Sam tossed and turned as he slept, vivid images flashing through his mind. He saw Sabriel and Lirael but not their surroundings. He saw a pillar of light. He saw Mogget. Mogget? He thought, suddenly the images came flowing together and he was standing in a room so dark that the shining man in front of him didn't even light it up "who are you?" he tried to say but nothing came out of his mouth. "Silence Sam Wallmaker" the voice was a low booming one, but oddly soothing "You will see in time" it waved a hand and he saw Sabriel and Lirael hanging by nothing "Mother! Lirael!" but again nothing came out. "Your destiny has been intertwined with that of Yrael's" he waved the hand and a small white cat appeared with a miniature Ranna tied to a red collar. "The one known as Mogget."
Sam thought about the dream carefully. Was it just a dream? Or was it something more? Sabriel and Lirael had gone missing but not dead and Mogget was Yrael, yet this seemed too real for it to be a coincidence. Sam walked around the castle looking for his father Touchstone, the king. He found him in the guardroom teaching the new recruits protective magic and sharp shooting skills. "You hold the bow like this and look down the shaft of the arrow like this," suddenly he let go of arrow and it whistled into a hanging dummy, making it swing violently. "Father!" Sam cried
"Sam!" Touchstone said, surprised "what are you doing here?"
"I have to talk to you," he glanced around "in private"
"Ok" Touchstone turned to his guards and said, "remember what I told you, and practise with corked arrows and that shield spell"
"Thank you"
Sam and his father walked through the private gardens alone "now, what did you want to say?"
"I had a dream"
"Well that's not unusual!"
"Yes, but my dream was…urm…different than usual"
"Different how?" Sam recounted the dream to his father with every detail he could remember. "Interesting" Touchstone murmured, "This could be a 'Prophetic Dream'"
"A what?"
"A 'Prophetic Dream' is when you see something that has yet to happen or you see a solution to problem"
"Like the Clayr?"
"Yes, a bit, but the Clayr do it regularly. For anyone else, it is very rare, I have only ever heard of it in books, old books, before Kerrigor went on his rampage."
"Thank you father, I appreciate it."
Sam wondered about this Prophetic Dream, as his father called it, and considered talking to Mogget about it, but decided against it. Instead, he decided to spell the guard captain's new sword, his previous one being snapped by a misplaced spell of one of the trainee guards while he was sparring with another guard, a series of coincidences caused it. Sam had obtained a book recording almost every know Charter mark and its purpose. It had four thousand two hundred and four pages so it would be impossible to read it all and remember it. Sam was flicking through this book searching for a particular mark to add to the spell when a small meow distracted him and he lost the spell held in his mind. "Mogge…" he began to say but stopped when he saw, instead of a white cat, a black one standing there, "Hello kitty" Sam cooed "Hello, Abhorsen's son" the cat replied.
"What!" Sam was surprised
"Have a guess" Sam scrutinised the cat and saw that it wore a red band and a miniature Ranna round its neck, "are you Kerrigor?" Sam ventured
"Well done, Wallmaker"
"How do you…wha?"
"I know much of you and your doings"
"But how did you get out?"
"Do not worry about your safety, I cannot remove this collar and if I do a will be thrown far into death, beyond the Ninth Gate."
"So you won't try to kill me?
"No, but to ease your fears I will tell you of a force that has been tugging at my form, it must be very powerful to compromise this ancient binding and go through to my Free Magic form,"
"And this force is?"
"I do not know but it appears to be taking Free Magic beings and bending them to its will. That is all I have to say"
"Wait, Kerrigor" but the cat was gone.
This revelation shocked Sam, not that a force was rampaging through the land, but that of Kerrigor's warning and information. He decided to talk to Mogget since the dream form had told him that his and the cat's destiny were intertwined. "Mogget?" Sam called round the room "Mogget!"
"Yes Prince Sameth" Mogget appeared next to Sam without him noticing.
"Ah! Don't do that!"
"Do what?" Mogget said innocently
"Hmm…I have to talk to you"
"About a dream?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"This cat form has its advantages"
"Have you been spying on me?"
"Anyway, so a shining figure said that yours and mine destiny are intertwined?"
"Yes, and don't change the subject"
"Well it appears that another force has sprouted from the depths and is attempting to take over the world. As usual" The cat rolled its green eyes
"Should we stop it?"
"Do you learn nothing ignorant prince!" Mogget insulted "prophetic dreams do not come to any person that they feel like. If it wasn't urgent the Clayr would've seen this and told the King. Let us prepare!"
