At the center of the room, an Aeonian boy engages in an embrace with the insubstantial shadow of an Aeonian girl. After a moment, the shadow draws away, and she signs to her companion, I want to tell you about my … dreams.

Rory nods, and backs away, finding himself a seat on the trunk. "Sure, Silhouette. Please, tell me. Maybe between the two of us … we can put some pieces together?"

The shadow Aeonian nods. That's what I was thinking, too. I'm not sure where to begin. She pauses, then continues, signing, I don't even know if "dream" is the right word. It wasn't like a dream, or a memory, or a vision. It was like everything was happening to me, now, for the first time. Except it wasn't me but them – Sylvan, mostly, but Corwin once. And it was very real, not like the dreams you told me about, the ones Kiz and Kell gave you. Everything fit together and made sense in them – well, almost everything, anyway. Nothing bizarre, like walking down a hallway that doesn't end or having your teacher turn into a dragon. Was it that way for you, too?

The dark-robed unicorn boy nods several times emphatically. "It was like I was there!" He sticks out his tongue. "And it was really weird being a girl." Then he remembers himself. "Er … I mean … you know … no offense or anything." He ducks his head down sheepishly.

Silhouette turns her head in profile so that Rory can see her silent laughter. None taken, she signs. Her expression sobers, chin lowering towards the ground. The first – whatever it was – I had was in Koshiro's cave. I was Sylvan, and Koshiro was teaching me about magic. He showed how to make plants grow, and how what he called radiation, Silhouette spells out the unfamiliar word letter by letter with her fingers, made the creatures here grow quickly, and changed the nature of the plants. Koshiro thought it was fascinating. But it … worried me.

Rory nods. "Koshiro told me about that. It's why Reece grew up so quickly. I think he said that normally they don't live longer than a year … or was it a day?" He boggles at the idea, remembering the strange things he saw there. He shakes his head. "But, please go on?"

Silhouette nods. Koshiro seems very intelligent and learned. But there's something about him – something that Sylvan thought. It's not as if he is cruel or malicious. The shadow unicorn stops, shaking her head as she considers what to say next. More like … callous. Like nothing that happened to someone else, no matter how awful, was really important to him. Once Sylvan broke her leg while working on the cottage, and she came to Koshiro's cave for help. When she arrived, he was curious about how the accident had happened, and what the nature of her injury was, and he did help her set it and use a ritual to make it heal faster.

But he showed no sympathy, no concern. Not like you'd expect a friend to. It was as if he only helped her because he thought she would be more interesting with two functional legs than with only one, not because he actually cared about her as a person. And yet I thought that he was closer to me – to Sylvan – than he was to any one else. Silhouette shakes her head, the shadow of her mane rippling, then resumes.

Rory nods, though he's still trying to understand exactly what Silhouette is saying – or signing, that is.

Her black fingers begin her next gesture, then she stops, looking at her friend. Did that make sense? she asks instead.

Rory ponders this, then says, "I think I know what you mean. He's really … uhm … book-ly. He reminds me of one of my Nagai professors, I think. Maybe. Kind of. He probably doesn't ever laugh or cry. Like … like we're not real to him. He called Reece his 'pet'. And Reece calls him 'Mother'. It's like they all look up to him … but he just finds them … uhm … entertaining?"

Silhouette nods emphatically, gesturing her concurrence. Yes, that's exactly it. Like we're not real to him. She seems pleased to put such a simple description on it. Anyway, in what I remembered, Sylvan and he were discussing different aspects of magic, on Sinai and on Aeonia. Sylvan didn't know anything about Aeonia magic, and Koshiro said that the principles were entirely different. I can't explain most of what they said, now, but a few things stuck with me. Sylvan told Koshiro about the Twelve Spheres of Magic, and he … didn't seem convinced that was right.

Rory's ears go through several degrees of positioning before he gets them at just the right confused cant. "But … in my dream … whatever … Sylvan said that Koshiro taught her about Sinai magic. So … why would Sylvan tell Koshiro about the Twelve Spheres … and he would think that was wrong?" He ponders, then says, "Not that I expect you would know this. It's … rhetorical, you know?" He smiles a bit, feeling a bit better that he's managed to use a fairly educated word despite his confusion.

