Wow, I never imagined I would gets this many hits and subscribers for this story alone. Thanks for reading. Sorry that I haven't posted recently. Life is unimaginably busy. Here's chapter four at last!!!!!!!!!!

I fell back asleep, suddenly cold under the mountain of blankets over me. I had curled into a ball, my knees under my chin.

I dreamed, again.

I stood in the Drum Tower, looking out over the fields below Benden, hundreds of rows of grapevines, bare in the cold of winter. About midday, the sun shone bright in the clear sky, day-old snow sparkling as far as I could see.

I wore some kind of animal skin wrapped around my shoulders. Beneath, I wore a sleeveless shirt , typical for drummers. Thick leather pants and boots protected the rest of my body from the biting high-altitude air. I recalled this scene as one from the previous winter, when I was fifteen, a day that had been almost as boring as all other winter days- nothing but shifts up in the Tower, with Turgen, of course.

The loud, pounding music of the drum rang through the valley, a message in the ancient Drum Code. It had been Turgen's turn to send this message, one about the installment of Lord Rotoros as Ista's Lord Holder by the Lord Holder's Council a few days ago. The message was celebrant, as Lord Rotoros already had a respected reputation throughout Pern. In my ears, this particular sequence of the Drum Code was more than just a message- it was a song.

After a minute, the drumbeats stopped. The next Tower repeated the message, sending it on to the next Tower, and the next, until the sound of drums halted altogether. Turgen now stood beside me, his face expressionless as he stared off into the distance, thinking of something to say to me.

He looked down just after a short gust of wind ruffled his hair and blew my long (as I preferred it) hair wild. He smiled, his eyes lighting up at the sight of my tossed hair, and I smiled too. I noticed a slight haziness to his face, like this was more a dream than my last dream.

For a moment, my dream self thought, Oh, Turgen... so... happy with me here. If only... And the me in my memory started to turn her entire body, started to take a step closer to Turgen, felt the sudden urge to wrap him in her arms and tell him... her feelings without words. Just a kiss might...

The dream shattered like broken glass. I was falling over an ocean, no land in sight, not even a ship. I was screaming, trying hard to suck in air as my falling speed took my breath away.

Spread out wings, spread our wings, I thought frantically.

Hold on, our wings?

Oh Natala, I'm coming. Don't fall. Spread our wings, flap or something... however we fly. Think!

That was Kaylith this time, definitely. Our mind voices sounded so alike, but with a slight lisping in her voice and a younger tone. But she said this all to me as if it were real, though it couldn't be...

I thrust myself awake, gasping for air. On top of me sat Kaylith, her eyes closed, her gold body shivering, her mouth quivering.

KAYLITH, WAKE UP! I shouted into her mind, seeing what she saw- an fiery pit of lava, a volcano, and me falling, almost within reach of Kaylith but still unreachable. Still in a dream, like mine but more frantic. I would be able to try to stay alive in an ocean, but not in boiling lava- that made the dream even more nightmarish.

She opened her eyes, colored an... unnamable color, but certainly one that was real terror and horror and pain for a dragon. She stared right at me, her eyes taking on a shade of relief.

Kaylith, it's ok, it was a dream. I'm here... just please get off me, I asked her.

Oh, NATALA!!!! I'm sorry, she said, and immediately slipped down off my body and onto the bed beside me. I thought it was real, I thought I was going to lose you- that you were going to die and I would die too. It was a dream?

Yes, love, I said and wrapped my arms around her. She wrapped her neck around my head and her tail around my waist.

Oh. I've never dreamed before- it was so real to me. I'm glad you're safe. I was seeing your other dreams too, with T'gen and those mean ones and the pretty white stuff- snow? But... everything is okay, and I love you.

I love you too, Kay, and we can never be separated.

I've got some great ideas for this story, but if anyone of you (my fabulous readers and wonderful subscribers)have any ideas that I could thoughtfully consider putting in this story, write a review.