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Ask if you can go with him, Ulean prompted.
I blinked. Say what? I was no dreamwalker and while Kaylin had a century of experience, could he really take another person with him?
Just ask him. I can go with you.
Score one for scaring me shitless. But Ulean could see farther than I could and she apparently knew something I didn't. I tapped Kaylin on the arm. "Listen, do you know how to take somebody with you? Can you do that?"
He jerked around, giving me a hard look. "Why do you ask?"
I shrugged. "Ulean told me to ask if I could go with you."
When Kaylin spoke again, his voice was cold. "I won't risk your life, Cicely. There's no guarantee that they won't have some sort of anti-magic field that will negate the spell. What happens then?"
"Tell me exactly what it is that you do. Then let me make the decision." I sucked in a deep breath.
Rhiannon shook her head. "Bad idea. Don't let her talk you into it." She scuffed her feet. Neither she nor Leo looked happy at my request.
Kaylin let out a long sigh. "When I dreamwalk, I go into a deep trance--and yes, I can drag someone along with me. At some point--it's hard to explain how it happens--I see a door. When I go through it, my body turns to shadow. To the stuff dreams are made of. I can move around in shadow-form and so can whoever I have taken with me. I can spy on people, but I can't take action. I can't get in a fight, for example."
I thought about it for a moment. "Is there a time limit?"
He nodded, slowly. "Of sorts. If I stay out on the astral too long, I run the risk of not being able to come back. I could be trapped as a shadow entity."
"And how long is too long?"
"I don't know," he said. "I've never been out longer than an hour. I believe it depends on the power of the dreamwalker, whether someone else is in tow . . . a number of varying factors. And there's another little matter: There are creatures out there, and not all of them are nice.">"Oh, Chatter." Rhiannon slid her arms around his shoulders and he leaned into her embrace. "I wouldn't bring up the memories but we need your help. We need all the help we can get. Will you tell us what happened to Grieve?"
He blinked. "We were caught. They were going to feed on me but Grieve begged them to spare me. They drank him down to the gate of death and then made him drink. Then he just . . . he recovered--so fast. And when he stood again, he looked so strange. His eyes changed. Grieve changed. He looked like a wild child and I was afraid he'd finish me off himself, but he just said, Let me keep him. He's lazy and useless but he amuses me. My friend would never have said that before the change."
"And they agreed?" I quietly shifted my weight. My feet were going a little numb in the cold but I didn't want to break the mood.
"Yes. So I stay with Grieve most of the time. The others hate me, but Grieve . . . he tries to be himself. I can tell he doesn't like what he's become. He would never treat you so oddly, Cicely, if this hadn't happened to him. There's a constant battle going on inside. I can see it in his eyes. He's always at war with himself."
Chatter crouched on the ground, ignoring the snow. He rested against the tree trunk. "I get tired, so I come out here and breathe the illusion of freedom."
"Do you want to come home with us? We can help you. You could leave town, get away." I had no idea how we'd manage it but the offer slipped out before I could stop myself.
But Chatter shook his head. "Thanks, Miss Cicely. You and Miss Rhiannon, you're good friends, even though I only really knew you when you were children. But I'm afraid I wouldn't get far. You'd be in trouble and I'd end up dead. And besides . . ."
"Besides what?" What more could there be than to get away and not look back? But Chatter's answer silenced the cynic in me.
"I help keep Grieve sane. Without me he'd give way, fully turn into one of them. And I can't do that to him. He was my best friend at one time. Shadow Hunter or not, Grieve's still my blood-oath brother."
I wanted to do something . . . anything . . . to help. But there was nothing we could do if he refused.
"I understand. Chatter, will you at least promise not to mention you saw us or talked to us?"
He inclined his head. "I won't give you away. I promise you that." He slowly rose and dusted his hands on his pants. "I'd better go now, before they miss me. I don't want them to come looking for me and find you." Turning, he added, "But be careful. These woods are laden with creatures that could rip you apart. If I were you, I'd go home. Seriously, the woodland is tainted. I don't know if it can ever recover."
I bit my lip, wanting to take him by the hand, drag him home, and send him off on a bus somewhere, but I stepped back. If we interfered too much, we'd only get him in trouble. Or dead.
"Go then, before they sense us. But Chatter . . . if you do see my aunt--Rhiannon's mother--or our friend Peyton . . . if you think of something that can help, then please, let us know."
Chatter nodded. Then, turning to go, he stopped. "The owl's been looking for you, by the way, Cicely. He asks for you, every day. I'd help, but I'm just . . . don't count on me." He shook his head. "I'm useless. But soon, you must find the owl. If the Shadow Hunters find it, they'll kill it. They hate owls. And--don't trust spiders. The spiders of the wood watch and listen. They're Myst's pets."
He ran then, so fast I could barely track him. In mere moments, he was gone.
We made our way up the other side of the ravine in silence. I could tell the others were itching to discuss the meeting with Chatter, but this wasn't the time nor place for that.
