Prison of Darkness

Notes: Remember that "strangeness" and magic I promised in the beginning? This is where it starts happening. Oh, and my story was written and takes place last November, so everything after that doesn't pertain to it. (Wasn't last night's Castle awesome? There was so much I loved about it. I could watch it over and over and over...) Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and is following my story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle; if I did, there would be a lot more Castle/Beckett moments.

Chapter 6

This time, Kate found herself by the path through the trees. The meadow was there with its riot of colorful flowers, and the sun was still shining.

She stood where she was for awhile, soaking in the peace surrounding her. The rough dirt was harder on her bare feet than the grass had been, and, once more, she found herself in her pajamas.

After awhile, standing there got boring. She didn't wake up, and nothing else happened, so she decided to follow the path Nahla and Aizik had shown her.

It was dimmer in the trees. The sun got through, but most of it was filtered through leaves and needles. It made dappled patterns on the lumpy path in front of her.

She wondered where in her imagination this place had come from. Usually, her dreams were violent and angst ridden. That was a hazard of the job. Occasionally, especially since meeting Castle, she had to admit to herself, they were pleasant but embarrassing. Once in awhile, she even dreamed of her childhood, and, when she woke up, she wanted to weep. She couldn't remember a time when she had dreamed of nature, and she wondered what her mind was trying to tell her.

After she had walked for a ways, she began to hear noises. First, there was the faint barking of a dog. Then, there was a shout. She picked up her pace, curious about what she would find on the other end of the path.

The trees ended abruptly, opening up into a scene right from the middle ages. Her mouth fell open as she studied the view in front of her. The closest New York City born and raised Kate Beckett could compare it to was a remote village she had visited when she spent a semester in Russia before her mother died.

The village in front of her was small, with a dirt road running through it. The houses that lined the road were made of either stone or wood, and most of them had thatched roofs. The road was quite narrow, but none of the buildings had cars or driveways. Kate was looking down a hill at the village, so she got to take it all in as a whole. She noticed that the main road had a couple of even smaller roads branching off of it, and these were also sprinkled with buildings. She also noticed that some of the buildings she had mistaken for houses had signs hanging from them. There were some pens with cows, pigs, and chickens in them, and Kate saw some dogs running among the few humans in the street. In one instance, the dog had two small children chasing after him, and the children were screaming with delight.

Kate continued to follow the path as it sloped towards the village. The rough ground of the woods gave way to a rockier dirt road beneath her feet, and Kate winced at the pain.

Walking towards the village, Kate felt suddenly lonely and exposed. The feeling made her shiver despite the warmth of the day.

She was almost to the line of buildings when she saw a familiar form coming towards her. Nahla, clad in the same strange shirt and pants with her shoulder length hair done up in matching pigtails, waved enthusiastically as she approached Kate. Kate raised a hand briefly in reply.

"You're back!" Nahla said when they were within talking distance.

"It appears so," Kate agreed.

"We were hoping you'd come back, but when you didn't return..."

"Wait. How long has it been since I was here the last time, Nahla?" Kate drew her brow down in a frown.

"It's been a fortnight."

This was a term that Kate was familiar with, though she hadn't heard it often. "That long?"

Nahla nodded. "I've heard it happens that way sometimes. Come on. My mother wants to meet you. She says you are probably confused and maybe feeling lost."

"Where are we?"

"Don't you remember? This is the village of Four Corners. I told you about it last time."

Kate did remember. She also remembered there was something about Castle.

"Come on, Kate," Nahla repeated, motioning her further into the village.

People were starting to notice her. There were stares from both wide eyed children and adults. A couple of the dogs barked at her, but the people were still and silent. It was creepy.

Kate allowed herself to be led past the silent people and looming buildings. Despite their somewhat primitive state, there was a rustic charm to the place.

She smiled at a small blond child holding a rope with a tiny gray goat at the end of it. The child smiled timidly back and raised the hand not holding the rope.

"We own the inn in town," Nahla broke the silence suddenly. "My mother is the proprietress and the mayor. My father is a Traveler."

