a lifetime of dreaming

Now that we can design and upload our own custom headers, I went ahead and did just that.  Now it's all dark and dragony.  :D

At the end of November, I had written fifteen chapters and copious notes, and I did manage to win.  (YAY!)  I have assembled all the chapter links here for your easy perusal.  :D

Preface: In the dragon's eyrie.
Chapter One: Taliesin's adventure.
Chapter Two: The midget and the magician.
Chapter Three: Fateful meetings.
Chapter Four: Beginning it is the hardest part.
Chapter Five: Ava.
Chapter Six: The Great Dragon.
Chapter Seven: Traveling party.
Chapter Eight: The City of the King.
Chapter Nine: All is explained.
Chapter Ten: A long walk.
Chapter Eleven: The search.
Chapter Twelve: Lost.
Chapter Thirteen: Ava, alone.
Chapter Fourteen: In a world of snow.
Chapter Fifteen: Taliesin meets the King.

I'm always eager to hear your input, so leave comments any time you like.  And thank you for reading.  :)

Taliesin's mouth dropped open, and for a moment he could not think of anything to say.  He had just been trying to get used to the idea that he was not about to die at the hands of unintelligible barbarians, and here was a person who obviously was like him.  Where had he come from?

"Can you speak?" the man demanded, when Taliesin said nothing.

"Y - yes," he stammered.

"Then come with me, before T'krull changes his mind about you.  Quickly!"  He held the tent flap aside for Taliesin, then grabbed his arm and hurried him past many more tents, to the very back of the large camp.

Taliesin was wincing but did not say anything.  His new captor, or possibly his new friend, was digging his fingers into the bruises freshly left by the two barbarian men who had found him at the forest's edge.  He was hauled into a much smaller tent, and the man let go of his arm then. 

"Sit, please," he said, and sat down himself, on a hairy rug in the middle of the tent. 

Taliesin sat as requested, looking around him, and rubbing his arm gingerly.  The interior of this tent was also very dim, although there was a lantern hanging from the ceiling of it, which lit the center of the tent much more than the edges.  There was a low table near him, and on it was a beaten metal jug and one wooden cup.  He could also see a rolled-up bundle that appeared to be either a thick blanket, or another rug. 

"What is your name?"  asked the man.

"Taliesin," he replied, and then wondered if he should have been so quick to give that information out.  After all, he still did not know where he was, or who this man was either.  For all he knew, this could be an enemy.  Although he was not quite sure what type of person would be an enemy of his, he was still somewhat worried.

"I am Arthur," said the man, in a sorrowful voice.  "I was a King, once, but no more.  Here I am little better than a captive, even though I have my freedom."

Taliesin, in surprise and a little shock, said, "You were a King?"

"Yes," said Arthur.  "But as I said, I am King no more.  Through betrayal and dark magics, I was stranded here many years ago.  I have saved your life, although you may not realize it yet."

"But - " Taliesin was still trying to process Arthur's words.  "Where were you a King?"

"Do you disbelieve me?" Arthur was suddenly brimming with indignant pride, and he drew himself up where he sat.  Taliesin could see that he had once been accustomed to holding himself in a kingly way, and certainly did not doubt his words.  After a minute or so, however, he visibly wilted.  "No more," he murmured.  "No more."

Taliesin felt terrible, as if he had physically hurt Arthur.  His wounding was tangible.  "I am sorry," he apologized sincerely.  "Is there anything I can do?"

"No," said Arthur.  Sadness was in his voice again.  "What has been done is irrevocable.  I must live out my life here, on this godsforsaken place, in this world of snow."

"What place did you come from?  Did you come through the rainbow?"

At that, Arthur frowned, and sat up straight again.  "What do you know of the rainbow?" he demanded.  "Tell me!  Are you an apprentice of the vile Merlin?" 

"No!" shouted Taliesin, which had hadn't meant to do, except that the former king was exuding so much anger and emotion.  "I've never even met him.  I think that... I think that we've come from the same place, though."

Arthur looked nonplussed.

"How did you get here?" Taliesin asked, worried that Arthur was going to become angry again.  He could not remember how long ago Tristan had said that Merlin and the king had disappeared from the city, but he thought it had been a very long time ago.  Tristan was an old man, and he had been much younger then.  This man sitting across the rug from Taliesin was only a few decades older than he, if that. 

"I would first hear how you journeyed to this world, young man," said Arthur in a firm voice.

Taliesin figured that he should at least go along with what Arthur wanted for the time being, since he seemed rather volatile so far, and he had only known him for the space of about five minutes.  "Well, like I said, I came through the rainbow.  I don't know why it happened - I had the spell paper to pick up the waystone, but that didn't work, I guess - but that's how I got to this world.  As soon as I got to the edge of the woods, those two big guys grabbed me and brought me here to this camp.  And that's where you found me," he finished. 

Arthur looked at him skeptically.  "That is not the way I have heard the rainbow traveled," he said.  "However, I have no reason to disbelieve you, so I will accept your story as fact.  I came here rather differently; my chief magician, Merlin, took me to the world between the dimensions, in an evil and despicable plot to murder me, although for what diabolical reason I have yet to ascertain.  I fled him for many months, and only a year ago I appeared here, in this world.  I do not think he followed me; he does not know which door I used to come here.  Now that I am here, however, I cannot get back.  I cannot go home, and I cannot go to the world between the dimensions so that I can once again search for the correct door."  His voice broke a little.  "I am lost."

Taliesin sat for a while in silence.  He wanted to ask more questions, but the former king was obviously upset.  He had not imagined him, the former king that Tristan had told him about, to be so emotionally unstable.  Although I'm sure that's because he has been gone for so long, he thought.  I might go a little crazy myself if I was never able to get back to anyone I knew.  A horrible thought occurred to him then: What if this is it?  What if today is the day I got lost, and I will never get home?  That thought was so horrible that, after dwelling on it for a moment, he pushed it away. 

"We won't be lost anymore," he said decisively.  "We will get back home."

Arthur chuckled hollowly.  "Yes, I said that very same thing at first.  You will eventually come to the conclusions that I have: we are lost for all eternity, because we do not hold the power of the dimensions within our hands."

"And Merlin does?" asked Taliesin.

"Of course he does, boy - that is how he controls his comings and goings.  He can traverse the dimensions at will, and does so without a backward glance.  He has probably forgotten me by now... I am sure that I do not interest him any more."  Again, his face and voice were very sad.

"Wasn't he a close friend of yours?"  asked Taliesin, worried that he was saying too much, but he felt that he needed to know.

"He was my best advisor - my best friend," said Arthur.  "And he betrayed me to this doom," he said bitterly.

"Tristan told me that you two were friends," Taliesin said sypathetically.

"Tristan?  I'm not sure that I know who that is," replied Arthur.  "Oh, wait - is that the young apprentice of Merlin's?  The one who came from another world?"  At that moment, it looked as if someone had turned a light on over Arthur's head.  "From another world!" he repeated.  "He may know how to get us home!"

"With all due respect, uh, Arthur," Taliesin was unsure as to how to address the former king, "he isn't here.  He sent me to get a waystone, and instead of taking it back to him, the stupid thing brought me here instead."

"But he knows you're gone - at least, I am sure he will find out soon enough, when you do not return, isn't that right?"  Arthur demanded excitedly.  "He may find us here!  If he sent you, then he must value you, and I am sure he will try to locate you!"

"Well... I don't know about that," said Taliesin slowly.  "About the valuing me part, I mean.  I've only known him for a few days, because I accidentally left my own world the same way, and showed up back in his - and your - world, and it's all been very confusing since then."

"Oh," said Arthur.  He looked disappointed.  "But still..." he said.  "There may still be hope?"

"I suppose so," said Taliesin.  "And I'm going to do my best to figure out how to get back too, because I don't really want to spend the rest of my life on a world full of snow.  When does it get warm here?"

"Never.  It's always snowy here, or at least it is here.  I haven't been to many other parts of this world, so I have no way of knowing if it gets warmer somewhere else.  They," he gestured in the general direction of the other tents, "don't exactly give me a lot of information.  I only kept myself from dying by helping them in their wars when they demand it."

