8 DAYS AFTER REAPPEARANCE
Parts 1 - 12

Dreamtime Part 1 (EQ2 # 4)
The Wolfriders have begun creating a new holt. Redlance remembers dreaming as he slept. Pike thinks it may be important and takes him to his den. In his dream he's the spirit of Father Tree, their old holt. He gives life to all creatures near and in him. The Wolfriders leave for a hunt as they have for generations. They're all still with him. Goodtree, who shaped him, lends her power, even in death, so he'll continue to grow. Seasons pass and one day he and the rest of the forest are burned, his lifeforce drained. He heals below where the soil is moist and rich. His roots survived and he will one day grow back. Someday the Wolfriders will return to him. Redlance says there's more. In a time to come, when the holt is deserted, humans come with axes and a saw. They cut him down. A great machine uproots him and he dies for good. Redlance screams. They explain to the others. Is it a warning or a symbol? Pike says both. The dream is unfinished, part of a larger dream. Nightfall will go next.

Dreamtime Part 2 (EQ2 # 5)
The Wolfriders gather. Pike says Treestump is next because there were treestumps in Redlance's dream. Treestump doesn't like the idea and walks away. Leetah thinks there's more to his refusal. She, Ember, and Suntop find him. In his dream he's a guardian spirit, wielding and wearing metal. The sword lives when his hand grasps it. He hunts for the tribe and protects it. He loves it. Nothing stands in his way and he thirsts for more. Those he loves and protects howl for joy. The trees start closing in, giving him no room to slash. His axe and sword are out of control. He kills cubs, Scouter and Cutter. He looks back and sees Dewshine and Clearbrook dead too. Nothing could stop the blades but his tears wear them down to nothing. A wave of tears overwhelms all. Leetah goes to the others, telling his dream. Cutter is unsure if they should continue. Zhantee has dreamed of huge waves since he was a child. He dreamed that and more as he slept.

Dreamtime Part 3 (EQ2 # 6)
Cutter goes off with Skywise and Timmain saying not to come to him when it goes bad. Zhantee, Leetah, Shen-Shen, Venka, and Pike go to the cliff. Someday Rayek will raise the Palace. His dream is bright. He sees the dunes of the Burning Waste from high in the sky. He sees the village. One inside it's like he's a child, the huts and mountains towering above him. His parents tell him to keep away from the Bridge of Destiny. A great 'no' bars the way. Rayek beckons from behind it and points towards hidden heights. The desert dissolves into a great wave and he lets it wash over him without fear. He can still breathe. He sees the sun through the water. He swims towards it. It's Leetah. She points him to the Palace. They pass through each other. No words can describe this. Every door leads to a big adventure. Venka says Timmain knew the power to shield slept in him. Being with the Wolfriders makes him stretch himself. He likes facing tests. Cutter comes and says that's what makes a true Wolfrider. Don't question Timmain's choice. Pike says the stories need to be kept somewhere. Venka suggests the Scroll of Colors. She asks Zhantee to take her to Rayek.

Dreamtime Part 4 (EQ2 # 7)
Zhantee takes his lovemate Venka below to the Palace. Ekuar welcomes them. Zhantee goes off for supplies. Winnowill drifts with no expression. Rayek is waiting for her. He lost the power to turn the Scroll of Colors. She tells him about the dreams. The common thread could be found with the scroll. Cutter couldn't bear the days without his family and asked them to join him in wrapstuff. Trolls and preservers watched over them. Her first nightmare was of the Go-Back lodge collapsing. Rayek didn't know she was alive. In her dream Savah reaches out to her and pushes aside Kahvi, who would use her for vengeance. Wisdom pours into her on the Bridge of Destiny, made of flame. Kahvi walks forward and it becomes ice. She hands her a sword and shield. The shield is flame, the sword ice. The Go-Backs have Wolfriders in their ranks. She rises above them. Meeting Rayek has resolved any conflict in her. She sends her dream to Pike. Nightfall says she's more Wolfrider than she thinks. The sun is up. She and Redlance tree with Cutter and Leetah. They tell him how the Go-Backs have a drop of wolf-blood (Kahvi # 1 - 6).

