A/N: There will be a small hiatus after this chapter, and no chapters will be posted until January next year. In the meantime, I would not mind if you readers would spend some time to read and review my work. Your presence is most appreciated, and I cannot thank you enough for it.

Special thanks goes to Airan for beta reading, Keldor for proofreading and Adrastos for a bit of both. Oh, bad mother or not, you'll get to see more sides of Lorelei in a few more chapters, starting from this one.

Now, behold the chapter!


Chapter 9

Rounding Up


Try looking into that place where you dare not look! You'll find me there, staring out at you! -Paul Atreides, Dune (1984)


Packing was one of Lorelei's favourite activities. Unlike many female nobles, she was raised with the expectation to take over rule of her father's lands as well as her mother's, which would entail a future of non-stop travelling. From the endless fields of Garlesca and Skela to the rolling hills of Otharn and Valence, the lutrine princess had seen all the different sights, learned all the different languages and tasted all the different wines, but there would always be new events to experience when she returned to someplace she had been. Hence, she was always glad to prepare for the next adventure. That was what she told herself, anyway.

However, this time the packing only lasted a few minutes. She would be travelling light this morning.

Opening her door, Lorelei walked into the corridor, hoisting a sack of clothes on her back. She peered through the hallway windows and smiled. No rain.

"It's ravver early ter go on a walk, wouldn't yer fink?" said a voice behind the otter. "And it's even earlier for travel." It seemed that Ignazia was not done with her yet.

"I figured."

"Then wotcher doin' 'ere and now?"

Lorelei scratched an ear with her spare paw. "That's not exactly a question I can provide a straight answer to."

"Ha!" Ignazia placed a paw on the princess's shoulder. "Yer're just like yor favver, sneakin' off ter find some luvd one right in the middle of the night!"

Lorelei's eyes squinted. "Pardon?"

"I know Erlend Streambattle's not the right otter for yer, right, but I couldn't imagine yer bein' wiv anuvver beast! Well, peraps Isangrim, right, rest 'is soul. Yer two bickered and argued like an ole married couple!"

"It's not a male! And, it's definitely not Isangrim! Great Seasons, where do you get such ideas?"

"Yer mean... it could be a pretty wee maid?"

Lorelei shook her head frantically. "No! It's not another beast, and that's the end of it."

"Calm dahn, Lori. I were just messin' wiv yer," said Ignazia as she patted Lorelei on the shoulder. "Yor favver would not be flustered - 'e'll own up ter evryfink, right, iffen yer ask me wide-eyed wot 'e did wrong! Like this!" The old ratmaid's ears twitched as her eyes shot wide. "Ahem. Yes, I am seeing that Melisse rat every evening. She's the best maid I have ever laid my eyes upon - no offence, not explicitly at least! And yes, she truly exists and is not a totally useless fabrication of mine."

Lorelei suppressed a giggle. "How did you manage such an impression of him?"

"I grew up wiv the Emperor, silly. There were times wen I wish I 'adn't, but I'm the closest fin' 'e 'as ter a sister. I were always there wen 'e needed me - some lass 'as ter be the reliable one."

Lorelei smirked. "It must have been fun, having a sibling figure that is not a pain in the tail."

"'oo said 'e weren't?" asked the rat, shooting Lorelei a smile before she walked off into the distance, giggling to herself about otters and youthful energy.

Lorelei sighed in relief. The old rat had not been clued on anything. Time to go.

Before long she was in the castle gardens. She had been there before in better times, when all the different wildflowers brought from the Imperial Spine grew here. Now, in the winter cold, they were nowhere to be seen, and pools of water lay still, frigid and stagnant.

"You're here," said Sigurd. He was in a new set of travelling clothes, dyed black instead of the Tarellian reddish brown he had started out his journey in. "I didn't have much to pack, because I left all my belongings in Ingolpart. Did grab a spear though." He flipped his weapon around. "It's lighter than the sort I practiced with, but this works just fine as a deterrent."

"In hindsight, I should have given you some time to prepare for your depart-"

"Before pushing me into a wardrobe and introducing me to some dream-world, I know." The younger otter rubbed the back of an ear. "Why do you call it the Dreamscape if you can enter it without dreaming?"

"Because you need to have a decent grasp of Thaumaturgy in there before you can access it from the waking world." Lorelei lifted up another claw. "Besides, if you find yourself in the Dreamscape while not dreaming, you're still grounded by some rules of reality. That, and if you die there you're gone."

"Gone?"

"No Dark Forest, no Hellgates, not even lingering in this world for all eternity. You just fade into nothingness, oblivion."

"You mean… you don't vanish when you die normally?"

Lorelei could feel her whiskers twitch. "No."

"Huh. You think like my father. He thinks that when he finally passes he'll join his ancestors in some sort of eternal feast, and better yet, Lord Lamont will most definitely not be invited. That's what he says, anyway."

"Sounds like Erlend indeed. Always whining about his brother. What about Lady Sigrid?"

