Dream Wars_Domination

by Leia Stone

  ‘Kit has gift. Dawn has gift. Dawn sees,’ she told me, then nuzzled under my arm so I could pet her neck.

  Dawn sees. We’d never spoken about it, but she was often prophetic.

  ‘So I’ll never leave here?’ I couldn’t keep the panic out of my voice. Why did I have to give that breeder the middle finger? Stupid ego.

  She pulled her head up and met my eyes. ‘Dawn doesn’t see all. What Dawn sees can change. But for now, Kit is stuck in Dream Wars.’

  I wanted to throw up. I had no human food, my body was somewhere on Earth in a coma, and I had no way of telling Damien or Ronnie or any of my friends what was going on. Unless… I could contact their minds. Though right then wasn’t the right time. I needed to make sure the Galadrias accepted me. If I was stuck there for weeks or, God forbid, months on end, then I needed allies and a place to live.

  ‘Are those Galadrias behind you your council?’ I asked her. I’d never even known they had a council. They seemed pretty chill and never spoke about rank or hierarchy.

  Dawn nodded. ‘Galadria council likes Kit. Do not fear them,’ she told me.

  I moved away from Dawn and took one step toward them before bowing deeply because it seemed like a universal sign of “I am weak. Please don’t see me as a threat.”

  ‘Thank you for the invitation to sky home,’ I sent across the space and into their minds.

  One by one they nodded, and then the purple one approached me. ‘Kit is welcome to stay in sky home for as long as she needs. Kit is special.’

  It meant a lot to me that Dawn had talked me up enough that the council was so welcoming.

  ‘Thank you. I can help out around sky home. Build things?’ I asked. They didn’t have hands or fingers, so maybe I could be useful. Being useful was the only way not to overstay my welcome.

  The purple one smiled, which looked odd and comical on a Galadria snout. ‘Kit can teach younglings about humans? Through the mind speak?’ she asked.

  I chuckled. ‘Kit would love to teach younglings.’ I peered just past the purple female to where a small heard of tiny Galadrias were rolling around some bright yellow mud. They were like three feet tall and freaking adorable, but I resisted my urge to start cooing over them.

  ‘Last request,’ the purple Galadria said. ‘Kit will name me. Like Dawn and Roger. A human name.’

  I wasn’t expecting that. It seemed that the Galadrias liked human customs and wanted to be a part of our society in a way.

  What would I name her?

  ‘Joan. Your name is Joan.’ I told her. Joan Jett from The Runaways, one of my favorite all-girl bands, was the first thing that had popped into my mind.

  She looked pleased and craned her head to Dawn, who nodded.

  ‘Come. Dawn will show Kit around sky home,’ Dawn told me.

  I gave one last awkward bow and then followed Dawn as she walked gracefully, like a pedigree horse, across the blueish grass, and over to the clearish fluid-filled pool.

  ‘This is a birthing and bathing pool. Galadrias give birth here, and all impurities are washed away. Kit can bathe here. Will not harm skin. Human has tried before.’

  I nodded, and refrained from asking who; although I was curious, I didn’t want to interrupt her tour. I was giddy at the thought of washing this crusted green stuff off though.

  We walked around a small grove of tall leafy foliage and came to a network of caves. I could see a few Galadrias inside.

  ‘Nesting dens. Galadria nurturers live here with their younglings,’ she explained.

  Wow. I was amazed. They had a whole birthing center up there in the sky.

  ‘Do all Galadrias give birth up here in sky home? Do you have any younglings?’ I asked, fascinated with this place that sat in such stark contrast to the dark horrors below. I was a little mad that she hadn’t brought me there sooner, but I understood that they needed to protect their young.

  Dawn looked back at me. ‘Yes, all nurturers live here. Never leave. Dawn is not a nurturer. Dawn breathes fire. Dawn was bred for war,’ she told me ominously.

  Oh. She was infertile?

  I glanced at the den and the pink Galadria that laid in there. ‘So, nurturers don’t breathe fire?’

  Dawn nodded. ‘That’s right.’

  Wow. That blew my mind, and made me a little sad for Dawn. It seemed like she might’ve wanted to be a nurturer.

