As Sterling lost consciousness; he slipped into another Realm, a realm of dreams that removed him from his pain.Suddenly, the Swordsman found himself standing on a wide tree stump surrounded by a hundred Drow warriors wearing similar armor to his own. The air was cold as a sharp wind brought to life a red banner that flew behind the Swordsman. On the banner was the image of a Drow warrior with his sword drawn riding a pale horse as if he was leading a charge. In front of Sterling, the Dark Elven soldiers raised their weapons in salute and began to chant in unison, "Sylvar! Sylvar! Sylar!" As they were chanting the name of his noble house, one of them broke out into an ululating battle cry as a few joined in, the Swordsman instantly recognized it as the same one that he used in his battle against the Bullywugs.
As snow began to fall to the ground, Sterling instinctively looked down to his right side to find a huge timberwolf as black as midnight looking up at him with some measure of affection in its eyes. Or lack thereof, because the Drow saw only yellow eye slits where the animal's pupils should have been. As the chanting and the ululation of the Drow soldiers reached a crescendo, the Swordsman nodded to the wolf which in turn let out a low, long melancholic how lbringing order and silence to the entire assembly.
Sterling realized that he knew where he was or at the very least what was going on. He also knew whohe was and whom those around him were and exactly what they mean't to him. As the Drow warriors became silent, the Swordsman addressed them, "Brothers, I---"
"So this is how you see yourself, you silly Drow!" came a female voice interrupting the speech that he was about to deliver. A hooded-figure cloaked in black robes moved among the Drow warriors unimpeded as she addressed the Swordsman.
"Who dares intrude upon my company?!" cried the Dark Elf angrily, with his right hand moving towards Evenflow.
"I dare!" And with that, the figure removed her cloak. Standing before him was Tuculcha wearing the same outfit that she had on the first day they met. "My, my, my, when you dream, you dream big don't you!
"What do you want, witch!" sneered the Dark Elf none too politely.
"I want that female warrior friend of yours to suffer! I want that rabbit of yours for dinner! And I want you and the rest of your friends to die!" Tulculcha drew her dagger and readied herself for combat as the rest of the Drow soldiers looked on in silence.
Sterling reached for his sword but found that it was missing. Tulculcha gave him a disconcerting look, "Lose something, my sweet! What good is a Swordsman without a sword? Let's find out!" Instantly she lunged at him as Sterling dived off of the tree stump and hit the ground hard. Before he got to his feet; Tuculcha landed on top of him. Grabbing a handful of his hair and yanking his head back, the woman prepared to slit his throat saying, "This is going to be easier than when I went after Ashleyien!"
Suddenly, a long, cold blade found its way to Tuculcha's throat before she could deliver the fatal cut, "Leave him be!" came a cold and callous voice from above her. Tuculcha looked up in surprise to find the Swordsman standing over her holding Evenflow at her throat. However, he seemed different to her. His hair had four braids hanging down either side of his face. She recognized them as Elven War Braids worn by Drow warriors in battle. He also appeared to be harder and a lot meaner than his counterpart.
"This is not possible!" she cried backing off from both men. "Where? How?"
"Is not important!" answered the Dark Elf. "What is important is that you be gone from this place, before I decide to turn my dream into your worst nightmare!" Giving a low whistle, the huge wolf leaped down off of the stump and came walking over to its master's side all the while bearing its teeth at Tuculcha. As she looked around, more and more of the Drow soldiers began to advance on he bringing their weapons to bearr, as she cried out, "This is not over Swordsman, mark my words, this is not over by a long shot!" And with that, she disappeared.
The second Swordsman immediately looked down at the first one, sheathed Evenflow, and extended his hand to help Sterling to his feet. The Dark Elf was visibly shaken as he took his opposite's hand and was brought to his feet with a quick jerk.
"Who are you?" asked the first Swordsman with a great deal of wonder.
"I'm you!" replied the second Swordsman with a smirk. "Or at least a part of you anyway. Shall we get out of this cold and talk about this over some ale?." Before Sterling could reply, the second Swordsman looked at his men and said, "Dismissed!"
The soldiers began to walk away, as Sterling's counterpart walked over to an open tent flap and motioned for him to follow. The young librarian followed suit albeit reluctantly and found himself in a rather warm tent with furs lying all about.
"Not you, Nightrunner!' commanded the Dark Elf to the timber wolf halting it before it could enter the enclosure. "Stand guard, in case that harlot decides to show up again!" The animal gave out a gruff "Woof!" and assumed its post. The second Swordsman motioned for Sterling to sit down and followed suit himself saying, "You probably have a lot of questions, and I will do my best to answer them for you. But you must bear in mind that you do not have a lot of time."
"Before what?" asked Sterling more than a little concerned.
"Before our men and the rest of Venger's army move against Yarfell." replied the Swordsman calmly.
A Point To Ponder
Dream Sequence To Be Concluded
