It seemed like it took hours, but finally I reached the top of the stairs. There was a long hallway that ended in a wall of stone. At the wall was the old man. He looked down the hallway at me, like he’d been waiting for me. His gentle smile grew as he saw me step into the hallway.
“Hey, what is this?” I shouted. My voice rebounded off the hallway walls, echoing harshly in my ears. “Where are you taking me?”
He said nothing. He merely beckoned again, then turned and stepped through the wall.
I gave an exasperated little growl. But what else could I do? I knew there was nothing at the bottom of the staircase. And this hallway, too, had no doors. There was only one way to go.
I stepped through solid stone once again, and gasped as I felt cool air wash over my face.
It took me a second to realize how high up I was, and when I did I began to reel, swaying away from the stone edge just a few feet away. I felt a hand grip my elbow, helping me steady myself. I looked to my right and found the old man holding my arm firmly, his lips still twisted in a gentle smile.
I took a more careful look at my surroundings. I was standing on a platform of smooth white stone. It had clearly been worked by human hands. Behind me was a stone fold that swept up and then back down out of sight. I placed a hand against it. It was solid stone, like the wooden wall had been down below.
Something about the landscape around me looked familiar. Then I realized what it was: this was the valley. I was on top of the statue of Malus. The statue was wearing a cloak and cowl, and the cowl’s folds were arranged in such a way that they made this little platform on top of the head.
“How did you know this was up here?” I said, turning to give the old man a look. “And how did you even get here in the first place? What is this?”
The man smiled. And then, for the first time, he spoke. “I have been coming here for some time now. I can only come in the dream state. You will find that the path here is blocked to you when you are trapped within reality again.”
“Trapped within reality?” I asked, confused. “What’s the dream state? Is that where we are right now?”
The man nodded, then sighed. “I am weary already,” he said. “It is happening earlier and earlier these days. Would you mind if we sat?”
I looked around uncertainly. “On the stone? Sure, I guess. But isn’t this a mental state? Why are you tired? My body doesn’t feel tired or hungry here.”
The man waved his hand airily. “Yes, but I am very old. Growing tired and sore when you are old is as much of a mental exercise as it is a physical reaction.” He turned and carefully lowered himself to the stone floor, leaning back against one of the folds of the cowl and sighing with contentment.
I smiled down at him nervously. He reminded me a little bit of Greystone. There was something about him that was authoritative and confident. But Greystone was cranky and irritable, something I didn’t see in this guy. And Greystone was clean shaven, unlike like this guy, who had a long white beard.
“So you were going to tell me about the dream state,” I said carefully.
“Was I?” His eyes twinkled. “I suppose I will, then. It is this. This is the dream state. This is where masters of Mind can obtain a bit of peace and quiet for themselves. Collect our thoughts.”
“Can all wizards of Mind come here?” I asked, surprised.
“Oh, no,” he said. “Only the greatest and most powerful. In fact, it is said that if a wizard is powerful enough, they can encounter the spirits of their own past here.” He smiled. “That is often what I use the dream state for, although I have not felt the need of it for many years now.”
“So you’re a wizard of Mind?” I said, growing excited. “I’ve never met another one before. Besides Greystone, I mean.”
The old man cocked his head. “The Watcher. He has been most efficient in his instruction of you Realm Keepers, or so I have heard.”
“He’s a good teacher,” I said with a nod. “Even though sometimes he gets angrier than I think he should.”
The man chuckled. “Yes, I suppose he does. But your statement is inaccurate. You have met at least one other wizard of Mind. Have you forgotten him so readily?”
I thought hard. I couldn’t remember ever meeting another human wizard at all, much less one who could use Mind. “I don’t mean the Elves. They’re weird. Except for Yinnilith. I meant a human wizard.”
“You met him the day you first came to Midrealm,” said the old man.
“Oh, Terrence,” I said. “But he doesn’t count, and I didn’t really meet him.”