Dreamtime Part 5 (EQ2 # 9)
Tyleet is with Suntop and Ember at night. Moonhatchers jump into the pond with their mother. Nightfall goes off with Pike. In her dream she relives when Tyleet and Venka were cubs. Redlance brings a withered plant and shapes it into Cutter. It gives vigor to all living things and unites them all. A dark shadow comes in the form of Kahvi and wants what they have. It draws Cutter, Redlance, and the cubs away. She fires arrows but the shadows reform into Rayek, Winnowill, and Two-Edge, the loveless ones. They begin the holt's downfall. She fires, hitting them all. They retreat with her family. Humans block her, feeding on the last twigs of their home. She goes through them and chases the shadows into a cold emptiness. She's in the Go-Back lodge. The loveless ones restore themselves by feeding on their spirits. She fires at them but they grow larger. Just as an answer comes, it all disappears and she can't remember. That was when Kahvi woke her (Kahvi # 5). It fits with Redlance's and Treestump's dreams. A tusk-hog is in the bushes but it's not in her to kill. She returns to the moonhatchers. There's a time to kill and a time to watch the beauty we sometimes forget to see.

Dreamtime Part 6 (EQ2 # 11)
Pike goes after a tusk-hog alone. He grabs hold and is almost pulled into a root. Cutter knocks him free. Pike says they need to think like it to find it. Cutter feels the dreams mean nothing. Pike tells his dream. Trolls brought a vat of dreamberries to the holt. Everyone's drunk. Pike is squishing berries with his feet. He's with troll maidens but in his current state they look beautiful. They hug and smash him. He and Cutter find the tusk-hog's den. Pike sits on it. He'll sense its charge and grab it. It gets dark. In his dream he was smashed smaller and smaller until he becomes a dreamberry. He bounces out of the hole and a troll eats him. The tusk-hog comes and Pike grabs hold. He's thrown off. Cutter grabs it by the tusks and is pulled into the den head-first. He throws dirt in its mouth and they both climb a tree. Dreamberry Pike escaped after the troll fully digested him. Skot and Krim kill the tusk-hog. Cutter says Pike can only dream about what his head is stuffed full of.

Dreamtime Part 7 (EQ2 # 12)
The tusk-hog kill is divided up. Krim and Skot want cooked meat but no fires are allowed. Angrily they walk off. They smell cooked meat down the hill. Pike goes to find his lifemates. Skot attacks the human camp. He expects to be attacked, but the human jumps back. Skot falls in the fire. The humans try to help but Krim chases them away. She puts Skot out. She and Pike head to the Holt with him. Skot describes Go-Back dreams. What's behind vanishes in white. What's ahead is covered in white. It's always the same. All that ever mattered was the going. When you can't go on the next one takes your place. The only dream is to make a fawn who'll take his place so he can stop. His spirit will dwell in the Palace. At the Holt he's healed by Leetah. She slaps him and asks if he'd throw his life away for meat. Cutter's angry. Skot may have stirred up the humans' hates. Pike says Go-Backs never learned to care about what's been and what's to be. He tells how Skot's dream is different from theirs. Go-Backs truly live in the "now of wolf thought." Cutter backs off. Strongbow and Moonshade will take them in hand. Skot likes it when Cutter and Leetah bear their fangs. Strongbow says, "Then you'll love dealing with me."

Dreamtime Part 8 (EQ2 # 13)
Moonshade has Krim curing hides. If they show they're sorry through their deeds, Cutter may forgive them. Strongbow and Skot watch the wolves. The chief wolf puts down rebellion. The challenger must submit. Skot must go to Cutter and show throat or he'll be cast out with his next mistake. They return to Moonshade and Krim. Skot feels elders think they're better. Go-Backs don't grow old if they can help it. They don't learn to respect age. There's no getting close to Strongbow and Moonshade. Skot and Krim are told to sit and are sent to. Words and bodies aren't enough to explain it. Strongbow and Moonshade ride wolves through the sky. A cub is created but it withers. A second one is created, coming out of Strongbow's bow. The second goes off on his own and they become wolves. Trees start closing in and they become one wolf. Skot and Krim ask why they gave so much of themselves to them. They withold nothing but their soul names. Nothing ever gets done unless we abide by the rules we make. Each know their part. Where do you stand? Skot finds Cutter and rolls over at his feet like a wolf showing throat. He's forgiven. Skot runs off with Shenshen. The humans know they're here. Befriending them is Tyleet's fondest dream.

