'On the edge of sleep, I was drifting for half the night. Anxious and restless, pressed down by the darkness. Bound up and wound up so tight'

The voice continued, silky smooth in her mind's eye. "You feared they would do more than simply hurt you, didn't you?"

Wyh managed a small nod, the barest movement of her head " her voice still harsh and raspy. "They never said....why.."

"Did you ever wonder why they...didn't?" The voice whispered, as tendrils of darkness began to entwine around her legs, drawing out more small whimpers as she shrank further back.

"Please - why are you doing this?"

"Because part of you deep inside is thinking things you shouldn't, or wouldn't dare to admit." The dark tendrils continued to wrap around her body, slowly enveloping her. In the waking world, her pale skin shone with silvery sweat as she weakly thrashed about, a small burst of chill winds radiating from her.

"How can you know what I am thinking, when I do not?"

Far from afraid, the dark, velvety voice whispered. "I can see into your soul....deep into the warm, darkness in you."

Her whisper was raspy in her throat. "But I am not dark inside..."

"The part of you that wants things the good, wholesome Lady won't admit. - everyone has some darkness in them..."

Pictures flashed in her mind " lovers at play, sweet and blissful unions " nirvanas beyond anything she knew, reducing Wyh to a huddled mass of misery, wrapped in a shield of pure cold, her voice barely audible in the dream. "Stop...Why torture me with what I cannot have - with what can never be?"

The voice wrapped around her, like the tendrils of darkness. "Merely reminding you what you lost by being too passive, too content. This is the lesson they didn't intend to teach you....but they have made it manifest nonetheless. You settled for placid fairytale bliss...and what has it brought you?"

Her shaking hands tore at her pale hair as she huddled even further into herself, the fragility of her ordered mind was clear - and fissures showed in the structure as she rocked back and forth in her dream.

The liquid darkness was all over her now, from slim ankles to curvy shoulders; as if she was wearing a form-fitting black dress, making her tremble from head to foot. It seemed to sink into her as well, as if poisoning her, slipping in between the motes of ice - no matter how dense she tried forming it around her.

"Now you are adrift, little girl....free, but helpless under your own torments - whither will you go?"

"What does it matter where I go - for I will forever be alone, now."

"That..." The inky blackness around her body began to withdraw. "is entirely...up...to you." And - it was gone.

A small whimper tore from her - for she truly did not wish to be alone, but it seemed her only fate. Sweat soaked her sheets, silvery beads on her brow as she thrashed and tossed about " finally waking with a start and a cry, the room blurry to her heat-seared vision. Panting, she shifted in the bed, as the dream dissolved slowly " but enough lingered to keep sleep at bay.

Four days had passed since Wyheree had been released " dumped like so much refuse in the middle of the Inn. The grievous wounds were healing nicely, thanks to the attentions of her Sissy Jewell, and her rest was assured in the sanctuary that was Room Seven " at least, it was on the outside.

Nightmares plagued her the first night " penetrating even the glamour-induced slumber Jewell placed over her, until sheer exhaustion claimed her, taking her into the place where dreams, no matter how terrible, can travel. The nights that followed, Wyh knew she dreamed, but of what, she did not know " she often awakened flushed, a sheen of silvery sweat upon the sheets of the bed, leaving her disoriented and confused when her eyes fluttered open.

Her strength had returned enough to allow her to sit up without fainting, so Wyheree sat in the rocking chair by the bed, turned to stare out the window into the winter night sky. The afternoon before, she had asked her Sissy the question burning in the back of her mind ever since she was released " and the gentle answer, was not what she hoped. Tears did not fall " for she had cried them all in her dreams that night. She found she remembered the sadness " and the comfort given to her, the source of it still a mystery.

Her slender fingers brushed over the circular welt in the hollow of her throat " no larger than a droplet of ink, still angry red against her pale skin, as she rocked. Her eyes glimmered with a faint silver light as she drew the rings off her left hand. Her right closed over the platinum, and when it opened, a model of a ship nestled in her palm. With great effort, she raised her right hand, and turned her wrist over " scattering the ice motes so they twirled about her once, before absorbing within her.

Even that simple use of her magic proved too much for her taxed system " her eyes closed, her pale lashes fanning her cheeks as she gave herself up to the sleep she so desperately needed ? and secretly craved.

The repartee continued, back and forth " questions asked, answers given " musings of reasoning, hints of possibilities, and all the while, the young man smiled. During a moment of pause, while gazing out into the endless night " Wyheree spoke, as much to herself as to her dream's companion. "I just wonder - what now.."

"That..." His Cheshire-cat smile lingered as he faded away to nothing, "is entirely up to you..."

A heartbeat, then two - and then with that smile appearing first, he reappeared before her. "Will you take the lesson to the extreme, and shut all those out from getting in too close" Or will you open yourself and risk the pain again? Will you seek your refuge and pleasure only in dreams, where you are safe?"

Her voice was nearly lost in the darkness. "I....I do not know. Here - the terrors do not come. I do not see those horrible eyes, or hear their voices - or feel the pain, as I do when I wake."

The man tilted his head as he regarded her. "It is true. And your dreams can offer you anything you desire. No matter how impossible."

"What I desire most, truly is impossible..."

"And what is that?"

A sad, wistful look crossed her face: "I wish for one who would not only see me as a trophy, or a conquest."

"How is that impossible?" He smiled that warm, genial smile.

"Because - no one sees all of me."

"No one?"

The sadness lingered in her eyes. "One...only one....But I fear, it is far, far too late...."

"Ahh...but that's not important. If one can see you....all of you....then someone else might."

"The odds are not in my favor.." The words bad barely left her lips, when she felt the world changing around her...in response to her thoughts-turned-words. Showing her images both delightful and impossible " the deepest, most secret wishes of her very soul. The sight was so overwhelming " she buried her face in her hands.

The whisper teased along the edges of her mind. "You do not have to hide here. This is your dream....you have no limits here."

"But to dream, of what I cannot have.."

"The first step is to be honest with yourself.."

"Honest....how?"

"In what you desire. Forget the real world, here it matters not."

She sank onto the black sand, curled up before the black stone bench, her head pillowed on her arms " sending pale hair streaming everywhere. "All I desire - is for one to love me, truly love me for all that I am - the Lady, and the Mage. I do not ever wish to ever again deny what I truly am."

Unseen hands took her by her shoulders, and gently turned her around. She raised her head " expecting to see the young stranger, but it was her dearest friend who stared at her, whispered to her. "It WILL happen. I promise you."

She blinked up at him " sending silvery tears trailing down her cheeks. "How can you be so sure, when I am so unsure?"

"Because there is too much love inside you to be left to dry out."

"I am scared, my friend - more than I ever have been."

He whispered to her, soft and sweet. "I don't know what you will become. But you will be glorious."

"I do not feel glorious....I feel so lost. How do I know which path to take, when so many lie before me?"

"Dear, beautiful Wyh. What are dreams, if not opportunities to find out?"

Her head pillowed on his shoulder, capturing her whispered words. "Will you help me?"

"Always."

She hesitated, then whispered. "May I ask, for you to cradle me, while I sleep?"

"I always do, even if you don't know it." The scene of her dream changed " instead of black sand beaches surrounded by dark, endless water " Wyh was now laying on a bed, covered in sheets and covers of the finest black satin, and her pillow was her dearest friend's lap, as he played his fingers through her hair, whispering comfort to her. "Don't despair, Wyh."

She felt warm, protected - safe in the Darkness, within the embrace of her dearest friend. "It hurts....The only time the pain eases - is here."

He stroked her hair, his whispered words a rich temptation. "You know, if you stayed in here, I could give you everything you want."

"If it was truly possible - I would....but I cannot sleep forever.?

His voice was like honey, pleading in her ear. "Would they not keep your body safe and tended" Arrangements could be made....you know this. You could say that you need to meditate....to seek answers deep within yourself." Cool breath whispered against her neck. "And you and I would be together."

