and a fellow whisperer on occasion—" He stopped. "But I—yes, I think I am ready. I feel stronger now. I know this is not like those past times, but—"

     "Yes, we will tamper with life and death in the minds of others," the Dreamfisher said. "Yes, this is different. But I will guide you, Frost, and you will be able to guide yourself as well, if you have enough trust."

     Frost knelt beside Spire's unmoving gray form, face screwed in worry.

     "Frost. The Ensnarer is within each of them as we breathe. I will track Ravine while you track Spire. If the Ensnarer is to come near, you must fight it. You must protect the bird, for if the Viper was to sink its fangs into him there, he would never awaken. You must fight until you, too, are endangered—then take the bird and flee. And if you are to flee, you must travel towards the surface. This is imperative. I have seen too many travelers become trapped within the tunnels—taking one turn, then another, leading to one more, until they have become like twisted roots in the earth, searching in the blackness, touching but never quite knowing, until they have buried themselves too deeply, and there is no way out."

     Frost flattened his ears.

     "I have seen this kind of hunt before," the Dreamfisher continued. "And I have partaken in many myself. Though this may be the end for this woman, this songbird—remember, Frost, that they are young. They know nothing. They may die within that mind-field and you should live to emerge. You may feel remorse at first, but soon that useless emotion will fade. You will forget this ever happened, and the Viper will continue to creep along the face of this mad planet. Maybe it will capture another, and you will fight for them as well. Maybe you will watch them fold, as Ravine and Spire may soon. Maybe you will die yourself, and that's the end of that.

     "So Frost, I beg of you—remember that this is only a human, and this is only a bird. You may think they have learned so much and must share it with Aeolia, must leave their gentle footprints for Aeolians to revere when they have passed. You may want to sculpt golden statues in their honor. And every couple years you will celebrate their lives, have feasts on the farthest cliffsides. They may live to reach Aeolia; yes, this may well happen. And it may not; and what is the difference, really?

     "But remember that the Viper will keep hunting.

     "So are you ready to hunt, ourselves?"