Chapter 23: Enigma

“What do you mean?” Siannon asked. “We arrived in Llanfyllin yesterday.”

“I haven’t seen you since our last flight in Macnylleth,” Asha said. “You disappeared the next day. When you didn’t return, and no one else had seen you, I set out to find you.”

“This appears to be another enigma to unravel,” Siannon said. “I awoke alone in the castle. I couldn't find you or anyone else in the city. A ship brought me to Ireland, and I found you in Killashandra, but you didn’t remember me.”

“That wasn’t the Asha you know,” the dragon said. “This is not our dimension of reality.”

“I know that much,” Siannon said. “I’ve seen a live gargoyle, skeletal sailors, my father, King Malcolm, our old friend Jarl Thorsten…all people who’ve been dead for many years.”

“This is a created reality,” Asha said. “I had to fall asleep and pass through several levels of dreams before I could sense your mind here. This world was created by a magical spell that draws upon your memories.”

“Are you really here, then?” Siannon asked.

“Yes, it’s really me,” Asha said. She extended her mind to Siannon’s, and they connected in the way that had since Asha had first reached out to ask Siannon to fulfill her original promise to Asha. There was no mistaking that bond, and to Siannon, it felt like a drink of cold water on a hot day; it revitalized her soul.

“Where are we going?” Siannon asked.

“That I don’t know.”