He began, “This is obviously a representation of the area in which we placed the four teams for the scavenger hunt last time.” He circled all of the Zone, then drew four stars apart from each other around the perimeter of the Zone, “And these are the starting points for each of the four teams, which I’ll label L, M, S, and I to abbreviate their leaders. And here,” he circled the tiny island near the southwest perimeter and put a star in the center, “was where the box containing the orb was located.”
“Now, I won’t tell you how at this point – it’s a classified Legion technique – but I was able to see from here at the base what each of the teams were doing. So let me fill you in on what happened to the other teams. Mikael’s team – starting from the north – headed in a straight line towards the center, Iri and Seth’s teams in the west and south respectively went into the Zone as well and searched a quadrant of it near their starting point, and Lyght’s team in the East worked their way clockwise around the perimeter. The latter was a very smart idea,” the Legend nodded to Lyght, who looked down, smiling a little. Lyn drew another line, “Mikael’s team searched the center, and kept going straight, not having found anything. However, they ran into Seth’s team in the south quadrant, and got caught up in a battle.”
Lyn turned from pointing at the map to look right at his students, “Now, you may have thought what we instructors wanted to see was a battle between teams to show off your Dreamcasting skills. While we did learn about individuals’ skill levels this way, this was not the point of the exercise. The point of the exercise was to use your Dreamcasting ability to complete the objective – in other words, to find the box. Lyght’s team searched the perimeter to keep away from the other teams, and it largely worked. They had the right idea. However, had they kept going even a little farther, they might’ve run into Seth and Mikael’s engaged teams in the south.” Lyn turned to look at Lyght, “In which case, you had ordered your team to do what?”
Lyght looked up, surprised at being called on, but answered nonetheless, “To retreat. To go another way and keep searching for the box.” Lyn nodded, “Exactly. Good. Now at this point, Lyght had organized his team into a wide line, searching around the perimeter. He anticipated that this was where we would place the box, and he was right. It turns out that Lyght personally, as the one furthest into the Zone, was the one who spotted the box. It only would have been seen by someone jumping high into the air with Dreamcasting, am I right?” Lyght nodded.
Lyn looked around the class and said, “That, then, was the real test of the exercise – to see who could use their Dreamcasting techniques for stealth, strategy, and movement, not brute force or strength.” He looked around the class, gauging their reactions to this revelation. Some looked surprised, others looked angry with themselves for not seeing it. Lyn continued on, “From this point, Lyght was able to find the box and capture the orb, ending the exercise.” The giant Legend turned to look Lyght in the eyes, “Good job leader, you led your team to success on this mission.” Lyght bowed his head in thanks, grateful for his teacher’s words. They boosted his confidence more than he could say. He would have to tell Lyn later how much he appreciated it…
But he couldn’t help but notice Lyn had definitely left something out. Something very important. The teacher hadn’t at all mentioned what had happened on the island; how Mikael had gotten there at the same time, how Ben had attacked his own leader, and how Lyght had to overcome him. Lyght frowned. Lyn must have seen all of that, right? And speaking of which, Lyght realized he never had asked Mikael how he had reached the island. His team had been engaged in the south, according to Lyn. Lyght hadn’t had time last night to ask him what had happened on with his team. Mikael was looking similarly confused now at Lyn’s omission, and Lyght saw that Ben looked downright angry. Lyght could somewhat understand; the Legend was omitting his tremendous technique that had distracted Mikael. But still… what he’d done had been against the rules.
Lyn made no mention of any of those goings-on, however, he just continued into a lecture about how to use Dreamcasting optimally for running, jumping, and traveling in general. Although Lyght felt he already had a good handle on these things, he was still anxious to learn the real techniques from an actual Legend. So Lyght sat back and listened, trying to take it all in and commit it to memory. He couldn’t help asking himself in the back of his mind, though.
What happened on that island, and what was that weird blue light anyway?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was cold when Sky woke up.