The shadow unicorn says, No, no, Sylvan was right – mostly Koshiro taught her. But there were things he didn't know. He wouldn't tell her who had taught him about magic. Anyway, when she told him about the Spheres, he said that it was a good theory, but he didn't think it was the way things actually worked. He said that the chart of the twelve spheres was like a painting of a fountain. It may capture what the fountain looks like in a certain light from a certain angle, but it doesn't tell you everything about the fountain. And depending on how good a painting it is, it may not even be a good representation of the fountain at all. She stops, then signs, Does that make sense to you?

Rory ponders this. "Well … I guess so. After all, that's the Rephidim way of looking at it … but back in Babel, there were some who said that there were more than twelve spheres … or that there were actually less, but that simple-minded mages had to divide up some of the bigger ones into smaller bits, because they couldn't handle all of it at once. But I always figured twelve was a nice number, and it was the easiest chart to learn. Maybe that's why everyone uses it."

Yes, that's it. Koshiro was like that, too. He said that the chart was right in placing scrying, life, and shadow so close together, because he thought they were all part of one whole, not separate studies, Silhouette signs. He said he could practice spells that drew on all of them, some at the same time.

The unicorn boy blinks a few times, and his jaw drops. "He's … he's a Shadow. He's a living shadow. That's why for him, life and shadow are the same! Right?"

Silhouette's hands drop to her sides for a moment, then she lifts them again and gestures excitedly, Yes! I think that must be it, though he never said that to Sylvan! But his crystal – he said that he fed on it, but it cast light, not shadows – that's how he is tied to light, too!

Rory blinks, then looks at his hands. "Silhouette … I've … I've got a really wild theory, I think." He holds up his hands so Silhouette can see them. "Maybe … Koshiro made me? Light … shadow … life." He gulps.

The shadow's hands drop again, and for some moments she doesn't do anything, her head turned to watch her friend.

The shadow mage unicorn abruptly notices that he's totally killed Silhouette's line of discussion. "Uhm … Sorry, Silhouette. I … I'm … I'm just trying to come up with … you know … theories." He tucks his arms around his ribs, hugging himself. "Was there more?"

No, no, that's fine, Silhouette signs. That's what I wanted you to do. It's just – that seemed really … unnerving. That Koshiro might have just made you. Out of nothing.

The black-and-white unicorn boy frowns. "It's a fair deal better than what I was afraid he did make me … us out of. I was thinking … maybe we're made out of Corwin and Sylvan, and … there's nothing left of them. Of course … maybe that's still true. After all … this is magic. Anything's possible. Well … almost."

Rory's lip starts to quiver, so he bites it. Once he's recovered, he says, "But … I'm even wondering about the almosts. I dreamt that I was Corwin. Then, I dreamt I was Sylvan. And … Sylvan … she remembered my dream about Corwin. But … if that was what really happened … then Sylvan … in the past … was responding to what was happening to me … now. In the present. And that's … not … possible." He looks over to Silhouette, as if hoping for her to back him up here.

The shadow unicorn puts her head in profile again, and Rory can see her bite her upper lip. I … something like that happened to me, too. While Koshiro and Sylvan were talking about the nature of the spheres and magic, Koshiro showed her a scrying spell mixed with shadow magic - it was like that shadow play you did, only he had bright, colored lights in it. But what's more important –

– when he was casting it, Sylvan saw that there's a crystal inside him, too. He always kept it hidden, but when he did light magic, it showed. It was like that circle of crystal you saw, only much smaller. And Sylvan thought, "I bet that crystal is vulnerable – that's why he never shows it."

And she thought, too, "I mustn't tell Corwin about that," Silhouette adds.

The unicorn boy blinks several times. "Circle … of crystal?" He puts a hand to his head. So much has been happening the past few days on this field trip, that he has trouble keeping track of all of it. The flashbacks don't help. "Diamond Quarry. That was when Linford was trying to get me into trouble, right? In Himar. The Vartan was talking about that."

The shadow unicorn's hands are raised to reply, but it takes her a moment to register Rory's comment. Then she nods. It was. But – Koshiro can't have been there. Can he?

The unicorn boy shakes his head. "I don't know. I'm not clear how long ago this was. And … you said it was vulnerable. Why would he leave that … ?" He trails off. "Maybe we should ask him about it? I mean … he wouldn't have any reason to lie to us, would he? Although I'm not certain how much of our time it would eat up to go back up there, then back here again."

