Dreamland

It was, in a way, anti-climatic. It was not as spectacular a spell as I expected. If I would compare it, it was like the case when the ghost tried to take control of me when I was inside the carriage to rescue Thiara. Maybe it was spectacular for the others. She dissolved somehow in the air into some kind of smoke or fog, or was it her ghost form?

Then the smoke enveloped me, and suddenly everything looked as if covered by some gray matter. I felt a terrible pain in my head again and lost control of my limbs. As that happened, I almost lost my balance, but somehow my body automatically recovered without my input. The pain in my head continued. She did not warn me that it would pain so much! It was a slow and continuous pain, as if somebody were slowly pushing a knife into the back of my head. Not one knife but multiple blades. I would have moaned, but no sound came from my throat, my lungs breathing normally as if controlled by some machinery.

I wondered about the pain. As Dolores, I should not feel so much pain, or was Cala suffering that much more?

I timidly made a couple of steps, then looked at my hands as I clenched and unclenched my fists, but it was not me doing that.

Then I was again feeling dizzy at the same moment as I heard a voice in my head:

“It is done!”

“Whoa! What happened?” - I said, making a sudden step to the side.

The Lynx looked askew at me. All were looking at me, unsure of what to answer.

“Ahm. I think you just incorporated White Flower into you or something...”

It was Spartacius who spoke. Tina answered:

“Shh, Sparty, she knows that... I think she is speaking to her!”

I looked at her and nodded:

“Indeed!”

I saw something on my leg. Something like a complex scribble. I asked, pointing at it:

“What's that?”

"You got a tattoo?" - said Spartacius

My answer came directly in my mind:

“You can speak to me in your mind if you don't want them to hear. That is the entry point. It goes all up to your neck. You cannot see all of it now due to the robe.”

I sighed:

“Ow. It seems my fairy comes with a tattoo!”

Spartacius grinned:

“I find it looks good on you.”

"I approve." - said the Lynx with a nod to Spartacius

“I could hide it if you want. Should I hide your scars and the tattoo?”

“Yes, please!”

"I will do it as soon as you give me back the lead."

The lead?""

It was the first time I had answered in my mind, and I was surprised to see that it worked.

Spartacius asked again:

“How do you feel? Anything different?”

Alice watched me with Argus' eyes:

“Are you feeling ok?”

I nodded.

“Yes, I do feel ok. Actually, I do feel great!”

“That is because more magic is running now through your body. As I said, if you want that I do something, you need to let me lead.”

I was so confused that I spoke again aloud:

“Let you lead? How?”

“It is like stepping back from the steering wheel. You need to feel it. Saying: you are in the lead, or you take the lead can help.”

“You take the lead!”

“You don't need to say it aloud. Saying it in your mind is good enough.”

But it had worked; I was no longer in control. She made a couple of movements at first slowly, hesitatingly, then faster, more precise. She took a deep breath, and I felt my lungs filling with air. It was a strange, fascinating, and a little scary experience to feel myself moving like this without being in control.

She made a gesture, and a mirror appeared in the air. I saw myself there: a scarred Cala dressed in a pink robe.

She made another gesture, and all my scars and my tattoo disappeared instantly. I was now dressed in my assassin gear, a black leather suit with a ninja scarf on my head, black boots, and gloves. Another gesture, and I was a grinning Terri.

She giggled. Another gesture, and I was a... a succubus? She laughed loudly while my wings and my tail undulated behind me. Everything was so incredibly realistic.

“I just picked this from your imagination Dolores. So what would you like to look like? Should I stay like this?”

She had said that aloud. The Lynx looked askew at me whilst Alice laughed.

“Wow, stay like this!”

Spartacius seemed to be enthusiastically convinced that this was the best I could be looking like.

Tina shook her head with a sigh:

“Don't listen to Sparty; Cala is looking better!”

It did not end with the succubi. After that, I enjoyed several minutes of the show.

We enjoyed it; it was not only me enjoying it. She could do anything we requested. Once, she made me look like Alice; next, I was Tina. She then made me look like a dragon, then like Spartacius, which got me booed by Tina.

It was really amazing to see what skills White Flower had and what she could spell. It was like an intermezzo, like a time-out that the referee granted us. Not even the annoying alien noises coming from outside the grotto did disturb us, but then the Lynx raised his ears.

He turned his head towards the insides of the cavern and spoke:

“I think I heard something!”

We went silent while he stayed concentrated, listening.

“Yes, something is approaching us from inside the grotto.”

As White Flower was still in the lead, I had the opportunity to see how she was listening. It was some spell improved listening, and I heard them too. The Lynx gave us more details now:

“Two large persons, really big, and one... easy footer. Could be a caster of some kind.”

White Flower confirmed:

“Yes, I can hear them too. I guess those two are trolls..”

“Trolls?”

Spartacius and Tina watched me with round eyes. Alice was worried too. The last time when we fought one troll, we had to break and run out. Now we were facing two.

"Yes, from their pacing and how heavy they seem to be, I guess you are right," - nodded the Lynx.

White Flower shook her head.

“It is not only the trolls that worry me. That easy footer... I can smell ice...”

I felt how she recalled her aura. She was trying to mask her presence. The Lynx confirmed:

“Yes, an ice mage. A powerful one... and... I don't know... Maybe there is something else too...”

Alice watched me, worried.

“I do not feel them yet. How far are they?”

“Around 200 meters. Coming this way.”

Tina looked towards the cavern's entry.

“What do we do?”