  We walked around the cave structures, and I thought of something else. ‘Dawn, do you live here on sky home? Or just the nurturers?’

  Dawn brought me to the green pool, where over a dozen Galadrias where drinking the fluid. Their bellies were so swollen with pregnancy that they touched the ground. They looked up at me curiously but not fearfully. Thanks to the hive mind, they all must’ve known who I was.

  ‘Only nurturers and younglings may live in sky home. No room for all of us. When Dawn came of age, she was sent down below. We are permitted to visit our nurturer once a year.’

  Oh God, it was the saddest thing I’d ever heard. ‘Is your nurturer here? The one who gave birth to you?’ I questioned. I would’ve loved to meet her.

  Dawn shook her head. ‘She is with the stars now, but Dawn spent many, many years visiting her and Dawn’s youngling herd.’

  So Dawn’s mother was dead, but she still visited her siblings. That was sad, but also a fact of life. Even for humans.

  She looked back at me excitedly. ‘Dawn is permitted to visit daily, now that Kit is living on sky home.’

  I reached out and touched her right wing. ‘Good. Kit will like that. I’m sorry to hear about your nurturer being with the stars.’

  Dawn nodded. ‘Dawn will be with her one day. We all go to the same place. Even you.’

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just nodded.

  ‘This is the feeding pond. It is small, and naturally produces only enough for the nurturers and younglings. The other Galadrias, like Dawn, must go to the surface to eat and sleep.’

  It seemed awful to leave such a sunny, nourishing spot to be with the killing and ugliness of the surface of the Dream Wars.

  I decided that since Dawn was in a chatty mood, and seemed to have the permission of her council, I might try to get answers from her about all of this.

  ‘Dawn, what happens when you move from planet to planet? Do you get on ships? Does the sun go dark?’

  Dawn’s face suddenly clouded over. ‘Breeders control our reality.’ I’d gathered that the females were in control after that power display down on the surface. ‘Hard to explain in human words. Tall ones get on ships, but the rest of us stay here and they take us with them. Time speeds up, warm light goes dark, and then we are at new planet, new warm light, and sky home is always here.’

  Interesting. So the sentries drove the ships and then the females… I couldn’t even begin to guess. It sounded like they collapsed the alternate reality and transported the other ghouls and Galadrias to the next planet and then… tied it to theirs? I had no idea. I didn’t think I would ever understand how they’d gotten there and taken control so easily.

  ‘When do they leave?’ I asked her. I could venture to guess it was when the food ran out, but I wanted to hear it.

  Dawn looked uncomfortable talking about it, like it made her ill. ‘They have already sent scouts to find new planet. When humans are gone, they will leave to find more food. We will go with them. We have no control.’

  The knowledge that they’d already sent scouts to look for another planet made my whole body freeze up. I knew then why Dawn was so uncomfortable talking about it. She had no control over this either. We were both at the mercy of the females, the breeders.

  ‘Kit is wearing a funny head device,’ Dawn commented.

  Oh yeah. Her comment made me think about Jeremy and Damien, and my heart pinched.

  ‘My human friend is studying my gift,’ I explained.

  Dawn seemed to nod in understanding. ‘Because Kit is like breeders.’

  I wasn’t sure anything else
could shock me that day, but I was wrong. That floored me.

  ‘What? Why do you say that?’ I stepped closer to her.

  Dawn looked off to the side, avoiding my gaze. ‘Dawn knew when Kit was youngling that she had gifts. Gifts like breeders.’

  What the hell? I didn’t know what to do or say, so I just backed up and sat down, right there on the ground.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ I asked her, looking out onto the golden light that filtered through the space. I didn’t want to be anything like those psycho females. She had to be wrong.

  She met my gaze then, and in her endless eyes, I saw something… like hope. ‘Kit was youngling. Didn’t want to scare young Kit. Then Kit got big but still didn’t seem good time to tell. Now is important to tell Kit. Kit can do what breeders can do.’

  I was going to faint. That was the only reasonable reaction to have to a statement like that.

  ‘Is Kit sick?’ Dawn asked, smelling me.

  I just shook my head. ‘Kit is in disbelief. I can’t do what the breeders do. I mean, I can maybe do a little, but I can’t do everything they can do,’ I clarified, thinking of how I forced the breeder female to feel pain. ‘Can I?’ I added.

