30

"But what you guys did tonight will keep whoever it was out for right now, yeah?"

"Yeah," and Kelli nodded with a serious look on her face. "Mary said that when she tested it that it was, by far, the most powerful ward she has ever encountered. She also said that it would take two or three circles of twelve witches working in concert to even dent its protection, and Gina promised that only Millicent would be able to contact you in your dream."

I sighed with barely felt relief at that point, glad that for the near future I probably would not suffer the nightmare again. My fear, however, that somehow it would still happen, that tonight's magic would not be enough to protect me, still remained. Kelli seemed to sense the thoughts going through my head and she pulled me into another hug and rubbed my back with both hands, which did a lot to calm to my troubled heart and mind.

"Ok, I know you are probably still so afraid that you don't want to go to sleep," and I confirmed Kelli's statement with a fervent nod, but another yawn betrayed my overriding fatigue. "Ali left a powder here that I am going to mix with some juice. She told me that Millicent made it and that it will help you sleep, and causes a slumber deep enough that it will be difficult for you to dream, or be forced to dream. With this stuff, Ali said even Millicent could not get through to you for a while. You need some sleep sweetie. Will you let me give it to you?"

I really did not want to take the powder that Kelli was offering, even if it had come from Millicent. I was still scared, and desperately so, but the pain I saw in Kelli's eyes because of my suffering was too much for even my fear to overcome. I agreed to take the mixture for her. Kelli nodded, got up from the couch and poured a small glass of juice for me and mixed in the contents of an odd looking packet. The juice instantly took on a bright verdant hue and started to fizz, and Kelli passed over the glass which I downed in one long gulp.

It didn't taste horrible, just a little odd, and it left a tingly numbing sensation on my tongue and throat. I opened my mouth to ask Kelli if she knew how long it would take to work, and I could not get any words out. As I tried to stand, I nearly fell over due to a warm and comfortable lethargy that had come over my muscles and I stumbled into Kelli's waiting arms. I remembered her helping me to our bed, taking off my robe, and then laying me down on our mattress which was suddenly the most comfortable thing in the whole world. I couldn't keep my eyes open, and the last I remembered of that night was Kelli talking softly to me as she lay next to me in bed, and her singing me to sleep as I fell away into the blank nothingness of sweet oblivion.

The next moment I was aware of I was back in the dream world, and I was pissed. Everyone was sure that I wouldn't get pulled into this again, and yet here I was. I could feel my fear and anger swell like an overinflated balloon, except things were different. I was back in our clearing, at our cabin, where Kelli and I had fun growing up, and where we had spent Valentine's a couple of weeks ago. And in front of our little space crackled a merry fire. Millicent, my surrogate Nana, sat tending the flames and something that she was cooking, and the anger and fear that had been threatening to overtake my mind moments ago vanished like water on a hot summer sidewalk. I blushed as I remembered that Millicent was going to have a way to contact me here.

I was slightly surprised that I was again naked here, but that thought still did not bother me at all in this place. The bond between Millicent and I pulsed with warmth and love, and my heart was almost literally singing as I walked to her fire with a bounce in my step that I had not felt the past few days. My curiosity also had me wondering what Millicent had to say that required her to visit me so soon. I walked up and took a seat at the fire with her, the smell of sausage and warm bread filling my nose, and leaned into her gentle embrace as she hugged me like one of her own grandchildren.

"Hello Nana," I greeted her, nearly drooling at the smells of what she was cooking, even if it was dream food. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you here. I thought that it was going to be a while before the mixture you gave me wore off enough for you to bring me here."

"It is wonderful to see you too little one," she answered, and rubbed my head like any other nana would do for their grandchild. "You should know that it has been two days since you drank the sleeping powder that I mixed, and you will most likely be waking soon."

"Two days," I exclaimed. "Was I supposed to sleep so long?"

"I mixed the powder to have some extra potency. Your mind and body needed the sleep and your heart the time to mend. I was able to give you that."

I leaned into her once more and thanked her for her help, and I realized that here in this dream with her I no longer felt the crippling fear or anger from the other dreams. I felt stable once more, which I had not felt for a while.

