Lilly awoke with a start and looked around in a panic. Gersius lay beside her with Thayle curled into his arms, sleeping soundly in the night. She put a hand to face as the dream she was having replayed in her mind. It disturbed her on every level that such a thought could have ever crept into her hear head. Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled her legs in tight, trying not to see the horrible images.

“Lilly?” Thayle called from her side. “Lilly, what is the matter?”

Soft arms came about her shoulders as Lilly was pulled to Thayle's chest. She was embraced by the soft loving tenderness that was Thayle, who began to rock her gently.

“Sweetheart, please tell me what’s wrong.”

“I had a bad dream,” Lilly said, her eyes starting to water again.

“What kind of bad dream?” Thayle said soothingly.

“I dreamed I hurt you,” Lilly said as she started to cry.

“Lilly?” came Gersius’s voice from behind.

“It’s alright,” Thayle said. “Lilly just had a bad dream.”

Gersius moved around the bed to sit beside her and took her hand in his. He rubbed the top of her hand as she cried, tears falling from her face.

“It must have been bad,” Thayle said. “But you would never hurt me.”

“You sent me away!” Lilly cried. “You said I couldn’t be your wife anymore!”

“Shhhh,” Thayle encouraged. “I would never send you away. Gersius certainly wouldn’t. Look what he did to keep you when they tried to take you from him.” Lilly gasped for breath as the tears kept falling, her heart hurting under the strain. Thayle dared a peek into her mind to see her reliving the images and jerked away. “That was certainly a dream,” she said.

“It was awful,” she cried. “The worst part was I dreamed I liked it.”

Thayle smiled and rubbed her head. “Is that all your upset about?”

“Gersius was angry at me, and he wouldn't talk to me. He said I have to live on the other side of the camp.”

A strong hand lifted her chin, and she looked into the eyes of the man she loved. She burst from Thayle's arms and threw herself into his, pleading with him to forgive her.

“Lilly,” he said soothingly as he wrapped his arms around her. “There is nothing to forgive. It was just a bad dream.”

“I don’t ever want to dream that again,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “I don’t ever want to be apart from you.”

He pulled her up to cradle her in his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. Thayle sat beside him and rubbed Lilly’s back to soothe away the stress and help her relax.

“Do I want to peek at her thoughts?” Gersius asked with a glance at Thayle.

“No,” Thayle said. “You most certainly do not. It was a terrible dream, and she needs you more than me right now.”

He nodded and held her tight as she continued to sob. He rocked her gently while pulling her to his chest until she got control of her breathing.

“I would never send you away,” he said. “And I will always be here to talk to you. If you want, I will vow before Balisha to always be there for you.”

“No!” she said, suddenly turning to face him. “No vows, those are terrible things!”

“It was that bad?” he asked, and she replied with a nod of her head. “Why don’t we stay up so I can hold you all through the night,” he offered just to soothe her nerves.

She smiled and curled back to his chest, her breathing slowly regaining its composure.

“I am going to get her some water,” Thayle said as she got up and put on a robe. She made her way into the outer tent, her dragon sight making it seem bright as day. One of the guards was leaning in the doorway with a concerned look.

“We heard crying. Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Everything is fine,” she replied. “Lilly just had a bad dream.”

The man nodded and leaned back out as Thayle made it to the water pitcher and poured a glass. She took a sip herself, savoring the drink before turning around to see Sarah standing in the doorway on the other side.

“Why is the child crying?” she asked.

“Is everybody awake?” Thayle asked.

“It is challenging not to hear her, my tent is right behind yours,” Sarah said. “And I was asleep for a very long time. I don't intend to do more of it now.”

Thayle nodded and started to walk back. “Lilly had a bad dream, and it really upset her. She will be fine in a minute.”

“So the dreams have started,” Sarah said with a nod.

Thayle paused halfway to back to look at Sarah with a confused look. “Wait, what dreams?”