"But at what price" I would be bound here, in this place - no longer able to wake."

"You would be bound" In this place....you have *no* limits, my lady. Would you live a thousand years as an Immortal queen, powerful and given anything you wish' I can give you that, and you would enjoy and live each day...while only a night passes outside."

"But what of the next night - and the next' Will you keep me here, while my family begs for me to wake?"

He cried out, his only care for what he wanted. "I care not for them! What are they to me, but possessors of a life I can never know" They have a life, they have LIFE! I have....nothing."

She glared up at him " and her eyes glowed from within. "*I* care for them - does that mean nothing to you?"

The darkness thickened around them, as the Entity burst out. "I won't be cast aside! I won't go back into nothing, you can't make me!" Wyheree felt a thrill of power around her, hints of the Entity's true self, of his true potential. It echoed back and forth around her like the rumbling of distant thunder....and behind it, just enough to be felt...was the desperation that separated it from mere force. "You dare not threaten me here - I am a god here!" The voice echoed around her, ominous in the crashing thunder.

"This is my mind " these are my dreams!" She thundered back.

"I *am* the dream....I am borne of them, I am made of them - the stronger you are here, the stronger you make me!"

"You would fight to keep me within my own dream?" Challenge echoed in her tone " until she realized" he was telling the truth. He was a creature that existed only in the Darkness, but with the power to enter her dreams....and in the dream, he was indeed like a god " a very angry, petulant god.

"I won't die again!"

"You will not die - you return, night after night - dream after dream!"

With a flash of lightning, the dream changed - Wyh was laying in a shallow basin, scooped out of rock, laying atop a high, high pinnacle of stone, far above a stormy, violent sea. Wracked by waves, and rain, and lightning...she was there alone above the world. But not alone " the Entity was there, but he no longer wore the face of her friend - he was that dark, mostly shapeless figure from an earlier dream, laying overtop her, shining in the lightning, her bare skin soaked by the driving rain and wind, his voice a scream above the crashing thunder. "I die every night! Every time you waken....I die another death, and it is an agony! An eternity - until you come again!" His voice in her ears, in her mind - was both anguished and wildly desperate.

The wind and the rain charged her - energized her, even within her dream, as she cried into the endless night. "It only is if you wish it - it could be a heartbeat to you!"

She was being ravished now, and not just by his physical shape...but by the lightning and the wind and the rain, her dream had become the ultimate expression of desperate passion. "You don't understand....you live in that world, you do not suffer time as I do!" He cried against her in utter agony. "Once you leave....I have no power....I have nothing - I am nothing...without you.."

Images flooded the skies above her " orc hordes she battled in times long ago, became a conquering army of Darkness, sweeping aside everyone in their path to capture their prize" a monstrous being rose up from the swamps, dripping with blackness, its arms reaching out for a shining white light' red scales covered themselves in ebony, as the great dragon's jaws snapped for her neck" a young man's bronze skin swirled into the night sky as he covered her in the soft grass" and she felt a surge course through her, as she cried out into the endless night.

His voice was a desperate plead. "You ....are life. When you depart....you take my life away." He seemed to be huge beyond belief, a colossus - a Titan. Yet despite that, her ravishment was complete and utter. She knew, if only through a dim veil, that the Titan was his power " and she was only seeing a glimpse of it.

Wyh began struggling under the weight of the Darkness - even as her body fell, over and over again. "I - must - wake..?

Days without sleep - beyond a little nap here and there, and even those were too fraught with worry to allow her the rest she needed, had taken their toll on Wyheree. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, her physical recovery had stalled - the worst of the wounds were healed, but her strength and sparkle had not yet returned. She desperately needed to sleep - horrible auburn eyes and insane laughter filled her mind when she was awake. But sleep had dangers all its own....as It called to her....nothing was more seductive, it clung to her, teased her, drew her finally down into the delicious, comforting darkness that swirled above the deeper Darkness.

The house was always locked and warded, but now she would wonder....would that matter" For that matter, would it hinder a rescue if it ....happened again? But there was nothing for it now...for she felt herself slipping delightfully into the warmth of blissful sleep, collapsing on the sitting room couch after her TDL match - she had barely been able to hold the lightweight foam blade, and she had done poorly. Fatigue can only be denied so long, and the moment her pale hair touched the couch pillows - she was fast asleep"

At first, the dream....was bland. She felt herself walking alone along an ordinary sandy beach, wearing a long flowing gown " not black this time, nor white, but blue like the twilight sky - clear blue water lapping at her feet, nothing that hinted at her previous dreams - no sign of it' of Him. She found the haze that the real world drew over her dream-memories gone. Here, within this dream, she remembered *everything* once more " the temptation, the rage, the ravishment' For the first time since her first dream since being released...she felt " alone.

There was no thickening of the water, no darkening of the sand - she walked the endless shore with only herself for company, as memories flooded back....words spoken, a desperate pleading. She'd been too frightened at the time, too overwhelmed by the physical and emotional assault to really let it sink in, but now she remembered the agonized pleading of the Entity. She couldn't truly know what he was feeling, what it was like....but from his words and the way he'd begged her, it seemed like something terrible. Was he gone now" Was he dead" Could such a creature die" Or was he hiding" She brushed her pale hair from her face - palest pink in her cheeks as she remembered the wind, the rain " the charge all through her. She gazed out across the waters - and pondered his words. He said he died, when she left her dreams. And she had not dreamed in days..

What *was* it' It was an Entity - a creature of darkness...that much she knew, or thought she knew. It was at once seemingly ancient and powerful...and yet childlike. It had a terrible temper, and yet was capable of such tenderness. And she couldn't shake the inclination to call it "him", even though as a dream-entity it could likely be beyond such notions"

The wind stirred her hair....it seemed to her a mournful song, crying out over the water. He had been so sad, so desperate - so afraid to be alone. She did not understand how the Entity came to be, but she did realize that something in her mind, left vulnerable by the torments inflicted upon her, had called out to him - and given him a form, one terrifying in its power, and absolute in its attack upon her. Her fingers brushed over her mouth, her neck - where the remnants of a bruise lingered, a reminder of the lingering shock of waking, to find her dream real....to feel the aftereffects in the real world, to feel the evidence of being taken by someone" who could not have been there - was *not* there" but she knew better, as she had felt the weight - the heat, seen a flash of eyes that belonged to someone she knew was far away, yet were worn by the shadow that had covered her so completely...

The reasonable assumption she thought, as she sat on the sand, letting the waves crest over her ankles, was that it was taking the form of the one male who was still dearest to her heart, the one that she most would let near her now. Why else would it use that form so much' Or - did she choose it - because of how close their friendship was" The water on her bare feet felt cold, but not uncomfortable " soothing her, but not as much as it once did. Something felt ? missing.

An hour had passed, maybe two, since Wyh's involuntary nap. Jewell had awoken her - telling her she had just gotten word Toby and Tabitha were back from their honeymoon, and wanted to see her - could they know already what had happened" She sat quietly in the little sitting room, looking very tired - dark circles smudged under her eyes, and she still did not have her usual sparkle - but the worst of the wounds were at least healed, at least on the outside. She was demurely dressed in a loose-fitting gown, blue like sapphires, silk upon her still-delicate skin, as she was still not able to conjure her own icy garments.

Some time later, the Jeep pulled up in front of Jewell's home. Toby had considered flying directly there, but there was no place a vessel the size of Lady could have landed there - certainly not without major disturbances. So, he'd quietly landed back up at the cabin, and he and Tabitha had driven down as fast as humanly possible " for they both knew something was not right, not at all. So they were still in the dark blue matching flight suits they wore while aboard Lady. After a quiet and short conversation with Jewell, the two came into the sitting room where Wyh was resisting the insistent pull of the darkness of dreams " it would be poor manners indeed to be asleep when company came to call.

