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As it turned out, I didn't have to wait long to find out. In fact, I learned
many things in a very short span of time. After Gabriel offered to show me
anything I could imagine, I took him up on it. We traveled through a vortex of
liquid gold into my first destination: the desert of Damar, from my favorite
old fantasy novel, The Blue Sword. However, we didn't stay long. In fact,
we'd barely arrived when the scenery around us shifted, blurred, and collapsed
into formlessness. The last thing I could clearly see was a look of dismay on
Gabriel's face. As a different part of the dream world formed around us, a woman appeared before us. She looked right through me, her stare piercing Gabriel's eyes. "Gabriel Orden," she began in a stern tone of voice, "what could have possessed you to be so reckless?" I turned to see Gabriel cowering behind me, kneeling on the ornately decorated marble floor of the chamber we now stood within. Far from his usual cheerful self, he appeared almost petrified with terror. Who is this woman? I wondered. The Ordens must be pretty powerful to be able to defeat the Nothing, but Gabriel seems scared to death of her. From his position on the floor, Gabriel spoke in a quivering voice. "I'm sorry, Dream-master. Your pardon. I thought there was time to let Neil relax, to show him some of our world." He appeared truly pathetic shaking there. He dared to look up and meet her eyes, a pleading look within his own. Once again I wondered who this woman could be. Gabriel had called her Dream-master, but I had no worldly clue as to what that meant. I turned to look at her more closely and noticed that she now regarded Gabriel with the ghost of a smile upon her lips. Like Tristan and the Ordens, she appeared to be in her twenties (or perhaps younger), and her features kept shifting. One moment she was white-haired and steely-eyed, the next a perfect "Aryan". She wore a cloak of blue, but the garment's color shifted and faded as the light from an unknown source played across it. Deep inside my heart, I knew that I was in the presence of true power. Even as I stared at the lady Gabriel had called the Dream-master, her countenance brightened. "Stand up Gabriel," she commanded in a tone of voice that made it seem as if it were a mere suggestion, "I suppose there's no harm done. The Dreamer has been delivered safely." For the first time, she turned her attention to me, and the force of it was almost crushing. With a warm smile on her face, she spoke. "Welcome to the dream world, Neil. You're safe now." "Where am I?" I tried to ask her, but she turned her attention back to Gabriel. "Orden, you have your duty. The Destroyer of Dreams is loose in Adara's lands, and she has requested assistance." As Gabriel bowed and vanished into thin air, the Dream-master looked at me again. Her appearance settled into a stable form, with bright green eyes and auburn hair. With the exception of her flowing robes, she actually didn't look that much different from an ordinary student in the final year of secondary school. If her new appearance was meant to put me at ease, it certainly did the trick. She smiled as she told me, "You have come a long way, Dreamer, but you're also right where you started." This cryptic comment puzzled me. I was having enough trouble dealing with Tristan, and he, at least, didn't talk in riddles. I didn't think I could take another being like Vision, who hadn't even been able to speak properly. If the Dream-master was anything like that, I was about to scream! Fortunately, she showed that I had finally reached the one with all the answers. "This is my home, my workshop, my entire world. Here, the Conclave of Spirits meets to hear my rulings. This is all of the dream-world, yet it's also the smallest part of it." Seeing my baffled expression, she laughed aloud. "Don't try to understand it, Neil. Even the most powerful Spirits can't comprehend this place fully. See, everything in the dream world is both connected and disjointed, fluidly changing shape and size. Reality here is all in the imagination." "So what exactly is this place?" I inquired. "Tristan called it Dormitund, but Vision and the Ordens called it Leomand." I saw the Dream-master laugh and shake her head. "Tristan would. Even when he's wrong, he's got to be correct. Of course, there really is no wrong name for anything." Seeing my confusion, she let me in on the joke. "Tristan is a stickler for absolutely correct and perfect details. He's still young." She laughed again, but this time offered no explanation, instead continuing with her earlier tale. "He would have dug through everything he could get his hands on to find the 'proper' name for the Dream-world. Vision, on the other hand, is almost as old as time itself. His word comes from ages long past, more ancient even than written memory. The Ordens spend disproportionate amounts of time working for him, so naturally they picked up the same name." "What do you call the dream world?" I asked her. "You must understand that all of us, myself included, used to be normal humans just like you, Neil," she explained. "I always called this place Elsewhere, and that name is generally used by Messengers when I send them