The dream came as soon as Ilia fell asleep that night. As the world melted away around her, a new one took it's place, and with it came the feeling of coming home. Her feet landed on solid ground, and the new world came into sharp view. It had been weeks since she had allowed herself to drift into a dream realm, but this one seemed more than familiar to her. She had arrived in a cave, near the entrance, and the light shinning in from the moon that hung low in the sky barely illuminated the area enough for her to walk without tripping over her long, trailing cloak. Standing at the mouth of the cave and looking out sent Ilia into immediate shock. 

The mountain that she was in was glowing silver in the moonlight, the white rock that it was composed of bouncing the light so much that it was nearly as bright as the moon itself. Of which there happened to be two; hanging in the sky, low on the horizon, was a large bright moon, but high in the sky laid another, smaller moon, reflecting off of the sea that laid before the mountain. The water was black, sucking up any light thrown onto it, and reflecting only what it had no room to absorb. Resting along the brief shoreline between the sea and the mountain was a group of giant turtles, each seven feet from back flipper to head, at least. Their shells sparkled like the diamond cut glass that they were.  They seemed to look up at Ilia, as though they recognized her. Which they did, of course. It may have been years, but they still remembered their creator.

Ilia was in Eurasha. She wasn't sure how, but she was back.

And she wanted nothing more than to flee as quickly as possible. 

Escape. Run. Hide. Do something other than just stand there like an idiot! The sight was enough to stun her. She felt paralyzed; fear, anxiety, joy, and panic all vied for control of her. All of them demanded she move, do anything, other than stand there like an idiot. But still, she stood there, her eyes taking in her creation. Eventually, panic took hold, jolting her into motion and thought. Her hands shook as she tensed up, her breathing rushing in and out faster than she thought possible. She stumbled back into the mouth of the cave, but as she turned to run into the safety of the Carrion Mountains, her hair blinded her, covering her eyes entirely as she whipped her head to the side. She stepped on her cloak, and preceded to fall forward, unable to balance on the uneven cave floor.

The air billowed through the cave as a figure moved from the wall in the back of the cave to the space just in front of Ilia's falling form within a millisecond. His leg shot out, and with the tip of his boot he halted Ilia's fall. 

"Falling these days can be more dangerous than a wounded ego. It's good to see you again, Ilia." His voice was soft, deep, and filled with a mixture of relief and familiarity. Cadmus Bishop helped the woman regain her balance and crossed his arms, head tilted as he awaited her response tentatively. 

There was a stunned silence, a long moment of quiet that followed Cadmus's appearance, for Ilia was at a loss for words. Eurasha and Cadmus? In the same night? Obviously the universe felt the need to punish her with this fictional "dream". It was an impossibility of the highest sorts for it to be real. She was locked out, permanently. Kellen had ensured that when he had sent her home. 

She steadied herself as her old friend helped her to stand up, his voice a comfort in this painful dream. If nothing else, at least she could hear that voice again, one of two that she yearned to hear in the last six years. Losing both of them, Kellen and Cadmus, had driven Ilia from her home. She still hadn't returned to visit Aiden's or Kellen's catatonic physical bodies. Even the thought was too painful; pale, lifeless forms laying in beds. Bodies that lacked their souls. She shook her head, her curls bouncing slightly as she brought her thoughts back from their wondering path. After taking another moment to adjust to the dream, she glanced up at Cadmus. A sudden fire began to burn within her chest, an anger that built up quickly and, since this was just a dream after all, she let it out.

She swung at him, her clenched hands aiming for his chest. He dodged smoothly out of the reach of her fists, his hands moving in slight, quick movements that pushed her hands away. After a few swings, her anger evolved from physical to verbal, and she stared him down as she chewed him out, her voice getting slowly louder. "You. You.... Jerk! You let Kellen lock me out! How could you?! Do you know what I went through trying to get back to you? Can you even comprehend the pain of knowing that you were all locked in that damn realm and I couldn't help?! Cadmus, you damn.... Idiot!!" She threw her arms out as she ranted, her hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly as she tried to come up with insulting names to call her friend. The anger was enough to prevent her from even cursing at him, however, and she gave up rather quickly, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

 She took a moment to look him over, to really see him again. She wanted to imprint the image of him in her mind, to keep him there as he appeared now. From his long coat to his spiky hair, he was the same man she remembered. Finally, her anger drained away. She tried to keep up the appearance of anger, but her shoulders sagged in defeat as she closed the space between them, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. "My god, I've missed you, Cadmus. I wish this wasn't a dream."