  Dawn said she saw things. Maybe she knew things I didn’t.

  Dawn rubbed her nose against my leg, and I petted her head. ‘Has Kit ever tried? Or is Kit still scared of her gifts?’

  Damn, she knew me too well. I used to tell her about my mental speak and my other gifts, like being able to make someone do something against their will, and that it scared me so I didn’t develop it.

  ‘Kit might still be scared,’ I admitted.

  Dawn pulled back and met my gaze. ‘Dawn sees. Dawn sees Kit can now do what breeders do. When breeders landed on Earth and laid out the land, scanned Earthlings, they did something to Kit by accident. Kit is special.’

  Kit didn’t want to be special. Kit wanted to wake the hell up and go home.

  I didn’t want to be anything like those bitches in the Dream Wars. But if Dawn was right, maybe I could learn to fight back. I mean really fight back.

  ‘Thank you for sharing this with me.’ I was still processing the shock, and to be honest, I didn’t fully believe her. I needed more proof before I could fully come to terms with this new information.

  She nodded and then stood. ‘Come, I will show Kit to her den. The elders have prepared a home for Kit here.’

  Dawn walked around the females who were drinking from the feeding pond and led me to a secluded little cave with a bunch of pretty pink flowers around the entrance. Inside, there was a human sleeping bag. It looked a bit dirty, something they must have scavenged from the surface.

  ‘It’s perfect. Thank you.’ I was really touched that with such little space, they had given me my own den.

  She nodded. ‘Dawn must go now. Be back when warm light goes out.’

  I nodded, calculating that it would be about twelve hours from now. ‘Dawn, can you find my friends when they come into the Dream Wars, or only Kit?’

  Dawn thought about it for a second. ‘Dawn might be able to find crazy redheaded one. She formed a bond with Dawn.’

  Maxine. I missed that crazy redhead right then. I didn’t know you had to form a bond in order for Dawn to find you, but it made sense in a weird way.

  ‘Can you let me know if you sense Maxine, the crazy redhead?’

  Dawn nodded. ‘Goodbye for now.’

  I wrapped my arms around her neck. ‘Goodbye for now.’

  When she left, I looked around and decided I wouldn’t mind some time alone. Crawling into my little cave-like den, I lay on the sleep bag and took three big deep breaths in and out. My mind was reeling, and I was quite honestly in shock. I was on a floating island with a bunch of pregnant Galadrias, and Dawn just told me I was similar to the breeders.

  Holy shit.

  I took in a few more deep breaths, trying to get the panic to fade, to step away from the cliff of insanity that beckoned me.

  I felt it then, a tug at my consciousness.

  Damien.

  He was thinking of me, and when my thoughts went to him I felt the pull of his energy. I followed the energy until I felt him. That strong vibration pulsed, and I connected with it.

  ‘I’m stuck here. Dawn said I’m stuck here for a while,’ I pushed the thought out in a rush, unsure how long we would have this connection. It was the first time I’d ever mentally linked with him to have a conversation like I did with the Galadrias.

  His energy bristled. ‘Kit! Oh my God, I’ve been so worried. I woke up in Beijing alone. I’ve been waiting for you, thought you might come, but it’s been hours.’

  ‘I’m not coming,’ I told him.

  ‘I’ll go back in. I’ll fall asleep and find you.’

  ‘No. I’m safe. I’m in the sky with the Galadrias. I need you to go to Vancouver and see if my body is there.’ I was terrified that the breeder had moved it or something.

  He was quiet a moment. ‘Are you sure you’re safe?’

  I was scared out of my mind, but otherwise I was good for the time being. ‘Yes, I’m safe. I’m going to need food and water eventually, but I’m okay for now.’ My two bodies were connected, so if I starved to death here, then my body back home would probably starve too. Especially, if it was hidden or moved.

  ‘Jesus, Kit,’ he groaned, desperation filling his voice.

  ‘I know. I’ll keep you posted. I’ll try to have Dawn take me to meet up with you next time you drop in.’

  There was a pause. ‘Which will be tonight. We’re dropping in nightly until you come home.’