Sarah shook her head and leaned against the nearby post. “Dragons don't dream like you humans do. We enter the dream and practically live two lives. When we dream, it is as real as this is now and has lasting effects. When we go back, we discover the world we left is waiting for us to return.”

“No wonder she is so upset,” Thayle said. “What can we do for her?”

“What did she dream about?” Sarah asked.

“It’s rather private,” Thayle said.

“Was it sex? Did she lose herself to the flesh and do things she never imagined she would ever do?”

“How do you know all this?” Thayle asked in disbelief.

“Because I have seen it before,” Sarah said. “Several times before. Go and fetch your mates so I can explain it to you.”

Thayle nodded and hurried back, coming to Lilly's side and handing her the glass. Lilly eagerly began to sip as Thayle twisted nervously.

“What are you upset about?” Gersius asked as he saw the light in her aura.

Thayle pointed to the outer room and spoke in a terse whisper. “Sarah knows! She is outside right now, and she told me what Lilly dreamed about.”

“How can she know?” he asked.

“She said she'd seen this before. It's something to do with dragons. She wants us to come out so she can explain it to us.”

“Get her something to wear,” he said as he stood and lifted Lilly in his arms.

Thayle wrapped Lilly in the white robe she bought her as Gersius quickly put on some pants and shirt. They went out into the tent to find Sarah standing near the middle with her arms folded and a firm look on her face.

“Sit down there,” she said as she pointed to some nearby chairs. She waited until they were seated and took note as Lilly chose to sit in Gersius’s lap instead of a chair.

“There is something you need to know about your dragon and your relationship to her,” she said as she started to pace. “We dragons exist in two worlds, this one, and the dream. This world is the source world, and much of what we do here carries over with us. To enter the dream safely and traverse its pitfalls requires detachment and a lack of strong emotion.”

“Why?” Gersius asked.

“Emotion can shape the dream,” Sarah said. “It can bring about things that you never would imagine otherwise. When an emotion is pure and kind, it can bring about things of great beauty, but other emotions such as fear, hate, or lust, can bring about very different things.”

“Where are we going with this?” Gersius asked as she stroked Lilly’s arm.

“She has been trying to force her way into the dream for days. She always enters it but isn't aware she is dreaming. She goes in unprepared and swimming with emotions, some her own and some yours shared across the bind.”

“But our emotions are love and kindness, and...”

“And lust,” Sarah said, cutting him off.

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“I love Lilly, and yes, I do crave her, but I never look on her so basely.”

“You don't have to,” Sarah said. “You don't understand dragons and how our nature works. We don't breed as you humans do. We don't hunger for one another or seek companionship. We breed only because once in every female's lifetime, an urge comes on her so strongly that she feels like she will die if she doesn't act on it. We refer to it as the calling, and when it calls, you will answer no matter who or what is in your way.”

“What does this have to do with Lilly?” he asked, looking at Thayle. “What did she dream about?”

Thayle shook her head and put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. “She dreamed she was cheating on you with several men.”

“Why would she dream about that?”

“Because you have triggered her calling,” Sarah said in a firm voice. “I have seen this before in young female dragons who chose to share with a human male. Their passions trigger the calling prematurely and drive the female insane because she can't sate her need with the human. The hunger grows until she will do anything to try and feed it. This usually results in dreams where they begin to act out their need.”

“But it was just a dream,” he said.

“For her, it was real,” Sarah corrected. “And it will be waiting when she goes back to sleep. You need to deal with the calling and put it back until her proper time.”

“How do we do that?” he asked as he cradled her tightly.

“You have enter the dream with her, and deal with what her emotions have created.”

“But we can not get into the dream,” he said. “Lilly has not mastered it yet.”

Sarah nodded and looked down at Lilly as she sniffled in his arms. “I will bring you in.”

“Didn’t you tell Lilly you didn’t know if that was possible?” Thayle asked.

“I was trying to protect her,” Sarah said as she started to pace irritably. “I had a feeling this was coming. They should have made me your dragon, I am older and well past my calling. She is too young to carry such a burden.”