The first moments were awkward - it should have been just a happy reunion of friends, after all...she'd so recently been a warm and beaming witness at their wedding. But all three of them felt the change in the air - Wyh because she'd been through it, the others because" well...they felt something very, very wrong. It was Tabitha who first broached the subject, with her blunt yet gentle way - moving to sit next to her, speaking softly. "We got here as soon as we could."

Toby moved to sit on the other side of Wyheree. It was a subtle thing, but a definitive way to say she was surrounded by friends again. Wyh reached her hands out for her friends - feeling Tabitha's subtle healing gifts tingle in her fingers as she held on tightly, her voice still a touch raspy. "I know - I saw....even when they - I knew you would come."

Tabitha was proving to be more sensitive to things related to dreams, such as the flashes of images she saw when not fully awake nor asleep ....but Toby had far more experience with psionic gifts; plus he had a closer connection to Wyheree in general " they had been friends for so very long. So by and large they had been fairly equal with what they'd felt from her, and what they'd been able to perceive " and what they felt, they both knew they had to return as quickly as possible. So, Toby had indeed broken a few intersystem 'speed limits', and taken a few creative hyperspace shortcuts to get back as fast as they had " shaving three days off the return time. But, there were certain laws of physics even Toby could not change.

Toby continued slowly. "We both' felt flashes of things. Like little bits of nightmare when we weren't sleeping. It all started around the time we were ready to leave Pacifica. Once it started to make a little sense, we started back."

His voice softened. "I don't really know where to begin, what to say...but we're here. We're going to *be* here as long as you want us, and whenever you need us."

Wyh clung to her friends like lifelines - but she was shielding certain areas deep within her mind, which did not go unnoticed by the subtlety that was Tabitha " but she didn't say anything. Wyh's voice was quiet. "So much changed...never have I felt so lost."

He was hesitant; he knew she was hiding great pain, and things that he couldn't easily ask her. Prying felt wrong - but just with their presence (and partly instinctively), he and Tabitha were engulfing Wyheree in something she had never experienced before. A wave, a gentle bubble, of light energy....who knew they were like that' Even they didn't know, for sure - it was just naturally generated by them - once they'd come together, it seemed, they were of Light, as she was of Ice....as something else was of Darkness.

The light flowing through her, through the hands held tightly within her friends", gave her much-needed strength " so slowly, with fits and starts and silvery tears, Wyh related as much of her trauma as she remembered, which was more than she thought, thanks to the Light of those who knew she suffered. Some of what she left out they still might know, from the flashes they'd received from her. She was a powerful transmitter, even if she wasn't a natural telepath...she had a connection to Toby from the time they'd touched minds....and Toby was bound to Tabitha, who was a latent Dreamwalker adept, though she was unaware of it.

Both women shared a wry bit of bemusement at the instinctive reaction from Toby about Wyhs' tormentors - as in, "I'll set them on fire for this" " and the vision of the men being consumed into ash did bring Wyh a certain satisfaction " but, it wasn't mixed with the wild and out of control rage he used to have. As much as he desired revenge...it was sublimated by the need to care for his friend first. Time, and Tabi, had gentled him some. Also, he'd made a conscious decision to part with a large portion of his darkness....a decision that gave him this new center, but also would turn out to have far-reaching implications for Wyh herself"

When Wyh spoke of her release - and the nightmares that followed, Tabitha felt something prickle her - a vague sense of the familiar, as did Toby, though he couldn't figure out why.

"You really think they were more than just nightmares, from what happened?" he said, after she'd relayed the first few.

Wyh nodded slowly: "When I awakened - I could still feel..." Her cheeks were tingled with palest pink.

To their credit, neither of them patronized her with "Well, dreams can feel really real.." stuff. When she got to the second-to-last dream, though, when she told them about the Entity's words, and her brief awareness of him in the room, and the evidence that she'd been taken by him - that made everyone quiet. Tabitha was still trying to figure out how that was even possible she had seen certain movies, of course " but the reality before her made that cheesy film pale in comparison. Toby was more disquieted, having lived in Rhydin as long as he had.

After a moment, he spoke. "Well, the last dream sounds like your experiences are still gnawing at you...but you're starting to hit back, kinda. It didn't sound like the others at all."

Wyh shook her head sadly, seeming almost lost. "No - it was not. It was like the very first one, before the voice came."

"I'm not qualified as a shrink," he gave her a little smile, "but I think it's safe to say you're turning a corner in how you confront what happened, if that last dream is any indication. But...that still leaves us with what happened."

Wyh's voice was barely above a whisper. "I was so foolish - I had forgotten...what I am. If only ?"

She found her hands grasped. One by Toby, one by Tabi " Tabi giving hers a gentle squeeze. "What you are, is a good person. And the people who did that - they weren't. Rhydin goes through 'safe' periods....but there's always the potential for bad stuff." He gave her a little smile. "Remember, you're still a *little* new here, overall. Now you really know why I've had that red robotic monstrosity following me around for years." He paused, then continued. "Do you have any idea why...?"

Wyh shook her head, silvery tears glimmering in her eyes. "They never said why....it was like they took me, tortured - because they could." She had seen images of the slave auction, seen "herself" sold - but her mind could not make sense of any of it, if that was even the complete reason for her taking.

After another moment, Toby continues. "All I do know" is that you're free...you're safe. And whatever they hoped to gain, they failed. It won't happen again."

Wyh was stunned. She gripped both her friends" hands tightly, as Toby continued.

"Whatever it was....it sounded incredibly powerful, if it was able to force itself out of the dream world and into reality even for a short time." He thankfully glossed over exactly what it had been doing when it appeared into reality. "The thing is....you might be in danger if you meet it in the dream world again. If it's that powerful....it could do some serious stuff to you " and I don't just mean x-rated movie stuff either." He coughed. "When you dream, your subconscious is in control - your body is entirely ruled by it. Everything....your breathing, your respiration...If ..." It was hard for him to say this, but he had to make her understand. "if you think you died, in a dream....this creature could conceivably make it 'real' enough that you really would. If it's doing...what you described, then you could wake up expecting. Maybe." He amended, knowing she'd had some problems with that ever since the first time on the Ice Plane. "But you see what I mean, don't you? When you're dealing with something that has the power to manipulate dreams....the dream IS your reality, as far as you're concerned."

Wyh nodded - the weight of his words not lost on her, as he continued.

"That's bad enough. But if this thing really is trying to escape..." He paused, looking for words. "Imagine what something like that would be like, loosed out on the world."

"For as terrible as it might be - it does not seem to wish me harm.."

"No...but what you described makes me even more nervous, Wyh. For some reason, it chose *you*. It latched onto you. And it sounds desperate enough that it might do anything to keep you in the dream world....or to force you to bring *it* out here. Didn't you say it equated your waking up to death for it?"

Wyh nodded. "Indeed it did - it said it died for an eternity when I wake."

Toby paused, to give more weight to his next words. "How much more desperate can you get, than fighting for your life?"

Wyheree's silence made it plain she understood, loud and clear.

"Next time it might not disappear when you wake....and I can't be sure what?d happen then. Or it might not *let* you wake, if it was serious about that. I know you have to sleep. But you know what you're dealing with now...you have to be prepared."

Her voice was an anguished whisper. "What can I do?"

"Well....there could be some medications that help." Toby thought aloud. "Something to strengthen your subconscious, so that you have more control over the dream. Plus, until now you didn't really remember what was happening, right?"

Wyh answered quietly. "I remembered fragments, feelings - but nothing like the last time it came to me."

"That's a sign that you're asserting more control, because you're remembering it. Knowing is half the battle, right?"

She nodded, then admitted, "I have been so fearful, not wanting to sleep."

"Well....first, someone should be here, when you do. So that...if something happens....you're not alone with it when you awaken. When you go to sleep....go at *your* choice, lay down deliberately, and think to yourself, I am in control....I am in control....before you fall off. When you meet this thing again....you have to be on more even ground. So that it doesn't dominate you right off the bat."

