Chapter X, Reading 2

"I saw the light from your fire though the window and knew you were up," he explained as he stomped snow from his boots and leaned his battleaxe against the wall.  He carried the weapon for he didn't want to be caught weaponless while wandering around in the darkness.

"Come sit by the fire," she invited.  "It's too cold to be out."

"I couldn't sleep," Leudh confessed as he joined his mother by the fire and took the cup of tea she handed him.  "I'm worried about Flin and figured there was little point in tossing in my bed any longer so I decided to come out for some fresh air.  I saw you up and guessed you might like some company.  You're worried about her too," he guessed.

Dakra nodded as she looked at her son.  "I had another nightmare," she confessed.

Leudh frowned.  "Do you remember it?"

She turned her gaze to the fire, although the focus of her vision was on her dream.  "I was someplace gray and devoid of any features.  It was a place of nothingness and I was lost in that nothingness and could do nothing.  I felt hopelessly alone, forgotten by all, and left to be swallowed by emptiness."

"Was Flindra with you?"

"No.  I was alone."  She frowned.  "I even felt separated from the Spirit.  It was as if I was totally cut off from everything."  She took a swallow of her tea.  "Then I awoke.  There was no hope of going back to sleep after that nightmare.  I somehow feel that Flindra faces such a hopeless situation.  She is alone and can't escape this horrible place of nothingness."

Leudh looked grim for in his heart of hearts he felt that Flindra was indeed facing some terrible and desperate situation.  "I know she's in trouble, too," he agreed.  "I haven't slept tonight and I just can't shake the feeling she's in peril."

"What can we do, Leudh?  I love Flindra with all my heart and soul and it's destroying me to feel her danger like this."

Leudh was quiet for some time.  He was thinking hard and he did his best thinking in silence.  Dakra let the silence go uninterrupted and quietly patted Icy while sipping her tea. 

"I've often thought that Flindra has figured out a way to send thoughts to us though our dreams," he finally remarked.  "The dreams I have of her are different than any I've had in my life and they seem so concrete in their message.  I can't help but feel the Spirit is helping her to stay in contact us."

"Love is a wonderful and magical thing," Dakra agreed.  "In some ways love is limitless.  It's one of the greatest gifts the Spirit has bestowed upon us."

"Maybe Flin has opened some pathway through the dream world to us.  Maybe that's why we can sense her danger now.  If there is a pathway, some connection, then maybe we can communicate to her and speak to her through her dreams.  Maybe that's why the Spirit has allowed us to know of her danger.  What do you think?"

"I don't know, but it couldn't hurt to try to reach out to her.  What sort of message should we try to send her?"

"You said that you got the impression that she was lost somehow in a gray unknown.  Maybe if we think of something that is near to her heart, something she is intimately familiar with, it might help her to find herself."

"Flindra loves this place.  She loves us and this forest.  If this isn't an anchor, nothing else can be."

Leudh smiled.  "That's a good idea.  Let's hope our bond is strong enough to guide her.  The question is, how do we use her dream path to reach back to her?"

"I think we need to go back to bed and fill our thoughts with as many details of this home as we can.  If we think hard enough and long enough we might carry these thoughts into our dreams when we fall back to sleep."

"All right."

"I can't think of a better way."  Dakra seemed unsure her plan would work and her uncertainty was clearly visible on her face.

Leudh smiled at her.  "I'm sure it'll work," he said to reassure her.  "We love Flin and our love will make it work."

"Let's hope so."  Dakra stood.  "Let's go back to bed and try."

He stood and kissed her on her brow.  "It'll work, Momma.  With the Spirit's help our love will rescue Flindra."