Lana could feel the smile on Casavir's mouth as he returned her kiss. "We made it", he murmured.

She opened her eyes to smile at him – and saw the huge shadow form behind him.

Her eyes growing large, she seemed paralysed as she could do nothing to warn him. But he must have seen something on her face, because he shoved her away in the exact moment the vicious claws pierced his body from behind, lifting him from his feet while they ripped upwards through his torso.

Lana fell to the floor, staring up in horror at his pale face, and could see the love shining in his blue eyes. I love you, he mouthed. Then his eyes left her face and looked behind her.

Sobbing, Lana whirled around – to see Bishop standing there. A huge, black snake had coiled around his body, immobilising him, hissing menacingly.

He looked at her with a soft expression on his face, not struggling against the snake, only looking down at her. He smiled, sadly, tenderly. "I truly loved you, you know?", he whispered. "Farewell."

And the snake hissed again, rearing back its head, about to strike at his neck, opening its mouth with the razor sharp teeth, long as daggers.

"Nooooooo", Lana yelled, looking around again, looking for Casavir – but Casavir and the King of Shadows were gone. "No!", she sobbed again, turning back to Bishop and the snake, but they, too, had vanished.

"No, please", she wailed, "please don't leave me. Come back, please, please, come back to me..."

She felt a hand at her cheek, wiping away the tears and clutched at it. "Please, don't go", she sobbed. "Come back, please, I can't lose you, can't lose you both..."

"My dear, I assure you I don't plan on leaving, but I can't but feel that this heart-wrenching plea does not apply to me. Do wake up, please, you seem to have a rather unpleasant dream again."

The nasal voice pervaded Lana's sleep-fogged mind. She opened her eyes, tears still streaming from them, to see Sand's blurred face looming above her.

It had all been a dream. The dream. Again.

Bishop's not here to keep it away anymore.

And now he also had made it into the dream.

"Do you want some water?", Sand asked gently.

Lana shook her head, still clinging to his hand. "No, thanks", she said hoarsely.

"Do you want to talk about it now?", he asked. Her vision had cleared a bit, and she could see the pity on his ageless elven face. "I know you don't like to talk about it, but it does help, you know? And I will be happy to listen."

She turned her face away to stare at the wall.

Sand sighed. "My dear, sometimes stubbornness is not a sign of a strong character, but just – stubborn."

Lana did not reply.

"Well, let's try something else then. I will ask questions, and you can just nod or shake your head. My first question is rather obvious: You dreamed about Casavir?"

Lana hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, still staring at the wall.

"And there was another man."

She nodded again.

"A man that you met while you were away?"

Nod.

"The same man that put that... bruise on your face?"

Hesitation. Nod.

"But you did not want him to leave."

Long hesitation. Nod.

"He hit you in the face. But you did not want to lose him."

"Can it, Sand", Lana said, her voice thick, her gaze still fixed at the wall. "I get the picture."

"Sorry, dear girl, but it just does not seem like you to put up with something like that. I would expect any man hitting you to end up as a pile of ash on the floor. Instead it seems to have endeared him to you. That does strike me as odd."

Lana still avoided looking into his face. "It's complicated."

Sand sighed. "So it seems. Would you like to explain it to me? Because I find myself to be rather... mystified."

She shook her head.

"My dear, I do think the suspense will kill me if you keep me in the dark. Can you at least tell me his name?"

Lana looked into his face at last and found his slanted blue eyes looking down on her with a slight smile. His long, black hair was free from the leather thong he usually wore and fell around his face, reaching well over his shoulders.

She reached up and touched his hair lightly. "It's beautiful. You should wear it open more often."

He smiled. "Well, thank you, dear girl. I'm rather flattered. But not enough to forget the question, I'm afraid."

She averted her eyes again. "It was worth a try", she said.

"Oh, certainly", he answered. "One can always try. Now, can you tell me his name? All this avoidance makes me think it is a name I would recognise."

She put a hand over her eyes and groaned slightly. "Bishop", she mumbled.

Sand inhaled sharply. "Bishop? Untidy hair, lousy shave, even worse manners? Unfortunate tendency to stab people in the back? That Bishop?"

"You know another one?"

"I just wonder, if you ran into him, that you let him come close enough to do this." He softly touched her jaw.

"It's a long story."

"Indulge me. I assure you I have time enough."

That brought back the memory of a very similar conversation, some weeks ago. She laughed hoarsely. "Funny", she said. "That's nearly exactly what he said."

"He said what?"

"That he had time enough to hear my story. His story, to be exact."

