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choosing your illusions. I regret Alastair's death, but I never loved him, nor did he love me. I will never bear living children. Ark will never find his wife. And I watched my father die. I want those I have lost back, yes. I want to have children. I want Ark to find his wife and son. But I know those things will never happen. You might as well have promised to make me queen of the moon or the empress of the ocean." 
    "An error," snarled Helena, "that I will now rectify!"
    She lifted her hand, and a sword appeared in her grasp, sharp and gleaming. She hurtled at Caina with the superhuman speed granted by this unreal place.
    But Caina was ready. She yanked a dagger from her belt, dodged the sword's flickering blade, and buried the dagger in Helena's chest.
    Helena screamed, and the world exploded in white light.
     
    ###
     
    Caina opened her eyes.
    She lay flat upon her back, and saw nothing but blank whiteness in all directions. For dreadful moment she thought she had gone blind, and she lifted her hands in front of her face. But she saw her fingers, saw the muscles in her forearms clenching. 
    She frowned, looked down at herself, and realized that she was naked. 
    Caina sat up in alarm. In all directions, she saw nothing but blank whiteness. She felt the floor beneath the bare skin of her legs, but if felt like...nothing at all. 
    Now more curious than alarmed, she got her legs beneath her and stood.
    A pale man in a crimson robe with elaborate golden trim appeared before her.
    Caina took a step back, hands coming up to defend or attack. But the man only gazed at her with black, lifeless eyes, and did not move. His expression held not a hint of emotion. Not even a trace of interest, and Caina suspected that few men could have a naked woman appear in front of them without displaying some sort of reaction.
    "Those robes," she said. "Those robes were worn by the Saddai Ashbringers of old."
    "Yes," said the man, his voice deep and rumbling. 
    "Are you an Ashbringer?" said Caina.
    "No," said the man. 
    He said nothing else. 
    "Who are you, then?" said Caina.
    "I am a portion of the memories," said the robed man, "of the Ashbringer known to you as the Master of Dreams. When he created this dagger," he gestured at the whiteness around him, "he left an imprint of his thoughts upon the spells binding it. I am that imprint." 
    "Where am I?" said Caina. 
    "You are within the artificial dream realm created by the dagger," said the Master of Dreams. "I practiced the forbidden sciences of oneiromancy, blasphemous to the Burning Flame, and created this dagger as a weapon against my enemies. Using it, I would control the dreams of my foes, and plant compulsions and commands within their minds."
    "But something went wrong," said Caina, "didn't it?"
    "You are correct," said the Master of Dreams. "Unfortunately, my creation was flawed. At best, it would induce homicidal insanity in its victims. At worst, it would kill them in a particularly horrible fashion - their blood would erupt from every orifice, killing them in a matter of moments."
    "I noticed," said Caina. 
    "I attempted to repair the flawed spells," said the Master of Dreams, "but the process went amiss, and I killed myself in the attempt. All that remains is this imprint of my memories upon the dagger's binding spells." The shade looked around the empty whiteness. "Spells which are now collapsing." 
    “Collapsing?” said Caina. “What do you mean?”
    "I sense two minds linked to the dagger," said the Master of Dreams. "Yours, and the woman attempting to kill you. When you struck her dream-image, you shattered one of the controlling spells upon the dagger. The rest are now unraveling. The dream realm your opponent created vanished, and you found yourself here." 
    "So the dagger's spells are about to break," said Caina. "And when they do, I wake up."
    "Your assessment is optimistic," said the Master of Dreams. "If your mind is still linked to the dagger when the