Serena goes to sleep every night knowing she can control her dreams, that she can enter the dreamscape and manipulate it to help her understand the mysteries of the waking world. She has the power to summon the dream-selves of others into her dream world, but it is rare for her to be so summoned. Though Byron hasn't got the training, her deep bond made it easy for him to summon her: her spirit was ready & willing to fly to him, much to her weakness. But she is on guard against him now, it should not be so easy...so how is that when she falls asleep, she finds herself again the castle garden. She turns, expecting to see Byron, but it is not he who summoned her tonight. It is this mysterious stranger..."Who are you?" Serena asks him, determined to show no fear, though she is deadly afraid of strangers who have the power to summon her...

"I am a mage, Larna Lock, and I've been searching for one such as you these many years..." Serena crosses her arms & stands in challenge, "Many years?" she asks, raising her eyebrows, "How many years can you possibly have waited, since you are so young?" she scoffs. The stranger with the strange name laughs, "Serena, you are not so easily fooled by appearances, are you?" he chides.

"I have the power to summon one as powerful as yourself, Serena. I can appear in many forms," Larna Lock brags. "Who are you," she asks suspiciously, "What do you want from me?"

"Relax," he says, his voice soft & disarming as he puts his hands on her shoulders. "I have been searching for a partner of skills & talent equal to mine, I have searched & waited and I have at last found you. I have brought you here to make you my bride."

"That's absurd, it's like something from a fairy tale," Serena gasps, backing away from him. He laughs, "And aren't fairy tales real, too?" he asks, smiling.

NEXT