'Stop it, Lia!' she chided herself, without taking her eyes off of the sky. 'You're out in the real world, now, and sobbing will do you no good!'

Lia closed her eyes, adjusted the rucksack to make a pillow for her, and drifted into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This should work, Numair. So why are you so hesitant?" Keladry of Mindelan demanded, her light brown hair, cropped short, swaying in the chill breeze. The mage Numair Salmalin and the knight stood together in the great hall, which the Lioness had forced everyone to clear out of, as a special favor for Kel.

"Well," replied Numair nervously, his face slightly pale, "it's difficult enough to push a Gifted person into a dream, and you don't even have the Sight."

"This is something I must do, though." Kel had spent the last two years free of dreams, now that she had completed the quest that the Chamber of the Ordeal had given her. Now, of course, she had received a dream, but it was different. For this dream had come from inside herself. Kel couldn't say how she knew she had to do this, but she did know.

"It's perilous," said Numair, his last attempt to dissuade Kel from this ludicrous idea.

"That's fine. The girl is asleep now, put me into her dream. Quick!" With that, a black flame sprouted from Numair's hand, and engulfed Kel.

Kel was hurtling through space, and time seemed to have frozen. She flew at amazing speed over towns, forests, and plains. Soon, she recognized Port Legann, as if she was looking down on a spectacular map. Kel stifled a shriek, as she dropped into the town. She narrowly avoided spires and rooftops, and was about to land on top of a young, fair haired girl, who looked to be in her early teens. Kel realized that this must have been the Leoma of Palouse she'd heard of in her dream - the girl who would rise to become a great woman warrior-mage in the Yamani Isles.

Kel kept falling as she descended toward Leoma's sleeping body. She fell right through Leoma's forehead. Then, all was dark. But Kel was conscious, so she reasoned that she must be inside Lia's mind. In an instant, the world twisted around her, and Kel was watching Leoma dash through a dark tunnel, as a spidren chased her.

"Don't worry about interfering with the dream, Kel," Numair had told her before sending her into Leoma's mind. "Unless, of course, a god is in the dream. You wouldn't want to interrupt!" 'Back to the present,' Kel told herself.

"Leoma," Kel intoned, trying to sound magical, or something. Anything to get her attention.

"It's Lia," replied the girl, as she turned and administered an upper cut to the spidren that made Kel wince. "What is it?"

"I'm Keladry of Mindelan. It's nice to meet you, Lia." The two shook hands, and Kel continued, "I'm here to tell you something. I had a dream a few nights ago-"

"Like the one I'm having now?"

"Yes. I had a dream, in which I knew that you were destined for great things," replied Kel, not at all bothered that Lia had interrupted. "However, to achieve those things, you MUST meet a certain lady. She will think it strange if you act like you know her, so pretend you met her by chance. Her name is Lady Haname. She's Yamani, and up until a few days ago, she lived at court. However, she's returning to her home for some time, and she can help you."

Lia nodded, soaking all that Kel had said in. "How can she help me?"

"I wish I could tell you, Lia. But I don't know. Just trust me. And don't excuse this as just a dream. It's not," explained Kel. "I'm going to wake you up now, so you're sure not to forget what I've just said. Find Lady Haname!" With that, Kel stepped up to Lia, and shook her gently.

***

Lia awakened with a start, Lady Keladry's words still in her mind. 'Find Lady Haname....'

~~~~~~~

Now that she was awake, Lia couldn't believe she hadn't asked Lady Keladry more questions. Where was Lady Haname? I don't even know hat she looks like, Lia thought frustratedly. How am I supposed to find her?

Suddenly there were hoofbeats in the distance. Galloping horses, Lia thought. And that could mean only one thing--her father's men had tracked her. Quickly gathering her things, Lia hurried down the road, but the horsemen were faster, and nearly in sight.

Lia looked to either side. Her only choice was to go into the woods. But she couldn't do that! In the woods it wsa dark, strange creatures lurked. Lia shivered. She could fight those things jusst fine in the light, but not in the dark woods...

The soldiers were coming closer, she had to make a choice quickly...

"Leoma of Palouse! Stop running and get back here this minute!"

Too late. The men had cought her. Lia got onto her horse without a fight, cursing her own carelessness. How had she allowed herself to get caught?

"Your mother is not going to be very happy with you, missy," One soldier sneered. "She was hopping mad when we left."

"Well, she can be hopping mad when youget back--without ME!" Lia kicked her horse and galloped off into the distance, leaving the soldiers behind. Lia rode for an hour and a half without stopping, or even noticing that time was passing. She only slowed her horse to a trot when they had escaped Legann, and she was looking back on it from twenty miles away when it occurred to her that the men wouldn't have followed her this far. It still wasn't safe to return to the port, so Lia turned the mare she had stolen - who had turned out to be one she knew, Blue - and trotted to a hill, where she would have fortification, should raiders attack her, but with a nearby meadow for Blue to graze in. And, she could still see Port Legann from where she stood.

It was about noon, when Lia recognized that she was hungry. She unwrapped a last bit of cheese and bread from her rucksack, and ate. Only after she had fulfilled her hunger did she realize that she had no weapon but her Gift, which wasn't suitable for hunting for food. She gazed at the near-empty rucksack, with barely enough food for a day. She could stay out here for the night, and go back to Legann the next afternoon, and find Lady Haname. Although Lia wasn't especially stealthy, she could purchase a priest's robe, which covered the face, and go about the streets unnoticed until she found Lady Haname.

Yes, that was what she would do.