"They're at war?"

"Nearly all the time," said Arthur grimly.  "They are right now, and this is a war camp.  I had to swear to them that you were not a spy, or you would have been killed instantly."

"Thank you," said Taliesin sincerely.  "How did you learn their language?  It's all grunting and shouting to me."

"Out of necessity," sighed Arthur.  "And when I was King, back on Adrostu, on my throne of crystal, I knew all of the languages of my world.  Speaking a foreign tongue is not difficult for me."

He stood up then, and held out his hand to Taliesin.  "Now that we have gotten to know each other a little, I will show you around the camp - and you are to be my helper.  That was the other condition of your survival."

"Oh," said Taliesin, unsure as to what that would entail, but perfectly willing to do whatever he needed to in order to avoid sudden death.  He took Arthur's proffered hand, and they left the tent, walking back out in the blindingly white snow.

Taliesin woke to a freezing cold world full of snow and blowing wind.  He was lying on his back in a forest, and the snow all around him was melted to form a large circle that surrounded his body.  He sat up, shivering and scared.  What had happened?  His memory was a little fuzzy, but he remembered climbing the mountain stairway, and how upset he was with himself for falling asleep on his way up.  He thought about Dragon Bane, and felt a pang when he realized that he would not be able to untie the poor horse from the tree.  Hopefully someone found him before something really bad happened... because he was pretty sure that getting back again was not going to be easy.

In his hand, he still held the waystone from the forest back on the mountain.  The paper was still wrapped around it, and the ink had bled and marked the palm of his hand and his fingers.  He wondered how much heat had been produced by the rainbow that brought him here; last time he had traveled through the rainbow's light, he had not woken up until the next morning, as far as he could tell.  But it was so cold here that he doubted he could have slept all night here without becoming frostbitten if it weren't for the fact that the rainbow's power obviously heated everything up in the vicinity of its touching down.

He got up, and put the stone carefully inside his bag, which was still looped over his shoulder.  His clothing was all completely dry, which was unexpected.  He had thought that the melted snow would have meant that he would be at least partially damp.  He wished that he understood what really happened when the rainbow took him.  It struck him then that he was lost again.  And this time, he was lost in a world that appeared to be significantly less friendly than the last.  At least he was wearing leather boots - they should keep his feet dry and warm for a while. 

There was nothing else to do but find out where he was, so he left the oddly melted circle in the midst of the snowy woods, and crunched through the layer of snow for a while.  He had no specific direction he was going, and he worried that he might not be able to find his entry point again; but he figured that, at least for a while, he should be able to follow his foot prints back to it.

He walked, his ams wrapped around himself to stave off the cold for as long as possible, until he came to the edge of whatever wood it was he had found himself in.  The snow was blowing heavily beyond the border of the trees, and he hesitated to leave the relative safety of the woods.  Suddenly, he was grabbed by both arms and dragged into the clearing, and rough voices yelled at him in a foreign tongue.  He struggled and fell to his knees, and tried to put his hands up over his head in surrender.

"Don't hurt me!" he yelled back at them.  "I can't understand you!"

Two large men, covered in what looked - and smelled - like uncured animal skins, stood over him, menacingly angry looks on their large and rather ugly faces.  They gestured and scowled and made angry sounding remarks at him, and both of them were waving dangerous looking weapons very close to his head.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" he shouted, and ducked, as a very sharp looking, hefty knife flew mere inches past his left ear.  "Let me go, please!"

They gave up shouting at him, and began to converse, still loudly, with each other.  They had let go of his arms, but he was too wary to try and run off at this point.  One of them might throw one of their sharp knives in his direction; and he thought he saw a tomahawk or axe or something tucked into one of the ugly men's belts.

He rubbed his arms - they hurt where they had grabbed him.  He was very apprehensive, and more than a little bitter that Tristan's bright idea had led him here to this other world, a completely new one again, and who knew how difficult it would be for him to get back to Ava or even back to his own home.  He sighed loudly, which caused one of the men to grab his arm again, yanking it in an unnatural direction.

"OW!" he yelped, his heart leaping into his throat.  Were they going to kill him?  In response to his fearful thought, the foreign man hauled him to his feet and began to march him across the clearing, away from the wood, followed by the other man.  At least they weren't going to kill him just now.

The wind, which he had been mostly shielded from while in the trees, was very strong out here, and it was either picking up snow from the ground or snowing properly, but whichever it was, Taliesin was getting a lot of it in his eyes and lashes.  He started to shiver.  His coat, while warm enough for he milder climate he had just come from, was not lined nearly enough to protect him from the biting wind and the snow.

Soon, they came in sight of a large camp.  At least, from what he could make out through the blowing snow, it was a large camp.  There appeared to be tents very close together, probably made of the same kind of skins that they were wearing for clothing, but he could not see much more than that.  The closer they came, the more excited the two of them appeared to be, because they started hollering back and forth to each other again, and their voices sounded more and more agitated.  He hoped he wasn't being taken in to be summarily executed.  Of course, if none of them could understand him, he was not certain how he would ever be able to explain what he was even there for. 

What AM I here for, anyway?  This was a mistake.  I had no idea it would happen.

They hauled him, each of them holding one of his arms, into the largest of the tents that he could see. The sudden change of atmosphere from the overly bright, snowy outside to the warm, slightly stuffy, and very dim interior, was startling.  He blinked hard, trying to adjust his eyes to the lack of light.  One of his captors called out loudly, and he began to see that there were at least a dozen others like the two of them inside this tent, sitting around a large wooden table.  Nobody spoke at first, but they all stared at him, balefully and suspiciously.

One of them rose, from the head of the table, and Taliesin could see that he wore some kind of crown on his head.  He must be their leader, which must mean that his fate was in this foreign man's hands.  The two captors let go of his arms then, and he sank awkwardly to his knees, worried that he would do something offensive without realizing it, but so afraid for his life that he was willing to beg for it.

"Please," he said, but the leader barked a single syllable at him, and he was silenced.  The leader walked up very close to him, then grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him straight up off the ground.  Taliesin's feet left the ground altogether, and he was frozen in shock and fear as the giant of a man inspected him closely.  Grunting, he let go, and Taliesin barely got his legs under him so that he didn't fall into a heap.

After that inspection, the group of large, smelly-skin-covered men ignored him completely.  His two captors seemed disappointed that nothing else had happened, and they poked him rather violently in the arms a few times, then wandered off to have conversations with other men in the tent.  Taliesin remained standing, completely unsure about what he should do next, if anything.  Had he been given sanctuary?  Was he still a prisoner? 

Before he had to decide what to do, however, a smaller man walked into the tent, and spoke to the leader in the foreign language.  So far, Taliesin was under the impression that the language was mostly made up of guttural grunting mixed in with monosyllabic yelling.  After the smaller man spoke to the leader, in a very short conversation, he turned to Taliesin, and to his amazement, said, "Come with me."

The morning came slowly for Ava, as she had cried herself to sleep the night before, wiping her tear-filled eyes on the lacy, rather useless hand-made handkerchiefs that Greta had given her the day before.  Her eyelids felt swollen and heavy, and when she began to open her eyes, she discovered that she had quite a bad headache as well.

She sat up, not very carefully, and her head immediately began to pound painfully at the temples.  "Ow," she wailed, which also hurt her head.

Greta pushed the door open then, and instead of her usual jug of hot water, she had a basin of cold water and several extra washcloths, which she proceeded to soak in the water.  "You lie back down now, miss," she said in a mildly scolding voice.  "I will take care of you today, anything you need.  Now lie back, and I will put these on your head, there you go."

Ava lay there with cool cloths over eyes, wishing she had brought pain reliever with her when she stupidly stumbled into that damned rainbow.  She was thoroughly upset and disgusted at the entire ordeal.  All day yesterday had been completely awful, beginning from the time she got out of bed.  At least the day before, she had been mostly drugged up while waiting for her ankle o heal, and she had not even been informed that Taliesin was gone until that evening, when she asked after him.  Just thinking about it made her head hurt even worse, so she tried her best to leave it alone; but her mind would not stop hashing through the events, over and over again.