Sigurd's eyes lit up. "Mother always told me that you don't get to live again after you die, so you have to make your only chance count, to make a good impression on the world around you, and all the standard stuff parents say."

"Fair enough," mused Lorelei. "You Travrikans really do know how to tell stories." She paused, wondering how to change the subject, before sitting down on a stone, tucking in her dress. "Tell me about your father."

"I thought you hated his guts, so to speak," replied Sigurd, leaning against a pillar. "Why ask?"

"I have spoken too much about my thoughts, and I have a tendency to not let you get a word in."

"I see…" said Sigurd. "Well, Lord Erlend is a-"

Sudden footsteps interrupted the younger otter. "Both of you are here!" exclaimed Corrado Truetide, carrying a pack on his back as well as holding one with his paw. "You said you wanted to check my bags before tomorrow, so I spent the last three hours checking everything. Seasons, my back's still aching."

"Oh, right," said Lorelei, scanning the walls for beasts. There were none. "Do come here."

Corrado sauntered over to his mother as she rubbed a claw over her ring. "Playing another one of those games with our guest, I see. Little Kio would love it!"

"Well, actually, I was playing it with myself." Lorelei shot a swift glance at the rafters. Nobeast. "Here, take a look!" Reaching out her paw, the Conjurer smiled as a Pathway formed in front of the trio, with Hirsent's library on the other side. "Hm. Works better when I'm not packing, panicking or pupsitting."

Her son pointed a claw at a bookcase, then another. "H- How?"

"I still don't really know how she does it," remarked Sigurd.

Lorelei scoffed and gestured at the portal. "You know me, I'm gifted with a wonderful imagination. Now climb in!"


The sun retreated beyond the skies, casting shelf after shelf of books in myriad shades of red and orange. Seated between the bookshelves were a trio of otters, each one with a different expression on their face.

"I still do not understand how this works," said Corrado, tossing Lorelei's Amplifier back to her. "Why can you do it?"

Lorelei rubbed her chin. "I don't know, why can't you do it?"

"Do what?" asked Sigurd, stretching his legs on the couch Lorelei had Conjured for him. "Open a Pathway?"

"No, just use Thaumaturgy in general."

"I don't think I should bother with that. This whole occult business smells too much of you and your father. I wish to have no part in it."

With your abilities, or lack thereof, it's not like you have much of a choice. "Fair enough."

"I do find it weird that he somehow had the time to deal with all this Thau-whatsit." Corrado stood up and leaned upon a sturdy oaken bookcase. "With all the pressures of travelling, ruling and raising you, just how did he manage?"

"I have no idea, to be honest," mused Lorelei. "He was just taught well."

"Too well, in fact." It was a new voice. Lorelei sprung up, her ring glowing bright as she stared down the intruder. He was another otter, a young one, around the age of her younger son. Unlike him, this otter had a coat of black fur like Corrado, with a scar around his jaw that marred his features. "Your father wasn't called the Pup of Miracles for nothing, after all."

Lorelei could feel her heart beat quicker as her eyes squinted at the newcomer. In the corner of her eye she saw Sigurd pick up his polearm, while Corrado scrambled something out of one of his packs. "Who in the blazes are you? And why are you in my dream?"

"I am Oswin. The first thing you have to know is that your father and I go way back. The second, of course, is that I did not come here by mistake." The otter pointed a claw at his head. "Look into my eyes. Do I look like somebeast who has no plan?"

"You look like somebeast who has no self-awareness," Lorelei chuckled as a Pathway opened behind her. "At least you share that trait with Father - I do trust that you know him, come to think of it. I presume you take an eternity to get to the blasted point as well?"

"You know me all too well, Your Highness." Oswin's face curled into a snarl as the Pathway suddenly snapped shut. "But I require you three to be in my clutches, in my dreams."

"Your dreams?"

"Yes, mine." With a flip of Oswin's paw, everything fell apart. The floor vanished and bookcases disappeared, with the tomes on them slowly fading into oblivion, replaced by the stony walls and wooden floorboards of an ancient, decrepit castle.

"And now, you are safer than you have-" Oswin suddenly swung to the right, neatly avoiding a shadowy fist sent his way. Turning his head, the otter grimaced as he stared at the wall, rolling his eyes at the sight of stone sunk into it. "Could you let me finish my sentences before attacking me?"

"No."

Lorelei's paw slid downward, crushing Oswin down onto the planks and sending all of it down below to who knows where, before swiftly opening a Pathway to Wossaham. "You two - go call Hirsent here. Black wolf, red eyes. Sigurd knows who she is. Go!"

Sigurd quickly nodded and made his way through the Pathway, dragging Corrado, now more confused than ever, with him.

"There we go," said Lorelei, walking forward and peering down at the hole she had made. "My allies have departed, and so have my burdens. It's just us two now."

"I… I don't think so," huffed Oswin. "Don't… don't you understand? It's never… it's never just two beasts. Dennol, now!"

