“You know, when I started reading about Kallaryn, I had dreams of bonding with one of the Elpards.”
He glanced back. “Maybe you will.”
“I doubt it. I’m not even from here.”
“But you are here.”
“Maybe.”
He scoffed. “Almost being drowned by a water nymph yesterday didn’t seem real enough for you?”
She laughed. “It’s because I almost got drowned by a water nymph yesterday that I still think I might be dreaming.”
He grinned. “Fair enough.”
They stopped talking, both of them concentrating on where they placed their feet as they started to cross a large swamp. Small paths of yellow grass wove through the shallow waters and provided them with unstable footing.
“Couldn’t you just fly?”
If Quallen nodded, she didn’t notice as she kept her eyes on her feet.
“It feels wrong to fly when you’d still be struggling to make your way across.”
“I’m not struggling.” Kate grunted as her foot slipped off the edge of the path. She managed to catch her balance before she toppled into the water.
“Are you alright?”
She nodded. “I have a wet foot, that’s all.”
“Do you need to rest?”
Kate raised an eyebrow at him. “Where?” She gazed around for an area where they might stop.
“Um, right. I guess it’s best to keep going.”
“Does anything live here?” She took a chance and glanced around again, trying to see any signs of life.
“Birds, insects, small rodents…” Quallen said something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Oh, well, I said paneaks.”
“What’s a paneak?”
The prince took to the air. “That’s a paneak.”
Weaving through the water with an air of nonchalance was the biggest snake Kate had ever seen. Panic rose in her chest.
“Quallen?”
“Run! Kate, run!” He grabbed her hand and started to drag her over the grass. She screamed as her footing gave out. Quallen pulled up into the air and set her back down. She didn’t dare look back to see where the paneak was.
“Faster, Kate!”
She looked forward to the edge of the swamp. It was still too far! There was no way she was going to make it. She stumbled as Quallen let go of her hand.
“Hang on!”
He hit her hard from behind, causing her to pitch forward. His arms hooking under hers was the only thing that kept her from falling.
Quallen grunted and heaved up with all of his might, his wings beating frantically. Kate glanced down in time to see the paneak’s massive jaws extended toward her. Curved fangs narrowly missed her foot and snapped shut. Quallen groaned with the effort to keep both of them in the air, but managed to get higher still. Kate watched as the shore gradually came closer. She stayed as still as she could.
“Kate!” Quallen gasped. “You’re slipping.”
She clung to his arms, trying not to panic. The paneak kept up with them, its large head occasionally coming out of the water to peer up at them. What would happen when they reached the edge of the swamp? It was a snake! Snakes had no problem getting around on dry land! She looked at the tree line past the clearing that edged the water. It was too far. There was no way Quallen would be able to get that far while carrying her. She could hear his breath by her ear, his straggled breathing evidence of how hard he was working to stay in the air.
Quallen gave another groan and slightly changed direction so he was heading toward a large patch of red flowers in the clearing.
“Paneak… allergic… dies…”
Kate nodded to show she understood. She tried to ignore the fact that the closer to the flowers they got, the closer to the ground they also got. The paneak flicked it’s tongue towards her as if anticipating its first taste of her. It gracefully went up onto solid ground and rose up as if to launch itself at them.
Quallen pulled up again pushing forward with all he could muster.
“Hang on!” A few wing beats over the red flowers, Kate found herself falling. She hit the ground with a grunt and scrambled on her hands and knees to get into the middle of the flower patch. Quallen crumbled to the earth and skidded through the grass, coming to a stop in a heap. His lungs screamed and his wings, arms and back burned. He forced himself to his knees.
“Are… you… alright…?”
Kate heard the paneak’s hiss and accidently bowled into Quallen as she turned to look at the creature.
Quallen flopped onto his back, trying to ease his breathing. “It can’t… come in…”
She looked down at him. “You’re hurt!” He was bleeding through his tunic where he’d been hurt previously as well as all along his arm, shoulder, and face. He tried to smile and winced.
“It wasn’t one of my most… graceful landings…” He completely ignored the paneak which was now slithering back and forth in agitation.
Kate took one of the water skins and handed it to him. “Are you okay?”
He gave a nod and drank gratefully. “You? I tried to drop you lightly.”
She laughed, relief flooding through her. “I’m fine.” She took the time to actually observe the massive snake. If it hadn’t been for the fact that it was trying to eat them, she might think it was beautiful. It dark blue scales morphed into deep purples and pinks as the sunlight glanced off of them. Its eyes were a light aqua color.
“Will it stay there long?”
Quallen shook his head. “It’s just upset now and is trying to scare us. Now that we’ve rolled through these baynay flowers, it can’t eat us.” He took a deep breath and blew it out of his mouth. “Well, that was exciting.” He laughed. “If you don’t mind, we’ll rest here for a bit.”
Kate smiled. “You just saved my life. Again. Take as much time as you need.”
He lay back down and closed his eyes. “Tell me about your family while we wait.”
“Nate is your typical senventee year old human boy. He sleeps too much, watches too much TV, spends too much time on the phone with his girlfriend.” She smirked. “Melanie is nice enough, but we don’t have much in common so it’s always awkward when we get left alone together. All she talks about is hair and nails and boys.”
