Dreamcatcher

by Christian Rosnell

  Although, against Iri’s advice, Seth had opted to trick each Dreamcaster rather than kill them; dressing up in armor and pretending to be a Legend, convincing the recruits there had been a mistake, and that they couldn’t enroll until a year from now. He had had to draw his words in the air with Iri’s pen, although he felt that had added to his mystique and maybe made him seem more legitimate, though he couldn’t be sure. It had taken some convincing, but ultimately he had persuaded them to turn around and go home. By the time the pair returned to the capital in a year, Seth should be long gone from the capital. Admittedly, it wasn’t the best plan, but Seth really didn’t want to kill anyone unless he absolutely had to. He was sick and tired of taking people’s lives. It sickened him that it was apparently the only thing he was good at.

  Seth started when he heard a knock on the door behind him, and reached his hand for the sword slung across his back. Who could possibly be visiting him? It should have been obvious, but it wasn’t until he heard the voice outside the door, “Open up Seth, it’s just me.”

  Iri.

  Before he could take more than a half-step toward the door, he heard a click and Iri opened the door, stepping into the room. She must have opened the lock with that bizarre pen, Seth thought, bemused. The Dreamcasting object she used was a relatively recent addition to her repertoire, and Seth had to admit it was very useful. Seth wasn’t sure how, but Iri had been saying she made the thing herself. Whatever it was, it channeled spirit smoother, cleaner, and with less excess loss than using your regular arm. He kind of envied it.

  Seth nodded to his friend and companion and she walked in, careful to shut the door and lock it behind her. They had to keep in mind that they were highly wanted criminals, even if no one knew what they looked like. Supposedly, anyway.

  Iri walked out to join Seth on the balcony and crossed her arms on the railing, looking out at a cargo ship as it pushed off and sailed leisurely out of port. She sighed and looked at Seth, “So how’s it going?” Seth, obviously, didn’t answer, but Iri was had gotten very good over the years at reading the answer in his eyes. She nodded, as if he had spoken, “Yeah, I’m tired too. I wouldn’t have believed it, but this training regimen is actually wearing me out. Maybe this is why those damn Legends are so tough.” Seth smiled slightly, and Iri laughed, straightening up and turning to put her back against the railing. After a moment, she turned to Seth, growing a bit more businesslike.

  “So, as you might have guessed, the reason I came over is because we’re supposed to report to Troy and Kiara.” Seth rolled his eyes, but Iri was adamant, “It doesn’t matter that you can’t say anything! You’ll still contribute to the discussion by being there, just like always. You’re one of us too.” Seth nodded in gratitude and waved a hand, giving her the go-ahead.

  Iri whipped the pen out of the sheath at her waist and spun it in the air, as she usually did. Seth would’ve thought she did it to show off, but he knew her better than that. It was probably just a habit she’d gotten into. Nevertheless, Iri drew a box in the air, about three feet by three feet. A silvery outline appeared in the air where the pen passed through, and the air in the center of the square shimmered in a wave. Seth never had understood how she did this, but it was highly convenient. A similar box would now appear in front of the ones with which she desired to communicate, and it would take a minute or so to connect and create the proper resolution.

  Indeed, after a short wait, Troy and Kiara’s faces because clear inside the box; and Seth knew the twins could see his and Iri’s faces just the same way. Amazing. Seth wished he could do things like this. His best talent was killing people quickly and silently. He wasn’t proud of it. Seth often wished he had half the abilities Iri had. She just seemed so naturally talented with Dreamcasting, possibly more than anyone he’d ever seen. Troy was great as well, but deep down Seth didn’t think even he could match Iri in terms of skill. Troy was a natural-born leader though, and wickedly talented in his own right.

  Troy himself smiled as Seth and Iri came into focus on his end. He waved a little, apparently amused by this new method of communicating.

  Iri spoke for both of them, of course, “Hey, guys! How’s it going?”

  Troy gave a thumbs up as his twin sister Kiara answered, “It’s alright, but we’ll tell you more about us after you tell us what’s happening on your end. So, how are they looking?”