outside." Interesting, I thought. Elsewhere does sound rather appropriate. As we talked, the scenery had been shifting, and now I took a moment to survey our new surroundings. Two rather comfortable-looking chairs sat right beside where we stood, bookshelves and maps lined the walls, and a large table rested nearby, covered in various objects. The high ceiling had fallen to a level that appeared about right for a study, and indeed the marble floor had been replaced by soft, purple carpet with gold patterns etched into it. Noticing that the Dream-master had taken a seat, I did the same. "Well," she said, "you've had a rather rough day, but I'm afraid there's no time for you to relax yet. I sent Tristan to bring you here, but he was urgently needed in your world. He has an oath to keep, and I'm afraid it interferes from time to time. Still, if only you'd stayed where he left you! You would've been safe if you hadn't wandered off into the Beyond." "How is it my fault?" I asked, feeling indignant. "Tristan should have warned me!" After all, he had never told me not to follow him. "He tried," the Dream-master replied grimly, "but the Heir was in imminent danger, and her safety is his top priority as the Matriarch grows weaker. He delayed as long as he could, but even when he tried to warn you away, you didn't get the hint. Your lucky that Vision saw you." "How was I supposed to know all of this?" I blurted. The Dream-master's chastising tone was really getting me off my calm space. "No one ever told me anything about the Beyond, or the Nothing, or whatever else was out there trying to kill me!" "Well," replied the Dream-master, "young Evenstar did open your eyes for you. If you'd used them like he told you, you would have seen all of this." She paused to let me consider that, then continued on. "That Nothing that attacked you was actually a demon. I believe you would call it an Ecthros." Seeing my puzzled stare, she rubbed her eyes. "No, I suppose you wouldn't be familiar with that term. It refers to a little bit of hate-filled oblivion animated by demonic will. There are far more dangerous things roaming the wastelands of Beyond, things that would devour your soul if they could catch you. You wouldn't sleep peacefully for the rest of your life if you'd encountered one of them." The Dream-master looked at me again and the grim expression on her face softened. "The important thing is that you didn't; you're safe and you're here, where you need to be." "But why?" I asked. "Why am I here? Why did all of these things happen? And why me?" The more I thought about it, the less sense it made. Why would someone as important as the Dream-master go to so much trouble to bring me here? She'd mentioned some others earlier, the Conclave, whoever they were. What is my part in all of this? I had found only a few of the answers I sought, and each answer brought more questions. "What is the point of all this?" The Dream-master stood up and said, "I only want to have to explain it once. For now, all you need to know is that we need your help." She stared at me harder. "And I hear that the Gray Council never refuses help to those in need." "Let me see if I understand this," I said, still a little uncertain. "You want us to help you with something that you won't explain to us until after we agree to assist you." The Gray Council readily aided those in need, but we were careful to work only for a worthy cause. We couldn't assume anything, so we had to know before we agreed to anything. "I'm afraid we can't do that." "I know that already," the Dream-master replied casually. "I'm just asking you to listen to me. If you don't want to help after hearing me out, then so be it. However, I can assure you that, whether you accept my word on it or not, this is a just cause and you are all sorely needed." She motioned for me to stand. "With that said, I believe it is time for you to go back to your world. Once you're safely there, I want you to call all the members of the Gray Council together for a meeting tomorrow, before school. Time works against us, and the shorter the delay, the better. Can you do that?" I nodded. An emergency meeting could be called at any time, provided that there was sufficient reason to call the Council together. I would probably be criticized for accepting the words of a stranger, but I believed I'd seen enough to judge for myself that this was worth our attention. "What should I tell them that the meeting is about?" I asked the Dream-master. "Tell them that the Council's presence is urgently required Elsewhere," she said with a smile, "and meet by the Infinity Fountain. I'll arrange a Gateway to transport you here. By the way, you can call me Gail." Her appearance, stable for so long, shifted again; now she was a tall, raven-haired woman dressed in a red hooded cloak. She pulled the hood over her head before speaking again. "Make sure you're all there tomorrow morning." "Wait," I called. "How am I going to get home?" She turned and looked at me. "How do you usually wake up from dreams?" she asked. "Now I need to go. Someone has called me, and, like Tristan, I am obliged to respond. Remember to call the Council together tomorrow." With that she turned, but abruptly halted again. "Tristan. Back so