He smiled but kept his eyes closed. “And what do you talk about?”
“Horses, mostly. Books.”
“What of your parents?”
“My mom works at home. She’s one of those artistic types, you know? She sews stuff for other people, she paints and draws portraits. Dad works at the papermill.”
“Papermill?” Quallen opened one eye in question.
“It’s where they make paper to write on.”
“Hmmmm.” He sat up and rolled his shoulders, his eyes on the sun.
Kate took her eyes off of him as the paneak gave up its efforts to scare them out of the flower patch and slithered back into the swamp land.
“We’d better get on the move if we’re going to reach the Elpards before dark.” He took a tunic, wet it with water from their canteen, and washed the dirt out of the scratches he’d gotten from his fall.
Kate stood and offered him a hand up. He grinned and took it.
“Let’s see if we can’t get there without almost dying again, yeah?”
She laughed. “Yeah.”
Chapter Six
She couldn’t decide if her heart was beating like it was because she was excited, or because it was about to give out from exhaustion. The hill they were climbing seemed never ending. Kate’s legs screamed as they finally crested over the top of the hill. She flopped onto her back, her chest heaving while she caught her breath.
“Sorry. I’ve never actually walked up here before.” Quallen was also breathing hard from walking along beside her. Of course, he’d cheated a few times and used his wings. He stretched out on his
stomach and smiled. “Look.”
Kate turned over and peered down into the valley. “The Elpards,” she whispered. Horses of every color stood around, some eating, some resting, others playing. She watched as two foals weaved between the adults at an amazing speed. “All the babies are black?”
Quallen nodded. “When they turn a year old, they shed out into the color they’ll be as adults.”
One of the running foals spotted the pair watching them. It gave a whinny and galloped up the hill until it stood directly over them. Kate stayed still, scared to frighten it. The foal blew out of its nose and breathed in deeply, breathing in her smell. With a stomp of its foot, it spun and ran back down to the herd.
“That was great!” Kate sat up, grinning. She observed as the herd turned their heads simultaneously in their direction. A large grey mare walked a few steps toward them and bowed down to one knee.
Quallen grinned. “Taleen is inviting us down.”
“That’s Taleen?” Kate gawked as though in the presence of royalty. The head of the Elpard herd watched as the pair made their way down to meet her. The story of how Qallen and Taleen had bonded was a fantastic one. Quallen had been under attack by some of his uncle’s soldiers. Thinking he could hide in the Elpard’s valley, he’d flown down and concealed himself in a thicket. Unfortunately, the guards had found him and he’d been caught. Taleen had seen the altercation and, pulled by the powers of their unknown bond, had intervened and helped the prince escape.
She watched as Quallen flew down ahead of her and threw his arms around the thick grey neck. He brushed Taleen’s forelock out of her eyes and bowed down to her.
“Taleen, I’d like for you to meet Kate of Paddockwood. Kate, this is my Taleen.”
Taleen bowed down and Kate curtsied in return.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Taleen.”
The mare snorted and cocked her head at Quallen.
“She’s not from here. Kate fell asleep in her world and woke up in ours. I’m trying to get her to Luthan. Hopefully we can find a way to get her home.”
Taleen nodded, whatever she was saying only audible to Quallen.
“That’s right,” he replied. “I was hoping one of your herd might be willing to carry her. It would help us out tremendously.
It would be my honor.
Kate frowned. “Did you hear that?”
Quallen shook his head. The group of Elpards shifted and made way as a small chestnut mare came to stand beside Taleen.
Do you have a name, my lady?
“Oh, no. Please. Don’t ‘my lady’ me. My name’s Kate. Please, call me Kate.” Kate curtsied, shocked, not quite believing what was happening. She was bonded to an Elpard! How was that possible? “Um, what should I call you?”
Wella.
Taleen snorted and Wella shook her head before turning large liquid brown eyes on Kate.
I have no clue, Taleen, but there’s no denying it. This girl is my bonded one. Wella nudged Kate with her nose. What is it that you require of me, my Kate?
“I’m trying to get home, Wella. I have no idea how I got here, but I need to get back. Any help I can get to find Luthan would be fantastic.”
Then I’ll carry you there.
“Thank you.” Kate blinked back grateful tears. “Thank you so much.” Though she’d tried to keep her spirits up, the fear of not being able to go home was starting to wear on her. Quallen put a reassuring hand on her arm.
“If anyone can help us, it will be Luthan. Try not to worry.”
She took a deep breath and nodded.
Wella snorted. Where is it that you hail from, my Kate?
“Geesh. Earth. Canada. It’s a completely different world. Where I’m from, this world is a story. I’ve read about your herd and Prince Quallen and everything that’s happened with his family. I went to sleep two nights ago and when I woke up, I was here.”
A Dreamwalker! Wella blinked in awe.
“This has happened before?” Kate’s heart jumped in her chest.
It’s rare and I can only recall of a few stories about them, but yes!
“What happened? Did they get home?”
Wella shook her head. If the stories are accurate, there’s a time frame that must be followed. I believe you have seven days to get home or you’re to stay here indefinitely.
