Later that day when twilight surrenders to the thickening black of night, Rain tries to catch some sleep before her midnight shift. Events of the day replay in her mind making it impossible for her to sleep. An hour or so before her shift she gives up and climbs up on top of the deckhouse and dangles her feet over the side and plays her flute softly into the night.

As she plays, her mind wanders into a typical discussion with herself. Now why were you so candid with Newt before about your old life? I think being on the road again away from Westkeep is stirring up old memories, my friend, she thinks to herself.

Best not to dwell – not like it really matters that much anyways. You have killed several men now, your father was just the first – the first in a long line of fuckers who deserved it. Momentarily the calm, even tones of her flute give way to short, harsh expressions mimicking the thrusting gestures of a knife, so betraying her thoughts.

After dinner Indranil excuses himself and goes below deck for his evening meditation. He finds it impossible, however, to slip into a meditative state to relax. His body remains tense and his mind active, endlessly replaying various interactions and battles from the last four days. Was it only four days since I arrived in Westkeep’ he asks himself?

He finally gives up and goes to his hammock to lie down and try to get some sleep. He has the last watch and it would come soon enough. He lay there listening to the wind in the rigging and the lapping of the river water against the hull. Whispers and footsteps overlay these natural rhythms with a constant murmur of activity. He feels oppressed and oddly disconnected from his surroundings and body. It is like he is slightly out of phase with the flow around him: here but not here. It is disturbing. His mind returns to a constant question: Was he elf or human? Which world did he fit into? Neither was the answer and he felt despondent.

As Indranil’s body falls deeper and deeper towards sleep, his mind remains awake. He begins to notice that everything around has faded and lost substance – first going grey then going entirely black. He begins to feel a growing anxiety. Wake up! His body refuses. Am I dreaming? Unable to move or awaken, he begins to feel a sense of foreboding as though he is being watched by a great evil. Something is approaching! Now he grows terrified!

Just as he desperately tries to awake and scream to warn his fellow travelers the evil pressure he felt approaching recedes and the darkness begins to lighten. He finds his body relaxing and his mind clear and calm. He is able to look around and finds himself in an open glade of verdant grasses and colorful wild flowers. A cheerfully babbling brook is on his left and gorgeous golden leaved malorn trees are on his right. He takes a deep breath and it fills his soul with peace and gladness. The smells are sweet and fragrant.

From behind he hears his name called, “Indranil Marinus.”

He turns and sees the goddess Ehlenestra herself seated before him on a pure white unicorn. She is wearing a rich green and gold gown that looks like the very grasses and wildflowers themselves have grown a gown just for her. Her striking violet eyes transfix him and hold him immobile. She dismounts and whispers to her unicorn and it lies down on the grass and regally watches over them. She walks over to Indranil and places her hand upon his head and says, “Good Indranil, keeper of my faith, be at peace with yourself; you are of neither realm – elven or human – but of both and beyond. Am I too not of both worlds? Humans call me Ehlenna. Elves call me Ehlenestra. Dear Indranil, do you see me diminished in any way? You and your half-elf brethren represent the future of both races. Do not make war on yourself. I need you in this coming fight against Karaan and his minions who seek to oppress the good people of this world.”

Indranil feels utterly at peace and right within himself and the world.

He says, “My Goddess Ehlenestra, I give you my solemn pledge of faith and effort, that I will serve you until my dying breath to protect your domain and offer sanctuary to all those who follow you and the Good.”

Ehlenestra smiles upon Indranil and says, “I accept your pledge of faith and in return I vow to protect you and yours so long as you are faithful.” She then bends over him and kisses him upon his head. ”Sleep now and be at peace.” With that Indranil slips into a deep and peaceful slumber until awakened for his watch.

Xalakae pretends to sleep until those around hierm are snoring. For the first watch of the night s/he loses herself in the trance like reverie that is all hiers kind requires by way of sleep. Then s/he touches their minds, suspecting they would be less likely to notice while asleep. In the dark s/he listens to their thoughts, sifting the madness of dreams from things that may matter in waking hours. S/he avoids Noch, both mentally and proximately.

Vaskez falls asleep soon after coming back into the hold after her watch. Xalakae tries to enter her thoughts, but is immediately locked out. Vaskez stirs a bit in her hammock but does not awaken. Xalakae moves on to one of the other guardsmen, Dale. Dale sees himself sitting in the midst of a great treasure, but the coins heaped around him are falling away like sand in an hourglass. Then the seat becomes a great chariot and he riding forth in a great victory parade, but the wheels get bogged down in the muddy streets of Westkeep. He leaves the chariot and walks off with his friends in the unit and they come to a pool where a beautiful elven woman with stars for a crown hands him a cup of cool clear water. She says, “Here is your reward for all your efforts.” The dream ends as he is awakened for the pre-dawn watch.

As Gar lay falling asleep that night, he ponders the dreams of the Great Druidess and the visions he has been receiving from Obad-Hai. Even now, at this very moment, events are unfolding exactly as they have foretold. He reflects, I must not forget the details! Perhaps when we get back to Westkeep I can find a way to get a blank book, a feather quill and some ink. I’m sure they cost more than the few measly gold pieces in my pockets, but surely Obad Hai will provide….

Gar then slips into a dream of riding in a canoe deep into the marsh. There are several canoes to hold the party. In his canoe rides the girl Newt and Obad-Hai, who is now a powerful oarsman in the prime of his life. “Where exactly are we going, milord and milady?” Gar asks.