  Seth and Iri exchanged a glance, “Pretty good, actually. You may be surprised to see Seth wearing the colors and cape of our enemies.” Troy and Kiara nodded, keen to hear more, and Seth couldn’t help but being a bit embarrassed. He crossed his arms and looked down. Why couldn’t he have remembered to take this off? It was so obvious…

  Iri kept on, heedless of Seth’s discomfort, “The reason he’s wearing that is because during our first test, literally on the way to the Academy building, we apparently ‘impressed’ Lyn – and the sergeants that work for him. He gave both of us, and – coincidentally – the ones we’re watching these navy Legion capes and named us ‘class leaders’. It was a great move on his part, really helpful to us. We’ll have to thank him later. So right now, the four of us are the most high-profile members at the Academy.”

  Seth saw a look of worry cross Troy and Kiara’s face, but Iri shook her head, “Don’t worry about us, we’re keeping our cover fine. The point is; the two students, Lyght and Mikael, are looking very much like the Heirs we thought them to be. They’re intelligent, skilled, and most importantly, are virtually inseparable. They work together on pretty much everything they can. We’ll keep watching, but it seems to me and Seth that we are actually right about this one. It seems they really are the Heirs, and if so, me and Seth will make sure we get them on our side. We won’t let the King find out about them. If it even seems like he might be wondering about it, our source will let us know, and we’ll get them out of here.”

  Kiara nodded, “Thank you, you’ve both been doing an excellent job.” Troy nodded in agreement, chuckling, “Yeah, you really are. And it is so funny to me that the King spends his entire thousand-plus year reign looking for the Heir – since he believes there to be only one – and now they’re right under his nose in the capital, and he doesn’t even know it. We’re really lucky we found out about this.” The others nodded, and Troy continued on.

  “I’ll keep this quick, since I’m sure the pair of you need your rest. Kiara and I haven’t found what we’re looking for yet. We’ve hit most of the likely spots in the Sorrow domain, and we’re searching the Hate domain right now.”

  Seth nodded. Troy had had a keen insight before they’d left for Glory. The four of them had always had it from Lyn that the Heirs were destined to defeat the Dark with a “sacred object”, though the Legend had always been vague about what that was specifically. However, Troy had realized that if these two – Lyght and Mikael – were indeed the Heirs, they would need the object to wield in their mission. And all that Lyn had said was that the object would reveal itself to those who sought it for its true purpose. As far as its location, Lyn had told them it wouldn’t likely be in the South. So, Troy and Kiara had decided to stay in the North to look for it, searching in sites of historical significance, in the new land formations that tended to emerge after Dark nights, everything they could think of.

  Troy continued, “We’re going to keep searching, and that’s important, but we don’t really have a lot of information here. I have to admit, it seems like Lyn was being intentionally vague when we first talked to him about this. Not only that, but surely by now considering that the Heirs very well might be upon us, we think he’ll give us the information we need to find it. So, if you could, we’d like you two to get Lyn alone and talk to him about this. I know that it may be difficult to pin him down, but we need you to do it. It just might give us what we need to be successful.”

  Iri and Seth nodded, and Troy closed his eyes in gratitude. “Thanks guys. We’ll keep looking, so keep up the good work on your end. We know how dangerous and
difficult this job is for you, but this may bring about the end we seek once and for all.” As he was speaking, the box showing their faces began to fade out – Iri couldn’t keep a technique like this going forever. Troy made a fist as he faded out and smiled, that familiar gleam in his eye.

  “We’re close guys – very close – to destroying the Dark once and for all.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lyght was up especially early this morning.

  He stood on a hill, one of the taller ones in Zone Zero, amongst a scattering of maples decked out in the fiery oranges and reds of high autumn. The sun had risen about an hour ago, and Lyght had been out here even before that. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to be late again, although that was part of it. No, Lyght just felt he needed some time to settle down and think before he went to classes for the day. He was still trying to make sense of what happened yesterday.

