Page 36 of The Seeker

I was asleep almost instantly.

CHAPTER 13

“Runa.”

My eyes snapped open to the dream world I’d become accustomed to. I groaned. I did not want to converse with him right now. I pinched my eyes closed, begging for a dreamless sleep while simultaneously realizing it was too late for that.

“Runa, you’re going the wrong way.”

My brow furrowed as I realized it wasn’t Otho in the dream world. No, it was Signa. She stood across from me, much taller in this plane than she was in the real world. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her blue eyes clear.

“You can see here,” I breathed.

“Of course I can. This place is a different plane than the one we live on.” Her voice was snarky, and I could tell her patience with me was running thin.

I frowned at her words, thinking of my more recent visits to the strange, silent forest that Otho claimed went on forever.

“But that’s not important now. You must turn around and head to my cottage outside of Ralheim.”

Even the mention of the town I grew up in had me wincing. I hadn’t thought of Milo in a while, and that pinched. I also felt something in my chest, something pulling me in the direction Ena was leading us. “I don’t think I can, Signa.”

She shook her head, her dismay obvious. “You have to, Runa.”

I looked around the dream world, searching for something—well, someone, who wasn’t there. “There is something else I have to do first.”

“If you must,” Signa snapped, disappearing the instant she finished speaking.

The dream world was eerily silent at her departure, and I realized this was the first time I’d been here alone—been the last to leave.

I leaned on the boulder behind me, the one that was always there. Closing my eyes, I tried to sleep, hoping I would wake in the real world, but when I opened my eyes again, nothing had shifted. It was the same ethereal forest.

Climbing to my feet, I figured I might as well explore, especially if I was going to be visiting as much as I had been—see what exactly the dream forest had to offer. I took a step toward the trees.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

It was the deep voice this time, the one I would know anywhere. My heart tugged, and I knew the potion I’d been taking had worn off. I reached for my powers only to find nothing.

Meaning I’d learned something new. The weighted relationship was different than magic.

I realized I hadn’t answered Otho yet, the faint sound of his foot tapping on the hard-packed dirt breaking through my thoughts. “Why does it matter to you?” I asked without turning around. I didn’t want to see him—didn’t want to be convinced into revealing anything I wasn’t ready to reveal.

I didn’t want to be convinced into trusting him again. My destiny was ahead; I knew it.

“It’s a dream plane. There’s no ending or beginning, you will just wander forever,” he stated with a sigh, and my eyes flickered over my shoulder of their own accord. He was dressed in his uniform, but the sleeves were rolled up enough for me to spot the tattoos encircling his wrist.

It was hard not to find him attractive, and I had to coax my mind into remembering my anger at him. I turned away again and laid my hand on the nearest tree, resting my head on the back. “How long have you been here?”

“Long enough.”

“You saw Signa then?”

“Yes.”

My mind spun. “How many people can come here, and what are the restrictions? Like, can anyone I’ve ever known come here?” I lost my resolve, turning as I finished my question, to find Otho leaning up against a closer tree than before, the dark circles under his eyes drawing my focus. The plan must not have gone well.

I was oddly smug at that thought.

“I don’t know,” he admitted at last, crossing his arms. “I don’t have much more knowledge than you. But I’ve seen others here before, and I know I can call you here.”