Obad-Hai laughs and says, “Why to find this one’s parents of course. They’ve been taken away by worshippers of old Thanatos. They hope to make some use of them, and that would make this bad situation much worse. Fortunately, they do not know of this one, nor that this one knows how to find them. Guard this one well and follow the trail of childhood memory.”

The boat travels on until it comes to an ancient ruined city in a tropical rain forest at the base of 300 foot high cliffs. A waterfall streams down the cliffs from about halfway up. Skeleton painted Amedi savages, patrol the city, but crouching in the shadows Gar glimpses more bestial figures. The landscape darkens as the setting sun disappears behind the cliffs. Gar awakens sometime before dawn to the sound of frantic shouting.

After finishing the first watch, Aramek finds himself bone weary as he heads for his bunk below deck. As he’s falling asleep, he can’t help but think about the strange beginning to their mission and the sudden appearance of first the attack of the Amedi and then their sudden rescue by the lizardfolk. Unconsciously his right hand reaches over to touch his left, where he had been pierced by the arrow, only to find Snoop one step ahead of him nestled against his injured hand. With this sense of security he falls asleep into chaotic dreams of burning buildings and little children running helter-skelter trying to hide from forms dressed all in black with faces painted like the Amedi warriors. He sees himself in the midst of the battle, casting spells that turn fire arrows into flaming flowers and spears into brightly colored jeweled snakes that slither into the river only to turn into gigantic naga that scoop up the warriors and swallow them whole. A beautifully scaled lizardfolk with dragon wings appears hovering above Aramek and hands him Snoop saying, “He will always save you from yourself.” Aramek then wakens to the cries of alarm.

When it comes time for Lorindel to take a rest, he lowers himself into a meditative state. Not the full trance of his elven side, but enough to drift off into pleasant dreams of his youth. Shortly after though, his dreams turn from idyllic forest realms to the chaos of the battlefield. He has returned to his shock troop squad, engaged in a hunt and clear mission that continues until he is awakened by shouting.

That night, Fingol has trouble falling asleep. As he does, he keeps hearing Sgt. Apone’s words, “Your father must be very proud,” repeated over and over.

Finally Fingol sleeps and starts to dream. He remembers one of his earliest “adventures” wherein a town was being threatened by a bear. Fingol trapped the bear, and then taught the people how to dispose of refuse so they wouldn’t draw wild animals to the town. In the dream, he is back in the town. The people are all listening intently but then they wander off. When Fingol turns back to the cage where they had herded the bear he sees that it is no longer a bear. It has changed into his father. His father is saying, “I never meant to be out here so long, should have retired to the country. Maybe it’s not too late for that. Still, I can’t imagine any other kind of life now.” He starts shaking the bars of the cage. As Fingol continues to watch, the bear changes into Indranil and starts roaring at him, “Do you really know what you’re doing? Are you bear enough?! Are you?!” The bear then changes into Gar. Gar is laughing uproariously, but then he stops and says, “Am I really trapped, or is it you?” Fingol then notes that he is also in the cage, and the town has disappeared. He looks around and then sees that the bear has changed again. This time it is Rain playing the same tune composed of short harsh staccato notes that she was playing during his watch earlier. He notices that her hands are bloody. She puts down the flute and sighs. She says, “No matter how long I play it won’t come clean. Time to leave.” She lumbers like a bear over to the door of the cage and then begins picking the lock. Before she can open the cage, the bear changes again into Newt. Newt seems a little surprised and says, “Oh! I’m in here too now!” She lumbers back over to Fingol who has been trying to think of what to do with this bear and embraces him. The dream fades into the oblivion of dreamless sleep until he too awakens to the shouting.

After her midnight shift, Rain drags her tired body into the hammock and falls asleep almost immediately and dreams that she is running down the Javan River, leaping from one crocodile to another as they keep surfacing to support her escape. Noch is following behind her, carrying the lifeless corpse of a young girl in his arms. Rain suddenly jumps from the last crocodile to shore, spins to face Noch and prepares to fight. Noch comes up to her and she notices that the lifeless corpse is Rinya. Anger overwhelms her, “You bastard!” she screams, and she drives her dagger so deep into his chest that her bare knuckles scrape against his now exposed ribs. Noch stares back at her and says in her father’s even voice, “It isn’t me, Rain.” Her dagger and hand still in his chest, she notices he is now her father as he collapses into the muddy riverbank. Rinya’s corpse has transformed into Newt. Rain collapses beside the two corpses and begins to sob loudly.

Rain’s eyes bolt open and as she rapidly sits up in her hammock, immediately fully awake and exclaims, “What the fuck?”

Breathing heavily Xalakae does hiers best to stay calm and silent. First s/he was in a boat with Gar, and then a bear in a cage, and finally a corpse. She had never done that before and found it more unpleasant than s/he would ever have guessed. S/he resolves not to enter into any dreams anymore, not anytime soon anyway. Resting in hiers hammock, Xalakae stares around hierm. Hiers darkvision allowing hierm to see all the stirring dreamers in the darkened hold clearly as s/he ponders their dreams.

Rain, meanwhile, leaves the hold and moves up to the deck needing fresh air. What the fuck was that? She walks about the deck in the pre-dawn hours trying to calm down. She finally settles enough to return to her hammock, and is still awake when Inranil begins shouting the alarm.