"Now then, miss, don't think about things that make you upset.  Just relax.  I will bring you some breakfast and coffee, but I do not want to see you up when I get back with your food, do you hear?"

Greta's motherly tone was almost laughable, since she was either Ava's age or a little bit younger; but under the circumstances it felt very welcome.  Someone to mother her, who was not also being cruel and demanding.

"Okay," she said in as quiet a voice as she could muster.  Greta left quietly, apparently satisfied with Ava's answer. 

This is going to be another craptastic day, thought Ava miserably.  I can't believe he didn't take me along.  I can't believe him!  And I can't believe he didn't even wait until I was awake so I would know what was going on!  Hot tears seeped out from under the cloth covering her eyes, and the pounding in her temples started to get worse again.  Feeling sorry for herself was not something she normally did, at least not for very long at a time; but she was stuck in a world not her own, without having a thing she could do to help or change her situation, and the one person she had allowed herself to get close to had left without her on some stupid quest.  She felt entitled to some angry tears and some bitter thoughts, at least for a while.  Of course, she had already sulked and pouted and thrown verbal fits nearly all of yesterday, so maybe it ought to be time to stop soon.

She took a deep breath, intending to begin calming down, but then a vision of Taliesin's dark eyes popped into her mind's eye, and she was simultaneously lonely and angry once again.  More tears dripped off her face and onto the linen sheets.

The door was pushed open again, and she heard the sound of clinking dishes.  She sniffed, and wiped her face, trying to disguise the fact that she had been thinking about it, even after Greta had told her not to.

"Now, young miss, let's get some breakfast into you, I think it should do you some good," Greta said cheerfully.  She removed the cloth from Ava's eyes, and helped her sit up slowly.  "Sit over here in this chair by the window, and I'll draw the curtain most of the way so the light doesn't bother you.

"Here is coffee and toast, and some fruit.  Nothing heavy, mind you, because that won't be good for your head.  If you don't feel better after eating, I will have the King's Magician prepare you a medicine."

Ava stopped her slightly limping walk to the chair at the mention of the 'King's Magician'.  "You mean Tristan?"  she asked, her voice almost dripping with sarcasm and barely repressed anger.  "Don't bother."

"Now, miss!  You have to let go of that for now, or you will not get to feeling better at all.  Now sit, there you are, and eat something.  I will come back soon and see how you are doing."

She left again, taking the basin and used washcloth with her.  Ava sat, still angry, next to the tray of food.  Her chest rose and fell quickly, because the feelings of anger were causing her adrenaline to rush, and speed up her breathing.  Calm DOWN, she ordered herself.  Eat something.  Don't think about it, just eat something.  Deal with it later.

She forced herself to clear her mind of what bothered her, to find that place within herself that she always had to find when she was growing up in her mother's house.  After a few minutes, she felt calm and collected enough to actually taste the coffee that smelled so very good. 

Her headache began to recede somewhat as she sipped the strong brew, and she did her best to remain free of any thoughts whatsoever except for the taste of the fruit and the hotness of the coffee.  She looked through the space Greta had left between the curtains, out into the city that could be seen beyond the walls of the castle.  There was some movement, although she could not make out exactly what or who it might be, but she surmised that the city was merely doing its morning routine, whatever that might be.

Which gave her a great idea - what better way to stop thinking about that darned Taliesin and that stuck-up magician than to go out and mingle with other people?  She was sure that nobody would really mind her being out there, and in fact she probably would not be noticed.  She could walk around, close to the castle in case her ankle started hurting again, and get fresh air and a relative change of scenery.

Having a game plan gave her renewed energy, and she ate the rest of the fruit quickly, swallowing the coffee as fast as she could.  Greta came back into the room just as she was getting up from her chair and wondering what she might find in the closet to wear for walking outside. 

"All done, then?" she said in an approving voice.  "There are new things in your wardrobe, young miss Ava.  Will you be needing help getting into anything?"

"No, I think I can manage my bum ankle today, thank you," Ava laughed.  "You're very kind to me, Greta.  I don't deserve it."

"Of course you do, miss!  We all deserve kindness.  Now I'll be going, but you know where to find me if you need me," and she collected the tray and dishes and left the room again.

Ava smiled, warm in the knowledge that she had at least one friend here in this foreign world.  She opened the wardrobe, and gasped with delight as she saw that there was now a lovely green dress with a very full skirt hanging up.  It was a perfect shade of green to contrast her hair and skin, and it was actually her very favorite color.  Tears sprang to her eyes, because she knew that part of Greta's job was to find out what she liked and wanted and to provide that.  What a wonderfully generous person she must be.  More generous than I, she thought. 

She got dressed quickly, happy that she had a plan for something to do.  She put on a long pair of silky stockings also, even though she was going to be walking outside, because she loved the way they felt on her skin.  She pulled on the soft leather boots again, as she had been doing every morning since she had first woken up here, three days ago.  A woven cape of naturally ivory wool, trimmed in brown velvet, completed her outfit for the day.  Looking around her room one last time before leaving it, she noticed that she had been given a leather-bound journal and a pencil, lying on a low table by the door.  She scooped them up, thinking that she could journal in them, or maybe attempt to draw something.  With that, she left the room, shutting the heavy door behind her. 

Halfway down the hall, she pushed open a door that she had learned led to a very long hallway that led almost the entire length of the castle.  It intersected a north-south hall, which she took to the front of the castle, to the large staircase that was almost a direct copy of the one at the back; or maybe that was the other way around.  Or maybe they were both designed to be the same.

Once down the stairs, she pushed open the door at the bottom and stood for a moment on the front steps of the castle.  The front steps were, by themselves, almost as tall as the staircase she had just walked down; there were grand columns and colored paving stones decorating the porch itself, which was more like a very wide room with no walls, it was so very large.

The morning air was cool but not cold, and the sun was already warming some of the paving she was standing on.  Below her, in the square before the castle itself, there were only a few people and animals moving about.  It looked as if it was kept extremely clean, because she could not see any footprints or stray bits of straw or piles of dung anywhere.  She wondered if there was an official pavement sweeper who worked only here in the front of Castle Agria.

She decided it was time to walk down there and see what lay beyond the castle itself, since she had been nearly asleep on her first time in it.  She got down the stairs without incident, although she worried for a little while that her skirt would get caught under a boot and she would tumble down, bruising herself and most likely making a total fool of herself.  She always imagined herself accidentally doing awkward things like that, although she was not sure why.

Once down the stairs, without incident, she studied more closely the pattern of the paving stones in the square she was standing on now.  The pattern itself was quite large, and she decided she would have to look at it again from the top of the stairs, because all she could really make out now was that it looked a lot like a Celtic type of knot design. 

She twirled around a few times, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on her face and the light breeze across her skin, and her skirt fluttered out in a very satisfying way.  She loved to wear skirts, but usually she could not find the ones that were so extravagantly full.  This dress might end up being a favorite of hers.

Suddenly feeling foolish and narcissistic, she stopped twirling and set off toward the heart of the city.

It occurred to her, as she passed several merchants who smiled and nodded at her, that she did not even know the name of the city she was in.  She laughed aloud, finding her own ignorance hilarious.  Everyone around her must have thought the she already knew where she was, so nobody had said a word to her about it.  Tristan had been mostly closeted in his Great Library or wherever else he squirreled his disagreeable self away (the thought of him made her instantly frustrated, but she pushed that reaction away quickly), so he had not told her anything much apart from the wealth of information he had deigned to gift them with on that first morning after breakfast.  Wow, I am really bitter.  Get a grip, Ava!  Stop being such a whiner!

She continued to wander through the streets, smiling at men, women, children, and babies indiscriminately.  She wondered if they knew who she was, and if they knew anything about rainbows.  She wondered if she was an oddity, or if here presence here was nothing more than a tiny rain drop in a large ocean.  Every few yards or so, she saw palace guards, dressed in green and silver livery just like the two who had met them at the gate, but they all seemed very relaxed.  Her sense of this place, so far, was that everyone was content.  Content to be here, content to be doing whatever it was they always did, and content to keep doing it for the foreseeable future.  Their peace and obvious easy happiness was infectious, and her mood lightened considerably as each moment passed.

