“She is yet undiscouraged despite her comrade’s surrender, as I had feared. Perhaps Lady Harmony chose wisely after all. However, she wears her weakness on her sleeve. I’ve never considered myself a gambling man, but I will have to take the chance.”

Rell

The sun streamed through the windows of the small cottage onto Rell’s face as her eyes blinked open. She squinted as her gaze was met with sunlight. The sound of leaves rustling in the trees reached her ears as she shifted in bed, simply grateful to have somewhere comfortable to stay. The shadow of tree branches gently swayed as she climbed out of the bed, letting her legs hang off the side of it.

Various trinkets and plants were scattered around the room, making it feel more like an herb shop than an actual bedroom. The scents of all kinds of spices and plant life flooded her nostrils as she moaned, sitting up. She went to stretch but felt a shock of pain ripple down her arm. She looked to find her right arm sleeveless, and a bandage wrapped around it close to her shoulder. She tenderly placed a hand to her arm as she winced, finding the bandage wrapped quite tightly around her, a little bit of red showing through it as she rolled her shoulder.

Each wall could have been mistaken for an entire tree with how rough it appeared, knots still clearly visible and mixtures of deep brown and dark grey timber making up the floor and ceiling.

She put a hand to her head as she made sense of where she was. As she blinked the sleep from her eyes, she struggled to recall how she had gotten here.

After taking a moment, Rell pulled herself out of bed, and made her way to the remarkably short wooden door, which had visible openings in it between the panels of wood. It creaked as it swung open, revealing the trunk of a large tree in the center of the cottage, as though the building had been erected around it. The main room resembled the bed chambers, only with a table, some chairs, and a small makeshift kitchen consisting of a metal basin of water and a shelf with baskets of various fruits and vegetables over top of it.

Her eyes landed on the table, where she saw a young girl with braided, bright red hair sorting through what seemed to be leaves, branches and flowers. Freckles littered her face and her icy blue eyes glanced up. In that same moment, she looked at the princess, and her gaze immediately went wide, standing up quickly.

“Y-your majesty! You are awake!” she exclaimed as she rushed over excitedly, an anxious smile on her face. Rell leaned away cautiously as the girl approached her, her deep-green skirt caught in a rush of movement. Rell easily made eye-contact with the young girl as she approached.

“Sorry, who are you?” Rell croaked, clearing her throat.

The redhead circled around the princess, as though sizing her up. “My name is Filera! Filera Aberdon Eranor! Oh, thank goodness you are alright.”

Rell shook her head as she looked at the girl. “So, you are Elkin’s sister?” Rell guessed.

“Yes! Did he tell you about me?” She beamed as she stepped back.

“Not really, he just mentioned having a sister.”

“Ah, of course. You were in quite a state last night when my brother carried you in. You were passed out like the very stars had struck you with a spell!”

The young girl’s speech confused Rell as she tried to get her bearings in the unfamiliar environment. “Wait, Filera the redheaded Fihule… from the stories of the highland heroes!” Rell clarified.

Filera’s mouth opened a bit in a gasp and curled into a smile. “Aye! You have heard of me!”

“Yes, my sister and I love the stories about you and your friends! I didn’t recognize you because I expected you to be a bit… taller, I suppose,” Rell said with a cautious smile.

“Oh, I wish I were taller! It gets frustratin’ tryin’ to reach the upper shelves in this place sometimes!” Filera said.

There was a thud as a nearby door opened. Elkin stepped into the cottage, shortly followed by Kenta who had to duck under the low clearance, birds singing beyond the doorway. “Well that took longer than I’d hoped,” Elkin muttered. “I see ‘er royal highness is awake. Give ‘er room, Filera, you’re probably makin’ ‘er uncomfortable.”

Filera’s smile vanished as she stepped away. “Sorry, sorry!”

Rell shook her head and stepped towards her. “No, it’s fine! I’m just a little overwhelmed, is all.”

Elkin grunted as he sat down in a chair at the table, while Kenta sat on an animal fur lain on the floor. “Well, don’t get too comfortable. Kenta tells me you have urgent business in Elra.”

Rell nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

Filera looked upset, perhaps a little distraught. “But I need to change her bandages still! She can’t travel in her condition.”

Kenta chuckled. “Didn’t stop me when I first came to the castle, eh your majesty?” Kenta said with a remarkably warm smile.