Rolling over, Sky reached into her pack for her cloak. She needed to get used to the weather; she still wasn’t accustomed to having to wear multiple layers. Pulling the cloak on, she sat up and looked around the camp, fires still smoldering from the night before. Most of the crew was still asleep, but she saw Max sitting up, rebuilding his own fire.
With nothing else to do, Sky got up, stretching and yawning, and crossed the camp to talk to her friend. Max smiled as she approached, saying “Good morning” in his characteristic carefree voice. Sky responded in kind, albeit with a bit less enthusiasm. Laying down the blanket she’d carried over and sitting down, she rubbed her eyes tiredly and took a deep breath of the crisp morning air, sending out a puff of fog as she exhaled.
A light snow was beginning to fall lazily from the overcast sky, coating the already frosty ground. The biting wind sent swirls of snowflakes and bits of ice dancing across the frozen surface of the camp. Although it was only early November, winter came on early and quickly in the Northern domains. Everything Sky knew about the North, however, was hearsay and accounts from the few Southerners she had met who’d been there. Never having been here herself, Sky had to admit she was pretty unprepared for the weather, if nothing else. They’d arrived on the coast of the Confusion domain late yesterday afternoon, and had trekked inland somewhat to approach Aston, a medium-sized town of no particular importance… unless you had the underground connections that Sky had. Or, more accurately, that her friends had.
Sky, still tired, lay down on the blanket and rested her hands behind her head, right ankle propped up on her left knee. “Ok, so let’s run through the plan again so we’re sure we’re on the same page. You’re one-hundred-percent positive that we can trust this man Gairen?”
Max nodded confidently, “You can trust me; Jon, myself, and a few others of the crew know the guy personally. We did some business with him a couple years back. He’s agreed to be our source concerning the North, just as we’re his for the South. To be honest, we were really lucky to run into this guy on the coast of Pride – it’s rare enough to find someone from the North coming to the South.”
Sky nodded in agreement, gazing up at the flakes falling from the steely gray sheet above. For some reason, she couldn’t help but think of the Dark, even in the daytime. It had been Dark last night, although she hadn’t been up to see it. She’d chosen to sleep through the Dark last night. She didn’t have to, and she supposed she could have used the reconnaissance, but she really did need some sleep.
It had been a whirlwind of constant meetings, planning sessions, and discussions since Sky had stumbled upon the mysterious object atop the hill in Apathy. She wore the Dreamcatcher around her neck now. She knew it wasn’t technically hers, but she still felt a connection to it. She felt like she needed to keep it around. And if she was going to do that, she needed to understand it. What was it? Why had they found such an important object, whatever it was, in a criminal hotspot? And how on earth had it cleared the sky on a Dark night? If it could drive away the Dark in one spot, couldn’t it do that anywhere? And if so, how might that be done? So many questions. Sky burned to find the answers.
It had certainly taken thought to figure out what to do after leaving the island Apathy. In truth, the crew hadn’t really been getting anywhere in discussions until one afternoon aboard the Joy when Sky was having a discussion with one of the youngest members of the crew, fourteen-year-old Alan. He had mentioned to Sk
y that there was a legend in the underground concerning a certain criminal group, elite and highly wanted, that actually sought to destroy the Dark as their primary mission. To Sky, it almost sounded too good to be true.
Though they had just popped up in the last few years, Alan said the group’s feats were legendary and their prowess unmatched. He had also said that one of the Legion’s main goals recently had been to capture the leaders of the group and bring them to justice, but that they had so far unsuccessful. Sky had heard of the group a few times, but not nearly in the same way that Alan was describing them now.
They were known as the Dream Syndicate – and, according to Alan – an elite and highly dangerous group of Dreamcasters who ran the North and defied the rule of King Decimader Vuruman and the Legion he commanded.