"A Traveler?"

"He travels the Old Ways bringing news and entertainment to the smaller and poorer villages. He's quite well known. My brother and I often go with him. He's not here now." There was something dark in her voice that Kate hadn't heard before.

She absorbed this and remained silent.

At the first of the side streets Kate had observed from the hill, Nahla turned. They were confronted by a large two story building with a hitching post in the yard and a big barn in the back. The building was well kept and a small wooden sign waved in the wind from on top of the door.

Kate glanced at it and saw a picture of a building much like the one it adorned, and, beside the picture, were the words "Safe Haven". She thought that was a nice name for an inn.

When they entered the building, Kate was struck by how homey it was.

The main room was made of wood. The walls. The floor. The huge, knotted beams that made up the ceiling. All were well made and smooth. A substance covered them that had preserved and deepened the color of the wood. Tables, also made of wood, were scattered around the room. They were so clean they shone. There were two huge windows on the side of the room that Nahla and Kate had entered, both covered with cheerful curtains, and a humongous fireplace covered the other side of the room. Above the mantel, an imposing sword was affixed to the wall.

"You live here?" Kate asked.

"Most of the time." She led Kate to a table. "Sit here. I'll be right back."

Kate did so, her body going on alert. This might just have been a dream, but sometimes the worst things could happen in dreams. After all, what did she really know about Nahla? The girl seemed open and friendly, but Kate had only met her the one brief time.

Kate hadn't been sitting there long when Aizik came in. The boy had something like a guitar strapped over his shoulder and a twinkle of mischief in his eye. Since she had started working with Castle, Kate had gotten to know that glint very well.

"Hi, Kate," he said with a friendly grin.

"Hello, Aizik."

"It's nice to see you again." He sat down beside her, still smiling.

"That's a very interesting instrument," she commented. "I've never seen one before."

He slipped the strap off of his shoulder and held it out to her. She took it gently.

"It's called a lutar," he explained. "I play it when my father and I travel the Old Ways."

Kate strummed the instrument experimentally. It sounded like a guitar only deeper and, if possible, rather joyful. She had learned to play the guitar a little from one of her boyfriends as a teenager. Digging into her past, she tried out one of the simple songs he had taught her.

The melody sounded soft and haunting on the lutar. Kate really liked it.

"You play?" Aizik asked, his eyes shining.

"Not much," Kate admitted.

"I'd like to play with you sometime...if you return."

"I don't know."

Nahla reentered the room then, a tall blond woman at her side. Like Nahla, she had a fresh, natural beauty. Her skin was smooth and pale, her eyes warm and welcoming.

"You must be Kate. I'm Kalahn Swordsrunner, the mayor and Mystic of Four Corners. I asked my children to bring you here if you ever appeared again."

"Nice to meet you," Kate said politely.

Kalahn Swordsrunner was dressed in a very simple white gown. The sleeves were elbow length and embroidered with blue and silver thread. The skirt of it flared out at the waist and almost brushed the floor. Its hem had the same silver and blue thread.

The woman raised an eyebrow at Kate. "You don't want to know why I wanted to meet you?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me."

She smiled, dimpling her face in a way that reminded Kate of Alexis, even though this woman was decades older. "That's true."

She took a seat across from Kate and Aizik. Nahla sat down beside her mother.

As she waited for the older woman to speak, Kate rubbed her soles against the smooth wood of the floor. She really wished she had some shoes.

"You're not a Shadow Walker," Nahla blurted out as soon as her butt settled in her chair.

Shadow Walker. The words whispered through Kate's mind. She recalled the brother and sister calling her a Shadow Walker when they first met. She also recalled Nahla's turning as white as a sheet at the mention of Castle's name.

"Nahla," her mother said gently, "you are putting the cart before the horse again."

Nahla colored prettily. "Sorry, Mother."

Her mother nodded and turned to Kate. "Kate, can you tell me what you believe is happening?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean?"