Wyh murmured softly. "Someone like my very dear friends?"

"Someone you trust." Toby nodded " then added, in a firmer tone. "Someone like us - or Jewell. Or all of the above."

Her voice was a small whisper. "You would stay with me?"

"That's what friends do." Toby answered quietly, even as he looked at Tabitha for her word on it; strong as he felt about this, he wasn't a single person anymore - things he did impacted his wife's life too, and her decision was in there as well. Tabitha smiled her gentle smile, and nodded her agreement " Wyh was her friend as well. They were trying to downplay the obvious newlywed glow for her - Jewell had quietly told them about the ship and what it meant, and neither of them wanted her to feel any worse.

Toby cleared his throat. "But you still have to decide how you're going to deal with this....this thing."

Wyh blinked at the word. "It does not feel like a thing - not in the dreams."

"There's probably no word for it that fits." He admitted. "Not one I'm qualified to use anyway. I'm just a novice at this. On one hand it sounds powerful enough that it could be older than anything we've seen. But it acted almost like a child throwing a tantrum when you described the last dream before it vanished."

She nodded her agreement. "It desperately wanted its way."

"Well, when you go back..." Toby knew she had to go back, for no one can survive without sleep. "You have to be ready for that, to fight it if you have to, keep it from taking control."

"You seem sure it will return?"

"If it's as desperate as your story implies....I can' t imagine it wouldn't."

"Can such a being - die?"

"That's way beyond me." Toby had a wry look upon his face. "Kairee might know, I can't think of anyone else who has that much experience with alternate reality."

Wyh rubbed her sleepy eyes. "So much has changed..."

"Not everything." She felt her friends" presences, warm and loving, on both sides. "Just remember, you're not alone."

Her loss was still keen - yet softened in the presence of her dearest friends, as she spoke softly. "That was the hope I clung to - that despite what those men said, I was not truly alone."

She knew should feel more frightened of the Entity than she was....but *why* she wasn't more scared, wasn't clear. Was it just the unreality of it all" The truth, she would never believe if she knew"

Wyh was more relaxed than she had been in weeks - and it made her fatigue more pronounced. She softly whispered as she squeezed both their hands. "Thank you..."

"You want us to keep you company for a while until nighttime" I can show you plenty of boring pictures and slides of the surf going in and out on Pacifica." Toby held back a snicker, though his eyes gleamed with laughter.

Wyh managed a smile. "Sometime I would love to visit that world - it sounds delightful."

"I think we can manage to drag ourselves back....you could do with a good vacation sometime soon.."

"Indeed I could - and what better place to recharge, than a world of cool clear water?"

Toby smiled, then his expression grew serious. "When you're ready to try and sleep....we'll talk again and plan the attack." He shook his head. "Sounds like we're gearing up for a war."

"It does remind me of battle strategies from long ago.." Wyh nodded her agreement.

"That's not a bad mindset to have." He again wore that wry smile. "Not that I want you to turn into Wyh-hara, Queen of the Jungle Mages, but a little more muscle in your tussle might help."

"What else do you suggest so that I can assert myself within my own dream?"

"There might be some medications that'll do it. I can have Lady query the computer over at Star's End."

"As long as they will work on those not fully human..."

Toby gave Wyh a final squeeze of her hand. "You're going to get through this, Wyh. We'll be sure of it." And for the first time " Wyh seemed to believe that herself.

He rose. "All right, I'm going to go do a little drug searching on the GalNet. You two can giggle and gossip and talk about shoes now." He gave Tabi a sassy wink.

Tabitha made a face at Toby " which was spoiled by her grin. "Since when do I talk about shoes?"

"There's a first time for everything...? He said, smirking, before slipping out.

The two ladies relaxed and chatted on the couch - Tabitha's instinctive gifts keeping Wyh calm and soothed while they wiled away the afternoon.

A voice resonated in her mind, in her ears - in her very soul. "You called.."

Her voice remained soft. "I thought perhaps, you would not come anymore..."

"I thought the same..."

A black stone bench appeared on the black sand beach, and Wyh took a careful seat, glancing up at the Entity as she whispered. "You frightened me....when last I saw you."

It did not seem to know what to say. She felt a definite 'newness' about it, somehow. Whatever this thing was, powerful though it was - there were simple things that people just understood about each other that it would not know.

"I was angry....I was afraid - I did not wish to die again."

She continued to gaze up at it - him, asking after a moment. "Where did you go, when I was unable to dream"

It did not answer at first. She sensed perhaps that it didn't want to - or that it did not wish to speak of that place. Finally, it spoke. "There is no way you could understand. You come from a world of life. You cannot know Nothingness."

"Tell me, please - so that I may understand, what happens to you."

"It is Nothingness..." It tried to explain. "Your world is alive. You have - movingness of being..". It was a clumsy attempt to explain something it could not easily explain - but she had a flash of insight. Movingness of being....existence that moves - Time! It had no way to fathom the passage of time - so what was a day to her, was an eternity to it, and she understood the fear.

The voice continued in her soul. "Here....in your dreams - there is movinginess, there is life. When you go....that is gone. And all is frozen. Imagine you were caught in the middle of taking a breath that you could never finish. Life, as we define it, needs to move. Or it is not life."

Her heart softened as she understood the Entity's anguish. "I did not realize."

"You could not. You cannot know what it is. You keep your life with you."

She slid over on the bench, so that it might sit if it desired. "Do you stay within my mind then, when I wake?"

"No. Once you wake, I can no longer reach you." It wasn't clear if the Entity did not recognize the simple gesture, or if it was not yet willing to be so close to her " which was strange, considering it had no problem with invading her personal space before. "You are gone....the movingness is gone - everything is gone."

"Are you cast into the in-between - neither in the dream world, but yet not in the waking one?"

"I am cast back to where I was. I cannot reach the waking world at all." Save once - as she well remembered. "and I can only reach the dream world when you create it. Otherwise, I am frozen in the Darkness. I did not know desire for movingness before you came, because I did not know it. I am starving, because you have taught me what it is to be hungry. I am parched, for you have taught me what it means to be thirsty."

"I understand now, why you were so angry and afraid before.." She fell silent, her thoughts jumbling in her healing mind - she felt the truth of the words, it - he, was truly was lost in nothingness, until her torment called him to her. Finally, she softly whispered a burning question. "How did you sense my agony, within the Darkness?"

"I do not know. I thought once to pretend to be a God, that you might believe all that I say, and do all that I ask....but I cannot. There is too much that I do not understand. But when you called out in torment, you broke through the endless night. And I was aware of you. First I was aware of myself. And through that, I understood there was an Other. And the Other was you. And I sought to find that Other, that I might not be alone." It was slowly becoming clearer to her - her dreams of intimacy were more than the simple physical act that was so common in reality. It was a symbol, a metaphor for a deeper intimacy that had been happening within her mind. For this Entity, there was no such this as *casual*.

She listened - the aching loneliness tugging at her, yet there were still questions, so much to understand, as she softly spoke. "There are countless Others - some with sufferings beyond anything I endured....why did I call to you, when they did not?"

"I do not know." There was a pause, and then a concept that it had encountered in her own mind was remembered, and voiced aloud. "Perhaps I was meant to hear you."

She murmured into the night. "That was you I felt....deep in my mind, when I was lost in the anguish - it was you, who sang to me."

"I answered you in the only way I could. I did not understand your words, I could only reach back to you..." And that connection had shone through in the form of the song.

The voice continued. "Once I knew what *was*....I knew torment. Before you, I could not know Torment, for I knew nothing. Therefore, I could know nothing *else*. But you taught me Torment - and I knew that I wished it to cease, for you." It paused. Then she knew it was looking at her, even if she saw no eyes. "Why have you come back?"

Wyh answered literally " evading the deeper meaning in the question. "Everyone dreams - we must dream, or we suffer.."

"You know what I mean. You have gained some control over your dreams. You did not need to call for me."