  I didn’t want to argue, so I just agreed. ‘See you tonight,’ I told him.

  ‘Stay safe.’ I could sense he wanted to say more, but nothing came after that.

  I rolled over then and curled into a ball. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, could feel it clawing at the back of my mind, threatening to take over.

  I am peace, I harness strength…. God, please help me.

  Twelve

  I laid there in that cave for a few hours feeling sorry for myself, before I decided to get up and do something to take my mind off the fact that I was stuck there. I went to the bathing pools and was pleasantly surprised that the water there seemed to be a thick salt water and easily cleaned the gunk off myself and my hair.

  The Galadrias gathered around, and stared at my naked human form in what seemed to be fascination. The younglings sniffed and nibbled at my clothes, hanging to dry, and one of them tried to wear my hat.

  After drying off, I wrapped the sleeping bag around me. While I was letting my clothes dry, I started to make mental connections with the younglings. They were thrilled whenever I spoke into their minds, telling me I was like a human Galadria with the mental speak. I taught them basic human things about our world, and they peppered me with questions, most of them something a human child would ask—what does cotton candy taste like? Do human children get in trouble for acting out? Things like that.

  Now it was late afternoon, my stomach was eating itself, and I was dying for a drink of water.

  I hadn’t checked in with Damien since that morning, but thought it might be a good time to see if he knew where my body was.

  Walking back through sky home to my den, I sat down quietly, and took three deep breaths. When I let my awareness span out, I felt for him. Once I sensed his consciousness, I sent out a thought.

  ‘Hey.’

  I could feel panicked spikes of energy. ‘Kit!’

  ‘I’m still okay. Did you find my body?’ Hours had passed. Surely one of them had made it to Vancouver by now, and told him I was sleeping peacefully there.

  He was quiet, and I knew it wasn’t good.

  ‘Jer and Josephine landed near Vancouver.’ He finally spoke. ‘They got back to the house and called me.’

  I didn’t have the balls to ask him, knowing it was bad by his hesitation.

  ‘Kit, your body isn’t there. It’s missing.’<
br />
  And reality came crashing down. I was quiet for a full minute.

  ‘Have you talked to Ronnie?’ I asked him.

  ‘Yes, she thinks if your Earthside body isn’t getting fluids, you could die. She also thinks your Dream Wars body needs to stay hydrated. Basically, you need to wake up as soon as possible.’

  I sighed. ‘Yeah, I got that. Okay. Let me… figure it out.’ I could be lying in a cave in Australia for all I knew. That breeder bitch had done this to me.

  ‘I miss you, Kit. We’ll figure this out.’ His voice was tender, and I ached to just be back with him.

  ‘I miss you too. I gotta go,’ I told him and pulled away. I couldn’t allow myself to get emotional right then, not when I was in fight or flight mode.

  ‘Dawn?’ I contacted my friend.

  ‘Dawn is coming to see Kit,’ she said cheerily.

  Relief washed through me. ‘Good, we need to find Kit water. And food.’

  Dawn was silent a moment. ‘I know where humans keep the clear blue,’ she said finally.

  I brightened. ‘Okay, take me there.’

  Dawn’s energy bristled. ‘It’s dangerous.’

  I tried not to get frustrated with her. She was just trying to help. ‘Kit needs the clear blue or she will die.’

  Her response was immediate. ‘Dawn will take Kit.’

  Panic started to creep into the edges of my mind. Where the freaking hell is my body? Did the breeder drop it into the ocean? And now I’m dead, and only exist here? Is that even possible? My hands went numb and I realized I was hyperventilating.

  Calm down. Breathe. Master Aki would tell me to live in the now, and right now my only problem was thirst. I didn’t need to worry about things that hadn’t happened yet, or were out of my control.

  Breathe.

  The sound of crunching gravel had me looking up. Dawn was there, waiting for me.

  ‘Is Kit dying?’ Dawn asked me suddenly.

  I chuckled. ‘No. Would take me a few days without clear blue to die.’ Still, who knew how long I would be there. I needed to stock up now.

  She relaxed, stepping back a little. ‘Kit looks unwell.’

  Yeah, I probably looked like total panicked shit. ‘I’m okay. Just nervous about the situation,’ I explained.