Some of the merchants had fruits and vegetables, and some had cuts of meat hanging of fish laid out on tables, ready for taking home and cooking up.  Some of the stalls were full of pots and pans, or jewelry, or tiny bottles that looked like they were full of many colored spices.  None of the merchants yelled out to her, although some of them were hawking their wares to the other people, mostly women with bags who were obviously out shopping.  That fact alone made her assume that they did know who she was.  Well, if that was the case, then maybe someone would be willing to talk to her for a while, and maybe tell her what the story was about the city and the missing King.  Also, she was sure that even though she would be laughed at, someone had to be willing to tell here what city she was in to begin with.

She continued to wander, but now she looked at each person closely, to see if she could determine who might talk with her a while.  Nobody looked hurried, or upset, but they all did seem quite busy in what they were doing.  She was now nearly at the end of the merchant district, at least as far as she could tell.  Up ahead on this same street were wooden buildings with signs hanging down.  "Oh! Shops!" she said aloud, and smiled.  This city was like a real life version of all those silly tourist towns that everyone loved to visit when they had money to burn and nothing better to do but buy breakable trinkets and overpriced lunch.

She slowed her walking, so that she could better read the hanging signs.  Magical Curatives, read one.  Dress Like Royalty, read another.  The sign over a two-story narrow building caught her eye.  It said merely Books.  A book store anywhere would always catch her attention, so she slipped in through the open doorway, eager to see what sorts of reading material a medieval type city would have.

Inside, it was lit only by sunlight that filtered in through the tall front windows.  Dust motes danced in the light, and it smelled a little musty.  Just like books ought to smell, she thought happily. 

"May I help you, miss?"  asked a young curly-haired man, who was wearing a dingy apron that might have once been white, but now so smudged and stained that Ava was certain that Greta would not even bother to wash it out if given the opportunity, but would throw it away without a moment's hesitation.

"Oh, no, I'm just browsing," Ava replied automatically, then giggled aloud at her rote response.  That was what she would usually always say in any book store in her own world - but this was a completely new place, and it called for all new responses.  "I'm sorry, no, I mean... what kind of history books do you have?"

"Over here, in this section.  World history, of course, and also local history.  We have a very large selection," he said earnestly.  "Please let me know if I can help you in any way."

"Thank you!" said Ava, eagerly scanning the titles.  The helpful shopkeeper left her alone to enjoy the stacks.  The titles were not all that exciting, but one caught her eye: History of Adrostu.  Her heart beat a little faster - was this the name of the world she was in?  She pulled it off its shelf.  It was very heavy, and she had to sit down to properly open it and look through the pages.  There was no stool, so she just sat on the dusty floor in her dress, hoping that it wouldn't put too deep a layer of dirt into it.  She would feel badly if she made a lot of extra work for Greta.

Inside the front cover, there was a short handwritten poem.

Pain and sorrow everlasting
Decreed by gods
Who dwell apart from us
Joy and hope eternal
Decided by men
Who dwell on this earth

It was unsigned, and there was no date, even though she would have no way of understanding the calendar yet, since she had not seen one or had it explained to her.  She turned a few pages, and read the first few lines of the beginning chapter:

"In the beginning before the world was made, the gods fought a war, and the four strongest: Deia, Naia, Treiu, and Crui, divided the universes and all stellar dimensions among themselves.  Being still at war with one another, they caused a rift between all worlds and all dimensions.  The Creator God, He whose Name is Most Holy, was displeased with the four lesser gods, yet was unwilling to destroy the universes that had been made.  Instead He, the One God Who created all gods, all dimensions, all stars, all worlds, made a thing of living light to tie the dimensions together in harmony.  Named by men, it is the rainbow that keeps the worlds together.  Foolish is the man who seeks out the rainbow to control it, for he is setting himself up as a god, and displeasure and doom will be his reward..."

Ava was fascinated, and a little horrified.  Was this a true account, or a lovely mythology?  If it was mythology, why would it be the first thing written in the history of this world?

She closed the book, not sure if she was ready to read something that deep, and looked for other books that might be easier to understand for an outsider.  She pulled out a half dozen more books, and paged slowly through each one, caressing embossed pictures or looking in fascination at drawings of buildings, mountains, dragons, and people dressed in interesting outfits.  Every now and then something would catch her eye and she would read something, the description of a picture, or a short chapter with an interesting heading.

"Are you finding what you are looking for, miss?"  the shop keeper was back, and he startled her.  She hadn't realized how engrossed she was in the books she had.

"Oh!" she said in surprise, and nearly dropped the book she was holding.  "Yes, thank you, I think I found a lot to look at..."

"History interests you?"  he asked in a friendly manner.  His eyes, which were big, brown, and kind, twinkled when he talked.

"Well, I'm... new here, and I wanted to know something about this place," she gestured with her hand.  "This city, this world, I guess.  I just feel like I don't know anything, and I need knowledge."  She laughed at that, and he laughed too.

"You can ask me anything, and I will do my best to give you an answer," he offered.  "I'm not a history aficionado necessarily, but I love all these books."  He looked at the stacks almost affectionately. 

Ava smiled.  "You know what, I might take you up on that."  At that moment, her stomach growled so loudly that it startled them both, and she dissolved into giggles.

"Do you need a place to eat lunch?"  he asked with that twinkle in his eyes again, as she attempted to stop laughing.

"I suppose I can eat at the castle any time I want," she began, and his eyes grew very round and he took an involuntary step back.

"You are a guest at the castle?  I apologize, miss!  I had no idea!"

"You don't have to apologize," she said quizzically.  "What I was going to say was, I would love to eat somewhere else here in the city, because I love eating in local places.  But I don't have any money whatsoever, and I don't know that anyone would be willing to put it on my tab or anything like that."

"Miss, you are a royal guest.  Any establishment here will have no hesitation giving you anything you ask for."

"Oh," Ava said, at a loss for words.  She had no idea there was so much privilege attached to lodging in the castle.  She was not used to being treated like this, and even though she had started to get used to having a maid do things for her each day, there was still a lot of this kind of wealthy life that she was not sure how comfortable she felt about.

"May I escort you to lunch?  It would be my pleasure," he offered.  "I will take off this filthy shop apron, of course," he said, and Ava laughed.  He was obviously not so smitten with her apparent importance to be easy and natural, which she was happy about.

"I would love that!  But won't you have to close up the shop?"  She stood up from the floor, putting the books carefully back on their respective shelves, and brushed her skirt free of dust.

"It will not matter.  I don't get many customers anyway, and it will be an honor to accompany you."  He slipped off his dirty apron, hung it over the chair by the front table, and opened the front door for her.

She left the shop and stepped into the bright midday sun, and had to blink several times in order to keep back the sneeze that was lurking because of the sudden bright light.  He shut the door behind him, and it gave off a pleasant jingle; he must have a bell attached to it. 

"What's your name?" she asked, as he offered her his arm.

"Benjamin," he said.  "Most call me Ben."

"Ben it is, then," she said happily.  The warm sun and a friendly companion to walk with combined to lift her spirits even more.  For a moment, she completely forgot why she woke up angry and crying that morning.  "So, where are we going?"

"There is an inn that has the best food in the city.  I promise you will like it.  Cross my heart."  He smiled at her and they walked together down the paved road.

After they had been walking for several minutes, Ben stopped at the front door of a large building with a sign that read "Golden Dragon Inn" hanging over the door.  Ava laughed at the irony of it, and was still giggling a little after they had been seated in a booth in the corner of the large front room.  Ben ordered a mulled wine to drink, and discreetly informed their waitress that Ava was a castle guest.  Without batting an eye, the waitress brought out a large silver platter of h'ors doevres, heaped high and garnished with leafy greens, and a mulled wine for Ava also.  The food looked absolutely delicious to her, and she had to keep herself from cramming it into her face.

Instead, she put a few things on a small plate and ate them slowly.  She was not sure why it seemed important for her to appear ladylike and well-mannered, but it seemed like a natural thing to do.  Ben continued to make small talk while they ate, and she warmed to him more and more.  He was so friendly, and he seemed to know a lot of interesting details about the different places within the city, and about the city itself, and its people. 