She dropped her gaze, studying her hands as they lay in her lap. "But I did need to' the last time I dreamed such, you were not there - and I feared..."

It regarded her. "Was it need, only?" The unspoken question was hanging there, looming in the twilight sky - did you need me, or did you want me" There was a world of difference, after all. The voice continued in her mind. "You will soon be strong enough not to need help."

Wyh whispered an admission. "I missed you.?

Wyh studied her delicate hands, musing softly. "One of the effects of the accident - was that I lost access to magicks I could once wield." She glanced up at the Entity. "I once could cast a most impressive fireball."

It moved over to sit on the edge of the black satin bed. "Even that would not have been enough."

She frowned slightly. "Then - what?"

It regarded her once more. "What is the greatest power you have yet witnessed?"

She thought a moment, even though the answer came to her quickly. "Yours..."

Where it sat, its form seemed to flow into the black satin sheets, and back up again " with no boundary between them. And she felt a dim prickle underneath her, as if she was laying curled up on part of him, the tingling rippling through her midnight gown " even that became part of the whole, yet it did not lose its shape. "Yes....Fire burns out. Ice by itself is not enough. Light fails. But the Darkness was, and is, and ever will be."

"I have no access to Darkness - it is not elemental..."

"It, like Light, are eternally opposed, and unrelated to the other elements - but you are mistaken to say you have no access to it. That was true, in your now-that-was." The fabric of her gown rippled around her like a living thing as he spoke.

She gave him a look " part disbelief, part incredulousness. "As Ice, I can touch Air - and Water, in addition to the Ice itself."

"All true. But now....you have Darkness in you. You cannot touch it, except vaguely, and revel in its presence. But it is there."

"That may be....but I have no means to access it..." She sighed, which made the dress move alluringly over her figure, shimmering and rippling over those unparalleled curves.

"Yet."

She quirked a pale brow, as ice crystals alit on the dress, sparkling snowflakes hovering on the surface of the Darkness. "You say that, as if it may be taught?"

"For you it can. Even the little bit of Darkness you've acquiesced to is potent. Do you not think it could grow" And as part of you, you can come to control it, to entwine it with your own gifts - to become something new."

The thought was very alluring - and it showed in her silver eyes as she murmured. "To rebuild what was destroyed..."

"Not just to rebuild. To improve, to perfect, and to strengthen." The snowflakes seemed to darken - still visible against the dress, but not glittering white " and then, the dress seemed to melt, until it became a part of the black satin sheets, draped suggestively over her just at chest level - leaving most of one leg bare. Wyh looked like a shining white angel on that black satin bed. The voice whispered once more within her very soul. "You have long resisted the true potential you possessed. But this would be far greater still."

She frowned at the voice. "Not resisted...but controlled."

"Your life as it has been up till now, aided that control - steered you away from using your gifts, to repress them except for little displays."

Her pale hair fell across her face, as she murmured a confession. "And it cost me..."

"Yes - but now a new reality opens up for you. Submit to the Darkness....learn to embrace it, and to wield it along with your gifts of ice. And you will be stronger than you have ever dreamed."

Her voice was a whisper in the night. "And what of you?"

"I Am the Darkness - both within you, and that which looms around you. Only through me can you reach the power you secretly desire."

"And if I submit to your Darkness - you will come through my dream, and *be*, when I wake."

"I can do that anyway - just as before. Shall I show you?"

She shivered - the memories of before haunting her as the satin sheet rippled suggestively over her, her voice a whisper once more. "You have not taken....this dream."

"I could."

"But you have not - because, you do not wish me harm."

"I have never wished you harm, even when I ravished you." The voice was blunt. "I could take you now, and once more fill your mind with delights unimaginable. And through your power and your passion, I could follow you out into your world. But I would fade away."

Understanding dawned in her silver eyes. "You can only stay...if I wish you to stay."

"Yes. It is only through your willingness that I can enter your world, and stay there - and no power that exists could force you to honestly offer that without your true will. So I ...wish to deal.?

Wyheree shifted in alarm, pushing her hands against his chest as she spoke softly. "Stop....please."

His hands were laid over her shoulders, but they slowly began to travel down, tracing over her skin " making her shiver. "What do you fear?"

She continued to squirm in his grasp. "I am - not alone, where I lay asleep."

"Yes" there is a girl there." He gently slid over top of her. "I do not want her."

Wyh pleaded with him. "But - she is awake....and will be afraid for me....if you appear in the room."

"You do not wish her to see" I will deal with her then."

Her eyes went wide. "No - no " please....do not harm her."

Even as she spoke, she felt a surge of power, and Wyh felt herself drawn along with him through the night....until she saw a path in the woods near the Inn....and Tabitha walking along happily. And she realized - Tabi had fallen asleep....and was dreaming. His voice echoed in the night. "I will not harm her, because you wish it."

Wyh blinked - slowly realizing where they were. "How can we be, in her dream?"

"Am I not master of dreams?" Or so he believed, anyway.

Tabitha paused in her dream-walk, looking around with a little frown on her face - almost as if she sensed something wasn't quite right. The Entity whispered low and sultry. "I will give her a dream that will make her wish to stay asleep for a while."

Concern again filled her voice. "It will not cause her harm?"

The scene flickered, and Wyh had a glimpse of Tabitha, her skin shining in the darkness, being drawn down into the bushes by an unseen someone. And then she heard a decided and delighted giggle, as his voice whispered in Wyh's mind. "*None*." The bushes rustled, and the giggle came again....followed by a breathier moan. There was a brief view of her leg stretching languidly up into the air, her toes pointing at the sky, before sinking back down " the sight making Wyh's eyes go wide in shock. Softly, she heard him speak wickedly to her, "Do you wish to see?" which made Wyh blush nearly crimson, and she shook her head, her eyes closed tightly.

Tabi's dream faded away, and Wyh was back in her own, on that black satin bed " and her hands reached up to tangle in his hair again, while his hands did the same - her hair seemed to be her brilliant mane of white one moment, youthful raven tresses the next, and neither seemed odd. He ducked his head, and kissed her without preamble - and dream or not, Entity or not, the innocent desperation behind that kiss was *real*, and Wyh found herself responding to that desperation - tempering it with her sweet tenderness. The Entity might not know love as she did, but even now....she was a gentle teacher.

Unlike last time, Wyh felt very much in control. The Entity knew what to do, but it was responding to her - not taking over her. All of the fears, all of Toby's warnings about the danger, about what giving in to the Entity would mean....were fading from her mind as the tender lovemaking went on and on - and when she felt herself drawn to waking....she gave in to it willingly, drawing on her dream....Wyheree writhed in pleasure on the bed in Jewell's room' she slid her legs back against real sheets, drew in deep breaths that filled her lungs - and against her, all around and over her....He was there. It was still a shock, as she awoke, to know him there....but this time she wasn't as frightened. Instead of the delicious frictionless fullness of liquid darkness, she knew a man's touch, a man's presence, and for endless hours or moments, they made sweet love. He brushed real tears from her cheeks as the innocence and the wickedness met, she could taste him, feel him' But in the end....after the fireworks had faded - after a brief, blessed lull of wordless contented peace....she could not stop him from fading away....into memory - and no fingers remained to brush away the tears that lingered.

Wyheree thought a moment, before speaking softly. "They have been one, since before the ceremony - I am not sure how, but I also see it." She paused, then continued " considering new details in her mind. "Toby is a skilled psionist - he has great powers of the Mind. Tabitha is also gifted, but in different ways....perhaps that is how they bound themselves to one another. While I do have some gifts of the Mind, they are not like his - I can hear thoughts at times, but not like his gifts."

He floated with her, in that ethereal and un-frightening Darkness. "It can be done, nonetheless. I perceive it....but - I also perceive your fear of it, for it means you will be mine....utterly. You fear solitude....deeply." He tilted his head as he regarded her. "And yet - you have new fear, of binding to another. I do not understand."