Kate gave the woman one of her most incredulous looks. "What do I mean when I ask what you mean?"

"Yes."

"Do you mean what is really going on, when I'm awake, or do you mean here and now, in this dream?"

"Both."

Kate rubbed her chin reflectively. "Well, in real life, my friend and partner was shot. I'm also working on a case, trying to find out who killed another man with a shovel. But, that has nothing to do with this.

'Here, I keep having this recurring dream. At first, I though it was to give me some measure of peace. I've had a lot on my mind since Castle got shot. Now, I'm not so sure. There has to be some reason that my subconscious has me talking to you."

"I thought so."

"You thought so what?"

"What would you say, Kate, if I told you that this isn't a dream? Four Corners. The meadow. Aizik. Nahla. Me. It's all real."

"Real in what sense?"

"As real as whatever is happening when you're not here."

"I'd have to say that's impossible."

"You're skeptical."

She shook her head. "I'm a realist. There is no way that both that life and this one could be real."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am!"

"Sure enough to risk his life?"

Kate felt suddenly cold all over. She tucked her legs under her chair for warmth and clenched her hand on the table. "What are you talking about?"

"Castle, your Richard Castle, is in danger. He's in more danger than you could ever guess. And the only way to save him is from here. In this world. If you don't, he'll die in both worlds."

This dream was definitely veering in a weird direction. The woman's words stunned Kate and wrenched at her gut. She knew that she was lying home in her bed fast asleep. She knew that Castle was lying in a hospital bed with a hole in his chest and that he couldn't—or wouldn't—wake up. She knew these things, but the woman's words, and the way she said them, felt all too real.

Kate tried to shake the feeling off, tried to deny the words. She opened her mouth to tell the woman she was being ridiculous, that this could not happen. Instead, what came out was, "Please explain."

Kalahn smiled supportively. "All right. I will start from the beginning."

"Please do," Kate agreed.

"As I said, things are not as they appear. In your world, Richard Castle appears to be in a deep, unending sleep. Nothing seems to wake him. That is only a small part of his reality. The Richard that sleeps is just a shell, Kate. The real Richard, or the Richard that really counts, is locked up in a prison and cannot get free. The Prison of Darkness is what is keeping him asleep in your world, and if he is not freed, he will die in both."

A recent conversation flitted through Kate's mind. She had once told Castle that she would break him out of prison if he needed her. Her subconscious must have firmly latched onto that thought.

"This is the core of what you need to know," Kalahn continued, oblivious to Kate's thoughts. "The rest has to do with us and will probably not interest you. Unfortunately, the two stories have become one."

Kate remained silent, studying the woman's face. It was serious and shadowed, and, for the first time, she saw the underlying worry. Both Aizik and Nahla were solemn and quiet, respectfully allowing their mother to tell her tale.

"We are a people alone and isolated in our own land," Kalahn said. "About a hundred years ago, another land invaded ours, killing our leaders and taking control. The invaders were a cruel people. They enslaved and tortured us for sport. Most of us fell under their thumb, but some of us escaped. Long ago, before the invaders had even crawled out of their own filth, our people had been a magical people. We made a series of paths and hidden places called simply The Way. By the time the Kionji invaded, these paths were so ancient, the name had mutated to become The Old Ways. Our people took to the paths, where the Kionji couldn't find them and built their homes there. We remain to this day isolated pockets that communicate with seeing stones and by sending the Travelers along the paths. For a hundred and fifty years, we have survived thus.

'The Kionji were not a magical people , but they were numerous. They spread out over the land, and their blood mingled with those of us that hadn't escaped to the Old Ways."

"And what does that have to do with Castle?" Kate interrupted.

"I'm getting to that now," Kalahn assured her, then continued, "Now, many Kionji have the magic in them, and many have learned to use it. The worst of these is a sorcerer named Rithisak. He is very powerful, but he is also power hungry. And he has found a way to gain power by draining the life force of another. There is a book, a secret, evil book, that was long hidden. It was written by one of my people who went mad and practiced dark arts. The book tells of dark spells, and many of them convert life forces into different kinds of magic. The book even tells of a way to find the Old Ways, and how to break from one world into another."

