She gestured over the bridge to the shining Palace of Day. From here, the distance to it seemed like the length of a supermarket aisle, but when it came to the Otherworld, things that looked far could be near and things that looked near could be far.
The dream dog woofed.
“Why are you helping us?” asked Aru.
Ratri bowed her head. “I do it not for you, but out of memory for a friend who has lost their way…. It is my hope, Pandavas, that you always see well. Remember, in one light something may seem monstrous, and in another it is perhaps not so terrible after all.”
A friend who has lost their way?Was she talking about Boo? But he had tried to make up for his past by being their teacher.
“Go,” saidRatri, pointing to the bridge. “My sister will wake soon, and the protections of your sage will fade.”
Brynne and Aiden bowed again before heading to the bridge. Aru lingered a little longer…. The dream dog had cocked hisheadto one side, as if wondering why she hadn’t invited him to join her.
“I have seen your nightmares, Aru Shah,” said Ratri.
Aru startled. “What?”
“They grow in my land,after all,” said Ratri, pointing at the dark expanse of her realm. “They are seeded with moments of doubt, watered with the pain of tears not shed, and pruned by the ghosts of paths not taken. But that does not make them true.”
Aru felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart. She didn’t think she’d ever feelokaywith everything that had happened with the Sleeper, but at least herfears weren’t necessarily realities.
Ratri stroked the white dog’s head. “I think he has taken a bit of a shine to you. Perhaps he will help guard your dreams from nightmares, daughter of the gods.”
For years, Aru’s mom had told her she could get a dog “in her dreams.” Now that didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
“Bye, buddy,” she said, then she jogged off after Brynne and Aiden.
“One morething, Pandavas!” called Ratri. “Beware the red cows, for once they cross the Bridge of Dawn and Dusk, you will be stuck here forever.”
