Wispy Dream
(25 January 2003)

Thanks KK and Isolde for their comments. And I will be grateful forever to Michael Ende for his wonderful "Neverending Story".
Note: The story set immediately after the "En Passant" and contains some references to the message No. 619.

"But don't forget
Who's always our guide
It is the child in us."

The camp was empty and deserted despite Draco's words. Not that she cared. Like hell! There were too many thoughts going through her head. Réka needed peace and quiet to think it over…

The Immortal did not even know how long she was sitting next to the extinct fireplace. The world stopped around. Unable to move but a finger her mind was wandering around the dragon's words. Réka tried to search for answer but there were none of them. Draco's voice echoed in her mind … the words of the eternal wisdom, which were unacceptable and undeniable at the same time.
She needed to know the truth with certainty. And there was only one way to get that.

Though Réka had not practiced the making up of this potion for centuries, the procedure flowed into her mind so sharp and clearly as if she have learnt it yesterday.
But the mixture was even more stinking than she remembered not to mention its taste. The hardest part of the ritual was to drink the brew but it had to be done. So she did then everything went dark...

There was dark night when Silas reached the camp. After the mildness of the previous nights this one promised to be chilly. It was high time to finish this little game, he thought. Réka was already aware of the truth anyway. Silas planned to leave this place next day though he did not decided yet where to carry her.

The embers were still glowing at the fireplace but he did not feel the other Immortal's presence. He thought first that following her favorite pastime Réka went for a swim. Like she really was born from a river, he smiled to himself. After he un-harnessed and groomed his mount at the corral he turned toward the centre of the camp.

Silas was already close to the campfire when a weak and vague buzz came to his sense. At the same moment he noticed the figure lying on the ground. He froze for a moment before stepping to the unconscious body of Réka.
Kneeling beside, Silas examined her. There were no visible injuries on her body and she seemed as if slept but her weak pulse and hardly recognizable Presence told him and entirely different story.
He took a puzzled look around searching a hint about what had happened while he was out. He noticed an empty jar next to her. It was quite average mug but as he smelled its content, the Horseman already knew that it was not coffee in it last time.
As a man who have lived in the nature for centuries Silas knew several herbs and could recognize their smell easily. The mug reeked of herbs and still had a strange metallic odour. He knew this smell as well. It was a mushroom's called *fly agaric*, a colorful toadstool was used as a drug in several cultures.

"What have you done, Réka," Silas whispered and stood up. "What the bloody hell have you done?"

As an Immortal, she was not in danger, he was aware of that but this fact did not still him too much. Silas have already witnessed as receptive minds left their body to have a journey in the spiritual world... and sometimes they lost the way back. Though the life always come back to an Immortal's body, is that true for the soul as well? Silas have already seen shamans whose minds never returned from the other side.

Silas was thinking about a gastric irrigation for a long moment but brushed the idea aside, lack of instruments and professional knowledge. Instead, he decided to keep her body warm in order to accelerate the detoxification. He needed blankets and firewood for that.

Heading towards his tent, Silas noticed his jacket what was lent to her yesterday. It was lying on a largish rock. He reached for it when a sudden gleam caught his eye. There was a small amulet sort of thing rested in a small hollow on the top of the rock. He picked it up with two fingers and scrutinized inquiringly. He did not see even similar before. The Horseman was wondering how this thing got there. It was nor his neither Methos' and Réka never mentioned that she would have had one more amulet apart from her troublesome sun-cross. At last he decided to adjourn the question and slipped the talon into a pocket of his jacket.

Silas wrapped his jacket around her unconscious body then completed it with a thick blanket. Stirring up the fire he put a huge coffeepot to the side of the fireplace. The night promised to take long.

As if from a bad dream, Réka awoke with a sudden breath, shaking uncontrollably. She was lying on the bare ground dusty and cold. Struggling herself into sitting position Réka glanced around. There was nothing near and far save a deserted plain. Red earth and scattered patches of dry grass stretched as far as could see, merged into the horizon with a smudgy purple line.

Up ahead, only a few steps away, there was a door. It seemed a totally average door small and low but it stood alone - with no walls around it - on the empty plain.
And the top of that there were neither a handle nor a knob nor even a keyhole on it! And this door was closed. Obliviously it could not be opened, and anyway why would anyone want to open it, since it led nowhere and was just standing there. For behind the door there was only the wide flat empty plain.

Taking a seat on a small rock near the door, she started to think through the situation. It seemed impossible to find any answer on that deserted plain. But it was a dream and it must have had some special meaning … just she did not know what.

