Gemma turned over on her cushioned sleeping pallet, a quiet moan slipping from her dry lips. Sweat ran down her neck and back, soaking her kimono. Her expression was one of pain as she dreamed…

Her auburn hair flew behind her as she ran, tripping over the frozen Winterlands that the corrupted souls wandered. She was wearing a white dress that whipped around her bare legs painfully.

She stopped suddenly. Her beloved was standing before her his eyes streaming tears of crimson. He reached towards her and his smooth hand abruptly turned to that of a rotted corpse.

She screamed and pulled back, revulsion twisting her lips. Her stomach turned as the smell of death drifted up her nostrils. She gagged and turned sharply. The corpse before her grabbed her arms laughing, saying her name in a deep, evil voice that seemed to echo through her very being.

Her eyes rolled back in her head then to the right. A little girl with a dirty pale blue dress clutching a teddy bear stood by the malevolent thing that held her. The little girl looked up at her with a malicious sneer.

Gemma froze in fear, a scream clawing at her throat, unable to escape. The girl's eyes were pure black. The girl reached for her and Gemma started kicking and screaming again her eyes wide with fear her heart beating in her chest.

"No! Please," she cried. "Please don't!"

The girls clawed fingers wrapped around her throat…

She woke up. Kartik's concerned and frightened face was above her, his hands on her arms. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and she hiccupped as a gut wrenching sob tore out of her body.

She was immediately in Kartik's arms her body wracked with tears. He gently stroked her hair brushing it away from her face.

"It's okayGemma. It's all over now." He murmured in a soothing voice.

The sobs slowly subsided and she lay in his arms, her face red from crying.

Kartik gently pushed her away and looked her in the eyes. Those deep green eyes he had come to love. The same eyes that struck fear into the hearts of their enemies.

"What were you dreaming about?" he whispered.

Gemma shook her head, still trembling. Moving away from him to the other side of the silk tent they shared, she hugged herself. Her head dropped into her raised hands as a chill swept over her.

"I was in the Winterlands and there was…" she paused. " There was this monster. It grabbed me and started shaking me. And then there was this girl. She…she looked liked one of the corrupted spirits under Circe. You know the one."

Kartik's eyes widened.

"You mean Azoreal's daughter?"

She nodded.

Kartik's expression turned to one of blind fury. His fists clenched by his sides as he stood.

"Dear one, I am sorry you've had to endure such a horrifying meeting with the little demon. I shall go at once to see Azoreal."

Gemma shook her head frantically.

"No! No, Kartik you mustn't."

"I have to. He needs to learn to control that girl. She wanders too freely and she must stay in the Wastelands!"

"That's what Asha used to say to about us and Dralia," Gemma challenged.

Kartik immediately paled and his face became emotionless. Gemma bit her bottom lip and worried it with her teeth.

"I'm sorry Kartik. I'd forgotten…"

He shook his head and stepped into the cool night air. A slight breeze whipped his hair into his face and a single tear slid down his cheek.

Kartik…

His eyes widened and he looked around, whipping his head left to right sharply. The whisper did not come again and he dismissed it briefly.

Kartik…this way, beloved.

He gripped his head, covering his ears trying to forget. Trying to hide from the pain that suddenly assaulted him.

Dralia's beautiful face was in his mind, laughing and tripping gaily through the Forest of Lights. She had his hand in hers and the canopy above allowed sunlight to filter through, shining on her thick black curls. Suddenly she let go and darted behind a tree laughing.

"Come find me daddy!" She laughed.

He laughed along with her chasing her around the tree. Growling at her with a smile on his face he reached toward her with his hands, fingers curled.

"I'm coming to get you Lia!"

Her high pitched shrieks were truly one of fear and he stopped, confused. Looking up he saw a corrupted spirit in front of her. It was a huge black thing and its body seemed to consist of black swirling smoke. The only physical features it had that showed was two pairs of glowing yellow eyes and a large mouth, filled with pointed teeth. The slavering monster grabbed for Felicity an arm becoming visible along with a hand and sharp claws.

Kartik threw himself in front of her knocking her to the ground. The claws caught on his shirt leaving tears in the soft fabric. Dralia's screams rang in his ears as he grabbed her up running as fast as his legs could carry him. His eyes were wide with terror for his daughter as he called for Gemma.

"Gemma! Gemma!" He screamed.

His foot caught on a loose root and he tripped rolling so he didn't fall on Dralia. The monster was there bearing down on them, saliva dripping from its mouth. Kartik scrambled backwards Dralia writhing in sheer panic in his arms. Gemma ran into view. When she saw the spirit she screamed running towards her daughter and husband. Putting her hands together above her head she uttered a chant breathlessly. A bright ball of energy appeared around her hands and she threw it, missing by an inch and nearly blinding them all.

But an inch was all it took. The monster grabbed Dralia and was gone.