In the dream, she is V again, the child stealth master, innocent and happy. She is walking through a park of Enseljos on a bright sunny morning. Ahead, she spots a familiar figure lounging on a park bench, soaking up the sun.

"Hi Wedge!" she exclaims gleefully, running up and pouncing on him by surprise. He grins and his eyes smile: "Hi kid, it's great to see you, too!" V and the young rascal are soon lightheartedly planning their next escapade; she sitting cross-legged on the grass marking strategies with sticks, nuts and string; he on the bench strumming his mandolin, humming a tune to scheme by.

The sun goes behind a cloud.

She looks up. The sun is obscured by a thick black curtain of smoke rising from the smoldering remains of the city. In the distance, fires are still burning. The stench of the dead and the wails of the living are the dominant sensations, far outweighing the dim gray disk which is all that remains of the sun behind the smoke.

On the bench, Halifirien looks much older, with careworn lines in his cheeks and forehead. The glint in his eyes is gone. There are cuts and old bloodstains on his faded green jacket. He is plucking out a low, slow bass line on his champagne-blue electric guitar.

Marlee is an adult woman again, wearing the black gown and cloak of mourning. Halifirien stops playing, and reaches down to take her hands. A cold shock pierces her at the touch: he is the Bearer of Evil Tidings. He pulls her up to sit next to him on the bench, kisses her hand, then her forehead. He begins to play another tune, dark and evil. "Listen," he whispers, as the vision unfolds . . .

She sees her stealth master army, small bright-blue flames, playing wargames and laughing. Then a great black Shadow descends upon them, and when it moves away, they lie scattered and broken . . .

She sees Maeglin, a blindingly brilliant white Flame, standing boldly, looking to the future. Then the Shadow, wielding a Black Sword, strikes him from behind, and his flame is extinguished, drawn into the insatiable dark void . . .

But the great black Shadow is not yet done. It envelopes the body, soaking itself into every pore. The body rises, and the Shadow hides itself with a counterfeit of Maeglin's white Flame. Marlee sees herself, making love with the Thing, while the Shadow laughs . . .

Marlee awakens and her vision clears, though for several minutes she can hardly breathe.

(1989?)