"There is no need to thank me child," Millicent chuckled, and turned the sausages in her cooking pan so they would not burn. "I am as concerned for your welfare as I am with the other sisters in the Circle. Perhaps a touch more with you, because I do so like it when you call me Nana."

We both grinned at that and shared another warm embrace while sitting there together, and the bond I had with Millicent pulsed again with her love for me.

"Now, others have told me what you described to them about your dream, especially the bad one, but I would like to hear it from you, if you feel you can talk about it," and she motioned to me, indicating that I could begin when I felt ready.

It was hard, but I opened up my heart to Nana Millicent. I let out all of the anger, frustration, and especially fear that I had been experiencing in my dreams since the last time we spoke. I cried, and vented about unfairness, and how it was not right that someone who hated me so completely had that much power over me. Millicent was exactly like a loving grandmother, and she listened to all of my travails without any judgment or criticism.

She had many questions about the woman in the green cloak, and her apparent animosity towards me, and she agreed with my assessment that this unknown woman didn't have much actual skill. Most likely she had secured the aid of a third party who provided the ability to control the dream world that she seemed capable of pulling me into. Even though the last couple of weeks had been difficult to talk about, as I shared the burden with Millicent I could feel a crushing weight lift from my shoulders.

"And that's pretty much it," I said as I finished recounting the events that had led up to our meeting. "By the way, do you have any idea about how Kelli knew what she did about magic? She kind of surprised us all."

"Oh, that," Millicent said, and the look of concern in her eyes betrayed the light tone that was in her voice. "The sisters showed me the ward they had planned to craft before they left to aid you, and then showed me what was actually crafted, apparently with the help of Kelli's spur of the moment instructions."

She sighed, and a pensive look settled on her face, which had me concerned that we had done something wrong. The intervening silence was making my tail twitch in nervous agitation, and my ears laid flat against my head as she looked at me with eyes so haunted I almost thought she expected one of us to drop dead right at that moment. But, Millicent being who she was, sensed my turmoil almost immediately and she put on a warm smile that was a stark contrast from the mask of dread it had worn seconds ago.

"Here child, have something to eat," she said, and passed over some of the sausages and bread that had been cooking over her fire. I couldn't help but eat like I had been starving for weeks. "I must say that Kelli is an intriguing young woman, and I sincerely look forward to meeting you both in the flesh. The ward that she aided in crafting was a work of art, the kind no one has seen for a long, long time."

"How was she able to do that," I asked, with juices from the sausages running down my chin. Dear god Millicent was a great cook.

"That I cannot tell you child, but suffice it to say that this is the first time that I have felt true surprise in a very long time," she said, and the tone of worry in her voice caused a sour taste to rise up in the back of my throat. Suddenly I was not so hungry anymore.

"You shouldn't allow yourself to worry over such things, little one," Millicent admonished me, as she pulled me into another comforting embrace. "My concerns are my burden to carry, and I would not trouble your soul with knowledge that would do you absolutely no good. The signs I see concern my fate, and my fate alone, and all must partake of the bitter so that we can appreciate the sweet. Now, sit with me a while longer child tell me about Kelli and why you love her so much."

I crawled up into Millicent's lap and laid my head on her chest so that I could hear her heartbeat and smell the warm mustiness that was her ever comforting scent, and then I told her about Kelli. She listened with rapt attention as I described our families' first meeting; how Kelli and I bonded, almost like sisters, from the instant that we laid eyes on each other. She laughed as I regaled her with stories of the mischief we got into growing up, and told me that we should have known better after I described some of our early bumbling attempts with boys.

I wasn't sure what it was, and it may have been a combination of the dream world and Millicent's comforting presence, but before I knew what was happening I had launched into full and very detailed description of what happened on New Year's Eve. I felt so warm and safe in her arms, while she gently stroked my hair as she listened to my ramblings, and I don't think I could have held back a single detail if someone would have paid me a million dollars to do so. The love, the hurt, the sex, the discovery, and the shock of my transformation flowed out of my mouth like a rushing river. It was cathartic, and at the end of the story, I laid there in Millicent's gentle arms and let her rock me back and forth like a little child.