Rory then sighs. "And I really don't want to make him angry. Uhm … while I'm trying to sort this out… " He looks about the room, trying to keep an eye out for things that look like they're out of place, and should be put away. No sense in leaving the place a mess, after all, since there's no telling when he might be back here again.

I don't know. But the Vartans said they killed the thing that left their crystal circle behind. Silhouette stands to follow Rory so he can watch her signs while he straightens up. This is so confusing! And here's the part that made no sense at all to me, until what you just said about Corwin and Sylvan. Remember that I said I had a dream of being Corwin?

Rory stops, and looks at Silhouette. He nods. "Mmm-hmm?"

While Corwin was in battle with Koshiro that time, he suddenly knew that he needed to find that crystal, the one inside Koshiro. He knew that he couldn't destroy the big visible crystal. But as he circled the shadow, he kept looking for the glint of light that would reveal the one Koshiro hid inside. When he saw it, he went for it and fractured it. Koshiro almost died! He lashed out against Corwin then – a clumsy, desperate blow, but it took him down. She shakes her head to clear it. But Rory, he didn't know about it on his previous tries. He'd killed all these shadow monsters with his allies, and he'd never known about that weak crystal. Until then. Until I was him, battling Koshiro, and I was thinking about what Sylvan had seen.

Rory's eyes go wide. "What … what if we're not just remembering the past … what if … we're changing it? What if Koshiro is hurt?!?" He jumps up in alarm. "We've got to help him!"

But – but – you can't change the past, Rory! Everyone knows that! Silhouette protests, though her fingers shake with uncertainty.

Rory's lip quivers. "I … I know that … but … I'm sorry … I've got to see if he's okay! I can't … not!" With that, he dashes out of the house. He gulps as he realizes he certainly couldn't run all the way down the valley … and it's certain to take a lot longer going up. So much for the rest of the day. He takes a deep breath … and tries to set a pace for himself, jogging up the path. "REECE!" he shouts as loudly as he can manage, cupping his hands to his mouth. And then … an idea occurs to him. He plunks down by the path, digs through his pouches, and starts throwing together a spell. A shadow can probably get to Koshiro much more quickly than he can.

Silhouette slips into place before the unicorn boy as he prepares his spell, and she's gesturing wildly. I know, I understand! And there's something else I haven't told you yet. In a dream I had later, Sylvan had just finished patching Corwin up from one of his battles with Koshiro – I don't know which one – and then she went to help Koshiro, too. While she was tending Koshiro, she said, "I don't know how long I can stand this. It's too awful, wondering day after day which of you will die, when the next time will be. I cannot bear it. I need to know how it ends. I need to know that it will be all right."

The shadow's fingers fly, as if she couldn't get the words formed quickly enough, And Koshiro told her, "There is a way to find out. When I am well, we shall attempt it." She stops, watching as Rory casts his spell for a few moments.

Rory pauses to watch Silhouette's signing, then resumes putting things in order. He may not "need" the circle and all, but considering his agitated state, he doesn't want to risk blundering. He sighs, then, at another break, he says, "And you never got to see how it went, did you?"

No, she admits. But, Rory, she forms the gesture that is his name – index finger raised like a single horn, jigging along, what if we're not remembering the past? What if we are just visions of their future?

Rory stops, letting the beginnings of his spell evaporate. "You're not going to believe this … but that was another one of my theories I was going to suggest." He sticks out his tongue. He shudders, then says, "Well … if we're just visions … then what are we supposed to do?" He looks sadly around at the house and its state of disrepair. "I'd say that the future looks pretty lousy."

Silhouette runs her fingers through her mane, then collapses to the ground, as if her sudden burst of energy had exhausted her. I don't know, she admits.

Rory sighs. "All right. Just give me … fifteen minutes, all right? I just need to send off my little Creen … see if Koshiro is all right. He'll go up there, look around, find Reece, and jiggle around in front of the cave, hopefully get Koshiro's attention … and if Koshiro will let him in, or watch him, tell him that we want to make certain he's okay. We thought he might be hurt. Then, before he wears out … the Creen will come back and report. Assuming that nothing goes wrong." Rory crosses his fingers, then starts over with his spell.

Silhouette starts to sign something else, then she just nods. Okay, please do check on him.

