by E. J. Mellow
“Hello.” He smiled.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
Dev raised an eyebrow. “Were you expecting someone else?”
“Actually, I was expecting many someones—oh, you are here.” Sitting up, I found Elena, a Vigil and one of Terra’s elders, standing at the end of the table I was on. Wrapped all in white, her perfect shoulder-length blonde hair was swept back to reveal her very not elderly glowing complexion. Before I knew that Elena was one of the more powerful Vigil—another Terra race that interacts with Dreamers in their awake states as a sort of guardian angel to their destinies—I could tell she was important. She seemed to radiate the power of the sun, making her a force that you desperately wanted to look at but strained your eyes if you did.
“Welcome, once again, to Terra Somniorum, Molly,” she said in her authoritative, calm voice.
“Thanks.” I turned distractedly to take in the stark white room. It reminded me of the holding cell I found myself being escorted to the time I tried to make my way into a Council meeting unannounced. The similar surroundings allowed me believe we were in, or close to, City Hall—the center of Terra.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“Fine.” I glanced between her and Dev. “Why? Should I be feeling differently?”
“No, fine is perfect. I take it Rae did a proper job of guiding you here?”
“Yes.”
Elena nodded contentedly and glanced toward the door a beat before Rae strode in. He let out a small sigh of relief at seeing me and smiled his radiant, sunny smile, teeth white against his dark skin.
“That was fast,” he said, brushing his fingers through his tight blond curls.
“Was it?”
“Yeah, you pretty much just closed your eyes in New York when I portaled here.”
“She was ready,” Elena said, staring at me with her ominous eyes.
“Can you stand?” Dev offered his hand, helping me hop off the table. “This is an interesting sleep ensemble you have on today.” He smirked as he appraised my baggy sweatpants and tee.
“I thought it was rather amusing myself,” Rae agreed.
I regarded them both peevishly, and without another word quickly brought up the image of the black T-shirt, pants, and boots that are the uniform of the Nocturna.
Surprised, they both stepped back as my clothing rapidly changed shape and settled into what I desired. Elena watched with a spark of intrigue.
“Is that better?” I eyed them sweetly.
Dev was the one who recovered faster. “If only you could change into what I’m imagining.”
I made a face of disgust as Rae chuckled next to him.
“All right, gentleman,” Elena began, “I would like to escort her out and explain a few things before she leaves with you, Dev, and is taken to her quarters.”
“I’m not starting my training now?”
“You will, but first I’d like you to rest a little. Much of what we’ll be doing today will take a lot out of you, and it would be preferred if you were settled before we began.”
“But aren’t I technically resting now?”
Elena smiled. “It would also be best if you stopped thinking about your body in New York and thought of your body here as its own.”
I nodded, though still not understanding how that would be possible.
The four of us traveled down the white sterile hallways of what Elena explained was the Dreamer Containment Center—a building not far from City Hall that resided mostly underground. Two Vigil guards walked in front and two behind. It was hard not to feel like we were being led through a prison.
Elena stopped in front of a new hallway connecting to the one we were walking through. “Down there is where your physical training will be held. It’s fitted with all the material and rooms that are required,” Elena explained as she began to move again. “I believe Rae will do your physical lessons today.”
I looked to Rae, who shot me a wink.
After making our way down a plethora of nondescript corridors, and losing my sense of direction more than once, we stopped in front of an all-white door with a glowing blue lightning bolt resting in its center. It was a symbol I noticed also decorated the armbands of our fellow Vigil guards and something I’d seen a few Nocturna wear as well. I wondered more than once if it was the emblem of Terra Somniorum.
After a nod from Elena, one Vigil quickly pressed a code into a keypad, and with a huff of air the door retracted into the wall, and she stepped through. As soon as I entered the room, an onslaught of pressure formed in my head, and I shivered. Glancing down, all the hairs on my arms now stood on end, and a strange wave of euphoric energy rushed through me. Something in the air made me want to take in large breaths, like I couldn’t get enough of it.
“You okay?” Dev was suddenly by my side.
Glancing at him in a daze, I found myself thinking how small he looked, how fragile—a thought that went against everything I knew Dev to be. But yet I couldn’t stop thinking it. Like a shift in eyesight, I could suddenly see through his skin, a strange-colored blood running through his veins, red mixed with glowing white strands of energy. I saw where it entered his heart and felt it beat in my head. I watched his glowing lungs expanding and contracting with each breath. How beautiful it all was, but how simply it could be snuffed out. How easily I could snuff it out if I merely wished the energy to stop flowing, for his heart to stop beating.
“Molly?” Dev’s concerned voice shook me out of my trance, making the energy I saw so easily flowing through him disappear—my eyesight returned to normal.
What was that?
A hand was pressed lightly against my shoulder, and I spun around, feeling a tug in my core. Elena stood before me, eyes penetrating my own and shifting through thoughts I was unsure belonged to her or me. Whatever she was searching for, she seemed to have found, for her lips pursed and then relaxed. “Interesting.”
“What is?” I asked with worry.
