Lir slowed to a canter before stopping, looking back as Keisin dripped onto Pheona as if clinging for his life. The unicorn rolled his eyes and snorted, kneeling to allow Pheona and Keisin to climb off.
"Hey- you have to let go now- we're stopping for the night." Pheona said with amusement as she tried to pry Keisin's arms from around her waist. Keisin sat up from burying his face into her hair, looking at the ground to see it was still.
"Thank Gods." Keisin gasped, sliding down Lir's back with a groan of pain from his shaky legs. His thighs burned from riding all day, even though all he had been doing was sitting.
"Your legs will probably be wobbly since you've never ridden a horse before. That'll go away in a bit." Pheona slid down Lir's back and walked around to pat him on the neck in thanks.
I have never known a human to be afraid of riding a unicorn before. That boy is very strange. Lir said, amusement filling his voice.
Pheona smiled and walked over to Keisin, who was sighing with relief as he stepped on the ground, walking in place a bit to get the feeling back in his feet.
"That's a lot harder than it looks." Keisin said with surprise, looking back at Lir.
"You get better at it with practice. Soon your legs won't hurt at all when you get off." Pheona smiled. She couldn't help but be amused. "Plus you'll get used to moving that fast."
"I don't think I'll ever get used to moving that fast when I'm not the one moving myself." Keisin muttered, looking up as Rynu landed a ways away from them, his enox ending with a run as it folded its wings. Rynu dismounted and walked over as the enox took back to the air, restless to keep flying.
"Thanks- I don't know how much more Yin could have gone with my weight." Rynu said, glancing back over to the enox as it flew away, flapping its wings lazily through the air.
"Lir was starting to get a bit hot from the run." Pheona said, patting Lir reassuringly on the neck.
Lir let out an indignant snort, whickering loudly in denial.
Pheona chuckled and walked across the meadow they had stopped in, over into the trees at the far side. Keisin reached behind him and picked up Russet out of the hood of his robe, watching the hatching yawn sleepily in his arms before falling back asleep. He rolled his eyes and put the hatchling back in his hood, following Pheona.

"So, are you sad to leave the mountains?" Pheona looked over at Keisin after the sun had set, a small fire crackling in front of them.
"Yeah, but I knew I needed to sometime." Keisin shrugged. He looked up at the mountains looming in the distance, their snow covered peaks far away.
"Well, I'm glad you came with us." Pheona said with a blush. She laid down, looking at Rynu as he already slept on the far side of the fire. Keisin grinned happily and took Russet out of his hood before lying down as well, setting the small hatchling down nearby.
"I am too." He muttered, before falling asleep.

When Keisin awoke, all was black. He looked around the strange void, realizing Pheona and Rynu were nowhere around. He reached behind him into his hood, feeling Russet missing as well.
"Hey! Where are you guys?" Keisin yelled into the void, turning around but seeing nothing anywhere around him.
"They are not here, sorcerer." A low voice hissed behind him. Keisin turned around and yelled with shock as a huge serpent stared at him, its dark body curling in on itself. Red eyes stared at him in interest before looking away. "You are not the sorcerer I had hoped you would be. You are far too… weak."
Keisin bared his teeth in anger at the statement. "And who the hell are you?"
"I am called by many names." The serpent grinned, flashing sharp fangs. "None of which you are worthy to even mutter."
Keisin clenched his hands, trying not to release the magic that his anger built inside him.
"Oh, I feel that anger in you- you are filled with it. It seethes through you so quickly, powering your magic to far more than it would be otherwise." The serpent circled around him, slithering along some sort of unseen floor. "Do you not realize your own potential?"
"I learned long ago that black magic is not to be taken lightly." Keisin said to the beast as it circled him slowly.
"Ah, but it holds so many benefits. So much power. You are a sorcerer, do you not wish to be more powerful?"
"Of course, but not for the reason you're thinking of."
The serpent blinked in confusion, leaning down and looking at him closely. "And what other reasons are there?"
"I want to get more powerful so that I can protect people." Keisin growled, not liking the situation he was in. How had he gotten here?
"Ah yes, love." The serpent chuckled. "I have seen much about it."
Keisin gasped with shock as a vision of a woman engulfed in flames filled his mind, her horrified screams filling the air as she fell to the wooden floor below. A small boy yelled angrily at his father, who erupted with a green flame before falling beside the woman.
"It is something that is easily corrupted." The serpent hissed.
Keisin saw a red haired woman smiling sweetly to him, and in the next instant her gaze filled with hatred as she raised a knife to him.
"None of this matters. What matters is what's going on right now." Keisin said, more to himself than the serpent. He hated seeing these images- the strange faces in them somehow familiar.
"Everything matters right now." The serpent chuckled. "You have not seen what I have planned. If you wish to stop me, you will have to be far stronger than you are now." The serpent laughed loudly, Keisin's vision filling with a forest in flames, a young girl screaming as she ran out of the fire in fear.

Keisin woke up with a yell of terror, gasping for breath as everyone woke from the sudden noise.
"What's wrong?" Pheona sat up, looking at Keisin in concern.
Keisin looked around him with wide eyes, clutching at his chest as if seeing he was still solid. "How the hell did I get back so quickly?"
"Back from where? You never went anywhere." Pheona tilted her head in confusion.
"Yes I did- it was black, there was a serpent. He showed me things- people dying, things burning, I had no idea where I was." Keisin said, his voice hitching in panic.
"You just had a dream." Pheona said, moving closer to comfort him.
"I can't dream- that's impossible." Keisin looked up at her with wild eyes as he tried to calm down.
"You've never had a dream before? Ever?" Pheona gasped in shock.
"No." Keisin said, gripping the amulet around his neck and sighing with relief when he saw it was still there.
"Wonder what that means." Rynu said from across the fire thoughtfully. "He's never had a dream before, but now he does….?"
Keisin shook his head, not knowing. "My father told me sorcerers can't dream. It has something to do with our souls not being in our body." He looked over at Pheona desperately. "Come here, please."
Pheona moved closer to him, gasping in surprise when he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"That scared the hell out of me. I don't think I like dreams." Keisin muttered, before releasing her. She was there, she was safe. That last vision of the forest burning had rung a little too close to home for his comfort.
"It'll be okay." Pheona said, watching him in concern. She had never seen him this panicked before.
"We'll talk about it in the morning. For now, try to get some sleep." Rynu said with a yawn, lying back down with a sigh.
Keisin looked over to Pheona uneasily as she laid back down, scooting closer to her as he stared ahead of him at the ashes of the fire they had put out. He didn't know what having a dream meant, and he wasn't sure if it was good or bad. Either way, it made him feel uneasy.