"My dear girl, you are speaking in riddles."

She sighed, inhaling deeply. "Fine. You won't let it pass anyway, might as well get it over with. He had lost his memory, could not remember who he was, how we met, what he'd done. Anything."

"A trick, certainly."

Lana shook her head. "That's what I thought, but no. He really did not remember. He was... different. Polite. Gentle." Her eyes unfocussed while her mind went back to the past. A sad smile played around her lips.

Sand watched the expression on her face and wondered if she was aware of what it revealed.

"He was considerate, and helpful. Caring." She swallowed, and her eyes glittered with moisture. "Tender", she added, her voice soft.

"The picture you draw hardly resembles the man I know", Sand stated.

Lana's mind returned to the present, but the sad little smile stayed on her face. "I know", she said. "As I said, he was different."

"Then how come he did hit you?"

Her face closed down. "He regained his memory."

"I see", Sand said softly. "I must say I really would like to hear the whole story."

"I... met him at an inn. Pure chance it was. He noticed me looking at him and came over, because he hoped I knew him, could tell him something about him." She sighed. "I told him nearly everything. He... did not like what he heard. He was... devastated. The next morning, we were about to part ways when we got captured by Luskan."

"Captured by Luskan? But how ever did you get captured by some Luskan patrol?"

"It was no standard patrol", Lana said. "They were the escort of a Hosttower mage. A powerful Hosttower mage." She observed his face closely while she spoke.

The skin around his eyes tightened. "Hosttower mage?"

"Yes", she said. "You'll recognise the name. It was Jaluth Alaerth."

Sand blanched. "Oh, dear gods."

Lana nodded. "Amen to that. She seemed to have some history with Bishop. He had fled from her, and she was not happy about that. She... tortured him." She swallowed. "But she also found out that he had lost his memory due to a Geas Garius had put on him. He had to bring Garius back from the dead to regain his memory."

"Ah, I think some things are about to be explained."

"Well, long story short, we escaped, but later found out it had been Jaluth's plan all along. We revived Garius, and Bishop regained the memory of his past." Lana hesitated, then added, quietly: "And lost that of everything that happened in between."

"I see", said Sand, gently. "So he went back to being a foe after he had become..."

"A friend", Lana said, sadly. "He had become a friend."

"A friend. Of course. What else. Well, that at least explains why we found the body of Garius in front of our walls some days ago, seemingly just a few hours dead, his throat cut. But do tell me, how had that all been Jaluth's plan? That is the part I am really anxious to hear."

"Well, she found out about the Geas. And she put a new one on him, but we did not know about that. Obviously she knew he would forget about everything when he regained his past... and she wanted that. She did not like his new self. Too... gentle for her tastes."

"Oh, that I do believe."

"After we... well, after Bishop killed Garius again, she sent an image to explain that he would have to return to her, otherwise she would crush his heart. She demonstrated how she would do that." Lana swallowed again, remembering the moans of pain and Bishop's contorted face. "It was not pretty. And she told him to bring me along as well, else she would kill him slowly and painfully."

"That does sound like her. She always was rather fond of pain. In my time in the Tower I did my very best not to run into her if I could avoid it. She always gave me goose bumps. Even the most powerful mages feared her. There were whispers she was something other than human, and I have to say, I did not find that hard to believe."

Lana shuddered. "Me, neither. I saw Bishop slit her throat, trying to escape, but the wound just healed, just like that. It was... frightening."

"Frightening... that seems to be putting it mildly. But I am not surprised about her healing powers. She always was rather eerie. So our dear ranger caught her fancy? I nearly pity him."

Lana stared into his face, but seeing the image of Bishop's abused body before her mental eye. "You don't know what she will do to him", she whispered. "Else you would pity him. I do."

"You do?"

Her anger about the way he had treated her dissipated, Lana could not deny the pity was back. Full force.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, her decision made. "Yes", she said, taking Sand's hand and squeezing it. "I do. And I promised I would help him get away from her. Will you help me do that? I don't think I can do it alone."

"You promised to rescue our ranger in distress? Promised him?"

Lana smiled. "No. I promised Karnwyr."

Sand looked at her, slightly taken aback. "I see. Well, I guess, a promise made to a wolf is as good as any other... I think. Rest now, and tomorrow we will think of something to do. While I really have no great fondness for our dear Bishop, not even he deserves to be left to Jaluth's whims. Well, probably not even he. Maybe."

Lana lay back and closed her eyes. She knew she would not be able to sleep for some time. But she also knew the dream would not plague her again tonight.