Rell was taken aback by his unusually chipper attitude. She smiled back at him. “What’s got you so upbeat?” Rell asked.

Elkin leaned back, putting his feet up on the table, much to Filera’s vocal dismay. “He and I’ve been talkin’ while you were catchin’ some shut-eye. I am not one to trust folk I am unfamiliar with, especially of his kind, yet he seems sincere. He might just be the sorta Dragonkind Fendra needs to see.”

Filera gently pushed Elkin’s feet off the table with a single finger, eyes wide. “That is high praise from you!”

Elkin bit his lip, looking away from her. “I’ve a soft-spot for misfits.”

Filera smiled as she looked back at Rell, before once again a look of distress fell across her face before she rushed off to the other side of the room. “Oh gracious, here! Let me get you a proper robe, your arm is terribly exposed right now!”

Elkin sighed loudly. “Wouldn’t you like to take care of her bandages first?”

“Not with all these boys in the room!” Filera replied, throwing what was more of a blanket around the princess’s shoulders. Filera tugged at her, leading back to the bedroom. Elkin just snorted and turned around to face Kenta.

Filera closed the door behind her as she pulled the cloak away and patted the bed. “Come, let us get you a little more cleaned up. Now just relax, I’m going to undo the wrap.”

Rell could do naught but sit there as she let out a gentle breath, breathing slow as Filera carefully unwrapped the bandage. She reached over to the side of the bed where a bucket of water was sitting. She dipped a cloth into it and began dabbing softly at the wounded arm.

Rell shifted a bit as the silence filled the room, undeterred by the muffled conversation from the main room. “The stories of you and your friends are known all throughout the castle,” Rell attempted to make conversation.

Filera hardly broke focus as Rell flinched in response to a touch.

Rell decided to continue. “How you all came from different tribes and traveled around the highlands uniting the clans.”

Filera had a painful expression on her face. “Yes, that would be what we are known for.”

“Why are you sad? You succeeded, didn’t you?” Rell questioned.

Filera looked at the wet cloth, dipping it back into the water and wringing it. “Yes, we did.” She wiped at Rell’s arm again. “And we treasure the peace we created… but it is ever temporary.”

Rell tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“There are always those that deny peace is possible, as few as they may be,” Filera started. “When we traveled the highlands, we found there were many that willingly accepted peace, yet they thought the other tribes would never do so themselves.”

Rell tilted her head. “How could that be?”

“People are wont to group others together. It makes it easier to make decisions about them.” She wrung out the cloth again, before grabbing a stretch of fabric and starting to wrap it back around Rell’s arm. “If you are a Ket, you are aggressive, tall, and loud. If you are a Fihule, you are soft-spoken, short and sensitive to magic. People form expectations, and don’t like it when those expectations are challenged.”

Rell winced as the bandage was tightened. “But you fixed that, didn’t you; When you united the highland tribes?”

“For this generation, perhaps. In time, it will reach a point where all peoples are expected to conform to new expectations. People will start enforcing the new ‘way’ - sometimes violently - and then we end up back where we began; a divided people trying to force each other to meet the new standards.” Filera said as she released the bandage, applying a bit of pressure to Rell’s arm.

Filera looked up at the princess, who only gazed back blankly, before clearing her throat. “S-sorry. It’s just a sensitive topic for me.”

“Wait, no… I think I get it,” Rell bounced back. “Even if people join together in peace, they will eventually find a new way to create divide?”

“Basically, yes. It goes deeper, of course... but that’s the short of it.” Filera stood up as she took Rell’s hand, pulling her to her feet.

Rell stared into Filera’s eyes as she began to think.

There was an abrupt knock on the door. “Hurry up Filera! The horses are growin’ anxious, and we need to be off while the sun is still low,” Elkin’s voice came through the door.

“Coming, brother!” Filera called back. She turned to Rell again. “Come on, let’s get you home.” With that, Filera opened the door and lead a rather dazed Rell out.

If the tales are to believed, she is only three years older than I, yet she knows all this? Rell wondered in bewilderment as the redhead’s words echoed in her mind.

“Ah, there you are. Help me prepare these baskets.” Elkin said with hardly a glance to his sister as he grabbed things down off the shelf.

“Yes, brother!” Filera rushed over and started organizing things into baskets as Elkin grabbed other items off the shelves. It was strange to Rell, seeing the young girl shift from serious to upbeat in a manner of seconds.

