Dream Magic by B. V. Larson Page B

because of its cold touch.
    “Listen to me,” Brand said, still standing. “You must not dream of the Black. I know you touched it when you were young. Maybe it calls out to you. Maybe it comes to you in your dreams, begging to be let out. Don’t let it grip your mind, Trev. It’s an evil thing.”
    Trev frowned back at Brand. “I do dream of it, from time to time. How could I not? But I don’t think I’m in its grasp. I don’t feel a power from it, an urge to love it as you love that Axe which twitches and twists on your back.”
    Brand noticed then that the boy spoke the truth. His Axe was squirming on his back, trying to push up the haft and get it into his hand. Slowly, Brand lowered his hand away from the handle, and it eased back down disappointedly.
    “All right then. If not the Black, then that leaves only the White and the Quicksilver. Both are lost and haven’t been seen for an age.”
    “What can you tell me of them?”
    Brand shrugged. “I don’t know much. Only what Myrrdin and Gudrin have told me. Both of them know more than I. The White is a chip of the original Sunstone. It is sometimes referred to as the Sunstone, and is supposedly pure. Some say it can warp minds like no other Jewel can. The Quicksilver is immune to the power of the others. I don’t know if it does anything else. But in any case, I can’t tell you where either might be, or where they were last seen. That’s all I know of them.”
    “I thank you in any case,” Trev said seriously.
    Brand smiled faintly. He felt that he’d dodged a dangerous dilemma. Old Hob had warned him not to tell the boy anything—and he hadn’t. Not because he refused, but because he honestly didn’t know the answers. He felt relieved. He hadn’t wanted to turn the boy away, but he hadn’t wanted to take the chance Old Hob’s warning had been given in earnest, either. This way he hadn’t helped him or misguided him, and his worries died away.
    Kaavi was looking at him again, smiling.
    Such a lovely face , he thought. It seemed to him she had a greater pull upon his heart than even the last time they’d been sitting around a fire together. He’d aged, and she hadn’t. But he knew she didn’t look at it that way. She didn’t think of herself as too young for him.
    He gave his head a shake, and then found her hands cupping his. He looked down, and saw his walnut husk was in his palm. The brew shone slightly in the dark forest , glimmering like liquid gold.
    “Now that your worries have passed, will you take a half-cup more?” she asked.
    Brand grinned and nodded. He threw down the drink, and it tasted delicious. He soon forgot about Trev and all the rest of his problems.
    He talked and laughed with Kaavi until it grew late and the fire dimmed.
     

Chapter Three
    Trev’s Bargain
     
    In the morning, Brand awoke groaning. It wasn’t dawn, his customary time of awakening, but at least an hour past. He forced himself into a sitting position.
    It took a moment for him to realize that he was not at home in his keep. He was not in a sumptuous bed with eiderdown cushions and dyed furs for blankets. He was in a gloomy forest, with birds singing.
    Blinking his bleary eyes, he saw a thatch of twigs over his head. They were woven together in an intricate pattern, with each leaf tucked precisely so as to shed rain but not block light.
    Realizing where he was, he scrambled up, and almost knocked down the hut. He came out of it, looking back. He saw a bed of furs cast on the dry floor. There was an impression there that matched his form, and next to it was evidence that a much smaller body had slept beside him.
    He looked around and at first saw nothing. No Kaavi, no Trev. He tried to recall how the night had gone…my how that elf-brew could hit a man! He’d been wary of it until Trev’s questions had fizzled out, and then he’d given in. He remembered accepting another half-cup—but had there been more? He could not recall.
    He rubbed his face,