The more she watched the desolate desert around her the more she felt the desolation inside. The last night did not vanish without any trace. All the repressed feelings lashed out and took their toll. It was a weakness and she despised herself for that but couldn't help. She hated those fragments going through her head … hated … and loved them as well! There were all of her-ever-loved-ones in those whirling memories. How could she hate them? But all of them left her … one way or another. How could she love them? They were mortals of course and their transitory lives were enough only causing more pain and emptiness when they left … They were only mayflies.

It was easy to get rid of these dark and selfish thoughts in the Real World. Despite of all disadvantages the world of mortals was quite entertaining if one know how to get the most out of life. But DarkOver was different. This realm was the most beautiful place she has ever seen but it was too … quiet. She missed the company, the teeming life. It would have been better doing anything but sitting and wearing away by her fears…

Réka stood up to cut short of the further self-reproach. Unpleasant, cold wind rose from the east, raising a cloud of fine dust. It tickled her nose and she sneezed repeatedly for minutes. With a spontaneous gesture she took a tissue out of the jacket's pocket she was wearing on. After blowing her nose Réka stared at the tissue for a moment, slightly confused. She had no jacket in DarkOver! Looking at her attire it was close to laugh out loudly. She was dressed entirely in black, wearing a long sleeved black silk shirt, black pants and boots, save a red sash around her hip and wore Silas' oversized black leather jacket again. That clothes were different from what she was wearing last time in the camp and this fact surprised her a little bit. Réka was dressed as a she-Zorro on a costume ball by her opinion but she couldn't help. There was no chance to change so she had to adapt the circumstances. Though the clothing was not *haute couture* but they seemed practical enough. She took a look around the country searching a way or any other hint of civilization. But there weren't any on that red desert save the strange door of course.

The Immortal heard a soft sound behind her back, and looked round. The lonely door opened with a crack! She spied through the crack in the door and saw something had not seen on the other side. Réka have hesitated but only for a moment. She passed through the door and it closed behind her.

Total darkness circled around. Réka was vaguely groping the way when fell through some hard and heavy object.

"Be careful, little one," raised an unmistakable voice. "That was my tail."

"Draco," she sighed. "I can't see anything in such darkness."

The dragon did not answered but a dim light suffused the room.

"Why am I not surprised that you are here?"

"Why am I not surprised that you are in trouble?" asked the dragon back.

"Trouble? What kinda trouble? Actually … could you tell me what's this place?"

"Did you realize that your part of our conversations could be circumscribed as asking questions?" Draco took a deep breath puffing some brimstone smoke. "Of course I can tell you where we are … and of course you are in trouble … again!"

"And of course you are speaking in riddles, Draco! I'm not in the mood for Twenty Questions. To tell the truth I have no mood to play at all, so just tell me the point." folding her arms the Immortal leaned back against the nearest wall.

"The point…" Draco raised one of his mighty talons and took a lazy, embracing gesture, "is this place. It's called the Temple of a Thousand Doors. No one has ever seen it from outside. The inside is a maze of doors. Anyone wishing to know it must dare to enter it."

"Hey, I did not wish to know it!"

"No? It is possible. But you did wish other things, didn't you. You wished to know," the dragon hesitated for a moment, "answers for example and you may wished to … flee. What do you want to escape from? Or what do you want to find?"

"Maybe from myself…" she muttered, "I can't tell you exactly," worded loudly. "Just wanted to … break free."

"Do not you know the exact wish that brought you here? Too bad." Draco hesitated for a moment then smiled. "But you will find it before you leave the Temple. That's why you are here."

"Wishes? You mean what I like to do?" Réka grinned. "I can assure you that have several wishes…"

"No," Draco's face turned alarmingly grave and his eyes glowed while he answered in his deep voice. "It means that you must do what you really and truly want."

"That doesn't sound so difficult," she shrugged her shoulders.

"It is the most dangerous of all journeys."

"Why? I do not understand…"

"I do not even suppose you do." Draco rolled his eyes. "Because there's no other journey on which it's so easy to lose yourself forever."

"Draco, please, " the plea came with a tired sigh. "No riddles."

"The problem is, little one," answered the dragon, "that you are in the inside of the Temple of a Thousand Doors. And you have no way to get out until you find out what is your genuine wish. It may take hours … or even millennia. It does not matter, considering you are Immortal."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Draco's announcement was shocking, to say the least. "It does not matter for you, you oversized … Take me out of here! Now!"