Her voice was a whispered confession. "I was bound to another....and it caused me even greater pain when I was held captive."

"You were not bound." He was adamant as he gazed at her. "I can sense no binding ever touching you. You have never known it."

Wyh did not speak, but images of a ceremony flickered through the Darkness - her and another standing before a crowd - the exchanging of rings, similar to what her friends had done. The Entity mused. "That was your dream....your world is still but a dream to me." He continued, trying to grasp the concept of what she showed him. "And how can it be a true binding if you are alone?"

"Perhaps it was not a true one, after all..." The words were nearly lost, they were so very soft.

"The only true binding is that between the true selves. Your flesh is not here - this?" He ran his hands over her, making her shiver. "is only your mind giving a shape to what you really are, here. I have no flesh - what you see is what your mind has told you is my shape. It is what you've chosen, to represent me." He continued. "A true binding is between the true-selves. And it cannot be broken or it is not true."

Palest pink touched her cheeks. "You have flesh....I have felt you?"

"Only briefly....but it was just a shell, as your flesh is a shell that houses your inner fire." He stared deep into her silver eyes.

She considered his words for a long moment, before speaking. "A binding - that would give you what you wish....But - what does such a binding do for me, save hold me to you?"

He smiled. "I understand now....I can offer you many things....Some you have already known." He kissed her then, just a brief touch of lips. "I can see into your soul....I can give you two things you have desperately wanted all your life, but never admitted to anyone."

She let the kiss linger as long as she could - before blinking up at him, her confusion plain. "What two things?"

"I have looked through your eyes, and your memories....to the untrue bindings of your world. I do not understand their falseness....there can only be true binding with me." The implications were staggering. When he spoke of forever....of always - there was no 'if' about it. "Never would you be alone again."

She countered with one of her fears. "But at what price" What happens if you weary of me?"

It was the Entity's turn to look confused. "What is weary?"

Again, she did not speak, instead more images flit through the Darkness - these of a bronze-skinned youth, cavorting with an unknown female in a cemetery. The Entity could not understand that either, so she tried to explain it further in a whisper. "There are many, many Others - what happens if another catches your attention?"

"How is it possible to do such things without true intimacy?" When they'd 'made love' in her dreams....it was not just the physical act. It was a true spiritual intimacy, that only took the shape of the act so her mind could comprehend the depth of what was happening. The idea of faithlessness completely failed to register. "There are Others, but there is only You."

"I have heard promises in the dark, sweet whispered words in the afterglow - and they have all been broken..." She admitted in the Darkness.

"True bonds cannot be broken." He said simply, before continuing. "And - I can offer you the power you secretly crave....deep beneath the veneer of the gentle lady."

She looked up at him. "You offered to show me - how to wield Darkness..."

"Yes..." He gently touched her face. "For though you are not gifted with that elemental power - I can make it so, for have you not opened yourself to me" Allowed Darkness within you?" Her blush deepened to rose as she nodded. "Even that little fragment of it is power....and every time you open to me, it grows" Shall I show you?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes sparking with keen interest. "Please - show me the Darkness.?

Her other-self stepped forward in response - and *into* her. Immediately, the flush of everything she COULD be rushed into her like a shock of icy cold water, making her gasp aloud as her hair stood all on end - the midnight and raven streaks intermingling with her beautiful white mane, the tattoos spreading like spilled paint over her soft skin. She still felt her Ice as she had always known it since she first fell through the Plane itself " but with it now" she felt the endless, almost overpowering chill of the Darkness - but it was not overpowering her. It was like an obedient wolf, ready to obey her wishes to strike. She felt the other-self whisper within her. "Show me your enemies."

Images of the two men who captured her appeared on the beach " and a laughing little-girl whisper bubbled up within her. "Would you like them to meet the real you? Do it..."

Wyheree's eyes went from shining silver, to endless black - and she lashed out with her hand, fingers splayed wide - and a sheet of cutting ice came forth as it usually did, shattering into a million shards - a wall of frozen death flying forth at them. But this time, she felt each shard of ice alive with the unending cold that was the endless night. If the shards were like knives before " they were swords now. And no armor could deflect them - no fire could melt them' and the men who tortured her were shredded like paper dolls, as the echo of her other-self within Wyheree giggled " very pleased.

Wyh whirled about - and another blast was directed at the smug face of the long-hated vampiress, as her other-self explained. "The shards are born of the Elemental Plane of Ice that you know within you....and hardened by the eternal cold of the Darkness."

The dark ice shards collided with the vampiress, who recoiled in pain but was not destroyed - she was powerful, even in the dream " both with her own unnatural abilities, and those gained from outside sources. The other-self within Wyheree just smiled. "There is more....give her the Darkness. Let it loose - see what it can do." Her other-self urged in a seductive whisper. Wyh's arms stretched wide, and she felt the Darkness build around her, spreading like two vast wings to either side of her, as the other-self whispered. "Do it!"

Wyh raised her hands - and the Darkness around her surged forth to wrap around the vampiress - smothering her in the Night she craved. Her other-self giggled in glee, as the undead looked around her in confusion - and mounting realization. The Darkness came alive, a thing of sheer immensity, and then it came down on the undead - tendrils erupting from the shadows, tearing the hated one apart " until like a sandcastle struck by the tide....the figure sagged and simply disintegrated.

Her other-self whispered. "All things return to the Darkness in the end - even creatures that are born in it. She had no Light - and even that would only be temporary salvation. The light will fail....but the Darkness will always be there." The Darkness wrapped back around her like a cloak over her shoulders, rejoicing - exulting....the power through her felt so dark and alive...

Wyh whispered into the Night. "I want this..."

The little whisper came back. "It's always been in you, the potential. All you have to do is reach out and take it." The voice teased at her. "You could do so many things - how many wrongs could you right with this power" How many adventures you could have again?"

Wyh's whisper was fierce. "Every wrong....nothing could stand in my way."

"One thing will stand in your way - the only power that exists that will have dominion over you."

Wyh blinked. "What power?"

"The only power that matters." Her other-self stepped out to face her again, but did not *take* the power from her. Her other-self laid her hand over Wyh's heart again. "Your judgment. Your wisdom. That's what separates you from what you fear to become. It always has " and it always will." Understanding gleamed in her eyes - still as black as night, as the other-self continued. "Lady....Mage....Ice....Darkness....you *are*. They are just facets." Her other-self winked. "They're pretty - and they make you unique. But they're just details."

Wyheree nodded slowly. "I am not bound to be one, or another - I can truly be all..."

The other-self turned, looking over a bare shoulder at her. "You can be anything you wish, as long as you are *you*, with no denial, and no hiding. Remember that." With that, she sauntered off contentedly into the shadows, humming a tune as she disappeared.

Slowly, Wyh's eyes bled back to their usual silver, as she murmured softly. "I want to be all of what I am..." She looked down at herself - she still had the exotic and powerful tattoos, the dark-streaked hair spilled over her shoulders. And he stood beside her, in the form of the young guardsman she had given him.

"You can do it without me." He spoke truthfully. "But only with me can you achieve what you have felt here. You can still be yourself, strong and powerful, and not need the Darkness. But now you have tasted what it can be."

She turned and looked up at him. "You can show me the Darkness - help me be everything I am able to be?"

"Oh yes - and more. Limits are just chains you place upon yourself. Cast them off."

Her voice was a plea in the night. "You can help me?"

"I can be your bridge to the Darkness." His dark eyes flickered. "I can show you how to let it in. And how to master it within yourself. And from there....so much is possible."

She lay her hand upon his chest, the tattoos still shining on her skin. "For so long, I have hidden what I truly am - the potential long dormant. Many times I have been called upon to reveal my power, and each time I have demurred." Wyh's eyes flashed. "I will do so no longer."

The only remaining doubts within her came from her memories of her friends - of their warnings about this Entity....what it might be, what it might do to her, what it might do if set free. Only those questions remained to be answered ? and the Entity could not address those....it could not understand them. And indeed, it would not find them relevant.