“Soon, Molly Spero. We’ll get into it all soon,” she said quietly and motioned me forward.
Before following Elena, I stole a glance back at Dev, who was regarding me with uncertainty until Rae drew his attention away. Swallowing away that strange moment, I returned my focus to the room, taking in the massive domed space and alabaster square paneling lining its entirety. Searching for the light source, I found none—the room seemed to be lit simply because it wished to be.
As Elena and I walked forward, a shape began to rise and unfold from the center of the room, snapping and shifting to finally settle into a chair you’d find at a dentist’s office, except this chair was all sleek and simple in design. It appeared to be wrapped in the soft white material of the sleeping pod I laid in at the bookstore. Despite the presence of that comfortable addition, the object terrified me. What was it for? Was I to lie in that thing? And if so, what was to be done with me in it?
I searched for Dev again, to see him studying our surroundings with narrowed eyes, his expression openly revealing he didn’t like this room, which did nothing to help my unease. Rae was off to the side, talking to another Vigil guard.
“Molly,” Elena called as she rested her delicate hand on the chair, “this is where you will train with me on using your Navitas as well as accessing the memories of your predecessors.”
“I’ll have to sit in that thing?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as it might appear. You will need to be in this when I give you memories, but we won’t need it when we practice with your powers.”
I gingerly poked the seat’s material. It molded to my fingers effortlessly, just like the white coffin. “How will I receive the memories?” I couldn’t help but imagine ancient torture devices and pliers.
“I shall give them to you.”
I laughed at her simple reply. “Yes, but how will you give them to me? In sandwich form?”
Elena merely smiled politely. “No, I shall send them into your mind.”
I balked. “How will you d
o that?”
“You will see later today—nothing to get worked up over. It’s very painless, and you will take to it naturally, as I have already seen.”
I frowned. How has she seen this?
“All the Dreamers before you have easily taken the memories of their predecessors.” Elena answered my unasked question. “This room is where many past Dreamers have come and learned of their history and the power that resides within them. It is specifically made to contain the almost-limitless energy you hold.” She stepped forward. “You’ve felt what I speak of,” she said without question, and I slowly nodded. Is that what I felt when I entered the room?
“And this is all safe?” Dev asked from behind me.
“Yes, very safe.”
“Hunh” was his dubious response as he ran his hand over the material of the chair.
“Come, I have a bit more to show you.” Elena ushered us toward the exit.
Before I followed the rest of the group out, I glanced back at the lonely chair in the middle of the room. As if knowing we were leaving, it began to fold itself up and disappear into the ground, leaving the space empty and bare, like it never existed.
I shivered, exiting the room, just as I shivered when entering.
—∞—
A knock sounds at my door, and my eyes shoot open, the memories of my earlier moments in Terra fading away. I must have fallen asleep after all. How strange.
“You ready, Molly?” Dev’s voice is muffled.
I roll off the bed and straighten my shirt, surprised I don’t feel my usually grogginess when waking from a nap. “Yeah, one sec.”
Quickly tying my hair in a ponytail, I steal a look in the mirror above the dresser. I hardly recognize myself in my black garb and flushed cheeks. The nerves that flutter inside me are obvious. What am I about to experience? How will it change me? So many questions spin around as I breathe in deep and walk toward the door.
Dev stands in the inky shadows of the hall. Blue eyes like liquid topaz gaze down at me, the indication of his Nocturna night vision apparent with their reflection.
He holds out a quiver and Arcus. “Ready?” His question clearly inquires beyond the obvious.
“Ready.” I nod and take the outstretched objects before following him through the dark hall and toward the light.
— 2 —
TRAVELING DEEPER INTO the city, Dev and I walk down a cobblestone road, stopping outside a building that is offset from the main plaza of City Hall. The area is filled with life, and if it wasn’t for living in Manhattan, I might have found the constant hustle and bustle strange and overwhelming. Instead, I find it a comfort.
The building is modest in appearance, and a small lobby with an elevator is visible through the glass doors. If I hadn’t already been here, I would have thought it was nothing more than an administrative outpost from City Hall. Instead, I know the real purpose of this facade resides underground, stretching an unknown length and depth.
I’m about to enter, when someone steps out of the tree-lined path close by. Straight blonde hair stops midwaist, and her willowy form glides with purpose. “You’re thirty minutes late,” she quips as she stops next to us.
“Hey, Aveline,” I say, and she gives me a curt nod before settling her attention back on Dev. At least she didn’t completely ignore me. Baby steps…
“And the world is still standing,” Dev says dryly, opening the door. “I’m dropping Molly off, and then we can start our rounds.”
“Well, hurry up. You’re not the only one with things they’d rather be doing.”
He raises a brow. “And what things would those be?”
“Just hurry,” she snips again before turning to lean against a lamppost.
Dev waves her off as we walk into the stark lobby, and he calls the elevator. As we wait, an awkward silence settles in—awkward for me, anyway.
“So…is Aveline always so…succinct?” I ask to fill the quiet.
His lips twitch. “No, not always. Just around you, it seems.” He studies me. “Why do you think that is?”