  The thing was; there were multiple things that had happened yesterday that just didn’t make sense. Waking up late, for one, shouldn’t have been possible. That had definitely cost him in the exercise – he’d had to conserve his power significantly, and it almost got him beat. Speaking of which…

  Lyght still didn’t even know the kid’s name who had attacked him. The question of why he had betrayed his leader in the exercise was still a mystery. And Lyght still didn’t know why the kid apparently hated him so much. No matter how Lyght wracked his memory for anything he had done to the guy, he just couldn’t come up with anything. He felt like he just didn’t know him at all. It was frustrating; after they had all returned to base yesterday after the exercise – Lyght leaving the kid on the ground behind him – there had been no time to investigate. The kid never did show up back at base when they have arrived. And there was no time to talk to Lyn about it either. The teacher had looked at Lyght oddly when he saw his injuries, but ultimately dismissed all the students early for the day. He apparently planned to discuss the test results today.

  And so it was that Lyght had gotten here early, on this tall hill near the central base of Zone Zero, waiting for the kid to show up. From this vantage point, Lyght should be able to see everyone who came from the city to the base for Lyn’s morning Dreamcasting class, including the one he wanted to talk to. The guy who had attacked him yesterday. Lyght could have let it go, he knew, but he just had to understand why this person had a problem with him. There was no guarantee he would show up today, Lyght figured, considering what had transpired yesterday. Still he had to find out.

  Sighing, Lyght leaned against a maple trunk and watched the sun rising in the azure autumn sky. His eyes followed a flock of birds as they went spinning past right in front of him, cutting through the crisp morning air. Lyght watched them go, thinking to himself. Of course, his fight with the other kid yesterday wasn’t the only thing that confused him. The object of the test itself was a mystery.

  When he had grabbed the orb to complete the test and notch a win for his team, it had glowed a brilliant, bright blue. Small as the orb was, the light filled the entire island and even made it difficult to see. Lyn had said that there was a small possibility that the orb would reveal something about the person who touched it. Was this what he had meant? The Legend hadn’t said anything about it to Lyght yesterday, but he had been looking at him oddly when he had arrived back with his team (minus that one kid, of course). Maybe Lyn knew something that Lyght didn’t.

  And speaking of that one kid…

  Lyght saw a flash of movement below, maybe two hundred feet or so off into the trees. He quickly recognized him – the sandy blond hair, the slight build, suspicious green eyes. He didn’t look all that intimidating. But by now, Lyght knew better. To be honest, Lyght was somewhat surprised he was showing up at all today; considering what he’d done yesterday. Lyght assumed he was trying to get here as early as possible to avoid any confrontation, for Lyght hadn’t seen anyone else approach yet. Lyght smiled slightly. Well, he wasn’t going to avoid seeing Lyght man-to-man, if that was his idea. Lyght didn’t plan to report the incident to Lyn, not if he could clean it up by himself first.

  So Lyght waited a few seconds until the kid drew a bit nearer, then crouched and jumped forward powerfully, enough to clear the hillside. He touched gravity slightly as he landed, easing the impact somewhat. He drew himself up with a hard look on his face as the kid approached; looking shocked to see his enemy so close. The kid drew back a little, tensing, as if getting ready for a fight.

  Lyght looked down at the kid and started with a simple question, “Alright, so let’s hear it. What’s your name?” The kid remained silent for a minute and Lyght closed his eyes, exasperated, “Come on. It’s an easy question. Who are you?”

  The kid was still hesitant, but after a moment he raised his head and spoke in a quiet voice, “I’m Ben. And I know you already.” Lyght nodded at that, “Evidently. But I have to say I don’t really know you. So out with it, what do you have against me?”

