A soft voice, whispering in a discordant caress of portentous words that filled her mind. Whenever her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep the mad babbling of her normally taciturn companion entered her dreams. It spoke in the tongue of demons, words half heard and only partially understood but even so they filled her with a fear that clutched at her soul. And yet her body craved that peaceful oblivion, to sleep without dreams for but one night. It was not to be however.

"Tak-thass ahn caroush, caroush mush sogram" he said, each syllable sibilant and wrought of the stuff of madness. There were no images, nothing to focus on but a void without stars, a vast maelstrom of purple energies twisting and turning about in utter chaos. She was without form, drifting far above this while his voice spoke to her. Instructing. Telling her of what would be. No. Telling her what should be. Letters wreathed in dark flames danced across the cosmos, the script of a book vast beyond comprehension. A book bound with the fabric of reality, written in a tongue that delved into the subconcious. And through it all a name - a single name whispered one that pleaded for her to seek. That recognition shocked her. Varranda. She had to find him. Whoever he was. Whatever.

The last words on that infernal page burned into her mind - "Shaktur shoggoth anshur Varranda! Varranda!" before she blinked awake.

The pale blue void of Thogtast loomed threateningly over her and she scrambled back involuntarily with a short gasp. Despite the harsh sunlight of the Barrens burning through him those unblinking eyes watched her, a thoughtful silence behind them. It knew. It knew all about the dreams. The filthy thing knew! Her eyes narrowed as she watched the demon carefully, but his inscrutable gaze never wavered. This time though she was sure. The dreams started soon after she first wrenched him from the demonic realms and bent him to her will. Perhaps there was still some conduit - a link if you will - to his plane that was somehow seeping through her wards and afflicting her dreams. You expected nightmares once you began walking the path of shadow - one could not wrench the dark and hidden secrets from their furtive hiding places without their touch polluting you too. This felt different though. These were not ordinary dreams and as she slept less and less their power over her increased. Master Thalarian had always warned her, caution where it is due and only grasp as much as you can handle. The addiction was strong though, to feel that dark energy coursing through her until her blood sang with the power. Even thinking of it now made her skin tingle and the small hair in the nape of her neck rise. The power was too much of a drug, the temptation always there to draw more. And more. Master Thalarian had also taught her that if you overreached you simply grabbed a few horns and held on for as long as necessary. It was bound to happen.

With a wry grin she gathered herself and dusted off her robes as she straightened. Thogtast, normally silent was speaking to her in her dreams. No, not quite Thogtast but something speaking through him. A book? A book of shadows she mused. Even beneath this stunted tree the heat was incredible - the sun a hammer beating down on this browned land and she'd lost her hat a few days ago. This land was nothing like the Eversong woods, she thought as a herd of Gazelle bounded across the road. Hot. Dry. Even a few sips of her water skin did little to assuage the thirst she felt here. There was little life left in the land, despite the abundance of beasts. She could barely sense the lines of power criss crossing this region and there was almost nothing to tap into. Dry indeed. Fortunately, as she consulted the rough map sketched for her by Frezza, it would seem that the Crossroads was closeby. Nothing to be done until she reached the Crossroads. There was an Inn there - a haven to rest for a few days and see if she could reach this - Varranda.

Perhaps he would have the answers she needed.