“So did you grow up here?” asked Ava, munching on a huge salad, the second thing that had been brought out after the large platter of appetizers.

“I was born here in the city, yes,” said Ben.  He took a large drink of his mulled wine.  Ava had tasted hers, and found it to be delicious yet extremely strong, so she asked for a pitcher of water, and was drinking that instead.  “My mother married a man from the countryside, and when I was only two years old, he bought a farm on a homestead just a mile out from the city, to the east, and we lived there until I was old enough to apprentice with a family member here in the city.”

“So you didn’t want to stay at the farm and learn your father’s way of doing things?”  Ava could understand wanting to distance yourself from your parents, but she was not getting a bad feeling from Ben about his family.

“Well… I have always loved the city.  I love the people all living close together, the way everything smells and feels when it’s all being done at the same time.  I love the sounds and the way it all looks – there is some of the finest architecture in all of Adrostu here in this city.  And my uncle, my mother’s oldest brother, owned that book shop until he passed away last year.  I love books, I always have; and he wanted to take me on as his apprentice of sorts ever since I was old enough to read.”

“What do you mean, apprentice of sorts?”

“Bookselling isn’t technically a trade,” replied Ben with a grin.  He took another long drink of his wine.  “But I still went to stay with him when I was nine years old, the same as all the other boys who apprentice in the city, and I learned everything he knew about the kinds of books he had, where to get them, who has the best translations of different prophecies and histories and things like that… I’m sorry, I must be boring you to death.  We can talk about something else now if you prefer.”  He looked so apologetic that Ava had to laugh.

“Oh no!  It’s all very interesting.  And I’m not just saying that!”

“Actually… that was about it, really.  I’ve been here since I was nine, living in my uncle’s house, and now that he is gone, I’m the only one there.  Not that I’m lonely,” he added hastily, as Ava made a sad aww sound at him.  “I quite like living alone.  It’s easier for me, not to have to worry about what other people would rather do or what things they would rather put on the table or if they would like to eat what I’m eating.”

“So he left his house to you, and the book shop too?”

“Yes.  And I do miss him.  He’s only been gone a year… sometimes I forget he isn’t here.  He was such a part of the shop, he seemed like a permanent resident there, and for a while it was really upsetting for me to go in there every day and realize all over again that he wasn’t there.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Ava sympathetically.

Ben laughed, a little nervously.  “It must be the mulled wine, because I don’t usually say this much about myself when I’ve just met someone.  Again, I apologize.”

Ava laughed.  "See, now, that's why I decided to drink water," she teased.

Two huge portions of steak, juicy and steaming and complemented by freshly steamed vegetables and loaves of crusty, fluffy bread, arrived then, and interrupted their conversation for the time being. 

Ava ate through almost half of her steak, which was so tender that it fairly melted in her mouth, and then had to give up and push her plate back.  She groaned a little, and rubbed her stomach.  "I ate too much," she confessed.

Ben looked up from his own plate, which was nearly empty of steak.  Ava gaped.  "How on EARTH did you eat all that already?!"

"Oh, I have plenty of room," he grinned, and took another bite.

"Yuck," she said, and grimaced.  "I need to take a walk now.  I am way too full."

"As soon as I finish this, we can do just that," he said.

"Oh good, because I am so uncomfortable now.  I haven't eaten that much since... I can't remember the last time I ate so much.  And that steak was... wow."  She rubbed her stomach again, and tried not to think about how much food she had just consumed in one sitting.

Ben nearly wolfed down the remaining steak he had, then wiped his mouth on his napkin and slid out of the booth.  "Are you ready?"

Ava gaped at him again.  "I can't believe you are acting so... sprightly, after so much food!  How can you not be almost asleep by now?"

"Growing boy?"  He grinned.  "This steak is the best around, anywhere.  Whenever I get a chance to eat it, I always clean my plate."  He offered her his arm, and she slid out of her side of the booth, a little more awkwardly than she liked, due to the extreme fullness of her stomach, and took it.

"Lead on," she said.  "Only don't go too fast.  My stomach..."

Ben grinned again.  "Of course, my lady. Anything for you," and he made a mock bow. 

Ava laughed, then clutched her stomach.  "Ohhh. Don't make me laugh, that hurts worse!"

"Very well.  We will walk slowly, and I won't be funny any more, at least until you feel better."

"Agreed," she said, and they stepped outside the inn, and proceeded to continue down the road in the same direction they had been walking before.  She was glad of that, because she dearly wanted to keep exploring the city.

Each shop they walked past, Ben told her what the name of it was, and who owned it, and often would wave or exchange pleasantries with the shop owner if they were standing in the door way.  Several of them winked at her, which was a little embarrassing.  Soon, they had reached the square at the far end of the road, which was the first thing she had really seen when she had first come into the city.  The dragon pavement was mostly covered with people walking over it, but she could still see parts of it.

Her overly full stomach no longer felt as if it was about to explode, so she let go of Ben's arm and ran over to the pavement.  She stood at the edge of it, studying the sections she could see. 

"Do you like it?"  he asked.

"Oh yes!  This is the first thing I saw," she said.  "It looks just like my dragon," and then regretted blurting that out.  Ben's eyes grew very large, but in a different way than they had when he had found out where she was staying.  He took a step back from her.

"Your dragon?" he asked, and his tone of voice was wary.

"I only meant... he's not mine, of course not, but he did let me ride on him - "

"You rode on the Great Dragon!  What are you, a wood elf?  A fairy?  You cannot be human!"  He backed away even further, and Ava was beginning to have hurt feelings.

"Of course I'm human!" she shouted at him indignantly.  "Are you saying that nobody here rides your dragons?"

"They are not our dragons!  They belong to themselves, and we do not mingle with them, or ride on them.  They eat us!  We are their enemies!"  He was nearly shouting as well, and a small crowd of people had stopped what they were doing to listen and watch, and they were all casting glances at Ava that she was feeling more and more uncomfortable with.

"I..." Ava was at a loss for words.  How could she know that dragons were a taboo subject?  "Then why do you have a picture of one on the ground here inside your city?" she demanded angrily.

"It's been here since the city was built," Ben shot back.  He was obviously very upset, although Ava had no idea why.

"Look," she said.  "I came here through the rainbow, and I startled this dragon, and he didn't eat me, so I thought I was doing pretty well with that!"

"Why didn't he eat you?" asked Ben suspiciously.

"I have no idea!  I've only been here four days!  He let me ride him, and no, I don't know why, and he said that I would fulfill my promise to him later.  I don't even know what he meant by that.  You have to believe me - why would I lie to you?  What would I have to gain from that?"  Her feelings were getting even more hurt.  Ben had changed so suddenly, and become so suspicious.  Maybe it was her own fault, for believing that he was as nice as he seemed to be.

Ben stood at the edge of the dragon pavement, staring at her, looking as if he was trying to figure out whether or not he could trust her.  She was indignant that he would suddenly treat her this way.

"I'm going back to the castle now," she said, rather spitefully.  'Thank you for a nice lunch," and she began to walk away.  Tears stung her eyes, but she was determined to keep herself calm, at least outwardly, until she had gotten back to her room, and could either just collapse into a sobbing heap on the bed, or burden poor longsuffering Greta with her tale of woe.

Ben said nothing, and he did not follow her.  It broke her heart a little that her new friend would so quickly turn on her, and for something she was not even aware was an unacceptable thing to say or to talk about.  One tear escaped and slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away quickly, unwilling to let anyone see it, although nobody was really looking at her. 

The way back to the castle was longer than she realized it would be.  The time she had spent walking with Ben, and before that, by herself, must have gotten melded together in her mind as a much shorter trip than in actual fact.  Her legs and feet were very sore by the time she came into view of the tall white pillars and the wide paved porch, but she sped up when she saw them, because somehow the castle had become somewhat of a home to her.

It had been a long time since anywhere felt like home - but here, she felt secure, protected, and welcomed.  Even if the outlying city was uncomfortable with her, the castle itself felt as if it was meant for her, that there was a place for her here.