The Entity smiled.

His whisper in her ear was plaintive, which was a little surprising. "How long will you stay?"

"Until I wake....which I hope is not for a long, long while." She murmured into his neck.

"I can make it an eternity in here..." He whispered softly, pausing for a brief moment before continuing in that sweet seductive voice. "Would you tell them?"

Wyheree thought, and nodded " whispering softly. "It would be best " otherwise....the Others who care for me, might seek to cause you harm - and I will not see you harmed."

He considered this a moment. "You could - hide me."

"But' would that not be hiding a piece of myself?" She countered.

He gave voice to her hidden thoughts " hidden questions she had not voiced. "Are you prepared for them to know this so soon?"

She thought for a long moment, her hand soft in his hair as she gazed at him. "I cannot hide you forever" but perhaps, the Others do not need to know right now."

He answered by burying his face against the plunging valley of her chest " making her gasp in sheer delight, as he murmured against her pale skin. "I will ....trust your judgment then." After nuzzling for a long while, he looked at her " a thoughtful look on his face. "Tell me, why did you choose this form for me?"

She blushed palest pink, lowering her gaze. "It is a long-buried wish " one I thought long forgotten, to know this form."

He smiled at that " a roguish gleam in his eyes, before his expression softened. "I felt strange conflicts within you with the other I used."

Her blush deepened as she nodded. "That form...is my friend - I care for him deeply."

He seemed confused - he could not understand the difference between kinds of love. To him....there was only One. He was also curious - a trait that was stronger every time they met.

Wyh gently smiled. "We have been friends since my return to Rhydin many months past - we have helped each other through each other's traumas, and shared in each other's laughter." He was surprised by that " though he had caught glimpses of her dear friend within her subconscious, memories that stirred jealousy in him " jealousy Wyh could feel, jealousy she instinctively sought to soothe away, whispering softly. "He is happy - happier than I have ever known him to be, deeply and completely in love with Tabitha."

His eyes burned into hers. "Then - he is not?"

She shook her head. "No - he is not....We do love each other - but it is not the same, here." She touched lightly over his heart. "He is my friend " he is to me as my Sisters, my Brother."

"Good." His voice was so serious, so sincere - it was almost comical, as he curled into her, seeking comfort from her as she held him close, his head pillowed on her heart.

Her whisper was a plea, nearly lost in the black satin of the dream. "There will never be another...?"

He raised his head to look at her, mystified. "How can there be?"

Wyh whispered another fear. "There are so many Others....one might catch your eye, and then?" Her voice trailed off.

The comfort she gave " it did something to him. He rose up somewhat, staring at her boldly, making her shiver under the weight of his gaze. "I do not see with eyes. I see only the truth - and you are my truth." He shifted over her, smiling. "Do you have any more fears?" He leaned in to kiss her forehead, then her lips - then her neck, murmuring softly. "I would know them all, and soothe them away."

She tilted her head as his lips caught her neck, her hands again twining in his silken hair. "Only' that this day will pass slowly."

His smile widened. "No....about me. About this." The benefit to one such as he " was he knew nothing of deceit, of lying. Total intimacy was anathema to those things.

"I cannot think of anything more I might fear....you are proving to be everything I have ever dreamed, ever wished." Wyheree could not have imagined the pleasure those words gave the Entity " but she knew, for she felt it in the dream as if it were her own. Was this what it was like for Toby and Tabi " through the open door that bridged their minds, their very souls" Would this level of intimacy continue to exist for her"

He ran his hand up her arm, and then slowly down her body, whispering softly to her. "Out of respect' I will not seek to enter your world with you? this time."

She whispered, even as his touch had her literally melting into the satin. "What if I wished you to?"

His eyes answered that for her, and his whisper confirmed it. "Do you not know" I would do anything you asked. You need only ask."

Silvery tears glimmered in her eyes, as she caressed his cheek. "Then....please....let us be together, as long as possible..."

He whispered, suddenly. "Wake up.?

The day dawned warmer than it had been " winter was slowly loosening its grip on Rhydin, and spring seemed just around the corner. But, the promise of sunshine did nothing to chase the shadows from the Keeper's mind, heart " even her very soul. Wyheree had held the Key to the Tower of Water for nearly a year, defending her right to keep the Key twice. In many ways, the Tower was home to her. Water was an essential component to her Ice magic, and it was where she chose to go after her physical wounds finally healed. She thought she had explored every inch of the Tower, followed every path - but a conversation with Tass, who had held the Key before her, drew her steps downward, deep into the heart of her Tower.

Finally, after roaming for what seemed like hours, Wyh stood before a door she had never seen before - one of silvery white, marked with a single claw, just as Tass described to her. Her hand hovered over the claw - hesitating....did she dare speak of what truly troubled her" Her friends, her family - they assumed she was still haunted by her recent trauma. Her dreams were no longer plagued with leering red eyes and clutching taloned fingers, but....the men still haunted her. In fact, one physical scar persisted. A red welt no larger than an ink droplet marred the paleness of her throat - the first touch of the liquid magma still stubbornly refused to heal. It felt like she might wear that scar to the end of her days....as what? A trophy of her refusal to give up" A mark of shame at being tormented and nearly broken" A defiant thumb to the otherwise ethereal perfection of her look"

Whenever Wyh looked upon that scar, it served to reminder her of what she had once been - and what she would never be again. Paths still loomed before her - and she knew, a choice needed to be made. But which direction was right' A part of her insisted that the *right* answer " the *right* path, was to turn her back on the wicked, sinful temptations of that Dark Entity. She should seek out her friends' wisdom and banish it back to wherever it came from, to free herself of it and retake her rightful mantle as a true lady. But, then there was another part of her" the part that wondered" the part that longed...

Her hand pressed against the claw, and she felt a tingle through her palm, a flare of her magic as it recognized a part of itself behind the door. Her thoughts swirled and jumbled in her mind - she knew she should banish the Darkness, for even now she felt its seductive pull, coaxing, tempting....yet, the thought of never seeing the Entity again was nearly too much for her to bear.

The door opened of its own accord, and Wyh slowly stepped inside, feeling the tingling dance from her palm, down her arm, spreading all throughout her still-healing body. Glancing about the large circular space, she felt something - familiar, yet not. "Is anyone here?"

A deep, rolling whispery voice answered her - it felt big as the sea, deep and wide. Yet it wasn't intimidating in and of itself. "Returned again, and yet not the same..."

Wyh blinked as she moved further into the room. "Returned - again? I have never left. I won my last challenge."

"You have." There was a faint basso undertone in the voice. "I feel the echo of the other place, it lingers on you still. You bear its mark."

Her pale fingers brushed against the welt on her throat as she spoke. "All the rest of the wounds have healed - save this one....and I fear the taint of what was done still lingers within me, for my usual magicks are still not as they once were."

"I do not speak of that. I speak of the other place, the one that you have only recently touched. Its taint surrounds you, and deepens the cold. Winter never-ending."

Palest pink touched Wyh's cheeks, rapidly deepening to rose as she spoke softly. "You know - of the dreams?"

"Are you not my Keeper" So long as the Key is in your hands, we are linked. What changes in you, must affect me in its turn."

Wyh sighed. "So much has changed - I know not where to begin....I see so many paths laid before me - and I know not which one to take.?

Wyheree curled upon the chaise lounge, her thoughts slowing coming into focus as she continued to voice her fears. "I also fear what this Entity might do, once he has form in the waking world - it knows nothing of humanity, only what it desires. And, it desires me - in a way that I cannot begin to comprehend. It has said, more than once - that I am the Only One. But once it has form, will I still be the Only' Or will it drift away from me - leaving me alone and bereft on a path I do not understand?"

"If it has truly been awakened from that place by you, then that is truth. It may become aware of other souls, but none of them will be connected to it as you are. It is the reverse that I deem to be the greater danger. That this Entity will take you over, beyond any hope of escape."