Before long, they were leaving. Rell shielded her eyes from the sunlight streaming through the trees as Kenta ducked low to make it out of the building without hitting his head. With a little help, she climbed up onto her pony, while Kenta mounted Celendrin’s and the siblings shared a horse.

“Right then, we shan’t have too far to travel ‘fore we reach the city. No more than a few hours at most,” Elkin commented as he gazed up at the sky through the leaves. “We’ll stop at the Fadden Tavern for brief bite, then we should arrive at the castle by mid-afternoon.”

“My comrades will surely be looking for us by now,” Kenta said. “We will have to be careful.”

Elkin snorted. “They wouldn’t dare show their faces this close to civilization,” Elkin reasoned. He paused as he gave the reins a gentle whip. “Besides, if what you told me about this dream stuff is true, the Dragonkind will be the least of our worries.”

The horses trotted forward as clouds began to shadow the sky above, the three keeping pace with one another as they traveled along the well-trodden path.

“But wouldn’t kidnappin’ Rell and Rune make things worse between your people?” Filera asked.

“One would think, but I suspect Tuulin’s plans go far deeper than he lets on,” Kenta replied. “I don’t know exactly what he’s got in mind, but I have the suspicion he does not have our best interests in mind.”

“What makes you so sure he’s got such motives?” Rell asked.

“Tuulin is cunning, your majesty. He is trying his best to appear charismatic to mask his intentions. It was a tactic he used often in the castle back when we were in Muurin.”

Rell’s eyes went wide. “You mean you used to live in the castle?”

Kenta nodded. “That I did, although as no more than a squire; just a little above a servant. It allowed me to see some of Tuulin’s techniques closely before Mennic began to obsess over foreign magics.”

Elkin narrowed his eyes. “What do you think he’s tryin’ to do then? What could he benefit from forcin’ dreams and reality to join?”

Kenta grimaced as a fog began to close around them. “Having once been the Keeper of Mind in Muurin, I suspect he desires to wrestle the dream realm from Madia… and by joining the two realms together, he could mold Alarulin into whatever he wanted.”

Filera gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. “Truly? He could do such a thing?”

“Well perhaps not easily, but at the very least it would create enough chaos to let him turn the tides in the Arden’s favor - or rather, his favor.” Kenta raised his head a bit as he narrowed his eyes. “Wait… do you hear anything?”

Elkin mimicked Kenta’s expression as he lightly tugged on the reins, prompting his steed to slow. “Hear what?”

“Exactly…” Kenta muttered.

Rell tuned her ears to the land around her, only to find that the birds had grown silent, and the wind had come to a stand-still.

“It’s so quiet…” Filera whispered. “Unnaturally so… a spell?”

Rell kept pace with Kenta as his eyes seemed to scan the area around him. Rell gazed ahead onto the path, observing a gentle fog rolling out of the woods near the ground. She squinted to look closer at the peculiar mist, a gentle sparkle coming from it.

“That is no ordinary mist,” Rell concluded quickly, her fears rising in her chest.

“There can be no doubt… keep your distance,” Elkin declared as the party hovered closer to the opposite side of the trail.

As the horses slowly passed, the four travelers stared into the fog, eyes nearly transfixed on the gentle, multicoloured glow it cast upon the foliage around them.

“I know this fog…” Rell whispered. “I saw it back at Keshkin.”

“Is it dangerous?” Kenta inquired.

“I’m not sure,” Rell responded.

“Well, let us hope it isn’t…” Elkin said as he pointed forward.

Rell looked where he was pointing, only to find the entire path ahead shrouded in the haunting fog. Her mouth hung open softly as she realized the fog was closing in.

“What more can you tell us about the fog, your majesty?” Kenta inquired.

Rell gulped. “When I last saw it, it was covering the enchanted boundary leading to the Red North,” she began. “The great barrier was destroyed shortly after… Flain said the Realm of Dreams was colliding with Alarulin.”

“So, what does that mean for us?” Elkin questioned.

“I-I’m afraid I don’t know.”

Silence fell over the travelers once again as the mist closed in. Kenta’s eyes narrowed again as he gave the reins a gentle whip, prompting his steed to whinny as he approached the fog.

“Kenta, what are you-” Rell began, before being interrupted by the young Arden.

“Going first. If I shout, avoid the mist at all costs,” he growled.

