Log Date: 9/6/96
Log Cast:
	Ktai, Rayek, Winnowill
Log Intro:
	Rayek has grown alertly anxious ever since a sending from Winnowill
in distant Blue Mountain... anxious enough that his sleep is made troubled,
for all of Ekuar and Ktai's solicitous care. And as he sleeps, he is
left vulnerable, to dream....

----------
There is a soft sound... as of a 'knock' on the stone outside, then a mutter. 
  "That's not loud enough." A slightly raised voice, and Ktai calls inward: 
  "Rayek?"

There is no answer from within.

From outside, Ktai ponders for a moment, then calls out again. "Rayek? Are you 
  in there?"

Standing there listening, you can catch the sound of a slight sharp intake of 
  breath, and a rustling, brief -- like a body shifting on sleepfurs.

From outside, Ktai bites her lip. Did she wake him? She didn't know he was 
  sleeping... and she is afraid of sending. She'll wait a minute... see if he 
  senses her.

Rayek doesn't seem to. From within his chamber, there is silence again, save 
  for the uneven pace of his breath, audible to sharp elfin ears. He must be 
  in there, and if he slumbers, he does so restlessly.

Dreams seem to flow in and out... slightly disturbing your rest... darkness 
  feels within the dreams... tangible... breathing through you...

Even in sleep, Rayek is vigilant. He naps, at best, with one eye on the waking 
  world and one on the inner, ever conscious of the eddies of power in the 
  Palace's halls, of the relayed feel of the magics of live elves and spirit 
  ones who live there. He is newly reminded of a Purpose -- and that purpose 
  is to keep harm and hurt out of the High Ones' home. Sensing darkness, he 
  scowls at it, goldenly, knowing better than to ignore it for all that he 
  hopes it will go away.

(*Go away? I?*) Dark amusement ripples through you within the dream-voice. (*I 
  am ever here...ever near...*)

** You lie, ** returns dream-Rayek, grimly. ** I would have sensed you. **

From outside, Ktai frets. Is he sending? What is he doing in there?

The dream voice ripples softly. (*Ever with you... even when you tasted the 
  wolf, I was there...*)

The real Rayek scowls in slumber, one brown fist curling as though around his
  spear -- which stands propped against the wall. The inner Rayek smirks,
  considering; she can pluck memories out of an elf's head. And for all
  that he does not like to admit it, _then_, on the long walk with Ekuar and
  Ember, his mind was far more open than he likes it. And 
  he knows she sent to him, at least once -- this he remembers clearly. The 
  notion that she may well have spied hardens his reply, even as he keeps it 
  deliberately simple: ** And? **'.

(*Perhaps it is time I came to visit you, Rayek...*) The dream-voice almost 
  takes a shape as the words play over you like soft caresses.

Dream-Rayek crosses his arms, the movements drawing together swirling tendrils 
  of Palace-light, cloaking him in it. He bristles -- her, visit, here? The 
  idea strikes fear into him, even as a twist in his gut reminds him that the 
  Palace belongs to All. Does that All include _her_? If he were awake, he 
  might think to question -- but here and now, he dreams. And answers rashly, 
  ** I do not want you here, Winnowill. **

From outside, Ktai sighs. She does not wish to disturb... but if he is 
  restless... and so soon after the visit... it could be a nightmare...

(*Really, Rayek? Am I so like you that I too must be banned from our 
  ancestor's home?*) Her voice ripples in laughter, caressing your soul with 
  an oh-so-familiar touch.

_That_ makes him scowl again, makes him jerk away, shamed, in more ways than 
  one. The knowledge that the Palace cannot by rights be barred to _any_ elf 
  twists in him, makes him groan out, ** The... Palace is open to all. **
... and aloud, Rayek groans, hoarsely, "...all..."

From outside, that makes her decision for her, and Ktai swiftly enters the 
  room without a second's passing. Her dark worried eyes scan the room for 
  anything amiss before she kneels to rest a cool hand on your arm.

(*Good. Than you shall not mind my visit?*)

The chamber is quiet, its torches casting faint flickering light on Rayek's 
  small form on the sleepfurs. Rayek shifts his head back and forth in 
  restless motion, features taut.

... And in his dream, Rayek snaps, ** I do not want you! ** Shame, hot, heavy. 
  What _has_ she witnessed?

(*But the Palace might. Have you asked them lately...? Or are they still 
  silent to you, Rayek?*) The dream-voice is soft and coercingly dark, lapping 
  against you like the soft waves of that river...

Ktai frets quietly, trying to soothe by gathering you into her arms. She 
  almost expects you to fight at her.