Kate had listened very quietly to this, knowing that all things were possible in dreams. Still, this was hard even for her dream self to believe.

"You need to kill a very special person to be able to work this special kind of magic on yourself." Kalahn looked deeply into Kate's eyes, and Kate sat up straighter, knowing this was important. "You need the blood of a Shadow Walker."

There were those words again. They slid over her skin, causing bumps to appear on her flesh. "What does that mean exactly?"

"A Shadow Walker has the ability to walk other worlds while she or he is asleep. Harnessed and trained, a Shadow Walker can control where he goes, but most people go their whole lives without knowing their exceptionally vivid dreams are completely real and that anything that happens to them there really happens. Your friend, Richard Castle, is a Shadow Walker."

"I don't believe you," Kate said flatly. "This is only a dream, and you are a piece of my subconscious trying to come up with a reason why Castle won't wake up."

"Kate, Rithisak has kidnapped Richard Castle to use in his ritual to give himself the power to walk between worlds. If he succeeds, no one in any of the worlds will be safe. Your Richard will not wake up in your world because the evil sorcerer plucked him from it when he was vulnerable. Rithisak used Richard's own Shadow Walker abilities against him, and is even now using them to force him to stay in this world. Until he is free of the Prison of Darkness, he cannot wake in your world. He will go on sleeping forever, or until his other body dies."

"I think I'm ready to wake up now," Kate said, getting up from the table.

"Wait!" Nahla said urgently. "Mother, tell her about why she's here."

"I'm not a Shadow Walker or whatever you called it."

"No, you're not," Nahla's mother agreed. "It's rare, but Shadow Walkers have been known to bring people with them. We believe when Richard was ripped from his world to this one, his subconscious sent out a cry, a powerful burst of magic, to the one person he trusted to free him. This means that the person he has put all his trust in is you."

"If this is true," Kate said, still not sitting down, "how do you know about this?"

"I know because I am a Mystic and because we have...had...a spy in Rithisak's household. He told us of the sorcerer's plans. We talked to him through the same stones as we talk to the rest of the People."

"You said had."

"Yes. We haven't heard from him in over a week. We think he's been captured or killed." Kate frowned and was going to reply when Kalahn held up her hand and continued, "We have one thing we do know. Your Richard is still alive. Rithisak is waiting for something or someone. Our informant told us that he was aware of something dividing Richard Castle's power. He's trying to find it and destroy it. Kate, I think he's waiting for you."

Kate ran a tired hand over her forehead and repeated. "This has been a nice story, but I want to wake up."

"This has been a lot for you to hear and absorb. Even now, you think it's a dream. Haven't you noticed by now how real everything looks? How real it sounds? How real it smells? How real it feels? Maybe it is time for you to wake up, at least for a little while. Don't stay away too long. Your Richard is depending on you."

She stood and touched Kate's arm across the table. Kate felt a little dizzy and the room started spinning. Suddenly, she found herself falling up...

Kate opened her eyes to total darkness. Her pulse was racing and her mouth was dry. It took her a moment to recognize the feel of the hotel comforter against her face and the shape of her holster draped over a nearby chair.

She was in her own room, and it was...She glanced at the clock...five thirty in the morning. The events of her dream bounced around in her head. Kalahn was right. It did all seem remarkably real. She rolled over and considered going back to sleep. The thought made her chest tighten, so she threw her covers off and got up to meet the day. She wanted to go see Castle anyway.

XXX

Richard Castle sat in his dim stone cell, just as he had for the past three weeks. It was late in the day and shadows touched his small cot and porcelain bedpan. Besides his empty tray, they were the only objects in the room. The light that entered came from a mere slit of a window, one small enough that Rick could only fit his arm through up to his elbow. He knew because he had tried more than once. Inside his cell was stone. The walls, the ceiling, and the floor were all made from heavy stone blocks. The door was wooden, but the wood was reinforced with metal. Outside, Rick could see scenery like he had never seen before. Grass and trees. More open space than he had ever imagined, even when he was pretending to be a space cowboy.

