Dandan woke suddenly, shivering in his bed and drenched in sweat. It was the same old dream: he'd been flying towards the Heart of Knowledge, wings strong as rode the winds... and then his wings were gone, and he tumbled and fell, the air tearing at him as he plummeted towards the distant earth. Mountains like spears below him, the sky on fire above, his magics expended and his protections broken.
He shivered again as he forced his breathing back under his control. An Elf of his venerable years should have no need of sleep, but even after all these centuries there were too many nights when he couldn't summon the calm necessary for the restoring trance.
His blade still hung on the wall above his bed. Perhaps it was an ill reminder, but he still felt safer having it nearby -- and their link remained unbroken after all this time. "Have I been neglecting you?" he asked, and lifted the weapon down.
It shivered in his hand, having shared his nightmare; the sword remembered just as he did. He kept his hand on its hilt, and finally felt it settle. "I'm sorry, old friend, I hear I've been neglecting you."
The sword quivered, but the sense he got from it was warm, forgiving. Still... yes, it would not hurt to practice again. It never paid to let the reflexes grow slack, though it had been a century and a half since anything truly threatened him. Still, word was everywhere of the Viscount's sudden return, of horrors encountered in the mines, and the desperate need for assistance from the Temple of Obdyros. He could hear the words yet unspoken, trace the shape of the coming winds.
Yes, he would spend the morning at blade-practice. And if the newly-arrived heroes didn't come to him, he would seek them out himself. Perhaps it was word of the arrival of their airship that had triggered his nightmare, or perhaps they were the answer to it. Impossible to tell as yet; the future was endlessly predictable and endlessly malleable, and for all his skill he was no diviner.
"Come, my friend," he said, and belted his blade on over his robe. "Let me find some breakfast, and then we can renew our strength."
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