It was quite late that night when Daine finally retired for bed

The last installment! This is the part I wrote today. Stand in awe! In case you're wondering, the spell Numair did was an adaptation of a Wiccan generic ritual, dumbed down to save time.

In Dreams Part III

It was quite late that night when Daine finally retired for bed. Numair watched her carefully through the crack in his door, looking for any signs to give away what she might be thinking. Nothing. She just dressed and then sat on the side of the bed, her face emotionless.

This couldn't go on. Numair opened the door fully and walked out, then sat on the bed beside her, wrapping her up in a fierce hug. She didn't make a sound, just ran her hands up his chest and around his neck, letting him hold her tight.

"You're afraid to go to sleep, aren't you?" he demanded after a moment.

She was quiet for a long pause, but finally said wearily, "I don't know what's going to happen when I dream. I don't know if my dreams are Chaos-induced, or if it's just my own silly mind." She snuggled against him, and he tightened his arm around her shoulders. "I don't know if something happens to me while I'm dreaming, if it will affect me here as well. I'm all confused."

Numair stroked her hair comfortingly. He was at loss for words. What was he to tell her? Finally, he laid her down on the bed, and lay down beside her, pulling the covers up over both of them. "Whatever happens," he whispered to her. "It'll happen to both of us."

6

Both Daine and Numair slept without dreams, to their great surprise. Though the sleep was deep and black, almost like being in a coma—frightening—Daine preferred it to the dreams she could have had in its place.

When Numair awoke, it was dark. A glance outside at the moon and stars told him it was around midnight—there was no trace of sunlight on either horizon. A cold breeze found its way through the panes of glass and nipped at his robe. He shivered, and drew the thing tighter around himself.

Numair knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. With a sigh, he sank into a chair at his desk, and lit a single taper, opening a large book and beginning to read. Purifications, exorcisms, bindings… He could find nothing that would be any help to either him or Daine. He finally sat back, dejected.

He must have dozed off, because as he tried to think, images danced in front of his eyelids, like a play on a stage. Memories of his old life in Carthak; memories of Daine when he had just met her, small and shy; memories of the first time he had kissed her, how different that had been from any other kisses he had ever given out or received. An apparition of Lindhall popped up, younger than now, and Numair realized, even in his half-asleep state, that it was a memory from his boyhood, his first lessons in magic.

"Spell books will only take you so far," Lindhall had told him. "Sometimes your need is different than what is written, and you need to improvise. It is possible to do spontaneous rituals. Call on the gods for assistance, if you are nervous, and even if you aren't. You can never have too much help."

That was it! Numair leapt to his feet, almost knocking the chair over in the process, before remembering that Daine was still sleeping. He righted the chair, then turned on his heel and sped to his workroom.

The walls were lined with jars of herbs and spices, labeled by name and magical usage, as well as ruling planets and deities. He scanned the shelves, searching for anything that might be useful. Lemon came down, sage, vervain… By the time he was done, he carried several jars, which he then put down on a desk in the corner. As if guided by some unknown force, he mixed pinches of the loose herbs into an aromatic blend, and tipped the mixture onto a small block of charcoal, set in that middle of a bowl of sand.

He was just finishing replacing the jars onto the shelves when Daine came in, looking rumpled. He looked up sharply, then relaxed when he realized it was only her. She stepped into the room and peered at the contents of his desk with curiosity.

"What's this for?" she inquired softly.

Numair finished putting the jars back, and came to stand beside her. "I got an idea to help you," he replied. "It won't be easy, but it might just work." He turned to face her, and the expression on the face before him said clearly that she was ready. He sighed and looked away.

"What must I do?" Daine asked, readjusting her rode around her body.

"Change, for one thing," he responded. "Put on all white, and all cotton if you can manage it. Plant fibers. As little as you can, so it doesn't upset the balance. Even just a shift and a robe. Bare feet. And don't look at me like I'm crazy, I didn't mean it like than."

Daine smiled teasingly at him. "I know. Then what?"

He smiled back, and began walking towards the main room of the tower, carrying the bowl with the incense blend in it. "Sit in the middle of the main room," he told her. "I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do, so I'll be improvising. But my earliest teachers told me that sometimes words straight from the heart are worth a thousand fancy spells from old books."

She smiled again, and walked back to the bedroom to change. Numair watched her retreating back, hoping desperately that this would work.

6

Daine stripped off her nightgown, throwing it carelessly into a corner, and pulled a thin cotton shift over her head. A robe of the finest material she could find came next, and when she finished, she washed her face and hands in water and herb-infused soap, tying her hair away from her eyes with a strip of leather.

Numair was in the main room when she got there, opening the large door that lead to the outside balcony. The cold air hit Daine like a slap in the face, but she didn't flinch. "Numair," she called softly, and he turned.

"Kneel or lie down in the middle of that," he told her gently, gesturing to a circle of stones he had placed in the floor. She stepped through, and knelt in the center, facing North out of pure habit. Numair stood before her, and dabbed a tiny amount of rose-scented oil—her favorite kind—between her eyebrows, whispering in a language she didn't understand.

