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June 1997—February 1998
It was in the early summer that Ariana first stumbled upon the city of RavensDale; early summer, almost exactly two years after she had first given up her home on earth for the Dreamworld. An almost random experimentation of magic, along with a strong desire and longing to find a way back, to see again the friends she had lost, somehow managed to break Ariana free of the Dreamworld's boundaries. She found herself in another world—not earth, as she had hoped, but a world of fantasy. That was the world that held RavensDale, the city she had inadvertantly landed herself in.
Directed toward the inn of Rivendell, Ariana went in search of information about this strange place. She soon learned that with practice, she could move between RavensDale and the Dreamworld relatively easily. She began to visit Rivendell rather often, making new friends and enjoying the human companionship she had lacked for so long, living in a world of only dreams and dream creatures.
After about a month, Ariana was surprised by the appearance of Andrew, a young man from earth who had been taken to the Dreamworld along with Ariana, Jessie, and Robert. There he had developed feelings for Ariana, and he had searched for a way to find her again. After their meeting in Rivendell, she believed for a time that she returned those feelings. But Ariana had never been in love, and she knew very little about it. When Andrew disappeared again only two months later, his absence lasting quite a long time, Ariana began to think that perhaps she had been fooling herself about him. But he was still a good friend of hers, and she worried a little, wondering where he might be. But she had little time to dwell on it, for matters in the Dreamworld required her attention—the nightmares, which she had to control as part of her role of the Guardian, were growing stronger, and they kept breaking free and roaming other parts of the Dreamworld. Ariana's visits to Rivendell steadily decreased, and finally they stopped altogether for a time as she concentrated on maintaining order in the Dreamworld.
Some months later, Ariana finally returned to Rivendell. Some of her old friends no longer visited the inn; some were still there. She made a few new friends, however; for example, a few days after she had first returned, Ariana happened to meet the city's captain of the guard, who was relaxing in the inn after work. Calandryll De'serka by name, he seemed rather surprised by her presence, though Ariana didn't see why that should be. Still, he said nothing of his reaction, only made warm, friendly conversation. Only a few nights later, before Ariana had really had much of a chance to explain exactly who she was, that very thing—who she was—made itself undeniably known.
To Ariana's shock, Andrew suddenly appeared in Rivendell...but it was not the Andrew she knew. He acted very strangely, and his words were bitter and sharp. He blamed Ariana for his absence, for his captivity, apparently. An argument ensued, but as Andrew grew angrier, something changed. Suddenly he started speaking strangely, and his expression held something frightening. He then revealed that he was Rassismus, the Lord of Nightmares, and he had taken control of Andrew. He called on Ariana to surrender the Dreamworld to him, and when she refused, he swore that he would declare war on the Dreamworld. When he won, so he said, he would have his revenge for Ariana's defiance.
As soon as Rassismus, speaking through Andrew, began to threaten Ariana, Captain Calandryll was out of his seat with sword drawn. Ariana begged him to hold off on attacking, however; no matter how much Rassismus threatened her, he was still using Andrew to do it, and to try to hurt Rassismus would only succeed in hurting Andrew. Finally the Lord of Nightmares vanished in cold fury, leaving a shaken Ariana and a frustrated Calandryll behind to make of the confrontation what they would.
Andrew returned to Rivendell, but every now and then things would happen that made it quite evident that the Lord of Nightmares still lurked somewhere inside his mind, sometimes controlling what he said or did. Angered, Ariana demanded that Rassismus release Andrew. In response, the Lord of Nightmares sent his First General to speak to Ariana. Prince Bane was in charge of the attack on the Dreamworld, which had not yet been launched in full force, though the increasing numbers of nightmares that Ariana had been dealing with were certainly part of it. In any case, Bane offered Ariana a challenge. If she succeeded, alone and without help, Andrew would be released. She agreed, and Andrew appeared before her, or so she thought. Hurt and bleeding, the sight upset and worried Ariana until Bane mocked her, saying, "My goodness, could the Lady of Dreams be having a nightmare?" Ariana angrily realized it was all an illusion, and this was the challenge: to not give in and let herself believe the illusion was real. But it grew more and more difficult, as Andrew's image doubled over in pain, bleeding and sobbing. Though Ariana wasn't sure what she felt for Andrew, he was her friend, and it hurt her to see a friend in pain, even though she knew it wasn't real. The vision grew more intense, and closing her eyes would not shut it out. Bane laughed coldly and quietly, and as Ariana began to cry softly, suddenly a hand clamped down on Bane's shoulder. Captain Calandryll stood behind Bane, and he snarled that Bane would stop this, now. (Perfect timing, huh? ;) He'd just arrived in Rivendell.)
Needless to say, Calandryll was rather stunned when Ariana told him to stop. He told her that he wasn't going to let Bane hurt her anymore, and "This time I'm not asking," as he put it. For some reason he felt he had to protect her; perhaps it was simply his chivalrous nature. But whatever the reason, Ariana knew that, needed or not, she could not accept his help. She frantically tried to explain that this was a test, a challenge that she had to meet alone, and finally he gave in. It wasn't easy though; it was obviously hard for him to allow her to remain in distress and not do anything, but apparently it was harder for him to refuse her.
It was too late, unfortunately. The argument only took a few seconds, but it was long enough for Bane to accuse Ariana (who was actually coming closer to winning the challenge than she realized) of cheating by bringing outside help into the test. She tried to protest, but it was too late; Bane vanished and promised that revenge would be taken.
The Dreamworld Saga ©2001 by Amy Unfred