Rellah shot straight up in bed, gasping as though she had been choked. Her violet eyes, bright with fear, darted quickly around the room for a sign of an intruder. Rellah�s hair, wild as it always was, fell loosely about her as she slowly peered under her bed, her knuckles turning white as she clutched the bed, her heart pounding.

Nothing was there.

Leaning back to sit on her bed, Rellah sighed a little, relaxing her grip on her sheets. Her heart still pounding so hard that it might leap out her throat, she closed her eyes, breathing heavily and slowly, trying to calm herself.

�Rellah��

Shooting her eyes open, Rellah again looked around her room, her bottom lip beginning to tremble. Her hand slowly slid behind her, reaching for the dagger she had started to keep under her pillows at night. It had been only a week since Rellah purchased her new home, a villa outside the cozy town of Cove, but the nightmares started when she spent the night in The Peg Leg Inn, in Buccaneer�s Den. Never the same but always connected, her dreams woke her at night, and were getting more vivid. Slipping out of bed, Rellah tiptoed over to her windows, peeking out at the sea which shimmered under the full moon. Her eyes wandered to her neighbors homes, all dark and quiet.

A movement on the shoreline startled Rellah, and she pressed her hands to the cold windowpane, peering out into the moonlit night. The thing moved again, splashing in the water, but even Rellah�s extraordinary sight could not make out what it was. Knowing she had to go outside to calm her nerves, Rellah moved away from the window, her dagger still tight in her hand, and opened her bedroom door.

Darkness welcomed Rellah into the hallway, and she was hesitant for a moment, but continued toward the staircase. The stairs seemed more narrow and longer as she took them one at time, putting a hand on the wall for support. The moonlight filtered in all of her windows downstairs, lighting the room with an eerie glow.

Barefoot, with only a sleeping gown on, Rellah shivered a little as she unlocked her front door, stepping onto the cold patio cobblestones. Turning to the sea, Rellah�s eyes wandered the shoreline for the thing she had seen from her bedroom window. At first she thought it had left, but suddenly a loud chirping noise and a splash of water erupted close by.

Rellah stepped onto the grass, moving closer to the shore, her brow wrinkling and a confused, but curious look appearing on her face. She knelt down, leaning over the water, trying to see what had �

Another eruption of water left Rellah�s face wet. She fell backward onto the lawn, startled, not remembering if she screamed. Looking at her neighbors dark homes, she guessed she hadn�t as no candles were lit in them. The chirping noise made Rellah turn back to the water. A shiny, silvery blue body was now visible. The creature had a long nose, and its black eyes had a twinkle of mischief in them.

A dolphin. Rellah�s hand relaxed on her dagger, and she let it drop to her side as she inched closer to the dolphin, who seemed utterly impressed that it had given Rellah a fright. Her nerves still shaken, Rellah extended a trembling hand toward the creature, and to her surprise, it moved closer so that she could touch it.

Her heart finally started to calm down as she continued to pet the dolphin�s back, and she smiled a little. Whispering, Rellah looked at the dolphin and said, �You gave me quite a startle, mellon.�

The dolphin chirped at her again, and rolled onto its back so that she may rub its stomach. Rellah laughed then, her fears subsiding, her nightmares almost forgotten. And then her fears came rushing back as a voice echoed in the night.

�Lle n�khile lye, Rellah..�

Quickly standing up, Rellah spun around, searching for the person whom the voice belonged to. �Manke naa lle?�

No one replied to her. Only the stillness of the night, and the movement of the dolphin were all she heard. Rellah knelt by the dolphin, sighing. �Amin naa olvannien ta..�

The dolphin looked at Rellah, its eyes twinkling with an expression she could not clearly make out. Its mouth opened then, and instead of the loud chirping noise, it whispered to her, �Ron naa tulien ten� lle, Rellah.�

Blinking, her mouth opening in disbelief, Rellah leaned toward the dolphin. �Lle rengwa amin?�

The dolphin splashed some water at her with one of its flippers, rolling over playfully. Rellah edged closer, and the dolphin returned, staring at her with its playful eyes, but said nothing more.

�Lle rengwa amin?� Rellah whispered, seeming desperate, leaning close to the dolphin, hoping for an answer, but it only chirped at her and quickly dove into the sea, swimming away. Standing up, Rellah cried out to it, �Feitha!�

The dolphin was gone. Rellah frowned, lowering her extended hand. She turned back to the villa, looking up at it and sighing heavily. Perhaps the dolphin did not speak, she thought. After all, she had been seeing and hearing quite a lot lately, ever since the bath house in Buccaneer�s Den, where she thought she saw Laerithil and heard her father�s voice.

Pondering on it a moment, Rellah played back the scene from the bath house, of the hand, of the bright burst of gold. The only reason I thought it was Laerithil was because I was thinking of him at the time, she thought. It could have been anyone...And the voice tonight, she did not recognize. It was a mere whisper, nothing as clear as when she had heard her father.

Picking up her dagger from the grass, Rellah made her way back inside and locked her door, leaning up against it. Her whole body grew heavy, and she dropped the dagger to the ground, cupping her face in her hands, tears cascading down from her pale violet eyes. She was growing tired of the torment of her nightmares, of the voices that filled her mind. Rellah's body suddenly became stiff, a wave of panic overwhelming her as she thought back to what the dolphin said.

They are coming for you, Rellah.