He stood at the edge of the circle, in the north most quarter, and slowly began to walk sunwise around her, still whispering under his breath. Black fire poured from his fingers as he walked, falling around them to form a protective sphere that went a smidgen higher that Numair's head. As she watched it grow, Daine realized that while she still didn't understand the language he spoke, she could tell what Numair was saying.

"O great circle of power," he chanted. "Encompass us and purify us, and this sacred space. Stand in strength and power, holding in the positive energy raised within thee, and keep demons outside at bay. I call upon the powers of the Elements, of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water to aid us and add magic to this spell. In the name of Mithros and the Goddess, so mote in be. The circle is sealed!"

The power of the circle flared, then receded to a gentle glow, that pulsed with Daine's breath and heartbeat. Numair walked again to the north quarter, and stood with his hands upraised. "Guardians of Earth, spirits of North, be with us tonight. Bring your stability and grounding to the circle." For a moment, he glowed a deep, musty green, and Daine caught a tiny smell of moss and damp loam.

"Guardians of the Air, spirits of the East, be with us tonight. Bring with you your wit and intellect, your sharp purification." The air in the circle stirred, and Numair's hands glowed a pale yellow. "Guardians of the Fire, spirits of the South, be with us tonight. Grant us your passion and heat, to burn away evil."

Daine watched, amazed, as the candles in the room all flared suddenly, and resumed their normal flame size, burning steadily. The room seemed to have acquired a red tint. Numair turned to the West. "Guardians of the Water, Spirits of the South, be with us here tonight. Give your cleansing and love, your positive transformation." Blue sparks danced at the corners of Daine's eyes, and she felt a cool wave wrap around her shoulders, with the light touch of undines.

Numair stood once again in front of her, raising his arms and staring at the sky. "Mithros and Goddess," he whispered. "Guide my hands and make my will and intent pure. Protect us during this rite. Be with us, Lord Sun and Lady Moon!"

Immediately, the atmosphere of the circle changed, becoming so saturated with power that Daine choked on her breath. She thought she felt a hand on each of her shoulders, one hot and radiating fiery protection, the other cool and nurturing. Numair lit the incense, and the smoke clouded the air with its fragrant volume.

He squatted in front of her, and held his hands to her face and closed her eyes. He and Daine both seemed to fall inside of her, plummeting towards the core of her magic and being. She could feel Numair's magic probing her, burning out any negativity he came across. But when he came to her head—around the same place where he had anointed her forehead—a surge of evil, felt violently by both of them, reached out and fastened itself to his magic, struggling to pull them both down with it. Numair struggled against it, shooting roots of magic into the earth to anchor himself and Daine.

Finally, slowly, the thing began to recede. "Oh, no you don't," Numair muttered under his breath. He filled his lungs with all the air he could hold, mentally grounded himself, and pulled.

Daine could feel the thing leaving her body, although she couldn't tell from where. When she opened her eyes again, Numair had his hands clamped around something black, opening his fingers slowly to reveal what resembled a floating ball of oily tar. He whispered a few words that Daine missed, then threw up his hands and shouted a word of power.

The thing disappeared. Numair got to his feet and walked around the circle counterclockwise, dismissing the elements and pulling the magic of the circle back into his hand. When finally he returned to the North, he held his hands out, palms up, and cried, "The circle is open, but never broken!"

The room was dead quiet for a moment, and Daine began to stand up. The moment she got upright, though, the room spun around her, and she collapsed back onto the floor in a faint.

6

She awoke in her own bed, to the sound of Numair, Onua and Lindhall's voices. Daine felt inside herself for the store of Wild Magic, and found it to be as strong as ever, as did the rest of her. In fact, seeing as it was now around noon, with the sun streaming in through the large picture window, she was bursting with energy.

She sat up, and the others finally noticed that she was awake. Numair sat down on the bed next to her, smiling. "Feeling better?" he asked. "Do you think it worked?"

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, like a girl, and grinned at him. "If as fit as ever," she told him cheerfully. "Excepting that I'm fair hungry. Isn't there any food in this house?"

This got a laugh from everybody, and the three left the room for Daine to change. She pulled on the simplest clothes she could find: plain breeches, tunic and shirt. She was just wrestling into boots when Onua came in, bearing with her a tray with hot soup and a tall glass of cow's milk. Daine ate them quickly, to Onua's amusement, then bounded out of the room.

Numair was waiting for her there—Lindhall had gone home. He caught her up in a fierce hug, holding her tightly. "Are you sure you're all right?" he demanded, as Onua slipped discreetly out the door.

"As all right as always," Daine replied, hugging him back. She pulled away from him, and ran for the door. "Let's go riding!"

He laughed, grabbed a cloak, and followed her, both of them running nearly all the way to the stables.

Finis…

6

Wasn't that lovely? Of course it was…

Last chance to review! Do so!!!!!

Thanx for reading, and watch for more!

-Crescent (;