  Ben took a step closer, growing more confident as he apparently realized Lyght wasn’t going to attack him. “I wouldn’t ordinarily have anything against you, but since you’re in the position you’re in…” Ben paused, shaking his head. “I’ll say it straight up – you don’t deserve to be our leader. I don’t know what you did to impress Lyn, but I don’t get it. You’re not vocal enough, you don’t take the lead like you should, and you stay in your own little bubble. The only one you really even talk to is that other leader, Mikael. He’s the one who deserves it, not you. You don’t have what it takes to wear the Legion cape, and I don’t know if you ever will. And you certainly don’t have what it takes to lead us, so we would all really appreciate it if you stopped pretending.” Ben paused here, breathing hard, and looked Lyght in the eyes.

  “So consider yesterday my challenge to you. I should be one of the leaders, not you. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. So consider yourself warned; I’m going to take it for myself. I have nothing else to say to you.”

  Ben moved to walk past Lyght, giving him a hard glance as he passed him. Lyght said nothing; he just stood there frozen, unable to think of what to say back. So Ben just kept on walking, heading into the base. It was at least a full minute after the kid had disappeared into the confines of the dark steel building that Lyght could bring himself to move, turning to look over his shoulder at the prints Ben had left in the ground in between the fallen leaves. For some reason, Ben’s words were causing Lyght more distress than they really ought to have been.

  Because no matter what Lyght tried telling himself, he feared that everything Ben had said was true. It was very odd how he’d voiced Lyght’s deepest fears like that; the things he’d been trying so hard to ignore. It wasn’t that Lyght didn’t feel like he had the skill to be a class leader; he did, and he knew it. No, Lyght had to wonder if he had that charisma, that fire that a real leader possesses. Questioning himself was one thing, but it wounded him more than he would have imagined to hear someone from his group say things like that. What good was he anyway, if that’s really what they thought?

  Growling, Lyght spun on his heel and headed towards the base. No, he couldn’t let himself get caught up in what Ben had said. After all, wasn’t Ben clearly the only one who felt that way? After all, he’d been the one who attacked Lyght. The others didn’t feel the same way, right? Well… Lyght still felt that it was possible that they did, but it was not something he could not dwell on right now. He would just have to focus on being better. It didn’t matter what everyone thought anyway.

  At least, that’s what he told himself.

  As Lyght entered the base and looked around the corner into the cavernous meeting room where they always met in the mornings, he saw Ben by himself in the corner staring out the window. So Lyght just crossed his arms and waited outside as more people trickled in one-by-one, until there were over a dozen chatting students in the room. By this time, Lyght felt he could enter without having to interact with Ben. Nonetheless, remembering
Ben’s words about his isolationist tendencies, Lyght tried to enter into a conversation with three students, only one of which he’d really talked to before. It worked okay, Lyght supposed, but he still found himself peeling away and going to greet Mikael as he walked in, yawning and stretching. Somewhat angry with himself for his predictable behavior, Lyght greeted his friend anyway and went to stand with him by the wall, talking about the upcoming class.

  This was technically their second Dreamcasting class with Lyn; but since the practical test had taken up the entirety of the first class, this was the first time they would learn from the Legend firsthand. Lyght had been looking forward to it for awhile, actually. Unfortunately, his morning was already off to a bad start. Hopefully he could turn that around soon.

  Lyght didn’t have time to spend brooding, however, because at that moment the giant Legend walked through the door, bending down so he wouldn’t hit his head. He was fully decked out in gleaming blue armor today, as he often was, and looked particularly fierce with his massive dark steel sword slung across his back; hilt poking out over his right shoulder, gleaming with a large dark gem fixed on the pommel. The room, full now, quieted almost instantly when he entered. This apparently amused him, judging by the look on his face, but Lyght couldn’t see why he should be so surprised. Lyght himself, along with Mikael, had known Lyn the longest, yet he had the same feeling every time he saw the man.

  Lyn was just impressive.

  The Legend strolled up to the front of the class and spun on his heel, looking around at all his students. “Morning, everybody”, he said, nodding to them. After receiving a few “good mornings” back, the Legend turned and grabbed a piece of charcoal and a map of Zone Zero off a table, pulling the map up and sticking it on the wall at such a height that he could draw on it.