“Seven days…” Kate’s heart dropped. What if Luthan didn’t know how to get her home and they had to start searching for another way? She’d already been here two days! What were her mom and brother going through? They must be worried sick!
Luthan will be able to help. If he doesn’t have what you need, he’ll know where to get it.
Kate turned to tell Quallen what Wella had told her and he smiled. “Taleen filled me in.” He looked up at the sun getting low in the sky. “Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow before we set off again. We’d better settle in for the night.”
“Can you tell me anything else about the Dreamwalkers?” Kate looked back to Wella who was following them to where Quallen had decided to put up camp.
Dreamwalkers are rare. If they happen more often than we know, I can only guess it is because the being meets his or her death before they can be found and helped. From what I understand, your body is still in your world. It is your mind that makes the journey. Unfortunately, if you perish here, you die there.
“So right now I’m sort of in a coma?” She wasn’t sure if she liked that any better than her mom thinking she was missing.
Of some sort. I’m not sure. None of the Dreamwalkers we know of has ever made it home. If one of them had without our knowing about it, they never came back to explain how things were affected in their home world.
“Do you know why it happens?”
As far as we know, it seems to be some sort of attachment to Kallaryn.
“And how do you know all of this?” Kate laid her blanket on the ground.
We are the Elpards. Knowledge is passed down through our genetics. We are the keepers of time in this world.
“Wow. You know, the books never went into that aspect of it.” She sat and smiled at Quallen as he handed her a fruit he’d picked from a nearby bush. The trees in this part of Kallaryn seemed normal and almost disappointing. Dark green pines with brown cones grew amongst the tall trees that could have passed as poplars. The familiarity of it made her miss home that much more.
She stretched with a groan, her muscles sore now that she’d stopped moving.
By the looks of the prince, I’d say you’ve had an interesting couple of days.
Kate looked at Quallen’s scratched face and tattered tunic. “We had a close encounter with a paneak.” She inhaled deeply and lay back with her head on her pack. “You know, I’ve read about this place, but I’ve never actually thought about how dangerous it is here.”
Quallen chuckled. “It’s only been dangerous since you got here.”
She grinned. “Sorry.”
He yawned and stretched out. “We’ll head out at first light. Have a good sleep, Kate.”
“Goodnight, Quallen.”
Chapter Seven
To Kate’s relief, the following day was uneventful. Quallen woke her gently at the first signs of the sun rising. After a quick breakfast, she’d gotten onto Wella’s back and he had taken to the air. The mare had broken into a smooth canter that ate the distance between the valley and Luthan. They traveled over the plains at a steady pace, taking the occasional break to eat, drink and rest.
“Luthan’s cabin is up that hill and a short ways into the trees.”
Kate looked up to where Quallen was pointing. She tried to keep from getting too excited. Would Luthan know what to do?
Wella came to a stop in front of a well maintained cabin. Kate slid from her back and gave her a pat on the neck.
“Thank you, my Wella.” She smiled.
The mare nodded and blew out of h
er nose. Call when you’re done here. I’ll be nearby.
The door to the small wooden cabin creaked open and Kate found herself gazing up at a weathered old man. Though his long hair and beard were white streaked with silver and his skin looked tough with years of exposure, it was obvious he was still strong physically.
Quallen grinned. “Luthan! I wasn’t sure you’d be in!” He flew up the steps and hugged the wizard they’d been searching for.
“Prince Quallen.” Luthan disengaged himself from the faerie’s embrace and bowed low and proper.
Quallen rolled his eyes and the pair laughed.
“And who might this lovely young lady be?” Luthan came down the steps, his grey robes sweeping the ground as he walked.
Kate blushed. “I’m Kate, sir.”
Luthan’s smile widened. “No, no, dear. Sir is my father. Luthan is just fine.” He took her hand and kissed lightly.
She laughed.
“So, miss Kate. You’re not an elf, nor a faerie, nor a sprite. You aren’t from here, now, are you…” The last was more of a statement than a question.
Kate shook her head.
“The Elpards think she’s a Dreamwalker. She went to sleep in her world and when she awoke, I found her in my cave.” Quallen smiled down at her. “To say I was shocked to find her there might be an understatement. When she knew my name, I nearly stopped breathing.”
Luthan laughed. “What’s your connection to Quallen?”
Kate frowned. “The Elpards said my connection was to Kallaryn.”
“That you woke up specifically in the prince’s cave is tremendously specific.” Luthan was scratching his chin, his fingers running through his beard.
“Luthan, she’s been here three days. We need to get her home. Why she’s here doesn’t matter. She needs to get back.”
Luthan shook his head. “I’m sorry to say you may have to accept the fact that you’ll be here until you’re as old and grey as I am, my dear.”
Kate swallowed hard. “There’s no way back?”
Quallen put a hand on her arm.
“There is. The problem is that you need to be where you appeared in order to go back. You need three ingredients to make the tea you’ll need to drink. The first is a glowflower leaf. I have one of those. The second is the nut from a blackeye bush. They’re fairly common. I’m sure you can get one at the herb store just down the road. The third you need is the petal from the dragon’s breath flower.”