The dragon returned her hug lightly before unwinding her arms and holding her at length.

"You, of all people, should know that every dream is a reality of its own. This is as real as any of the other worlds you have visited, more so because this is Eurasha." He paused to let that information sink in. "Moreover, I was the one who let you in even though I couldn't even find the damned place until recently." Cadmus's eyes went hazy for a moment, as if he were remembering something too complex for him to continue speaking. He shook his head slightly and returned his gaze to Ilia. 

"We don't have much time to talk. Now that you're here it is only a matter of time until the locks that were placed around Eurasha come crashing around us. Its not a problem for me..." he paused and began to take off his coat. "Eurasha is degrading," he said as he held out the midnight black riding coat. "And its not just our world. All of the Everlastings are crumbling. You have to come back, with help if you can manage it." The hand holding the coat began to fade, turning to mist before becoming solid once more. "Take my coat. You will be able to return whenever you wish it. Meet me tomorrow night where we first opened the gates." Cadmus's head darted around and his eyes narrowed. "Trust in yourself, Ilia." 

The ground rumbled and shook as Cadmus began to fade again. His entire body began to dissipate, turning to mist as he turned away. If only he had been able to bring all of himself into Eurasha, if only he had more time. He had done all he could, however, and he had to hope that it was enough. When Ilia returned he would be able to do more, but for now she simply had to trust him. As he faded away he waved behind him, walking out of the mouth of the cave and disappearing completely. Not a trace was left of Cadmus, save for the warmth in the fabric of the coat he had left in Ilia's hands.

She had barely taken the coat from Cadmus when he vanished like mist in the wind, waving good by to her as he did. With the moonlight shinning down, everything around her felt even more unreal, despite the Dragon's assurance that it was real. She tugged on his coat as the cold began to settle on her, coating her in a fine layer of lonely frost. The sky overhead showed no signs of the impending dawn that it should've. Instead, the normally clear sky of her realm was coated with dark clouds as far as the eye could see. The frosty loneliness was joined by a fearful shiver as she thought of what that could mean for the people trapped within the confines of her world.

Gazing out at the ocean directly before her left her with a longing unlike any she had known: She wanted to go home. Not to her physical home, not to her body. She wanted to go back to the Sirenian and the Draconian kingdoms. Home. She steeled her will and prepared to descend the Carrion Mountains.

Just as she stepped out of the cave, a quake began beneath her feet. The earth rumbled and she looked around in shock. Eurasha, and an earthquake? But no, it was not the earth that had moved... Ilia felt a presence hanging over her. It made her tense, a drip of ice down her spine as she stood stock still. She had to wake up. Now.

So she did the only thing she knew was a sure method to wake her and jumped from the peek, spinning to look behind her as she did. A glimpse of silver armor and a purple cloak... Black hair and thin, wire glasses that hide steely grey eyes.. Or rather, eyes that used to be steely grey. Those eyes that used to hold warmth and laughter were now glittering black stones, every inch filled with the soul stealing color. The pain in her chest near made Ilia cry in despair; it was Kellen, his form distorted by the possession of the Entity Beast. As she fell, the face she used to trust slowly developed a smile so sinister and joyous that the mage that she might be sick. She turned to face the ground, the distance now too great for her to distinguish anything of her prior friend and trusted conscious.

 She turned to face the ground, the distance now too great for her to distinguish anything of her prior friend and trusted conscious. She shut her eyes against the incoming ground, and thought to herself 'it's just a dream.'

As she snapped back to reality, she tried to throw her hands out to stop her fall, but it was too late. There was a loud thunk as she rolled off her bed, her face quickly becoming acquainted with the floorboards. Her hands and legs were trembling and sweat slicked, making it difficult for her to stand. With the bedsheets clenched in her fingers, she finally got to her knees and froze, panting. [i]It was only a dream, Ilia. It was only a dream.[/i] She repeated her mantra a few more times until she could stand up. She hadn't been back there.

.... Not yet.