Lorelei knew. No matter what this Oswin said, this world was still her dream, and she knew her dreams like the back of her paw. She spun backwards, her ring flashed and a torrent of water flung her assailant backwards; before the moisture spun round and curled around his body, trapping the marten against the wall.

Oswin lifted up his paws in frustration. "I did tell you not to act like the soldier you are. The laws that govern reality so strictly are not as binding here."

"Are you done yet?" asked Lorelei. "The only reason I haven't left yet is to find out what it takes to see that you shut your mouth. Can you do it on your own, or do I need to help you with that?"

"You have been taught well. Perhaps your father was not as incompetent as you thought."

"He's bad, alright. Isangrim did most of the work."

"That fox, hm?" asked Oswin. "He actually managed to survive, hm?"

Lorelei frowned. "Fox? I thought he was some sort of weasel-marten creature."

Oswin's eyes sprang up in surprise, not expecting Lorelei's answer, and also not expecting stone to wane back into wood, and the scent of waves crashing down onto shores was replaced by that of the rustling of pages as books came into existence once more.

"You should not have let your guard down," said Lorelei, taking a glance at Dennol and noting to herself that he was no longer there. He had woken. "Dreams are fragile little things, like glass, insects and many an otterboar's ego. If you don't know how easy it is to have them wrenched away from your control, then you're in luck - you now have somebeast to teach you!"

"Well, they do say that failures are great instructors…" Oswin pushed back as his energies collided with Lorelei's. The world around them flickered as the two stared at each other, and everything seemed to blend together at once.

Flickers of different worlds passed through Lorelei's vision. Bookcases and walls. Land and sea. The illumination of the mind and the bleakness of the soul.

Then all was naught, and naught was all.


The road became narrow and twisted, winding between tree trunks, and overgrown with vines and bushes. It took the otter far too long to make far too little progress. He did not know why he could be tired still in the World of Dreams, but in the end he took a brief rest in a stony hollow.

The black-furred otter willed a flame into being and sat next to it, yawning loudly as he straightened his green Abbey-robes. He should have been in the waking world, where there were beasts he knew, trusted, even loved. But now, in the depths of slumber, there was only his companionship.

A pair of sharp vulpine ears suddenly came into being out of thin air, followed by a russet head and a body of the same colour. "Yer know, It's not right ter be tired now. Yer 'aven't even walked for that much."

"This place is draining me," the otter replied. "I'm sure of it."

"Sounds like an excuse for loungin' yorself in palaces and abbeys and not gahn outside for actual work, little king."

"Stop calling me that, Erlend!" said the otter, crossing his arms. "Just Thordan will do."

"Fine, fine," said the fox. "Sumfink still sets me on edge though. Me eyes may not be able ter see anymore, right, but me nose works just as well."

Thordan nodded, but said nothing.

Erlend quickly rushed forward and grabbed one of the otter's ears, eliciting a frightened yelp from his charge. "That means I fink we're bein' followed, yer plankrudder!"

"Followed? Where? By whom?"

The bushes behind the duo rustled, and a shadowy figure emerged.

"What in the world is that?" asked Thordan, shrinking away.

The shadow turned towards the otter and pounced, but before he felt anything it was gone, taken by a ray of flame that shot out from Erlend's paws.

"It's a Shade. Forgotten soul wivout access ter Hellgates. Now dey are left in dis Dreamscape, wivout memories, principles or luvd ones."

"Why is it following us?"

"I dunno," said the fox, a claw gliding over Thordan's chest, "why is it followin' yer?"

"Me?"

"Dat's because it needs yor body ter live! Beasts never know how important deir lives are until it is either torn away from them, or they somehow hand it away. Ter live, ter breathe, ter make a difference in de world at large." Erlend snorted. "I miss those days. Now, the best I could do is to drag you back to the wakin' world kickin' and screamin', and by Vulpuz that's what I will do now!" He grabbed Thordan's paw, and ran. "Let's get ya somewhere safe!"


Lorelei's vision cleared as she put a paw on her chest. What did I just see?

"What… how?" asked Oswin, apparently having a somewhat similar vision. "How did you-"

The otter was interrupted by the sound of a Pathway opening, followed by a spear of ice making its way out and embedding itself into Oswin's paw. The otter's scream trailed off as he vanished from the Dreamscape.

"Blast it!" said Hirsent, walking through her Pathway. "I didn't hit anything vital. Are you hurt?"

"Not on the outside," replied Lorelei as a tankard of lager dropped into her paw. It was now her dream without a doubt. A part of her mind reminded her that it was still early in the morning and no time for alcohol, but that was smoothly pushed to the side as she swallowed from the container. "I saw something weird."

"Do tell."

"There was a fox. A fox that shares a name with my husband dragging a young otter in adventures through the Dreamscape. Erlend and Thordan." Lorelei took another huge sip. "What's weirder is that this Thordan creature looks exactly like Oswin. I'm sure of it."