He remembers. Oh, Spirit of Orolin, yes, he remembers, and the silken darkness 
  on the edge of his mind only accentuates the memory of joining with her, of 
  yielding to her greater power, of sliding with effortless pleasure into the 
  orbit she set for him about the Great Egg. But more memories than that make 
  him send, fiercely, ** The Palace is no more yours to order than it is mine, 
  Winnowill -- if you do not abide by that I _must_ stand in your way! **

Rayek, as he is taken up into Ktai's arms, shudder. Both his hands clench, as 
  do his teeth behind slightly parted lips. Sending crackles in the air, just 
  on the edge of perception.

Ktai frowns, looking to you in alarm. "Rayek? Rayek? Wake!"

(*Yet you have not answered me. Have you asked them if I may walk their
  halls?*)

Tautly, he snaps, ** I have already told you the Palace is not barred to you. 
  But I have pledged to guard it and keep it from harm -- as well as those who 
  dwell within it. ** His sending is weighted with meaning, blanketing the 
  ancient rockshaper and the Glider-born one who has chosen to stay with them.

Ktai gently shakes you, trying to wake you without sending.

(*Then I shall visit you, Rayek... it has been long since I have felt your 
  touch... far too long...*) The ripples of the voice lap gently against you, 
  caressing with darkness.

... Within, he gasps at the brushing shadow, feather-light though its contact 
  be. ** I... do not want you... **
Rayek shudders, mouth opening slightly more, as though he involuntarily tastes 
  the very air. Still he does not wake.

(*You sound less than convincing, Rayek.*) The 'voice' turns lighter, 
  softer... the voice of one old and dear to you... so similar to her... and 
  she is a healer as well... (*Am I who you desire, Rayek?*)

Ktai frowns, sending out just a bit, sensing more than sending, all the while 
  gently shaking you to wake.

In the sending that hangs about him, you can dimly sense... need. A painful 
  need, the acknowledgement of which hurts as well. He inhales as you shift 
  him, and makes a noise almost like a whimper.

** She is closed to me, and you know it, ** he snaps, shame pushing him again 
  to anger. Again, a strike too close to home.

Ktai winces. She can't sit by and let you be harmed. She loves too much.
Eren soulsends ** <love> **

The tone returns to the soft darkness. (*Is she now...? But this new one is 
  not so closed... an easy tool, Rayek. You could use her for your will with a 
  single flick of your mind....*)

Ktai begins to send, slowly beginning to twine her sends around themselves and 
  you, remembering the old ways...

Rayek turns to you, stirring a little, an arm fumbling to encircle you.

Ktai murrs softly, still twining her sends in an attempt to protect you. 
  Herself, she gives nothing for, you are who she will protect.

... Horror. Use... Ktai? The one who has saved his life? What does Winnowill 
  intend, that he should join her in her darkness? He wants to help elves, not 
  to control them!
On another level, he senses the sendings from you, and his mind latches onto 
  them as he moves to pull himself from the contact. But it's not quite a 
  complete touch, as Dream-Rayek still rules his perceptions... and 
  Dream-Rayek is... frightened.

(*But it is so much easier to 'enlist' her aid in your search, Rayek...*) 
  There is something beginning to drain on her...

Rayek sends openly, raggedly, ** I need coerce no one! **

Ktai startles, and shakes you harder. "Rayek!"
Ktai's sends twine faster, now her instincts playing more than her cunning.
... Grief. Why can she not see, that a will need not be bent, when wills can 
  voluntarily join in eff --

Rayek's eyes fly open.

The dream shatters.

Ktai looks down at you, soft chin-length hair falling forward. "Rayek?"

Rayek jerks -- for an instant seeing a different pair of arms surrounding him, 
  and the bald look of mingled need and panic on his face speaks of the 
  lingering remnants of dream, before he blinks, and focuses.

Ktai's dark eyes blink at you, and she absently pushes some of the short hair 
  aside. "Rayek? Are you with me?"

"I... I..." His breathing is hard, labored, but he fixes his dazed amber 
  regard on you and gasps, "I am awake." There's _almost_ a query in that 
  voice, as if he's not quite sure.

Ktai leans over you and lightly kisses your lips. "Yes... you are, Rayek..." 
  She sits up, holding you gently.

Rayek allows himself to cup your cheek in brown fingers, before exerting the 
  will to calm himself, to slow his pulse, to let the unwelcome tangle of 
  emotions drain out of him.

Ktai remains quiet, holding you gently.

[And Rayek, struck cold by a dream that was more than dream, begins to wonder
 if Winnowill is indeed on her way. End log.]