“Can we focus on how to help Lilly,” Thayle asked.

Sarah snapped to attention and nodded her head. “Gather some pillows and bedding so you will be comfortable, then meet me out back.” With that, she headed for the flap out and into the night.

Thayle went to the bedroom and gathered the blankets and pillows then joined Gersius, who carried Lilly outside. They found Sarah in her dragon form her blazing eyes glaring down on them as she lay in the grass outside the tents.

“You will go to sleep here,” she indicated a spot right beside her belly, and Thayle hurried to set down the pillows as Gersius carried Lilly and went to set her down. Lilly broke into a panic, pleading not to go back to sleep. Gersius tried to calm and assure it would be alright, but she cried all the louder refusing to close her eyes.

“Command her,” Sarah said in a firm voice.

“What?” he asked as he struggled with Lilly.

“Time is of the essence, the beast in the dream will only grow larger, and soon she will act out that dream in this world. She will bed any male she can lay her hands on, moving to the next one when he fails to satiate the need.

Gersius looked torn and glanced at Thayle, who put a hand to his arm and nodded it was alright. He turned to Lilly, whose face was streaked with tears as she struggled to get up, afraid to try and sleep again.

“I am sorry,” he said as she shook her head at him and begged him not to do it. “Lilly, I command you to go to sleep.”

Her face fell, and her breathing began to soften as she slumped over into the pillows.

“Now, you lady Thayle, command him into sleep and then lay back and fall asleep as fast as you can to join them.”

Gersius lay down and clutched Lilly to his chest as Thayle put a hand to his side and command him to sleep. His eyes closed of their own volition as everything faded away.

The world was bright as a summer day as he stood in a field of waving flowers. He was confused for a moment, but then remembered where he was and why he was here. He spun around and realized he was alone and began to call out frantically for Lilly.

There was a cry in the distance, not of terror or pain but something else. He ran as fast as he could, racing for a clump of trees to see people that looked more like shadows laughing and dancing around a campfire. As he got closer, he saw Lilly, being led naked and smiling by men of shadow to a pile of blankets beside the fire. His jaw clenched as he burst through the trees and screamed her name loudly.

Lilly stumbled and looked around as the images of shadow turned to glare the intruder. She shook her head and went back to smiling as she reached the blankets.

Gersius raced into the clearing, but the shadows turned to face him. Their eyes burned with blue light, and their mouths cried out in unison that she must be breed.

“No!” he shouted and charged into them. “You will not lay a finger on my wife!” The shadows seemed to melt together as he barreled into them their forms twisting and combining. He was hurled back by a blow and tumbled to his knees in a daze. As he lifted his head, he looked into the face, a dragon of shadow that resembled Lilly form in every way. Its blue eyes glared with hatred, and its maw opened in a snarl that was suddenly answered by one much louder.

Gersius turned to look over his shoulder in alarm as a great red dragon leaped over him and slammed into the shadow one.

“I will deal with the beast!” Sarah roared as they lashed at each other with teeth and claws. “You must get to Lilly and wake her up here!”

Gersius stumbled as the ground shook from the battle of the two dragons, and crawled his way to Lilly. She sat on her legs, holding her head with her hands rocking back and forth as if in pain.

“Lilly?” he cried as he finally reached her.

Her head snapped up, and a hungry look filled her eyes. “You!” she cried. “You must breed me!” she practically crawled over him, desperate to tear his clothes away as he fought to get hold of her hands.

“Lilly!” he shouted to get her attention. “Lilly, this is not you, your dragon nature has been brought to the surface, you need to wake up!”

“Please, breed me!” she begged and continued to struggle with him.

He tried to hold her back, but her strength was inhumanly strong. She thrashed and screamed her desire blinding her to anything else. Gersius had to get to his feet to fight her off, but then a pair of hands grabbed him and threw him aside. He fell to the ground to see another shadow form and take his face. It smiled at Lilly, and she quickly latched on to it, hungry for what it had to give her.