“Well, it’s obvious she doesn’t like me.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“I just wonder why she wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t what?”
“Like you.”
I laugh without humor. “I don’t know. Maybe because I make you thirty minutes late?”
The side of his mouth tips up. “Maybe.”
The opening ding of the elevator doors cuts our conversation short, and a Vigil guard dressed in white steps out. He’s a bear of a man with short brown hair and dark skin. Creamy caramel eyes look down at me from a crooked nose that has obviously been broken one too many times. “Your name?” he asks with rigidity, his deep voice booming through the small space.
“Oh—uh, Molly Spero.”
He nods to my companion. “Dev,” he says while stepping out of the car and allowing the doors to shut behind.
“Alec,” Dev returns.
I glance between the two. Does Dev know everyone here?
“I’ll need you to call the elevator for us,” Alec explains.
“Um, okay.” I reach to push the call button, wondering why he let it close in the first place, but he stops me.
“Not like that.” He shakes his head.
Seeing my further bemusement, Dev leans in and whispers, “You need to show proof of your power.”
“Oh, well…why didn’t he just say so?” I mumble, feeling a bit foolish.
Concentrating on the elevator, the familiar sensation of warm-to-cool energy swiftly travels through me, and the doors ding open. I smile, feeling like a Jedi.
“Thank you, Molly. We are cleared to proceed,” Alec announces into a band around his wrist, which I assume is a radio.
We enter the car, and I turn to Dev, who hasn’t followed.
“You’re not coming with us?” I ask, growing a little panicky that I’ll be left alone to experience what waits below without the reassuring presence of Dev. When Dev’s presence became reassuring is beyond me.
“Don’t miss me too much.” He grins right before the doors close over his face.
Alec and I walk the halls that must sit a few stories below ground, given that my ears popped on the way down. He’s been filling me in on how this compound is guarded and how I will only be able to use my powers to open doors that don’t have the glowing blue lightning bolts on them. When I ask why this is, he simply says for security reasons. His lack of an answer has me noticing how many doors we’ve passed that have the mentioned symbol—so far, four. What would be in there that needs guarding? More specifically, what would be in there that needs guarding from me?
We see few people as I’m led forward, but each has been Vigil and each has nodded in a slight bow upon my approach.
“Why are they doing that?” I ask after walking past two more Vigil who stopped their conversation to greet me as such. I also notice Alec’s proud, tall stance beside me.
“You are the Dreamer,” he says.
“Yeah…and you’re a Vigil, and these halls are white. So?”
Alec seems to work hard in suppressing a smile. “You are not the same as I.”
I don’t know how to respond to that. I understand we come from different worlds, but the people here seem awfully similar to humans—well, despite the long lives, no sleeping, night vision, and I’m sure a handful of other talents that I have no idea about. Yeah, okay, I’m not the same as Alec. Is that why Aveline dislikes me? And why would that cause them to bow to me—shouldn’t I be bowing to them?
“Here we are.” Alec stops in front of another door with the glowing symbol and punches a code into a keypad set into the wall. The entryway opens with a huff, and I take in the same giant room I was showed earlier. Elena stands small in the center, the same white chair in front of her, and I wonder for a second how long she’s been waiting for me. But something tells me she’s not one to show up a moment before she’s needed.
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“Pleasant training,” Alec says while bending slightly at the waist, and I shuffle uncomfortably, still uncertain how to return such a gesture, before watching him rigidly depart.
As I enter the large room, the door behind me closes oppressively with a whoosh, and I swallow down the nerves that have suddenly risen. The odd euphoria I felt earlier when walking in bristles along my skin—a sensation similar to when a wall of Navitas surrounded me before it channeled into my back, tore apart a Metus, and blew Dev and I backward with an explosion. Yeah, nothing to worry about, I’m sure.
“Did you get some rest?” Elena asks as she steps closer.
“Yeah, I actually ended up taking a nap,” I say while looking around and wiping my clammy palms on my pants.
“I can tell you are nervous,” Elena says, taking my hands and instantly setting off the strange tugging in my stomach, “but there’s nothing, nor anyone here, that will do you harm. Think of this facility as your sanctuary. You are revered here. Your importance known and respected.”
They respect me? But they don’t even know me. I frown, uncomfortable with that kind of unsolicited reverence.
“Let me help you,” she says, and without warning, a strange energy flows from her hands into mine, soothingly traveling through me. I grow sleepy for a couple of heartbeats, and then I’m wide awake. Any prior nervousness within me is gone, and when I try to poke around to find it, it stays hazy, hidden from my reach.
How strange.
“What did you just do?”
“I calmed you.” She removes her hands from mine, and the pulling sensation in my gut flickers out.
“But how?”
“I have powers similar to yours,” she says as she moves around the chair. “They are not as powerful or limitless, but as the Dreamer’s Dux Ducis—” She sees my confusion. “As the Dreamer’s Guide, I’m created to work with you and your power, to teach you its proper use and how to control it. When we touch, I can tap into it and gauge its strength.” She regards me a moment, calculatingly, before she goes on. “Yours is the strongest I’ve ever felt.”