Trelissa nodded softly.
"All right. First Kavala, then Taithrosa." She took Kavala's hand, and then closed her eyes.
Taithrosa would see only that Kavala seemed immediately to fall asleep. It was hard to tell if Trelissa was asleep or not, but she certainly wasn't moving, and her breathing was slow and regular.
*****
"This is the Chavena."It was almost impossible for Kavala's eyes to find something stable to hold on to. She was standing on something, but she would not have been able to say what. A bewildering array of lights, multicolored and shimmering in ever-shifting patterns, floated about her. Not a single familiar thing was present, save for Trelissa, who was still holding her hand.
"Each person has a Chavi...one of these strands. It holds every piece of information, every experience, every memory that any person has ever experienced, in all of their incarnations. Watch."Trelissa looked around, though Kavala could not have known what she was looking for. Then, she reached out, stretching her hand toward a series of linked blue circles.
*****
They were in a house, a simple one-room shelter of wood and straw. A girl, recognizable as a younger version of Trelissa, sat in a corner chair, strumming a lute. Six beds were lined against one wall. One was empty, and in one, a child of perhaps eleven sat up.
"Lissy?""What is it, Jessa?" Trelissa looked up. Her face was careworn, her eyes tired.
"Lissy...do you ever wonder what's going to happen to us?"There was a silence, and then Trelissa stood. She did not seem to see her older self or Kavala or to be aware of their presence. She walked across the room, finally sitting on Jessa's bed.
"No," she said, with surprising power.
"No?" Jessa almost sounded disappointed.
"No, Jessa. Because I know we're going to make it. We'll be all right -- you, me, Kyline, Wexline, all of us. I'm looking out for you, Jessa, and...well, we're a family, you know? We're still a family." She pushed a stray piece of Jessa's hair away from her eyes.
No one spoke for another minute. Then, Jessa rolled over to look at Trelissa.
"Lissa? Can you sing a song? One of the old songs?""I don't want to wake the girls. But I'll try." She got off the bed and went back to her lute. It was a cheap-looking instrument with flaking finish and several scratches. She ran her fingers over the strings, then slowly began to sing.
*****
It was dark.
It was very dark.
It was dark enough that, when a door opened, the light seemed blinding, even though it was only the feeble glow of moonlight. It was enough light to see that they were in some sort of prison, or holding cell. Trelissa, slightly older than she had been before, was lying on the stone floor, her hands chained. Although Kavala couldn't see anyone else, she had the sense that there were others here, just beyond her vision.
The door framed the silhouette of a man. He walked over to Trelissa and, without warning, kicked her in the ribs. She grunted, and half-sat up, looking at him darkly.
"You know what?" The man's voice was ugly, all hard corners and venom, with a Sunberth accent.
"I don't like that you're not interested in talking to me." There was no reply from Trelissa, only the same glare.
"Look, you. I know you failed, and you know you failed. And you know what? I'm your family now." He paused, then said it again.
"I'm all the family you've got. Unless, of course, you want me to get the others." A deadly silence.
"Yes, there's more of you back there, ain't there? I'm sure they'd love to come keep you company."Trelissa stayed silent, not changing her position at all. The man looked at her a moment longer, and then hit her across the face. It wasn't a slap; it was a closed fist, and it dropped Trelissa back to the floor, her head hitting it audibly.
"I'm your family now."*****
It was a lake, or possibly an inlet. The stars were clear, and the air was brittle and cold. Trelissa was standing on the bank, wrapped in a coat that was too small for her, and that barely went past her elbows. She had a fishing pole with her, and she cast the line out into the water, the hook quickly becoming invisible.
"What are you dreaming?"There was no visible source for the words. But Trelissa answered anyway, as naturally as if she were seated in a drawing-room with a friend.
"About music. And about...you know, about being safe. About the girls being safe. But it's just a dream.""Dreams aren't just dreams. And you aren't just you.""I'm Trelissa Jayne Stone, and I'm cold, that's what I am.""No. You're part of my family. You're a dreamwalker."The fishing line began to reel out, and Trelissa tried to pull her catch in. But it was too heavy for her, and it began to drag her towards the shore. She dug her feet in, but to no avail.
Then, at the very last instant, she made one desperate pull, and something flew out of the lake at the end of her line. But it wasn't a fish. It was a star, a star that grew bigger, pulsing, filling the scene with its light, until there wasn't any more scene, only light, a soft, warm, pink light that felt warm inside as well as out.
And the lute that she had held before suddenly appeared in Trelissa's hand. It changed to the same odd instrument that she had been holding when Kavala had first seen her around the fire. She struck the strings, and a massive chord sounded, a sound with breathtaking physical force.
Then she was back in front of the hut. From the disoriented look on Trelissa's face, she seemed not to know how she had arrived there.
A man, almost Akalak in appearance, stood beside her.
"The slavers won't come back. None of them even remember you. You'll have the power to keep your family safe, and more besides. You're a dreamwalker, Trelissa."*****
The scene ended. Trelissa and Kavala were alone, standing in what seemed to be an empty room with pure white walls.
"That's why I follow him," she said quietly.
"He saved me, and the girls, and everything. And now he lets me walk here."