Her fingers brushed against her chest, over her heart, where once its lips had pressed. "I fear that as well" as much as I do not wish to be forever alone, it speaks of a binding - a door that never closes."

"That is one possible future I see. Once you allow it to happen, you will not be parted." The voice sounded almost ominous, like a lurking thunderstorm.

She murmured softly. "Bound together - body, mind, and soul..."

This time, the Tower asked a question of her. "What will you do?"

She thought a moment before she gave her answer. "I know I cannot be what I once was. Too much has changed, I have changed - even without the Entity's presence, I can never again be as I was. I see two paths clearly - one where I walk alone, even within the company of family and friends. And one" where I am never again truly alone."

"At the risk of your very soul and body. Only you can choose. I can only advise you." There was a pause. "I cannot deny that I am fascinated by the possibilities that such a thing would bring even to me."

Wyh admitted something else. "I saw....a dream, a vision' of what I could be, if I bind to the Entity?"

The Tower's curiosity was not hidden. "And that is what tempts you?" She nodded, still trailing ice about herself, the dark crystals outnumbering the light. "Indeed it does - for it was a perfect balance, the Ice and the Darkness. My power was amplified, and the Darkness flared at my command, and only when I wished it."

"And tied with the power you wield through me, you would be?" The voice was pure satisfaction. "Formidable."

"No one would withstand - no one would dare take me again....no one would dare raise a hand against those I love." Her eyes flashed like jet for a brief moment.

"The rewards are great."

"But - is the price too high a cost to pay?"

"Only you can answer that."

She sighed, as the ice continued its dance around her chaise. "I have told no one of what was asked....my friends know only something has invaded my dreams, but they do not know all."

"What will you tell them?" The voice almost seemed to imply the choice was made, and she was merely dithering. Wyh flicked a burst of ice towards the wall at the implication, which brought out an echo of an almost Olympian amusement.

"I will not have to say anything, if no one learns of what I might do - and what I might become."

"The Darkness is already changing you. You are becoming more complicated."

"I am Mage - I have never been accused of being simple."

"Then the only question left, is when you will do it."

Wyh thought for another long moment. "Once it is done - he will need to be hidden..."

"Will he permit it' Can you hope to control such a thing?"

"I will not lie, I do not know if he can truly be controlled - but, I do know he will do what I ask of him."

"You have power here, Mistress. I suggest that you allow it to happen here."

"Here - within this chamber?" She considered the possibilities. "He would not be able to leave the Tower, unless I wished it."

"In theory. I cannot know, nor can you, truly what the Entity will be capable of once in this world."

"That is the other hesitation - what will it do once it has the life it craves?"

"You will only know that once it happens. Again, a risk you must take. It may be simply be satisfied with such life. But it may decide to possess you, or do other things once it has you."

She admitted softly. "I fear it may turn on any who come near me."

"It may. It promises to be exceptionally powerful. But it knows little of this world, and it will be bound to you as deeply as you will be bound to it. Such a binding works both ways. Now you must choose." Wyheree fell silent, turning over the conversation in her mind, pondering and wondering so many things. Was the Entity exerting some influence over the Tower, to nudge her towards the choice" Or was the Tower acting of its own volition, in the hopes of being part of greater power through her" Or was the choice already made, deep within her soul, no longer a question of would she, but when?

Darkness flowed up around Wyh's body, enveloping her in a silky cocoon from her ankles to her shoulders - one that surrounded, but did not bind. It remembered her sensitivity to such....and in any case, this was her choice now. She felt warm, protected - safe within that dark embrace.

Then, she felt a strange disconnect - she still felt engulfed in the liquid darkness, but at the same time, she saw herself pale and glistening, in the arms of her memory-lover " her crush from so very long ago. He smiled at her, touching her cheek. "I thought it might be easier for you for see this, rather than the raw darkness." He ran his fingers and palm slowly over her face, gazing upon her with dark, shining eyes.

She reached with a trembling hand to touch his cheek, whispering softly. "Indeed - it is easier for my mind to comprehend" with you like this."

He whispered to her. "It will not hurt' never will it hurt. But - you will know my darkness within, far more than before. Focus instead on this image..." He smiled a little wickedly then. "unless the darkness appeals." He leaned in, and his mouth found hers " catching her small gasp, making her swoon willingly into his arms.

He ran his hand down her long, sleek form, over her legs - teasing them, playfully nudging them " drawing out little shivers from her, little breathy giggles as he slid against her, cool and sleek....heated and strong, between" within" different than the other times " save the very first, liquid satin flowing" ecstasy worth the price to her fevered mind. He moved with her, the pleasure was all in her mind, she knew - but it translated into the physical pleasure she felt within her dream, casting her adrift upon luxurious seas.

Wyh was dimly aware that their 'movements' were his way of preparing her for what was coming - coaxing and encouraging her to open her mind to him. And, she dimly knew in turn that her own languid "movements" were her way of doing exactly that, as her mind blossomed" The pleasure rose, and Wyh felt her receptiveness growing. She knew she was ready - she knew she was willing. All that remained was to yield....she had already given him the whispered command "Come to me"....and as their dream selves writhed closer, and closer, she felt him approaching the final barrier. All she had to do was let him through' her yielding would be her fall, her fall " her ultimate yielding"

Those dark eyes - beautiful, awful, intense....peered at her out of the darkness, burning into her very soul - and she knew, she would never, ever, be the same. Wyh felt her pleasure build to heights she never dreamed, never imagined could exist' Her entire body trembled as his voice tickled deep within her mind. "This is it...all you have to do is?" The rest was lost within the roaring waves in her ears, but she knew, oh she knew " as she cried out her fall into his willing mouth"

The remainder was a blur - and yet, she would never forget a single detail. In the dream-within-a-dream, the Lady yielded to her Lover, and he in turn fell upon her. In the dream itself, she felt a terrifying rush of Darkness collapse upon her - terrifying, but the actual terror just failed under the wintry light of her acceptance and desire. It was impossible to believe any being could contain such energies - such raw Darkness, but she did, because it was not just inside her - it was now a part of her. The feeling was utterly glorious, utterly triumphant - Wyheree could not distinguish between her triumph and joy, and his"

Wyheree was left weakened and trembling on that black satin bed, but she knew that was only temporary - till she became accustomed to what she had become. In the meantime, she was once again aware of him with her, over her, his voice a gentle caress. "Only one thing remains....The Bond."

He did not need to ask her this time, but he chose to do so, whispering in her soul. "Yes...?"

She gazed up at him through languid silver eyes - never had she known anything like him before, whispering softly. "How..?"

His eyes burned with intensity, but smile was warm and gentle. "I will take care of it."

"Then " yes?" He ducked his head, and his lips came in contact with the soft swell of her breast, over her pounding heart. She felt a searing dark fire - but not pain. Not fire that would harm her, or scare her - but their own secret fire. It seared her skin without hurting, it inflamed her without any displeasure - and with it she knew she was forever lost, forever hopeless, and forever found.

When he lifted his head, she saw a mark upon her breast, as in an earlier dream. But, where it had been hazy and indistinct before - now she saw a tattoo gracing those soft curves. A snowflake....so marvelously intricate, it seemed to be forever changing, forever increasing its detail. It was utterly black, with an icy blue veneer....over her pale skin. Wyheree knew, without asking, that if she wished it " lines could spread to cover her entire body with such images, as in that dream. And just as easily, they could retreat, leaving her flesh bare and unmarked as it had been before. All save this snowflake - it would be a part of her forevermore....hidden if she so chose but never gone.

She heard his husky, triumphant whisper, his eyes blazing gloriously. "We are One....when you wake....I will live. Whatever shape you choose for me when you awaken....so will I be." He touched her cheek, tracing a finger up to her hair, smiling a beatific smile. "And there will I stay, with you."

Wyh gazed up at him in wonder - her fingers lightly tracing over the snowflake as she spoke softly. "We are....truly One."