“NO!” Gersius shouted and tackled the form carrying only a foot away before it batted him off. Lilly laughed and lay back on the blanket, ready for the shadow, but Gersius was up again. He punched at the shadow, succeeding in only turning its head. The shadow lunged, striking him with open hands and hurling him back. He was no match for its strength and had no weapons with which to fight it. He turned in a panic to Sarah, who was lashing in vain at the dragon of shadow.

“What do I do?” he called.

“You can’t fight the shadows! All you can do is stall them.” Sarah called from the side. “You have to wake Lilly!”

“But I can’t get past him!” Gersius yelled.

“I will handle this one,” Thayle called as vines began to twine around the shadow copies feet.

Gersius ran around the entangled form as Sarah shook the ground in her battle. Gersius practically tackled Lilly and swept her up to look her in the eyes.

“Lilly, remember who I am. I am your husband, and I love you!”

Lilly squirmed and begged to be taken her voice screaming out, and a second shadow formed to lunge at him. She was knocked from his grasp as this new shadow took shape and leered at him with a face that made his blood boil.

“I will do what you will not,” the shadow copy of Shadros said. “She will be bred by a dragon, not a rodent like you!”

Gersius charged the image and was nearly battered away. He caught the arm but once again was no match for its strength. The shadow laughed and threw him off, as he fell he saw Thayle also falling, her shadow snapping the vines easily.

His cause seemed hopeless as the shadow descended on a smiling Lilly, and he reached out a hand. Across the bind, he felt her, the raging need, the wild animalistic desire. He reached across to press his thoughts into hers and focused on remembering the day he asked her to bind him.

Lilly froze her smile suddenly gone, and she began to look about as if confused. The shadow also froze and began to flake away just inches from its prize. Gersius focused on the memory replaying every detail from the flowers along the wall to the basin of water they leaned over. He made her relive the moment they admitted their love, and suddenly the world around them changed.

The sky was dark, and the wind blew gently across the stone railing of the cliff garden. Blue flowers grew everywhere, and Lilly lay on the ground holding herself up with her hands.

“Lilly?” he called as he approached her slowly.

“Gersius?” she said, her voice strained. “Gersius, where am I?”

“You are with me,” he said as she knelt beside her.

“No, I can’t be, I am a dragon, I need to breed.”

“Lilly, no, you are my wife, and I love you,” he said, putting a hand to her shoulder.

“I am a dragon,” she said in a broken voice.

Gersius didn't know what else to do until he looked up and saw hope. He took her hand and pulled her to the basin of water. He leaned her over the water gently and pressed his face close to hers.

“Lilly, look into the water,” he said softly and waited to see her eyes in the reflection.

“Now, you tell me, do you see a dragon, or do you see the woman I love.”

Lilly's eyes searched the image, and her breathing became rapid. She started to shake as her gaze looked into her own eyes. He closed his eyes and focused on reliving this image again, making her see the moment when she admitted she was human enough to love him.

Her hands went to the sides of her head as she threw it back in a terrible scream. Around him, the world changed again, and he was once more in the forest, but the shadows were gone, and Lilly stood blinking in his arms.

“Gersius?” she called and turned about to face. “Where are we? I was having the most terrible dream.”

He pulled her into a hug and held her tight, his eyes filling with tears.

“You did well,” Sarah’s voice called from the side.

He turned to see her towering above the trees, her red eyes glaring down. Thayle stood at her feet, smiling with tears of her own as Gersius clutched Lilly to his chest.

“Where are we?” Lilly asked as she looked around. “Where is our camp?”

“This is the camp,” Sarah said. “As it looked when this portion of the dream was forged eons ago.”

Lilly looked confused and then noticed the tears on Gersius’s face. “My love, why are you crying?”

“Because I love you,” he said, and “I will never let you forget it.”

“I love you too,” Lilly said with a smile. “How could you think I would ever forget?”