Rory nods in response to Silhouette, but says nothing other than a careful stream of calculated and arcane phrases. He moves stones about the circle that surrounds him in a well-rehearsed pattern, to add stability to his spell. They also serve as a sort of tactile feedback – as counters – to help him keep track of where exactly he is in the ritual, and which reiteration of the key verses he is on.

After several minutes, a shadow Creen forms against the stones of the path, just inside the circle. It bobs its head once to its creator, then zips down the path, soon out of sight.

Rory keeps chanting, trying to lend as much stability to his little Creen as he can … and giving himself something else to focus on than the sheer weirdness of these latest developments.

Several more minutes pass, then the Creen whisks down the path again. It stops on the ground before its master, seeming to pant, then begins a shadow play of its journey. It shows itself zooming towards the cave, then stopping in front of it. For a moment, nothing else happens, then it plunges into the cave.

Rory watches the play intently.

The shadow Creen comes before a bright crystal, symbolized by the absence of shadow around it, and behind that is a collection of wriggling deeper shadows. A familiar voice comes from the picture of the shadows, and it says, "I am fine, young mage; thank you for asking."

Silhouette starts at that. I didn't your Creen could talk!

Rory does a double-take, but then he shrugs. "Thank you," he whispers to the shadow Creen, and then while the ritual hasn't died out just yet, he murmurs a cantrip … conjuring up little shadow-seeds and wriggling things to feed the shadow Creen in thanks before it heads off to the shadow-place that shadow-creens go to when they're not helping Rory.

The shadow Creen is busy eating wriggling shadows even as it fades out of existence again.

Do you really think the future is so bad, Rory? Silhouette signs, after the spell is finished. I mean, it's not very nice right here. But what about Mr. Porky, and Skiree, and the College?

Rory lets out a longer sigh once the spell is over. "I guess … Koshiro is a really really powerful mage." He then sets about cleaning things up. "Well … at least Koshiro is all right. I don't know that it says anything about your theory, though. I mean … I'd like to think that we're real. I sure feel real … but … but I really like Corwin and Sylvan, and I want them to be happy." He rests his chin on one hand. "This is so confusing. I mean … the future isn't bad for us. But … for them."

The unicorn boy lowers his head, putting both hands on his forehead. "Oooogh. This is like one of those games the Mind Mages like to play. You know, where they try to convince you that when you're not aware of something, it ceases to exist."

The past wasn't very good for them, either, Silhouette signs, melancholy. I forget – did you know about Sylvan's past? Or Corwin's? Before they came to the cottage.

Rory shakes his head. "Not exactly. All I have are those dreams that Kiz and Kell gave me. And there were three doors … and I only eenie-meenie-mozied two of them. I saw the part where the Dragons banished Sylvan and the others to Sinai … and they did something that hurt them really badly. When I dreamt I was Sylvan, I could remember it, too and … oof … It … it was really bad." He frowns sadly. "I'm supposing that Corwin must have shown up when that was happening … that he wasn't one of the people the Dragons captured … but he must have gotten caught in the spell. That's why he had his armor and all. The Dragons wouldn't have let him have it otherwise. So I guess he's older than Sylvan, or else it wouldn't fit him, because she was sort of little. Like you and me."

"I also saw that Corwin had some friends like him – more knights – and they were traveling around, fighting the Shadow Dragons," Rory adds, sadly again, "but as they went on, his friends died along the way … until only he was left. And that's when he came here, and he met Sylvan."

Rory rubs his temples. "I'm wondering … our … 'flashbacks' … did it seem like yours were in order? I mean … first the older ones … then later ones?"

By way of explanation, the unicorn relates, "My first one was Sylvan clearing the path. That had to be pretty early on. Then, Corwin getting started on the garden … it seemed like he was a new arrival. And then the flashback of him in really bad shape trying to take a bath … possibly the same night … and then I'm guessing it was later when he had that fight with Sylvan. So it's seeming like it's more or less in order, with me."

Silhouette nods, gesturing with the same kind of sorrow. I think they were in order, though I'm not sure. In one of my visions, Corwin was telling Sylvan a story about himself when he was a little boy. Sylvan liked stories, fanciful ones about castles and knights and magic … she reminds me of you that way. Anyway, Corwin was born to one of the High Courts in Aeonia – what he called the "Seelie Court". He was the son of an important man, their Lord Chancellor. He was telling a story about this game he played with some of his friends, where they were doing a mock-quest to gain their pretend-Queen's favor, except that the real Queen was actually watching them, and really did give a reward to the one who succeeded! Her motions seem to lighten with mirth as she relates the event.

