Claire hadn't realized she had been sleeping until a loud noise from Plenty jarred her awake. Looking around, she saw that it was still nighttime. Plenty was carrying her and Owen through a dark forest with gnarled trees.

Claire was peering closer at a twisted tree that looked like it was sneering at her when a cold wind blew against her neck and made her spine crawl. "Let's get through this place quickly," she muttered. "More, Plenty."

Plenty eyed her but didn't change his pace.

Claire thought she saw something move in the trees out of the corner of her vision. "Are you listening? More!"

Plenty nickered quietly and continued his slow walk.

"Why won't you go faster?"

He made another noise, as if he was trying to tell her something. "I can't understand you," Claire said. "You're a horse, and I'm a person. But I'm sure you can understand me, so go! More!"

Plenty snorted loudly.

"I wish I could understand you," Claire murmured under her breath, keeping her eyes on the eerie forest.

"It's about time you said that."

Claire jumped and almost fell off the horse. "Who said that?" she cried, turning her head from side to side to search the dark trees.

"I did. The silly horse."

Claire faced forward again, leaning her head over the back of Plenty's neck. "Plenty," she said tremulously. "Was that you?"

"Of course it was me," the horse responded. "You finally have the common sense to listen."

Claire blinked a few times. She might have pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but she already knew she was. Everything in Etherea was a dream to her. "Did I do this?" she asked. "Did I make you talk?"

"Well, yes. After all, if you can make rocks appear out of thin air you can make horses talk. Especially if you wish for it. It's all just dream logic."

"I guess that makes sense," Claire said softly. "So, now that I can understand you, can you tell me why you aren't going any faster? This forest is making me nervous. Don't you see how the trees move?"

Plenty huffed. "I would go faster if I could, princess. But I can't. This place is dampening my magic."

"Oh. Why is that?"

"I didn't want to scare you, princess, but this is the Shadow Forest. They're everywhere."

"Shadows?" Claire squeaked. Her heart started racing as she began to see shifting forms between the trees.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you. You can't be afraid. If you're afraid of the shadows, they'll only grow stronger."

"They will?" Claire said, her voice shaking. She thought she had seen a face staring out from the bushes near them.

"They won't bother us when they're weak. You have to stay calm, or they might become hostile."

Claire focused her eyes on the horse's mane, trying to distract herself by studying the flowers and leaves braided into it. It didn't work very well.

"Plenty, how am I supposed to calm down?"

The horse shook his head lightly. "I don't know. Twiddle your thumbs, sing a song, count how many times my hooves hit the ground--it doesn't matter. Just find something to fill your mind instead of letting the darkness in."

Claire leaned forward. "What are you doing?" she questioned.

Plenty flicked his ears. "I'm making up names for each gnat that has bitten me over the course of this trip."

"Oh." Claire sat up straight and knitted her brows in thought. "I don't think I'll do that."

"Then do something else. I can feel your heartbeat speeding up like a rabbit's. Can you sing maybe?"

Of course she could sing. It was one of the many gifts the fairies at her christening had given her. But because it came so easily for her, she had never given much thought to it. She had been much more interested in learning other things without magic, like climbing trees or holding her breath as long as she could. "I do sing," she said to Plenty. "But I don't know any songs."

Plenty bobbed his head. "You don't? I don't believe you. Everyone knows some songs. Even I do. And I can't sing!"

Claire took a breath and glanced out into the forest. Was she just imagining it, or were the shadows pressing in closer? She started humming nervously.

"Your humming is lovely, dear," Plenty cut in. "But you're still thinking about the shadows. Sing something! Something pretty. Shadows hate pretty songs."

Claire swallowed apprehensively. A pair of eyes were glowing out of the darkness. They were looking right at her.

"Sleep, my babe, no ill betide thee..." Claire started, her voice weak.

"That's nice," Plenty said approvingly. "And you said you didn't know any songs."

"It's a lullaby my mother used to sing to me," Claire explained.

"Sing it louder."

"I don't know if I can." She could feel the air growing colder as the warmth-destroying darkness drew ever nearer.

"You have to."

Claire looked at the back of the horse's head. Then her eyes went to Owen, his own eyes shut and his breath still. She had to get past the shadows. She had to do it for him.

"While the Earth in calm reposes
All through the night."

Plenty's head started swaying as she sang.

"You shall sleep as sleep the roses
All through the night."

Slowly, the shadows shrank back. The light in their crimson eyes was fading. But Claire wasn't paying attention to them anymore. Her hand was on Owen's shoulder, and her voice was in his ear. She was singing for both herself and him.

"O'er thy head the stars are beaming
Silver bright the moon is gleaming
You shall tread the land of dreaming
All through the night."

The shadows had melted away into the forest. The moon and stars lit the sky overhead. Plenty walked and Claire sang on, free of fear under their silent watch.

~*~

There had been a light. After all had been darkness, Owen had seen a glow of warmth appear in the fog. It had disappeared as soon as it had come, but he knew he had seen it. And somehow, after seeing that light, he finally understood.

"This is a nightmare, isn't it?" he shouted out at the shrouded land.

"A living nightmare," a voice hissed at him.

"But it's still a nightmare," Owen continued, growing more hopeful.

"It does not matter. The torture we provide is still enough to drive you mad."

Owen felt a cold chill run through his bones, but he ignored it. "Am I really here, or is this just all in my head?"

There was no answer. The cold landscape was deathly silent.

"So it is in my mind. You don't want to say it."

A shadow swept up from the ground like leaves in the wind, gliding swiftly toward Owen until it was leaning at his shoulder. "It does not matter," it said, its voice stinging the prince's ears. "The torture of the mind is often stronger than the pain of the body."

"But it can be beaten," Owen argued.

The wind stirred as the shadow glided swiftly to stop only inches away from his face. The fiery eyes burned into his own, filling his mind with terrifying thoughts and visions.

"Do you think it can be beaten now?" the shadow said sharply, shaking with intensity.

Owen shut his eyes quickly, his head still pounding with the pain of fear. His breath was shallow with panic, and the dark images echoed in his mind, but he wasn't looking into the shadow's gaze any longer. He had to do everything he could to shut out the darkness.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," the shadow chided in a singsong voice. Owen could feel it circling around him, but he didn't dare open his eyes to find it.

A low rumble reached his ears, coming from all sides. It grew louder and louder, until it sounded as if the whole world was moaning in agony. Unearthly wails and shrieks of pain accented the noise, peaking sharply and dying out slowly.

Owen turned his head nervously, his eyes wanting to open and see what was happening, and his willpower just barely keeping them from failing.

"You know it's too much," the shadow urged. It sounded so close, it might have been inside Owen's head. "It's too hard to fight. Open your eyes and submit your will to the darkness."

"I...c-can't..." Owen stammered. "I'm on a quest. I already almost failed because...because I doubted myself. I g-gave up. I can't give up now."

"Fine," the voice hissed somewhere to his left. The surrounding noise was chaotic. "Fight it, then. But you are only drawing out your ruin."

Owen pressed his eyelids down as tight as they would go. "I have to win my mind," he whispered to himself. "I have to remember the light."

All was darkness and clamor, but Owen willed himself to hold on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Attribution: The song used in this chapter is a variant of the traditional Welsh lullaby "All Through the Night." The writer of this version's lyrics is unknown.