A Warrior's Heart

Chapter 2: The Dream and the Next Night

Alanna looked around. She was flying. No, scratch that she was a cloud floating. The ground was laid before her in great sweeping scenery's below. She recognized her fief, and the roads around that, but the rest she only knew from maps. Suddenly she was moving, blowing on the wind.

She followed the road to the convent. About one forth of the road away from the convent she suddenly turned off and was going over a deer path. It twisted this way and that going every where. Abruptly she stopped in front of a field and in front of her she saw the most wondrous site ever. Men AND WOMEN learning and perfecting fighting skills. She memorized the path in her head and decided to go here.

She blinked and was instantly in an office. She could still see the field outside and the people training through a window. She looked around the room and saw a lady sitting at a desk talking to a little boy. She was telling the boy that they could not except him into the Shang because he had the gift. So this was the Shang.

She blinked again and was in an open field. The grass was short and the field looked well tended. The trees that went all the way around formed a perfect circle. A place like this could never occur naturally. She watched as a man walked into the field and began to use his magic to imbue an amulet with magic. She didn't know how but she knew what he did and how he did it. He made the amulet so that whoever wore it would be with out magic. If someone wore it no one, including themselves, would be able to tell they had magic. They wouldn't be able to touch it and no one would be able to test them for it. That was what she needed so that the Shang would have her.

She memorized all the parts of this dream very carefully. She didn't want to forget the tiniest detail when she woke up.

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She woke moments after her dream had ended. She carefully got dressed and told her bother of her plan. He agreed, if just to relieve his guilt.

Alanna and Maude would go to the convent as planned. Then Alanna would be sure they slept near the trail to the Shang. In the morning she would wake early and leave Maude a note saying she was running away to find herself and would return when she was older. She knew she wouldn't fall for it but it might buy her some time. Plus it was unlikely Maude would tell anyone.

The first part of the plan was to get an extra day so Alanna could do the spell. Some how she knew that it had to be done that night or she would have to wait a whole month for the moon to be in the right phase.

The two children went to tell their father that they would go without a fight if he let them have one more day to say good bye to each other, and to their beloved Trebond. (A/N: this would offset everything that happens to Thom in Corus on his first day Eg. the bully and the prince and George) He was only too happy to let them go and didn't see what another day would matter.

That night Alanna was worried that she wouldn't have enough power and since she was afraid of her magic in general, she asked Thom to help. They found a quiet empty place where they wouldn't be found and drew a circle around them. Then they went into a trance. Their bodies fell limp as their spirits found the place from her dream.

Once they were there Alanna followed closely by Thom walked into the center next to a kind of natural stone altar. Alanna placed the amulet she had gotten that day down and she and Thom linked hands around the altar. She let herself feel for her magic and soon they were surrounded by their combined swirling magic.

Alanna handed Thom a mental sheet of paper as their minds linked in perfect harmony. The sheet had the spell words on it. Together they began to chant. At first it was slow and soft but as they went it became louder and faster. Within a few minuets they were shouting as fast as they could. And then suddenly they stopped. The amulet was glowing a purple white and then it stopped. Alanna picked it up and they were shot back into their own bodies.

Thom still reeling from the experience just starred at his sister. Alanna on the other hand coolly but the amulet on and got up. Then she said, "Goodnight Thom." And if it was possible Thom starred more at her.