Rell tensed up, Kenta’s tone sending a shiver down her spine. “Please be careful…”

Kenta only nodded at her as he reached a hand towards the fog. The mist seemed to form around him as he approached, dancing between his fingers.

It didn’t take long for the Arden to become nothing more than a silhouette, before vanishing into the fog.

Those who remained glanced around nervously, their possible exit points steadily being cut off. Rell backed up into Elkin and Filera, keeping her eyes trained for any sign of movement.

Sure enough, a few moments later Kenta’s silhouette became visible again. He let out a breath as his face became clear, sweating dripping from his brow as he made eye-contact with Rell. “Come, it appears safe enough… but stay close and stay on the path.”

Rell let out a sigh of relief before following her companion, Elkin and Filera not far behind.

The mist felt warm and smelt of the ocean; a wet, salty stench as they crossed.

Rell took in a deep breath as she tried to see what surrounded her. She focused her gaze on the side of the path, where the trees seemed to droop, missing most of their leaves as they seemed to reach out to the travelers. Not a sound escaped the woods save for the gentle trotting of the horses.

Kenta lead the way, not taking his eyes off the path ahead of them.

Rell felt as though her body was growing heavier, a sense of exhaustion beginning to wash over her as she rolled her shoulders back, beginning to breath deeply.

Filera and Elkin did not seem quite as affected, however. In fact, they did not appear fazed at all by the mist.

As they trotted onwards, the mist began to pool around Rell. She narrowed her eyes as her skin began to feel wet and stiff, the sense of tiredness only becoming worse.

Filera let out a gentle gasp. “Your majesty… your clothes.”

Rell glanced back to the redhead before looking down at herself. She stifled her own gasp as she saw her cloak had vanished and the bandage around her arm had disappeared… as well as the gash that the bandage had once hidden. She held up her arm to look at it in wonder as the mist covered her. The young princess suddenly realized her clothing had taken on a different form; a soft white tunic lined with gold trim – not unlike what she wore around the castle – however the bottom of it was torn, and the whole outfit was soaked through with water.

“What in Harmony’s name…?” she whispered as she stared at herself, before letting out a yelp as a jab of pain shot through her leg.

Kenta turned around immediately. “What’s wrong?”

The pain subsided as quickly as it had come as Rell looked to her left leg. She quickly realized there was now a bump on her lower leg, ever so slightly swollen and red. She reached down and placed her hand on it softly. “A bruise…” she muttered.

Elkin pulled up beside her. “From what…?”

Rell gazed at the ground in confusion, her eyes darting around as she tried to make sense of what was happening to her. The Realm of Dreams is colliding with Alarulin… she repeated to herself.

“I… I think from the dream,” she concluded.

Kenta’s gaze was filled with fear. “Are you saying that what’s happened to you in the dream world…”

“Is affecting me here in the waking world…” she finished Kenta’s sentence, locking eyes with him.

“We must hurry,” Elkin raised his voice a bit. “The longer we remain here the more danger the princess is in. Her majesty is clearly in danger here in the dream.”

Kenta only nodded. “With me, princess,” with that, he gave the reins a firm whip, sending his horse into a dull gallop. Rell followed suit, picking up the pace as the fog swirled around them.

The dying trees flew past them as the fog began to thin. Rell felt another jab of pain in her arm, and she felt a ravenous hunger beginning to overtake her.

“We are nearly out,” Kenta declared as the gentle sunlight began to shine upon them once more.

Sure enough, moments later they left the fog behind them. Rell let out a breath as she suddenly felt her energy returning to her, but her hunger and outfit remained unchanged. She looked to the arm that had been bitten and found it still healed, not even a scar visible as they slowed their pace.

“You didn’t change back to normal…” Filera said quietly.

Rell frowned as she held her arm out. “At least I don’t have that injury any more…”

“Before long I am sure that will be the least of your worries,” Kenta said without looking back. “There is no telling what is happening in the dream. We are running out of time.”

“When is the festival?” Rell questioned.

“It should be at midnight,” Filera replied.

“Midnight… tonight?” Kenta exclaimed.

Filera leaned back. “Y-yes, the festival begins at midnight tonight.”

“I thought we still had another day before then!” Kenta growled before whipping the reins once more. “Make haste; if the healing of Rell’s wound is anything to go by, there is no going back if the realms collide!”

Rell looked back at the fog as it slowly followed them, her eyes filling with fear as she realized just how much danger she was in. Just what was Tuulin doing in the dream?

END OF PART 2