She went up the steps slowly, lifting up her full skirt so that she would not trip on it.  What a strange day - she had really not met anyone except for Ben, and even though he had seemed really nice at first, he turned out to be... prejudiced, somehow.  Or maybe he was just superstitious. 

Ava turned to look at the city before she went inside; it was late afternoon, and the residents were still going about their daily business.  Nothing looked different than it had before, but something was not the same.  She knew more now than she had, but all that knowledge did was open up more questions. 

She sighed, and went inside through the door that a servant was quietly holding open for her.  What she wanted now was a private place to either scream, or cry, or nap.

The sunrise woke Taliesin, because his face was somehow facing directly to the east, and the rising sun sent its rays right at him.  "Ouch!" he said reflexively, and shielded his eyes with his hand as he sat up.  Dragon Bane was still sleeping - at least, his eyes were closed and he was still except for the deep, regular breaths he was taking.

Today was the day he had to climb the mountain.  His heart sank as he looked up at it again; in the early morning light, it looked even more impressive.  The sun shone off its tall sides, highlighting rock faces and jagged edges.  He would be lucky if he did not kill himself trying to get up to the top, let alone get up in only one day.  He pushed the thought of death from his mind, and determined that he would only focus on the task at hand.  He got up, finding the saddle bag that Tristan had told him held the special spells and supplies; he had not needed them the day before, but he was almost positive that he would be needing them today.  He emptied the bag and spread everything out carefully on the ground to take inventory.

There were three small squares of thick paper, and on each was written a different grouping of symbols.  Another piece of paper, which Taliesin was relieved to see, appeared to be a set of instructions on using the three smaller papers, among other things..  He set them in a careful pile, and went through the rest of the small group of items.  There was a short knife in a leather sheath, with a wide loop on the back.  He immediately took it and slid it onto his soft leather belt, on his right side.  He hoped he did not forget that he had it with him, in the event that he would need it.  He had never killed anything, not even any animals, so he fervently hoped that he would not have to use it against a living being. 

There was one small bottle made of very thick glass, with a tiny cork stopper and a looped leather thong attached to its neck.  He looked at it for a moment, holding it in his hand, trying to determine what it was that was inside - he could not tell whether it was a liquid or a solid.  There was a faint glimmering from within the glass, but it did not slosh or feel otherwise as if there was liquid inside.  The paper of instructions had a sentence or two about the glass bottle as well - Tristan called it Blood of the Rainbow, and said he should wear it around his neck, tucked underneath his coat and shirt.  Taliesin obediently put it on and put it carefully between his undershirt and the rest of his clothing.  He hoped it would not break unexpectedly.

The last thing in the bag was (insert thing here! and also a lengthy description, because i love writing very very lengthy descriptions.)

He was nearly ready to leave, when he realized that Dragon Bane had not had anything to drink since the day before, when he had stopped once at a small pool of water.  Looking around, he saw a shimmer a little way off, something that he had not seen the evening before while it was growing dark.  He went to inspect it, and after confirming that it was in fact water, he untied Bane from the tree and led him away from his apparently delicious breakfast, toward the water.  The horse smelled the water almost as soon as Taliesin began walking him to it, and pulled him the rest of the way there; then he spent a very long time drinking.  Taliesin was glad that he still had almost a half skin of water left, because he probably should have gotten something to drink if he had needed it before Dragon Bane began slurping it up, since in his excitement and thirst he was making a lot of foam and bubbles on the water's surface.

He led the horse back after he was done with his drink, and tied him up to the tree again.

"I'm sorry I won't be here all day," he said apologetically.  "But I'll be back soon, I hope."

He hoisted the bag onto his shoulder, and set off toward the mountain, as the sun continued to rise at his back.  He located the start of the path he had found the day before, and started up it.  The path itself was very rocky and not very smooth, and he stumbled right away and nearly fell.  It was obvious that his way up was going to be full of bruises if he was not careful; he readjusted the bag and started up again, choosing his steps cautiously.  The sunlight grew gradually warmer, until about an hour into his climb, he realized that he was dripping with sweat and smelling pretty horrible.  He looked up the path, as he had been concentrating on his feet so as not to stumble again, to see if there was any place up ahead to rest for a few minutes - keeping in mind that Tristan had told him not to stop if at all possible -  and saw what appeared to be a small clearing about a hundred yards up.  He sped up somewhat, imagining how he would be able to cool off in just a few minutes.

As he got close to the clearing, he saw that it was actually a little alcove of sorts, a natural shallow cave in the rock of the mountain.  He stooped down and sat in the cool shadow of the little cave.  For a few minutes, all he did was lean back and shut his eyes, breathing heavily still, but happy for the short respite.  He opened his eyes again, and now that they had adjusted somewhat to the lack of direct sunlight, he could see a small opening in the back of the little stony alcove.  Curious, he rose to a crouch, and peered at it.  It looked more than large enough for him to fit through, and he moved toward it to investigate.  Peering into what seemed at first to be deep inky blackness, his eyes adjusted a little more, and he could make out faint shapes that looked like trees.  Trees?  There aren't trees underground, he thought, his curiosity further piqued.  He crawled up to the opening, put his face into it, then his arms, then because it seemed to make perfect sense, he pulled the rest of himself through - and found himself standing in a dimly lit wood.  Behind him was the opening back to the small cave, and before him stretched a forest so green he could smell it, even though the light was low.

He continued to look around, not taking any steps in case he decided to leave again through the cave mouth, and spotted a wooden staircase, almost completely free of fallen leaves, made of wood so light it was almost white.  It was not very far away, so it seemed not at all risky to him to walk to it and stand upon it.  The wood made a satisfying clunk-ing noise when he stepped onto it, and he looked down the stairs - because it was obvious that there was a downhill and an uphill - and grew a little dizzy.  They went on for at least a mile or more, down in a very straight line through the trees.  He turned and looked back up the stairs, and they looked as if they went on forever, or at least to the very top.  Now that he was in the cooler undergrowth, beneath the dappled greener light under the branches, he was very reluctant to go back to the outer path, the one paved in broken rock and, at times, frighteningly close to the edge of the mountain.  The further up he went on that outer path, the more danger he was in, he reasoned; he could fall off at any time if he started to get tired.  This stairway obviously went up to the top of the mountain, so it seemed reasonable to stay on it.

His decision firmly made, he began walking up the stairs.  It was certainly easier on his legs and feet, not to have to continually step around larger rocks, to be able to walk in a straight line, in one direction.  No curving slowly around the mountain, and no more extreme heights from which to potentially fall.

Every seventeen steps, there was a wider step, almost a platform, and there was a symbol carved on each one.  In his haste to get up as many stairs as possible before he needed another break, he did not study them very closely at all.  Fleetingly, he thought that was possibly a mistake, not to stop and look at one or two of them, because some of them, their shapes, almost seemed familiar, as if he had seen them before.

He made it at least a few more hours, and his stomach was growling loudly by the time he decided to stop again.  He pulled the bread out of his bag.  It was getting stale, which he supposed was the fault of carrying it around without a bread bag; but there were probably no bread bags here.  The saddle bag itself was supposed to serve as a bread bag, he guessed.  The cheese had formed a hard-yet-soft shell on its outside, the way he had seen a block of cheese do when he left it out overnight accidentally once.  It had seemed spoiled to him then, even though he knew technically cheese would not really be unhealthy unless it was completely covered in green mold, and even though he knew that the cheese in his bag was perfectly fine, he still did not want to eat it.  Not right now, anyway.  If he was really hungry again later, he might eat it.

He ate nearly all the bread before he realized it.  He was lost in his thoughts, but also he was lulled by the peacefulness of the trees.  It was amazing, really, that there were so many trees on this mountain.  They were all hardwoods, and looked like oaks, maples, birches, elms, and ironwoods, just like most of the northern forests that he loved so much, except that there were no pines anywhere here.  All of them were tall, stately, and crowned high up with branches full of thick leaves, and they moved a little, dancing slowly, as if a wind high up tossed them gently back and forth.  He stared up at them from his seat at the base of a thick maple, and his eyes grew heavy.   He had a thought, that he should get up now, keep moving, but it seemed a little bit too hard.  Maybe he needed a little extra rest before he kept going.  His eyes drooped, then shut.  The bit of bread he was still holding fell from his hand, which had sagged onto the ground.  There was no sound except the faint rustling of the trees.

