[i]Riven smiles at Thora, her long teeth gleaming in the darkness. [b]Congratulations, little one.... you escaped me. A few more visions, before we meet again, hmm?[/b] Riven disappeared. Thora suddenly felt as though she'd been picked up by a tornado, so many visions were swirling past. She was standing in the kitchen of her house, looking out the tall windows at an unfamiliar ship. "Is it Daddy?" Cal asked. Thora watched as something climbed off of it. It was a hideous thing, tall and broad, with cracked, slimy grey skin, too many teeth, and a big staff with a crystal on the end of it. "Run!" Thora yelled, pulling a sidearm out of one of the secret panels. Her siblings didn't need to be told twice. They fled up the stairs as the thing smashed the windows and stepped inside. They ran all the way up to Mama's bedroom and hid in her closet. "Hee heeeee," the thing called. They could hear it in the bedroom. "I sees you, i do." Lidy screamed as it ripped the door off its hinges. There was a flash of light, and the dream changed. Mama and Daddy were standing in the room, and Daddy was talking. He opened the closet door and tapped on the back wall. "Look! There's another secret tunnel behind here. I have no idea why, but there's tons of them all over the house. I find more every day. This one goes down and you pop open another secret door and you're on the balcony." Another flash of light. Thora and her siblings were climbing over the edge of the balcony, and the thing was nowhere in sight. They ran across the grass, but the thing spotted them through Mama and Daddy's windows and jumped out after them. Thora screamed as falling glass ripped through her hair and the monster landed on top of Cal! Flash. Mama and Daddy were standing on the porch below the balconies. "This one's a cool one," Daddy said, twisting the rod of a long umbrella. A section of the ground popped up. "It goes down to where I keep my ships. I've stored a couple cool old fighter models down there." Flash. Thora was a little girl inside a jumpship like Mama's. There was a woman in there who looked like Mama, but different. Her eyes were a darker blue, and her hair was a paler red with less pink it in. "Come here," the woman said, lifting Thora into her lap. "I'll show you how to fly it. But don't you dare try it alone. This one turns it on. Here's the controls- that goes left and right, that one goes up and down. The Navigation is more complicated. I'll teach you that another time. Wanna give it a try?" "Oh, yes!" Thora said eagerly. "Turn it on." The woman said. Thora carefully pressed the button that turned it on. "Now, whenever you're taking off, you want to press this button to put it in...taking-off mode. Then press the- this pedal here, with your foot- oh, you're too short. I'll do it. That gets us in the air." The ship slowly hovered upward in the landing bay. "No, not that lever, Petra! That's up and down! Push this one forward to go forward, and pull on it to go back." Thora gently pushed it forward, moving very gradually forward. "Wow! Pinar, I'm flying!" "I see you. Now, we're out of the landing bay, so click this button again to turn off takeoff mode. Great, now fly us around a bit." Thora flew left and right, up and down. The girl in the dream was younger and smaller than she was, closer to Lidy's age, probably. Thora was pretty sure it was Mama as a little girl. "Alright, you wanna see a trick?" "Sure!" The woman put Thora in the copilot seat and strapped her in. She then pressed harder on the pedal to go faster, then pulled on down, left, and forward at the same time. The ship did a barrel roll. Thora squealed in delight. The woman turned the ship around and landed it in the bay again, clicking it off. "That's enough for today. There's the dinner bell." "Can we do it again tomorrow?" "Maybe."[/i] Thora groaned, opening her eyes. She immediately closed them. There was a light shining directly in her eyes. Where was she? Wasn't she dead? Did something come after? She was about to sit up and try to look around when she heard a door slam open very close by, and someone yell, "Why would you EVER think that was a good idea? She was TEN! She had no idea what she was doing! How could you think-" it was Mama, and her voice broke off in a hysterical sob. "I have already apologized, and said I didn't realize Riven could grow so powerful." "You should have at least talked to me first! THAT ISN'T OKAY WITH ME! You could have AT LEAST EXPLAINED to her how the WISH MAGIC WORKED!" "Calm yourself, Petra," Queen Mara ordered, seeing Thora sitting up, blinking at them. "It appears she is not dead, after all." Mama spun around, her eye widening. "Thora! But how!- there was no pulse, for a full day!- oh, Thora!" Mama rushed forward, wrapping her arms around Thora, choking on her tears. "I thought you were gone." "I did, too." Thora clung to her mother, bemused. "I must have wished myself out. At least, that's what I tried to do." "Clever girl,' Mara said. "You'd make a fine techeun." "No!" Mama said. "No. She's too young." "You started training at six." "I washed out. My eldest sister started at seventeen, and she was one of the best." "If this is about what just happened, that had nothing to do with techeun training." "We can open this discussion again when she's older. Thirteen. And it'll be up to [i]her.[/i]" Mama insisted. Mara clicked her tongue, but didn't argue the point any further. "Very well. Will she and her siblings be fine to stay home alone for the next battle?" "I... if you don't mind, they may need me... Thora must be tired..." "According to Thora's visions, your presence is necessary for our victory." Mara said sternly. "It's true, Mama. You have to go. I can take care of Lidy and Cal. I'm fine." "Are you sure?" "Yeah." Mama kissed her cheek, hugging her tight again, murmuring, "Just a minute ago I thought you were dead, sweetheart... I'm so glad you're alright! I hadn't told your siblings yet, so no need to mention any of this to them. They'd just freak out for no reason." "Definitely not," Thora agreed, pulling away and standing up. "I'm sorry that I accidentally gave Riven more power. Will she be a problem?" "I think not. She is still trapped in the ascendant plane, only she will have more control over it. Your mother is right, I should have better explained the wish magic to you." "You shouldn't have sent her at all," Mama muttered. "Let me take her back and change into my armor. I'll go straight to your command ship after and meet you there." "Wait! How do you make a dream with someone?" Thora asked. Mara frowned. "Once you realize you are dreaming, you must create a thread of all the things that tie you to them, and walk along it until you find them. Why do you ask?" "Uh.. just curious." Thora said, looking away as Mara scrutinized her, and following Mama out the door. As soon as she was in the ship with Mama, she said, "I'm sorry." "For what?" "I'm sorry. Queen Mara warned that Riven only wanted revenge and was probably using me, but I wanted to help her. I thought she might just be trying to take care of me. I didn't know she could make things real if I wanted it. "Riven can grant wishes, but she is Ahamkara. She twists the wish to bring harm to the wisher. It takes someone very clever to really get something good from wish magic. The magic is fueled by desire." "Yeah. I figured that part out." "It's not your fault. You're still a kid. Queen Mara shouldn't have asked you to do something so dangerous!" Mama landed the ship on the big platform behind the house and they went inside. A young Awoken woman with a little girl Lidy and Cal's age had been keeping an eye on them and Lidy and Cal were very sad to see their new friend go. "Vura and Miss Tjerin can come back another time!" Mama promised as she payed the woman. Mama changed into her armor and hugged each of them goodbye before leaving again. Thora went upstairs to draw, but was soon interrupted by Cal and Lidy, who wanted to "ride the horsie." Thora let them sit on her back while she crawled around the house, but rebelled when they tried to feed her carrots. Thora didn't like carrots. They were romping around the kitchen when Thora saw an unfamiliar ship land outside. "Who's that?" Lidy asked. "Is it Daddy?" Cal got off of Thora's back. "No!" Thora cried, as the blast door opened. She popped open one of the secret panels and pulled a little sidearm out. "It's a monster! Get upstairs, now!"