To be honest, Sky hadn’t believed the kid when he’d been saying all this. She’d always been told that it was the Legion whose mission was to destroy The Dark. How could it be their enemies’ mission? Wasn’t that the opposite of the way it really was? So Sky had asked the rest of the crew, and they had concurred with Alan that they had heard the rumors, but many if not most didn’t actually think the Dream Syndicate was a real group that existed.
A small minority, however, insisted it was real and that their contact in the North, Gairen, knew of the group’s leaders and specific location. It wasn’t much of a lead, again, but Sky was determined to seek out anyone they could ally with, anyone who might be able to explain the existence and purpose of the strange object she’d found on the abandoned island. She still kept the note she’d found with it in her pocket and checked it periodically, wondering what it meant.
Behold the Dreamcatcher – Talisman of courage, Gatekeeper of the spirit, Weapon of the light.
Suddenly, Sky braced herself and jumped to her feet, stretching. She kicked her blanket up into her hand, nodding to Max, “Alright. C’mon, let’s help Jon wake the others. The earlier we get going on this, the better.”
Max nodded, and together with the captain they woke the reluctant crew members and enlisted their help in packing up the camp. Although the camp was sprawling and irregular, the tents only took the a few minutes to pack up for the several dozen crewmembers. Within fifteen minutes, the crew was packed up and ready to go. Jon took the lead as usual (someone had to with this group) and began to lead the trek toward Aston.
They had purposely positioned themselves close to the town last night; it should only take them about thirty minutes to get there. This was definitely a good thing, as Sky had her arms crossed and was shivering in the biting morning air. The cold was going to take some time getting used to. She sighed and quickened her pace a few steps to fall in step with Max, throwing her hood up and turning to look at her friend, striding along carelessly in his usual light t-shirt Wasn’t he cold? Sky just shook her head; the guy really was a ball of energy. Maybe he did move around too much to feel cold, she didn’t know. Sky sometimes wished she had his relentless energy. She considered herself pretty active, but Max, he was always doing things. She did envy him a bit.
And not only that, but she valued his opinion more than just about anybody else’s. The guy just had a sense for making connections between events, places, and times, for predicting what was going to happen. And yet, he stayed eternally optimistic. Sometimes to a fault, Sky thought. But honestly, she admired that too.
Sky nudged him on the arm, “Max, I want to ask you an honest question.” Max looked over and smiled widely as he always did, shooting her a quick wink, “Fire away.”
She nodded, “At this point it seems we really have no option but to talk to this man Gairen, but… do you honestly think he knows where this mysterious organization is located? What if they aren’t even real? And how can we assume we know their objective based off mere hearsay from the criminal underground? You know how rumors pop up in those circles. So why?” Sky spread her hands out, “What are we doing here?”
To be honest, she wasn’t sure why she was asking Max in particular. It had been Sky’s decision as much as anyone else’s to come see this man Gairen. However, she just felt they were really reaching at straws with this one. Nevertheless, it angered Sky a little bit that she kept telling Max how uncertain she was at every important step of their journey. She wasn’t proud of it. She needed to be more committed, and she needed to shut up. Really.
Max didn’t seem to think so, however. Growing somewhat serious for a moment, he nodded, contemplating. Looking up at the softly blowing snow, he answered with a question of his own, “I don’t know, what do you think Sky?” He looked down and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her answer.
Sky frowned, “I’m asking you.” Max nodded and smiled a bit, “Yeah, and I asked you the same question back. I’m curious to know what you think first.”
Sky sighed, “Well, I feel like we’re doing this because we don’t have anywhere else to go. And I don’t think I could stand not doing anything, so…”
Max actually laughed a little, and Sky looked at him, confused, “What was funny about that?” Max shook his head, “Sorry, but the way I see it, that’s what you think that you think. You believe,”, Max reached a gloved hand out, palm up, and caught a falling snowflake on its thick black surface, holding it up to show to Sky, “that like this snowflake, you just fell here. Circumstances led you to make decisions that led you here, but you wonder to yourself; how did I get here? Should I be here? Do I even want to be here?” Sky nodded slowly, very impressed with his insight, but still not sure where he was going with this.