Dreamtime Part 9 (EQ2 # 15)
Pike and Tyleet talk. She hopes for a time when humans and elves help each other. She dreams that Little Patch wanders out towards a human village with tall huts. She runs through a human crowd. They seem to be headed somewhere. She can't see over them. They don't understand her but sense her need. Friendly Nonna and Adar come, but their words are gabble. She quickly learns their speech and asks for help. Most of the humans are offended that she raised a human. They turn away. A big man, Olbar, lifts her up and they search for Little Patch. Two humans bring him to her. She looks down and sees she has five fingers. She feels a need to be accepted. Shenshen remembers her dream. She's in Sorrow's End. Leetah is dancing, overshadowing her. She asks Savah to make her shine brighter. She leads Shenshen down and the basement becomes a cave. Savah becomes Old Maggoty. Shenshen must put mushrooms into her basket. A great boot keeps stomping on them, then on her. She suddenly wakes up in a cave with Maggoty. It starts caving in. The troll says she'll come into her own, but not when she expects. She runs out but Leetah is trapped there. Leetah becomes Tyleet and says, "Shine where you love." She's with-cub and has five fingers. Pike finds the thread. He tells Cutter, but he doesn't want it to continue. But Timmain does. Clearbrook and Aroree arrive.

Dreamtime Part 10 (EQ2 # 16)
Tyleet and Shenshen gave Pike a thread. Clearbrook, Aroree, and Cutter must go. Theirs could be the most important. Clearbrook mostly relived hunts and howls. In the days after the first war for the Palace, their place in the world was unsettled, living in fear of Winnowill. In her dream Blue Mountain is more twisted than ever. She's searching for Windkin and can't send. Symbols on the walls come to life and attack. She runs. Two-Edge finds her. She gives him no chance to speak, stabbing him. Winnowill is right around the bend with Windkin. Two-Edge tries to speak again but she cuts him down. Winnowill is gone. Clearbrook, able to float, heads down a pit. It becomes narrower and narrower until she's stuck. Two-Edge smashes her free and says, "Children are never safe. None of us ever are." Aroree says she visited Clearbrook's dream and is ashamed. Winnowill taught the Eight to feed on the dreams of others. It caused them, in time, to lose the ability to dream for themselves. The emptiness was unbearable and she never slept. She was brave to be cocooned with the others. They're fine with what she did. She already knew all the dreams. She understands how Cutter feels. The dreams made them a close-knit pack again. Let it end now. Skywise breaks the silence, asking for a turn.

Dreamtime Part 11 (EQ2 # 18)
Skywise's dream may fit in. He says dreams are a way for spirits to play while the body is resting. Even Treestump's and Nightfall's were "scary fun" since they never happened. Skywise is guarding a cart full of bags of gold. Humans are coming. He runs and hides the bags at the foot of the hill. But the humans aren't interested, passing it. He looks and sees strange stars above the cart. They're leaving and he begs for them not to leave him on the ground. One comes back and swirls around his arms, pulling him up. He's flying over the human city. Suddenly it's daytime. He flies unafraid down the the humans' level, then flies back up. Suddenly he's in a room on the cushions of a sleep-pit. The star shatters, sprinkling on him in the form of a blanket. The blanket becomes Starjumper. Cutter thanks him for softening the path for him. Cutter agrees it must end with him.

Dreamtime Part 12 (EQ2 # 18)
Cutter gives an open sending. He's crossing the Bridge of Destiny, his goal is Leetah. There is no ground below, only a bottomless chasm. Rayek snatches up Leetah and Cutter falls, knowing he failed. He lost something he'll never get back. He won't go any further. What follows is the counting. If he sends how it feels to lose the now of wolf thought, the tribe will lose it. He's gotten good at looking ahead, though. They'll need that according to the dreams. Pike shows them what he learned. He splits the tribe into two groups. Shenshen's and Tyleet's are a key to the others. What if, when we're dreaming, we're really living and doing somewhere else. Tyleet was helped by humans. It could happen. In Shenshen's Maggoty said dreams don't happen now, meaning here and now. Here is the world when we're awake. Now is all there is when we're awake. Before and behind are all one. Visions of light have no fear. Zhantee was raised to see far. Venka rose up above her dual heritage. High or low (as in Pike's) we see farther than when in the thick of things. Redlance's felt real. Treestump's didn't. Both are right. Redlance was Father Tree, destroyed by humans' metal. Treestump couldn't keep his own metal weapons from killing what he loves most. Nightfall's and Treestump's warn that some of us are as much to blame for losing the holt as humans. They're about things closing in, like Moonshade and Strongbow's. All dreams are true, even when they seem backwards. They must know all sides. Half were good dreams, half bad. Half of them will live forever. The half that can't have fear dreams, keep-alive dreams. Pike and Tyleet are free of fear. Only the spirit lasts forever. Cutter says if this holt falls, we won't. There will always be a Father Tree. Dawn: They all learned a lot, now they sleep. Cutter has his dream again.