He was standing on the top of a high mountain, but he did not know how he knew that it was a mountain at all, because the snow blowing around him was blindingly white.  His cloak and hood were furred and warm, but his face was as cold as if he had been standing out on the mountain for hours.

A sound like crackling lightning and deep thunder spread over the sky and all around him, and although he did not move, his heart raced with the fear of it.  Dark shapes could be seen overhead, and fire flamed very closely in front of him, accompanied by a loud screech and the flap of heavy wings.  He could hear, faintly, men shouting - he could not make out the words.  Somehow he also knew that the dark shapes were fighting dragons, who were waging war against one of the powerful tribes of warriors who lived in this world.  How he knew all this, he did not now.  And why he was standing there, he also did not know - at the same time that he did know it.

Suddenly and without warning, a huge weight hit him in the back and carried him over the edge of the mountain, and he fell, screaming, down through whiteness and into blackness.  He could feel the end coming, and he anticipated its pain as he screamed.  He would never be able to save her now -

He awoke, and heard a scream, then realized it was his own voice screaming.  He was panting and clutching a handful of dirt and grass, and his heart was beating wildly.  I fell asleep!  I can't believe I fell asleep - I am so glad that was a dream!  I have to get a hold of myself so I can keep going... I have to go up the stairs...

He stood up quickly, and steadied himself against the bole of a tree.  His pulse was pounding in his ears from the frantic beating of his heart.  How long he had been asleep, he did not know.  He scanned the sky, at least as much of the sky as he could see through the thicky leafy green, and he could not tell at all if he had been sleeping for ten minutes or for several hours.  He had a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach, like the feeling he used to get when he knew his parents were angry with him and there was no getting around it.  There was nothing to do but start climbing the stairs again, and to resolve not to stop any more.

He sprinted up the first dozen stairs, but had to slow down after that; he found a swinging pace and hoped he was making good time.  He was beating himself up mentally over that unexpected nap. I am SO stupid.  Why did I stop and sit for so long?  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

The remaining hours until evening seemed to slide by very quickly indeed, which only made it seem as if he must have slept for a long time.  He was going to be angry with himself about it for a long time.  Soon he could barely see the stairs he was traveling up, and the trees around him became like darker shadows in the shadowy evening light.  He fervently hoped that he was almost at the top, because he did not want to be forced to spend the night here, without any idea as to how much longer he had to go.  One thing he regretted about changing paths was that he had no real way to tell where on the mountain he was.

Just as his feet were so sore they began to feel almost numb to the constant pain of stepping on them in regular rhythm, he arrived at the top of the stairway.  He could tell that it was the top because there were no more stairs, but he was still surrounded by tall trees.  He stood for a moment, indecisively, wondering what he was supposed to do next.  Find the waystone, he reminded himself.  Find the circle of grass, and find the waystone left behind.  He hoped it was there, because otherwise this journey was completely for nothing.  And he still had to go back down the mountain, whether or not he found what he was looking for.

His eyes were probably not going to adjust to the light any more than they already had, so there was no point in staying where he was, not even to rest.  He was so tired, but so afraid of falling asleep before he finished his task; the task he agreed to do out of a sense of duty and a strong urge to protect Ava.  Ava... he hoped she was alright, and that it had not been too upsetting for her that he was gone when she woke up the day before.  She was strong and opinionated.  He didn't need to worry about her.  The thing he needed to be worrying about was whether or not he was going to find a small grey stone in nearly full dark, in the woods, which made it even darker.

He decided to keep going straight forward, because he had no idea how exactly to check a whole area in a uniform manner.  He had an idea that she had not been very far from the edge of the wood when she came through the rainbow, so hopefully that meant his search area was smaller than it could have been.  His feet hurt an immense amount, but he was trying very hard to keep from thinking about them.  Just find it, just find it, he said over and over in his head.  Just find it, and I can sleep.

He kept walking, pushing his way through some underbrush, trying to avoid small branches that threatened to slap him in the face.  These trees seemed smaller than the ones he had been walking through all day, although he barely noticed it in the haze of weariness that was wrapping up his senses.  He quite suddenly exited the wood, and found himself on top of the mountain, standing under a cloudless, star-strewn sky, with the moon a huge and pearlescent white overhead.  The change in surroundings was dizzying, even though he was not near the edge at all where he was standing.  He swayed and nearly fell, but willed himself to remain standing.  If he fell down now he would just go to sleep where he landed.

After looking longingly up at the moon for some time, unsure what he was longing for except maybe sleep, he tore his gaze away and turned back toward the dark wood.  He decided that he would walk around the perimeter of it, looking for some breaking of branches or flattening of grasses.  Maybe he would be able to see where Ava had left the wood, and he could follow her trail back to the grass circle.

He had to squint in the darkness, to make out the differences between branches, tree trunks, and possible trampled grass.  Once, he thought he had spotted it, but it looked more like a gigantic footprint, the more he looked at it.  That made him remember Cernunnos, and the fact that Ava had met him right up here, most likely very close to where he was standing.  He shivered, and was glad that he had already met the Great Dragon - although he had no idea whether or not that gave him some kind of immunity from being eaten or flamed to death.  Spooked, he looked around and checked for large golden eyes, but saw nothing.  Still feeling strangely nervous, he kept on with his perimeter-checking. 

Not five minutes later, he found a spot where the grass was bent down and a few branches appeared to be broken, so he plunged back into the darkness of the trees and attempted to follow the trail he thought he was seeing.  Almost before he realized it, he had stumbled into an opening in the trees.  As he looked around in the gloom, still narrowing his eyes so that he could better make out the shapes he was looking at, he could see that it was, indeed, the circle of grass.  So long as there was not more than one of these circles in this wood, he had found the place he was looking for.

He got down on his hands and knees and looked as closely as he could at the ground.  He knew he should not touch the stone with his bare hands – the instructions Tristan had left him had been very specific about that – but he was worried that he would never find it unless he felt around for it with his hands.  Remembering Tristan's instructions also reminded him of what he was supposed to use to pick up the waystone.  He felt around in the pocket he had found inside his cloak for the one paper that he knew was supposed to make him able to pick up the stone without adverse affects, and pulled it out carefully.  It was barely big enough to wrap around the stone, but it was what he was meant to use; so he used it almost as a glove, to feel in the grass and find the stone.  After doing that for about a minute, it dawned on his sleep-weary brain that if he simply walked through the grass on his knees, he was bound to bump it, and that way he would not accidentally lose the special paper that held those symbols that were intended to protect him.

Soon, he knelt on a hard, round something, and he excitedly used the paper to pick it up, ever so carefully.  He brought it up close to his eyes so that he could see that the shape of it was correct, and the more he looked at it, the easier it was to see it.  In fact, the air seemed to be less dark, which was odd.  He assumed that his tired mind was playing tricks on his eyes, and then he realized that something was happening, something familiar to him, even though it had only happened to him once before.  The light did indeed begin to change the air around him, and it soon was suffused in many colors.  This time, he could almost imagine that he could reach out and physically touch the colors, but instead he stayed on his knees, confused and shocked, and unsure what to do.  Could he leave the circle?  What would happen if he was trapped here with the stone?  Wasn't the magician's spell supposed to keep him from disappearing into the rainbow yet again?

He tried to get up then, tried to leave, because the light was growing brighter and beams were beginning to shine out from between his fingers.  The spell paper was still on the stone, and his hands were not touching the stone except where they were protected by the paper; and yet the light grew brighter and brighter still, and he could not move.  He tried to jump away, and his body would not obey him.  He was stuck, frozen in place. 

Whiteness bathed his body, and took him away.  He fell out of that world and into another, and his conscious thoughts faded away.  The last thing in his mind was a picture of Ava, her face sorrowful, framed in a blood-red sky.