soon?" "Tristan!" I cried. "Where did you go? Why did you leave me in that field?" Tristan walked up to me and frowned. "If you really want to know," he told me, "perhaps you should talk to Aurelia before your meeting tomorrow." Then, with a nod to the Dream-master, he was gone, off to some unfathomable errand. Now that I knew a little more about the dream world, I had some idea of how complex the place was. Perhaps there weren't enough of the Ordens' type to protect the dream world, which would explain why Gail wanted our help. With that thought, I looked back at the Dream-master, who was still standing nearby. "Remember, Neil. Tomorrow. There isn't much time." Almost before she finished speaking, she was gone as well, leaving me alone in her home, which began to fade around me as well. First the walls and ceiling became open sky, then I found myself standing alone in the same meadow that was the first part of the dream world Tristan had showed me. Then that faded too as I awoke. I returned to reality in the same place I'd been when I left it. Around me, cars beeped and honked, but considering the mangled mess of vehicles that littered the road, not a one of them was going anywhere. I felt the hard, hot concrete of a sidewalk beneath me, and blood flowed freely from the back of my head. No wonder I was so dazed in the dream world, I realized. I'm not doing so well here either. Then, a new thought entered my mind: If I hit my head that hard, how do I know I didn't imagine it all? I closed my eyes, then opened them again, and my entire view changed, shapes and colors warping in new and different ways. There's your proof, I told myself, if you can believe that you're seeing into other worlds. Indeed, I saw ghostly forms rising from a few of the wrecked vehicles. Suddenly I felt guilty. Did those people die because of me? I wondered. As if my thoughts had called them to return, all of the ghosts drifted back down into their bodies. I blinked again, and now I could see angels guiding the figures back to their proper places in the land of the living. Meanwhile, a small crowd of people gathered around me. I looked at their blurred faces. One of them was saying something, but I couldn't tell what. I sat up and shook my head to clear it. "Whoa! Don't move; you'll hurt yourself." "What's your name, son?" "How many fingers am I holding up?" "Are you okay?" "I'm fine," I said. "I'm all right." In the distance, I heard sirens from incoming emergency vehicles. My computer chip (which was working once again) calculated that unless response time for this pile-up had been unusually slow, I'd been out for only a few seconds. I shrugged off the hands of the people reaching out to help me stand. I felt the back of my head and determined that the blood was already clotting. It had flowed out of a series of microabrasions rubbed into my skull by the rough sidewalk, and such cuts generally heal cleanly, even if they are rather painful. I ignored the people around me and headed off in the direction of my house. I suspected that the police would be asking witnesses to describe the crash, and my story would likely land me in an asylum. Who would believe that all of those cars had been totaled because they ran into a ghost? I knew that I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. Oblivious to the chaos around me, I made my way back to my house, arriving to find it still deserted. Remembering that the combination for entry had failed earlier, I cursed myself for not checking the integrity of the security systems before leaving. Surprisingly, however, the code worked just fine and I entered the house without the slightest bit of trouble. There was a message on the answering machine, so I walked over to listen to it. "Hello, it's Michael. I'll be out with Celeste until late. Mom and Dad called me and said they're going to be in Anchorage for a business meeting and won't be back tonight. If you need anything, call me on my cell phone." Briefly, I considered picking up the phone and calling him back immediately, but I decided to wait until he returned home for the night. I had enough authority to call an emergency meeting of the Gray Council without his approval, and I didn't feel like interrupting his evening with Celeste. I picked my laptop up off of the table where I'd left it when I'd arrived home from school not even an hour before. I quickly sent off e-mails to Farrell, Aurelia, Galaldriel, and Mike, informing them of our meeting the next morning. Knowing that they would want an explanation, I included a few choice words in my message to each of them: Our assistance has been requested Elsewhere. Remembering Tristan's cryptic comment before he left me with the Dream-master, I included in my message to Lia a request for a private conference before the beginning of the formal meeting. (I really wanted to find out what Tristan had meant.) Then, with my messages sent, I fixed myself stir-fry steak for dinner, started to pull another Lancaster White Birch Beer from the beverage panel before remembering that I'd sworn them off for good, and sat down to think about all that had happened to me as I waited for my brother and his girlfriend to return home so I could inform them of my plans for the next morning. |