from Chapter Ten: On the Edge of Madness      

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Dylan led their group—Clyde and Gwen behind him, Ming Xia behind Gwen, and Gareth at the end—up the winding staircase to the private entrance to the bedchamber he shared with Siannon. The door was locked, as he expected, but his key opened it. He called out her name before he peered around the door. She didn’t answer, but he could see the shape of her body underneath the bedcovers. He called her again, “Siannon...it’s me...I’m home,” but she still didn’t respond.

 

“Wait for me out here,” he told the others. “Let me get her to agree to see you.”

 

He was grateful for the privacy, for he could not contain the look of shock upon seeing her. Siannon’s black hair, usually so sleek it looked like polished onyx, was dry and tangled; it looked like a bramble of thorny branches. Her eyes were red and sunken, with dark, purplish bulges swollen beneath each eye. Her skin, the color of fresh cream in her health, was so pale it looked gray. If he had not known it was her, he doubted that he would have recognized her.

 

“Siannon,” he said, keeping his voice calm even though his hands were shaking. “It’s Dylan. I’ve come home from London, my darling. Can you speak?”

 

“Dylan?” she said, her voice wavering with exhaustion. “Is she with you? Did she follow you inside?”

 

“Who do you mean?”

 

“Asha,” Siannon said. “She’s been following me for days. Everywhere I go, she flies over me. What does she want, Dylan? Do you think she’s come to take me away? I promised her my life, do you remember? She let me live, but what if she’s changed her mind? Oh, Dylan, please help me! I can’t sleep! Every time I close my eyes, she’s right there in my dreams.”

 

“What’s going on in the dreams, dear?” Dylan asked. “Is she trying to speak to you?”

 

“No, no, no,” Siannon said, tears flowing freely now. “She’s beating her wings against the ground and screeching, but she’s not saying any words, at least none that I can understand.”

 

“Listen to me, Siannon,” Dylan said. “I have someone here who might be able to help you. Her name is Ming Xia, and she’s a magician. She told me that she came here because she’s also been dreaming about Asha, but in her dream, you are riding on her back somewhere in the desert.”

 

“She dreamed of Asha, too?”

 

“So she says,” Dylan replied. “May I bring her to you?”

 

“Anything to make this stop,” Siannon said. “Much more of this and I’ll be mad for good.”

 

Dylan walked back to the door and brought Ming Xia into the room. Her face lit up when she saw Siannon, whose haggard appearance could not outweigh her delight at meeting the woman she had seen so many times in her dreams.

 

“You are Kira Siannon of Macnylleth?” she asked.

 

Siannon nodded. “Please, call me Siannon. In this state, we should be on a first-name basis.”

 

“It is my honor to meet you, Siannon,” she said. “My name is Ming Xia, daughter of Gareth the Green. I dream of dragons. A few weeks ago, I started to dream of one in particular, a green dragon with golden eyes. You rode on her back wearing a black suit of armor.”

 

“That’s Asha,” Siannon said.

 

“Baraxia Perditrix Meticulosa, to be precise,” Dylan added.

 

“Your husband thought I might be dreaming about your heroism during the war,” Ming Xia said, “but all these dreams took place in the sands of a vast desert. I think they are dreams of the future.”

 

“I started seeing her a week ago,” Siannon said. “She appeared and disappeared at first, but then her presence became constant. I’m afraid to go outside. I could speak with her before, but now her voice is nothing but a horrible screeching.”

 

“If you will permit me,” Ming Xia said, “I will brew a potion for us to drink. It will cause us both to sleep, and it will give us access to each other’s dreams. Once we are together in the dream realm, we can find Asha and see if we can communicate with her.”

 

“Is the dream real?” Dylan asked. “Can she be harmed?”

 

“The dream is real in the sense that it is a real experience,” Ming Xia said, “but it is an experience of the mind. The body remains unharmed in this world.”

 

“Can her mind be harmed?” Dylan asked.

 

“Only if something is able to destroy me in the process,” Ming Xia answered. “I will be her protector as well as her guide.”

 

“How old are you?” Dylan asked.

 

“Eighteen,” she said, “but I’ve been able to move freely through the dream realm for as long as I can remember, and I’ve wielded magic there since I started my apprenticeship, which was ten years ago.”

 

“Enough, enough,” Siannon said. “I trust her. You should as well. I need these visions to stop. Dylan, get Gwen, have her bring everything Ming Xia needs for her potion.”

 

“There is no need,” Ming Xia said. “I can gather the ingredients.”

 

“Please,” Siannon said, taking the young woman’s hand. “Stay with me.”

 

“I’ll go,” Dylan said. “Tell me what you need.”