Taliesin woke up with a new dream vividly in his mind.  Ava's face filled his mind's eye, and she was riding Cernunnos across a sky that was full of rainbows.  They flew through them, unaffected, and the colored prisms of light played across her fair skin and Cernunnos' many-colored scales in a dizzying display of beauty.  There was thunder all around them, and a blackness in the sky that seemed ready to swallow them.  He was afraid, frightened for Ava and for the Great Dragon, and he tried to call out, to scream and warn them, but his voice made no sound.  It was as if he was not even there, but merely observing, as if looking through a window into someone else's memory or experience.

He lay, awake, but unable to shake the feeling of fear.  It felt very early, and the light in his room was very dim.  He could not go back to sleep, however, not after that kind of dream.  It had felt so real; he had never dreamed that way before.  He got out of bed and grabbed the robe that had been laid out across the wooden chest at the foot of the bed; there was a chill in the air.  He wondered if he could start a fire in the fireplace on his own, and decided to give it a try.

The hearth was stocked with a pile of split wood and some kindling, so he arranged it like he imagined he might have learned how if he had been a boy scout.  There were hot coals under the ashes, which he knew were there because he had noticed Greta covering them over carefully the morning before, so he poked at them and tried to prod them up underneath the twigs and dry bits that he was hoping would catch fire quickly.  The twigs started to give off a tiny curl of smoke, which excited him an inordinate amount.  He gently put a medium-sized piece of wood over the smoking pile, with the cut side facing it.  He was watching it so intently that he did not notice his door opening, or the hooded figure that came up behind him, until he was tapped on the shoulder.

"Hey!" he yelled in surprise, and jumped to his feet, a split log still in his hand.  "Tristan?  What are you doing here so early?"

Tristan pushed his face close to his own, and shushed him.  "Keep quiet!" he hissed in a stage whisper.  "He might be listening!"

Taliesin lowered his voice to a whisper as well.  "Who are you talking about?" he asked, trying to keep as quiet as possible.  He sat down on the hearth, and noticed that his little fire was failing miserably.  The curl of smoke that had looked so hopeful was nearly gone.

The magician crouched down next to him.  "Merlin, of course," he hissed.  "Come with me, and I will explain what I mean," and he grabbed Taliesin by the arm and dragged him, silently, through the door and down the dark hallway.  The windows at the end were faint shapes that could barely be seen in the early morning half-light, and the dark paneling of the walls and doors made it even dimmer.  Tristan hurried them along the hall, his feet making no noise at all, and turned down a hall that was opposite the doorway to the morning room.  Taliesin had only been down this hall once, yesterday, when he was carrying Ava back from their walk.  It led to the large staircase that he had climbed up, with her in his arms.  The small magician passed the staircase and kept going; now they were going deeper into the castle than Taliesin had been yet.

The hall here looked almost exactly the same as the one in the guest wing, except that the tiled flooring had no rug on it, so their feet made some slight sounds as they made their way toward whatever destination it was that Tristan had in mind. 

Taliesin was nearly about to ask the magician where he was being taken, when they stopped abruptly at a doorway, and Tristan took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, casting glances up and down the hall as he did so.  "In here!" he hissed, and almost yanked Taliesin's arm in his haste to get him through the door.

Inside was a small, cramped room, lined with shelves and stuffed with books.  In fact, it looked so much like Tristan's tiny cottage that Taliesin began to chuckle.  This was obviously the magician's laboratory, or personal library.  This must be the place he came to when he wanted to think and relax and write important things and ponder the meaning of life.

The magician gestured at the room in general.  "This is, for lack of a better term, my office.  I keep most of my journals here, and all my important papers and research.  I have only a few of my own things at my cottage, except for all my many books.  And as you can see, I have a great deal more books here, although some of them do belong in the Great Library.  I brought you here because I have spells on this room that protect it from eavesdropping or spying."

"So, like the spell to hide us that Cernunnos saw through?"  Taliesin hadn't meant to mock him, but that was the first thing that occurred to him to say.

Tristan's face grew a little red, and he sighed rather loudly.  "The Great Dragon's powers were obviously a little beyond my estimation.  It will not happen again.  And I can assure you that the protective spells I use here were taught me by Merlin himself, and I can trust their strength; he was the strongest among us.  It is about him that we must speak.  Sit down."

Taliesin found a low stool, and sat as Tristan instructed.  His curiosity was piqued, and he was also becoming a little bit nervous, as a result of the magician's paranoid manner.  He had thought that Tristan was merely putting on for show, but now he wondered if that initial assessment was wrong.

"I have discovered something, just an hour or two ago, that disturbs me deeply, and it moves up the time line drastically."

"Time line?  What are you talking about?"  Taliesin was confused.

"I thought - oh, bother it all.  I have had no chance to explain to you what I confirmed in my research this evening.  We do not have very much time, and you must believe me on this point.  We are all being watched, and you must leave in a matter of hours, less than that if possible, so that you can begin your journey before he realizes you have left."

"Leave in a few hours?  Where am I going?  You can't just - "

Tristan interrupted him.  "I understand your frustration and your confusion.  Please believe my words - time is not on your side.  Listen to me now, and I will try to make it as clear as possible."

Taliesin had stood up and was wavering between leaving and going back to his room, and staying to listen to what was beginning to seem like the paranoid fancies of an old man.  He decided that Tristan deserved at least the courtesy of his attention, so he sat back down and motioned for him to go on.

"Good lad.  Now, what I was searching for in the Library was a particular text, an alternate translation of the prophecy that reads the first part as:  the rainbow will bring forth a king and in him our destruction, instead of the more traditional:  the rainbow shall appear and bring forth a king, and he shall bring about our greatest danger.  Either translation can be taken as meaning the new king will BE the destruction or danger, or the danger will come as a result of his appearing.  I personally, through careful research, have concluded that this prophecy refers to you as the one who comes as the king, and to Merlin as the one who is brought about by your appearance here - he is our destruction, the most dangerous person to our world.  While I was re-reading the manuscripts once more, I sensed a presence in the Library, an ominous presence.  I tried to ascertain where in the building it - or he - was, and I followed its aura toward the castle.  Once I realized that it was indeed headed for the guest wing and your rooms, I knew that I had to act quickly."

His urgency was infectious, and Taliesin felt very bothered and anxious.  "But where did it go?"  he asked in a worried voice.  "Is it still here?  Is Ava safe?"

"She should be safe, yes... the prophecy pertains only to you, so I do not think that she will be bothered at all.  Merely an accident, I'm sure, her being here as well.  There are no prophecies about her.  The presence did leave, but only because of my spells and incantations - and I came into your room directly after I had chased it away, and now we are here.  And now you must prepare yourself for another journey.  I will get provisions for you, and a horse, and you should leave in no less than an hour from now, if at all possible."  His voice was very grave.

"But where am I going?" 

"You are the only one who can find the waystone in the rainbow's imprint.  The closest one is the mountain where Cernunnos sometimes dwells, where the girl came through, and a swift horse will get you there in less than a day.  I'll put these things in a saddlebag," and he began scooping up various small items from shelves and tables, acting for all the world as if Taliesin was not sitting there stunned and unmoving.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know what you mean," Taliesin said in a measured voice.  "Why am I the only one who can find it?  Why can't you go?"

Tristan stopped his packing for a moment and answered in a shocked voice.  "Me go!  I have to stay here, foolish boy - my research and knowledge are too important to this city and your future in it as king for me to be galloping toward the mountain, putting myself in danger!"

"Oh, so I will be in danger, then?  Just how much danger?"

Tristan waved his hand impatiently.  "I am sending you with spells, and you will have a sword and a belt knife.  I am sure that you can take care of yourself."

"You still haven't told me why I'm the only one who can find the waystone," Taliesin rejoined sharply.

"Because you just came through the rainbow!  I did not think I would have to explain such a simple concept to you twice!"

"You know what... I need some time to think about this.  I was not prepared for you to spring this on me, and I - I need to think.  I'll be back, but don't follow me," and Taliesin walked out the door as quickly as he had been hurried through it.

He shut the door quietly behind him, and now that he was once again out in the dimly lit hallway, with the silence of the castle all around him, and the thought of Ava alone in her room, possibly in danger, he began to wonder if what Tristan was asking of him was really too much.  He rubbed his eyes and walked back down the hallway the way they had come.&#