"I'm sorry little one," the dragon shook his massive head. "I can't. You have to find your way alone. The only thing I can do for you is to explain the rules of this place. So listen carefully. Every door in the world even the most ordinary stable, kitchen or cupboard door, can become the entrance or even the exit of the Temple of a Thousand Door at the right moment. And none of these thousand doors leads back where one came from. There is no return if the door shut behind you. Only a genuine wish can lead you through the maze of the thousand doors. Without a genuine wish, you just have to wander around until you know what you really want. And when you find out finally, the temple will lead you the place where you could get the one you are looking for. And your Talon will help to fulfill your real wish…"

"You mean this trinket?" Réka lifted the sun-cross. "Is it a good idea using this … thing?"

"I mean *your* Talon," the dragon answered softly. "Believe me, there is a Talon that is waiting for your commands…"

"I'm not a child Draco," she snorted. "And this trinket is in my possession since my First Death. Who else could be its owner other than me?"

"Never forget that this Amulet is older than you, little one. It is really old and powerful just like the one, who had cast it long time ago." Draco's face turned surprisingly soft by a gentle smile. "It may also have a wish … to find its rightful owner. The Temple could lead you there as well."

Closing her eyes for a moment the Immortal suppressed that almost irresistible urge to grab the dragon's whiskers and force Draco to fulfill her command and take her out of there. "But…" she started but there was nobody to answer. Réka found herself alone … again.

Réka was standing in a hexagonal room, rather like the enlarged cell of a honeycomb. Every second wall had a door in it, and strange pictures were painted on the intervening walls representing landscapes and creatures. She has entered through one of the doors; the other two were exactly the same shape but one of them was black, while the other one was white. She chose the white door.
The next room was similarly hexagonal like the previous one but the color of the walls and the pictures were different. There the doors were the same size and shape but one of them was made of wood while the other was made of metal. She chose the wooden door.

At last she missed count the number of doors and rooms have passed through. All the door-pairs she had to choose from had something in common - the shape, the material or the size - but there was always some essential difference between them.
All of her decisions made led to another decision that led to yet another decision. But after all these decisions the Immortal was still in the Temple of a Thousand Doors. As went on and on, she began to wonder why. At last Réka sat down to the floor of a room in order to have some rest and examine the situation carefully. It was obvious that her wish had sufficed to lead her into the maze but apparently it was not definite enough to manage to get her out.

"What the hell I would have to wish for?" she sighed hopelessly.

"My only wish is some food…" answered a thin voice.

"What…" Réka turned her head towards the source of the voice. There was a faint light in a dim corner of the hexagonal room. It was a glittering sphere its size was not larger than a tennis ball and it moved closer slowly. Definitely it was not a ball. Inside of this strange phenomenon of light there was a small figure. "Who are you?" she asked last.

The trembling light ball stopped some steps far from her and the small figure bowed its head. "My name is Glint. I'm a member of the clan of the will-o'-the-wisps. I was wandering in this temple for days without any food or drink. Could you help me?"

If somebody had told her even a month before that she would talk with dragons and small fireballs, the Immortal would have strongly doubted the mental health of that person … As she doubted the soundness of her own mind that time.

"Um … actually … My name is Réka." Hardly believed what she was doing as she was searching for some food in the pockets of Silas' jacket. A chocolate bar was founded at last and given to the will-o'-the-wisp. The Immortal silently asked the Horseman's forgiveness and did some … further investigations in his pockets with a very interesting result. A dagger was attached to the back of the lining. "Perfect." she whispered as ran a finger along the shining, electric blue steel. Although Réka felt no immediate danger it supported her self-coincidence a lot.

"Wow! It was delicious! Thank you, human. By the way, what was this food? I have never eaten even similar before." It seemed the little creature quickly recover its strength. The faint light sparkled with full force and small fireball leaped onto her shoulder as quick as a wink. Fortunately its fire proved cold … "Do you mind if I join you?"

"You are welcome." she couldn't help but smiled. "And it was a bar of chocolate. So, you know that I'm a human, don't you?"

"Yes! My grandparents told me lot of stories about your kind when I was a little child…"

Two further doors. One of them was made of bamboo and the other of canvas… Her left ear was buzzing because of the tittle-tattle of the fairy. Fortunately the will-o'-the-wisp tired off its own babble and retired to a pocket of the leather jacket.
Réka chose the bamboo door and entered with a sigh.

Both doors of the next room were made of silk but different pictures were embroidered on them. One picture represented the Sun the other was the Moon. She entered the door made of red silk and marked with the golden Sun then stared at the next two doors startled.

One of the next doors was an ebony one with a special bronze ornament. A sun-cross of four dragon's head!
That was the perfect reproduction of the medallion that she wore around her neck. Réka shook her head trying to ignore Draco's laughter what was echoing at the last corner of her mind.

The Immortal entered and realized that she was in the Temple of a Thousand Doors no longer…

TBC