Rory smiles at the retelling, leaning forward and resting his hands on his chins to listen, giving Silhouette as encouraging of a look as he can manage. He does so like to hear stories like that. They're a lot better than the stories he'd usually hear back in Babel.

It reminded me of you and Skiree together, Rory. He sounded so young and happy when he talked about it. Silhouette opens her shadow mouth to show a smile in profile, then she sobers. But you know, he so seldom seemed … really happy, here. Sylvan asked him, when he finished the story, if it was banishment that had made him so angry and bitter.

"I wonder," Rory interjects, "was it really, really wonderful there, that here is so bad by comparison?" He ponders some more. "Or … maybe it was because his family and friends got left behind… "

When she asked that, he went cold, Rory, like you could see ice forming over him. He said, "No, it happened before that." But he didn't say anything else, just, "Lady Sylvan, please, ask no more." Sylvan didn't press him on it.

Rory frowns. "Well … if it was that personal … " He sighs. "I feel bad about wanting to know, now."

The shadow unicorn nods in quiet understanding. But … if you … or we … are … She stops her gestures, waving her hands in frustration. It seems like we need to know. She signs instead.

The unicorn boy nods. "Well … yes. But I still feel bad about it. The thing is … how do we proceed? The only thing I can figure is that I go back in and dig around some more. I haven't opened up that trunk yet. I imagine I'm going to get one heavy wallop if I touch the armor I suppose is inside." He stops, pondering… "What would happen if we both triggered things together? Would it make us have the same dream?" He ponders this for a moment, then rolls his eyes. "Reeeeeeaching." He sighs, then mumbles, "Well … it might be worth a shot anyway."

It might, Silhouette agrees. Do you want to go back inside?

Rory casts a glance at the blazing sun. "We're not going to accomplish anything out here. Not unless I find another loaded garden hoe, anyway." He dusts himself off, picks up the rest of his things, then offers a hand to Silhouette. "Off to Corwin's trunk!"

The little girl 'corn lays the shadow of her hand over his, and smiles. All right, she signs with her other hand.

Rory leads the way back to the house, careful not to outpace Silhouette or to lose "grip" of her hand, making his way back to Corwin's room, and to the trunk at the base of his bed.

The trunk looks quite innocent and harmless, just squatting on the floor, covered in a decade's worth of grime. Nonetheless, Silhouette seems to gather her courage before she kneels before it, staying at Rory's side. I'm ready, she signs.

Rory "pats" Silhouette's hand, taking a deep breath. "And me too – as much as I can be, anyway."

Rory then reaches for the chest. "All right … Let's do this together. On the count of three. That is … when I say three, then that's when we do it. You don't wait until four. Right on three. Got it? Yeah. One … two … three." And he reaches for the chest to open it.

Silhouette's hand mimics Rory's motion, as if she were his own shadow. They raise the trunk lid together. Dust stirs up. Nothing else happens.

The black and white unicorn makes a disappointed raspberry sound. "Well, that wasn't too exciting. But then, nothing happened when I popped open the other trunk, either. We've just got to keep going together. Uhm … What's in here, anyway?" He peers inside the trunk.

On top rests a painter's palette. Beside it rests a thin case of tightly woven grass. Underneath both is a paint-stained smock.

Rory frowns. "So what happened to the armor? If we were going to get a story about his time as a knight before coming here, I'm certain that'd be what would set it off! Oh, kablooie." He sighs. "Well, maybe we'll find out something else important. What do you think, Silhouette? The palette, the grass, or the smock? I don't have the slightest idea where to start looking for the armor. Maybe he buried it to make Sylvan happy."

Maybe it's under the smock. Silhouette looks to one side of the trunk to gauge its depth. It's a big trunk. I bet he used the smock more than the armor.

Rory nods. "Oh. All right. Okay, but keep in mind, we might set off something when we touch the smock, before we can rifle around for the armor. So let's do this together. We're going to reach over here and try to move the smock, okay?" He goes through the one, two, three routine again once he's certain Silhouette's with him, and then goes for the smock, closing one eye and turning partially away as if fearing it might explode.