It had been a rough three weeks. He had no idea how he had come to be in this prison. He remembered traveling with Beckett as they went to pick up that piece of scum, Leonard Finke. He remembered waiting in the car. He remembered hearing the young girl's scream and following it to the alley. That's where his memory got muddled. There was a flash of light then pain. Colors, lots of colors spinning around him. And there was Beckett's voice saying she wouldn't leave him.

A strange voice reached for him. It cut through the pain and the fog in his brain. He couldn't tell what it was saying, but it whirled around him, filling his body. It entered his eyes, his nose, and his ears, and there was pain. It was more pain than he'd ever felt before.

And then he woke up here.

Time passed slowly. He kept a tally in his mind of suns rising and suns setting. The only person he saw was the man who brought him his meals. The man opened a slit in the bottom of the door and pushed them in. Sometimes, he even stopped to talk. Well, the first one had. He had been replaced by someone silent and surly.

Rick really missed Alexis. he wondered what she was doing and if she missed him as much as he missed her. Did she think he disappeared intentionally?

Rick also wondered where he was and what he was doing there. He was dressed in a strange pair of pants that were something like pajama bottoms and nothing else. His feet were bare. Sometimes they felt like ice cakes when the sun went down and the heat was leeched from the stone he walked on.

He had tried several times in the beginning to get answers. He made lots of noise with his voice and with his hands. When his first jailer warned him to stop, the man's voice and face had been so filled with terror that Rick had obeyed.

There was a long time to think when you were by yourself with nothing to do for weeks. At times, Rick thought he might just go crazy. To prevent it, he wrote Nikki Heat scenes in his head. With Rook. Without Rook. At a murder site. Wounded. Triumphant. At one point, he even thought of a scene where Nikki Heat was confronted by Kate Beckett. That was an interesting one. It kept him entertained for hours.

In his darkest moments—in the middle of the night, when the silence and loneliness felt like it was going to drown him—his thoughts switched from Nikki to Kate herself. He admitted to himself that he missed her almost as much as he missed Alexis. Thoughts of her lit up the dark. The way she moved, the way she smiled, her condescending looks, the way she could deliver a joke so deadpan that it was hard to tell if she were being serious.

Sometimes he pretended she was there with him. They would banter back and forth and, for a little while, he could pretend that he wasn't locked up in a prison in the middle of nowhere for an unknown reason.

He wondered if Beckett were looking for him. Did she wonder where he went? Did she think he left her? Would that hurt her? Would she miss him? Over the summer that had just passed, he had wondered every day if she were missing him. His heart hoped yes, but his mind said no. That was before he knew that she had broken up with Demming long before the summer started.

As he sat there thinking of Beckett and Demming, a sudden picture of Gina flashed into his mind. He felt guilty as he realized this was the first time in three weeks that he had thought of her. He knew then that if he ever got out of this place, he would have to break up with her. It wasn't that he didn't love her. He actually loved her very much. When they were getting along, she was one of his best friends, but he didn't love her the way she should be loved. Gina deserved a chance to find true happiness.

Then, remembering a recent case involving two people who were genuinely in love and remembering the conversation with his mother about it, Rick once more thought of Kate.

She had made a promise to him that day. He wondered if she remembered it. If she did, would she feel compelled to honour it? Of course, that was probably moot because she couldn't know where he was or what had happened to him. Rick didn't even know that himself.

Even so, something stirred inside of him. It felt a little like the sun shining down between wisps of a cloud. Or maybe it felt like the first trickle of water seeping through a solid wall of writer's block. Whatever it was, Rick gripped that feeling. He held on to it for dear life.

XXX

He watched her. He was at the station early so he could see her. Her shoulders were hunched against the cold November wind. Her long legs moved swiftly. She was elegance. She was grace. He wanted her.