His mouth dropped open in a small "o" and every bit of realization crashed into him at once. Eddie knew where he was, or even better, Eddie knew when he was. The trees, the "lookout", the cabin, the horse named Glue Boy; it all added up now. Eddie was in Mejis, he was in the place of Roland's spell binding tale, and that barechested young boy approaching the frightened horse was the one and only ... Cuthbert.

The boy that had come alive through Roland's fond words was now standing right before his very eyes, and for once he was speechless. Bert had made his way over to the horse and was patting its neck in attempt to calm it down, meanwhile his eyes kept flickering around looking for whatever had disturbed the equine. His right hand never strayed far from the revolver at his hip, as he wandered away from the horse and began walking in the general direction Glue Boy had been staring at.

Eddie couldn't merely stand by and watch, for it wasn't every day that you got to meet your dinh's boyhood friend from hundreds of years ago. He watched as Bert continued to look at the ground for signs of tracks, and scan the forest for a hint of movement. His face was screwed up in confusion as he came to a stop a mere two feet away from where Eddie stood and it seemed that the boy was looking right at him. Time, messed up as it was, seemed to come to a stop as Eddie stared into those curious eyes and it was small wonder he found himself reflected in them.

With the superstition and curiosity of the very young, Eddie reached a hand towards the young Bert, slow and hesitant. Cuthbert continued to stare deep into the other's eyes, and just as Eddie was about to touch him, Bert suddenly drew back the very arm Eddie had tried to touch, and took several hasty back steps. Bert shook his head as if there was something clouding his thoughts, and confusion rained in those eyes so like Eddie's own.

"Glue Boy, is there something ye can see that I can't? There are strange things in these parts, aye, but I can't quite ..."

Cuthbert ...

Eddie concentrated hard on sending this thought towards him, why else had ka taken him here but to meet Roland's friend of old? If there was something more important, Eddie knew naught what, so he would try his best to communicate with the young gunslinger.

It seemed Bert got the message loud and clear, because before he could even finish his sentence the boy yelped and nearly jumped right out of his skin.

"Who's there? Alain? Is that you? Ha ha, funny joke, cut it out!"

It seemed Cuthbert wasn't quite as amused when the joke was on him.

This isn't Alain, Bert. You don't know me, but I know you. Through Roland.

It took all of Eddie's concentration and effort to send this short sentence to him, and he was a bit surprised that he could communicate to one not of his ka-tet in such manner. Did this have implications he didn't yet understand?

"Y-you know me? Through Roland?" Isn't that what he'd just said? "How? Who are you?" Bert demanded, not quite fearful, but above all else he was filled with immense curiosity.

Bert once more approached the ground where Eddie stood, his left hand feeling cautiously around him.

"What manner of spirit or demon are you?" Bert's right hand rested upon the handle of his revolver.

Eddie Dean.

An intense head ache began to blossom in Eddie's skull, it seemed like it was taking too much out of him just to communicate to the boy. Bert's eyebrows wrinkled in thought as he mouthed the name he'd heard in is head.

"Eddie Dean ...?"

Something new lit up in Cuthbert's eyes, something strange, and frightening. Once more he stepped back, though his movements now were much more desperate, and as he fell to the ground his mouth opened wide in a silent scream ...-

And the world was spinning before his eyes. The todash bells chimed obnoxiously in Eddie's ears and rang tauntingly in his mind. All at once he felt nauseous and his burning lungs cried desperately for air. We ain't in Kansas anymore Toto.

Before he could see, Eddie could hear. He could hear the agonized screams of men dying around him, the anguished cries of those that had just lost a companion, a friend, a brother. It was a large battle, and a losing one at that. The warriors that he now stood invisibly among were badly out numbered and it seemed that now it was just a matter of time before they all lay dead upon to soiled ground.

"Hile gunslingers! To me!"

Eddie's head whipped around at the sound of that familiar voice, and then he had the second shock of the evening. There stood Roland, years younger on the top of that hill, his eyes with a familiar hard, determined glint. And there was Cuthbert beside him, the two last gunslingers making their final stand. Something powerful moved within him, and he suddenly felt such compassion towards Roland, the sheer determination even with the odds stacked impossibly against him. In wonder Eddie watched as the two boys stood against the world, and in a shot that seemed to rip through his own heart, Cuthbert jerked back and fell violently to the ground. Without pausing for thought Eddie ran to the side of the fallen gunslinger and knelt beside him as he clung to the last threads of life.

I see now Eddie Dean ... there are other worlds than these ...

Those words echoed through his head as Bert once more looked into his eyes, and Eddie's own orbs opened wide, for Cuthbert saw him this time, of that he was certain. Once more the world began to shimmer before him and the mournful sound of Roland's horn became softer, and whether or not it was a trick of todash, or his own wild imagination, the now lifeless body upon the ground was not Cuthbert ... but Eddie.

Gasping for air Eddie bolted upright, his chest heaving and cold sweat dripping down his skin and causing his clothes to stick to him uncomfortably. Wildly his eyes darted about him until finally his breathing began to slow as he recognized where he was. Everyone else was still sound asleep, Oy contentedly curled beside Jake, and Suze snoring softly in her own bedroll. And Roland. All he could make out of that form was the shadowed outline of his reclined body, and slowly it sat up.

"Ready for some rest, Eddie?" Came the gruff voice of the gunslinger.

Eddie nodded slightly and gave up his spot to the now approaching Roland, and sprawled out beside his wife, closing his eyes once more. Perhaps now he'd get some real sleep, though his recent experience would prove difficult for him to get sleep for many nights.

Roland merely sat beside the glowing embers, bombardier eyes staring far away, across distance and time, finally coming to rest upon the fitfully sleeping form of Eddie.

"Good night my ka-mai, dearest Cuthbert."