“It is a long story,” he said with a nod and looked about as his heart settled. “Well, you got your wish,” he said with a sniff.

“My wish?”

Gersius nodded as he started to smile. “Lilly, this is the dream. We are all here with you in it.”

Lilly's eyes went wide, and she looked around with an even wider smile.

“Were all in the dream, together?”

“Yes,” he said, wiping his eyes.

“How?”

“I did it,” Sarah said. “And it is becoming a terrible strain to keep you here.”

Lilly looked up at Sarah in wonder and stumbled toward her.

“Could we go to see the valley?”

“Child, why would you want to show them where your lair is?” Sarah asked.

Lilly shook her head and looked between her husband and wife before turning back to Sarah.

“Because I love them.”

Sarah let out a deep sigh and lowered her head to gaze at Lilly from just above.

“Close your eyes and see the valley in your mind. Feel how you would feel to be there right now with the ones you love.”

Lilly did as she was instructed and focused on seeing the valley in her mind and feeling it in her heart. When she opened her eyes, she smiled even wider as tears began to well up.

The sky above was a beautiful blue as they stood on a shallow mound of loose stones and gravel. All around was mountain soaring up to snow-capped peaks walling in a tiny secluded valley. A small stream meandered down one side, fed by a waterfall that plunged from an icecap above. Beside the falls was a cave opening that and Lilly looked on it and fell to her knees.

“I’m home!” she cried and wiped at her eyes.

“This is it?” Thayle asked. “This is her valley?”

Gersius nodded as he looked around. “This is Lilly’s home.”

“It’s beautiful,” Thayle said. “So lonely and peaceful.”

“It needs some trees,” he replied.

“I’m home,” Lilly cried again as she knelt on the ground.

Gersius came to her side and put a hand on her back as he squatted down beside her.

“When this war is done I will build us a house here so we can always be together. I will find some gold and silver so we can replace your hoard and put it in your cave.”

Lilly looked up with a smile and shook her head. “My treasures are already here,” she said and jumped into his arms. She clung to him with a firm grip, then reached out and arm, pleading with Thayle to join them and pulled her in.

“I love you both,” Lilly sobbed. “I have all I will ever need in you.”

They held the embrace for what seemed like an hour before Lilly finally let them loose to look about the valley. It was only then they remembered Sarah and looked behind to see her watching with narrowed eyes.

“I cannot hold this for much longer,” Sarah said. “I am afraid your time has come to an end.”

“Thank you,” Lilly said with a nod. “I will never be able to thank you enough for this.”

Sarah lowered her head to look at Lilly closely and let out a sigh of her own.

“You have already thanked me,” Sarah said. “You have finally made me understand why you love them.”

Gersius jerked as he awoke from the dream and quickly turned to see Lilly and Thayle right beside him. They, too, began to stir as he gasped for breath and tried to settle his mind. Something massive moved behind him, and he looked up to see Sarah carefully standing.

“Well done, human. Her calling will subside and go dormant again,” she said and took a pause. “You truly possess the right to call her your wife.”

“Thank you for helping us,” he said as Sarah began to step away carefully.

“I did what needed to doing,” Sarah replied. “Now, if you don't mind, I need to be alone.”

Gersius watched her walk away as Lilly and Thayle each took one of his hands.

“What just happened?” Thayle asked.

“We proved to ourselves that our love was meant to be,” Gersius said.

Lilly leaned into his shoulder and let out a soft sigh. “I am so glad you got to see the valley.”

“It’s beautiful,” Thayle replied. “I can’t wait to live there.”

Gersius nodded and turned to Lilly and met her blue eyes.

“Are you alright now?”

Lilly nodded. “I had another bad dream, but you and Thayle came to rescue me.”

He nodded and kissed her forehead. “We will always be there to rescue you, because you are our wife, and we love you very much.” Lilly smiled and fell into his arms, hugging him as they watched Sarah fade into the night.