“Well”, Max clenched his hand together, crunching the snowflake, and casted it to the ground, “last time I checked, you were a human, not a snowflake. If you look back on it, you’ll understand that you got here not only because this is where you want to be, it’s where you need to be. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be here. Does that help?”
Sky frowned, put off the change in direction. “And here I thought you were going to say something profound, but that’s the best you can come up with?” Max laughed, running a hand through his sandy-blond hair, clearing the snow, and throwing his own hood up. “I’m not a philosopher, you know.”
He looked back over his shoulder, and seeing no one within earshot, continued, “But seriously though… don’t take all this too seriously. What I’m trying to say is that you’re here with us because that’s clearly what you want to do. Plain and simple. And between the two of us”, he leaned inward, dropping into a conspiratorial whisper, “there’s worse things to do with your time than banding up with your friends to save the world. So lighten up”, he straightened up, smiling, “just think; who wouldn’t want to be us right now? Not me.” He winked again and walked away, leaving Sky standing alone, utterly confused. After a moment, she shook her head and kept walking, putting he hands in her pockets to keep them warm. She watched Max enter into a conversation with another crewmember, Nair, who was walking by himself. She couldn’t help but smiling a little. Max clearly thought he had multiple people to encourage.
As the hazy outline of Aston became clear through the increasingly driving snow, Sky stared at the frosty ground and wondered at herself. Max was right. Apparently all she’d needed was for someone to put things in perspective. She couldn’t afford to be such a downer at this stage. After all, the whole mission had been her idea in the first place. At the beginning, she had thought that her friends had only signed up to go on a “real” adventure. Now, she got the feeling that the crew actually wanted to work with her to help destroy the Dark. They had never experienced the Dark themselves, of course, but she had talked to them all about it. She shouldn’t have been surprised that they’d want to help, she supposed. After all, she’d heard it said that every boy dreamed of saving the world, and it hadn’t escaped her notice that she was the only girl in the crew.
But here was Max, telling her to just relax and have fun? That had never been a problem for her; she’d never known herself to take herself too seriously. But apparently she had been
doing exactly that lately, moping around and drawing all this attention, so much that Max needed to encourage her. That wasn’t right; she was supposed to be the self-assured one. She looked up at the approaching town, committing herself to get her act together.
From here on out, I’m going to enjoy myself, like Max said. No more questioning myself; just living in the moment. If I’m not making the most of my time, why am I even living?
It was odd, but she felt like a literal weight had been lifted off her chest as they entered the town of Aston. Even through the snow and the cold, she felt herself smiling a little. By now, Sky was beginning to feel actual excitement for their meeting with Gairen. She looked at her surroundings with renewed interest as she walked through the strange town.
It was different from those you would see in the far South; the buildings were actually made of stone or metal for the most part, and they were much larger than dwellings in Kona for one. Multi-storied and with fewer windows than Sky was accustomed to seeing, she noted with interest the clear difference in lifestyle between the North and the South. In Kona, at least, people lived nearby each other and had frequent interaction with their neighbors. Here, despite the fact the town was largely a residential area, the buildings were spaced farther apart. Each residence had a distinct property, which was often gated or fenced.
Sky was fascinated – she had never met a Northern person herself. It was still quite early in the morning, so she wasn’t at all surprised to see that no one was out in the wide cobblestone streets yet. It looked like the first Northern person Sky would see would be this man Gairen.
They continued on, and Sky ran through the plan in her head. They were to meet Gairen in the town square, from which he would lead them to his house. Sky had asked Jon if this were safe, but he had assured her that no one knew of Gairen’s underground ties or of the knowledge he held about the Dream Syndicate. Apparently, he was the chief medic of the town of Aston, and was a well-respected and established individual with a good reputation. Jon had been one of the crew who had met him personally, and swore by the man’s character. Sky couldn’t help but look forward to meeting him.
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