“And yet I would wager that you know more about him than many you know in Midrealm,” said the old man, fixing me with a piercing glare. “And from the story of Terrence you may learn many things about yourself and your friends. Paths to avoid in the course of your own life and, as hard as it may be to believe, paths that you should seek to walk yourself.”
I frowned. “Sorry. I don’t want to be anything like Terrence. That’s not going to happen.”
The confidence in my own voice shocked me. That definitely wasn’t how I normally spoke. But here, I didn’t feel as shy and withdrawn as I did in real life. It was my dream, after all.
The old man sighed. “So I see. But keep my words in mind. They may make more sense to you as time goes on.”
We fell to silence for a minute. I began to feel awkward. Here we still were, and I had no idea what we were supposed to be doing. If we were supposed to be doing anything at all. And then I realized that I still had no idea who I was talking to.
“Wait, I forgot to ask,” I said. “Who are you? And how do you know so much about me? What are we doing here?”
The old man started as though I’d woken him from sleep. “Oh, I? I am no one of consequence. And as for how I know about you, it is hard to avoid tales of the Realm Keepers. Your fame stretches far and wide across the land. But as for your third question…”
He lapsed into silence again. Finally he shifted his position on the stone and laid his staff across his knees. The pink glow seemed to intensify for a moment.
“I have brought you here to speak with you about a woman. She lives in a castle, and she is in grave danger.”
“Why? From who?”
“From the hooded lady.”
I blinked. “How do you know about her?” I asked.
The old man shrugged. “I make it a point to know much about the world, and those who have a great role to play in it for good or for ill. The hooded lady has been turned north by a clever deception. This will give you the time you need to find the woman. You must seek her in a castle to the south, not two hours’ hard ride from here, hidden in a cleft in the mountains that looks like a keyhole. You will find her within a tower that has no door.”
I gasped. “You’re talking about Meridia.”
The old man nodded. “She has been known by that name, yes.”
“Who is she?” I said eagerly. “Why are they hunting for her? What does Terrence want with her?”
He shook his head. “It is a long and complicated story. And you are not ready to hear it. That would be more disastrous than if the hooded lady were to find her. What you must know now is that Meridia must be saved. Destiny herself depends on it.”
“I don’t get it,” I said. “What does she have to do with our destiny? And why can’t I know about it?”
The old man thought for a moment, as though searching for a way to explain. “You know something of your own destiny already, yes?”
The thought of Aurora’s prophecy flew into my mind. “Yes. The prophecy.”
“One part of that prophecy has disturbed you greatly,” said the old man. “What is it?”
I spoke automatically.
One must leave this life for death if Shadow be defeated.
That was the one line of the prophecy that none of us could stop thinking about. One of us would have to die if we were going to win in this war against Chaos.
“Yes,” said the
man. “In order to defeat the darkness, one of you must give up your own life. Now, what if you knew which one of you it was? And what if you knew the time and place that it was going to happen?”
“I wish we did!” I said, my voice rising in exasperation. “That way we could plan for it, maybe find a way around it.”
The old man’s eyebrow arched, and his eyes seemed almost to glow as they met mine.
My shoulders sagged. I looked down at my hands as I clasped them in my lap. “Oh,” I said softly. “I get it. If we tried to find a way around the prophecy, we’d break its rules. One of us wouldn’t die, and then Chaos would win.”
The old man nodded, the motion slow and deliberate. “Precisely.”
“Then why tell us at all?” I said. I realized how childish it sounded, but I couldn’t help it. “Why not just let it happen naturally? Why freak us out?”
“Think of this. What can you do about it, now that you know?”
“Nothing!” I cried. “You just said that if we try to stop it, we’re going to lose the war on Chaos!”
The man’s brow furrowed, solidifying his resemblance to Greystone. “I did not ask you what you cannot do,” he said, annoyance creeping into his voice. “I asked you what you can do.”
I snorted and looked away. But I turned my mind to the problem. One of us was going to die if this war was going to be won. What if it was me? What could I do about that? I couldn’t stop myself from dying. Was there anything I could do while I was still alive?
“I could prepare,” I said softly. “I could be ready for it. Make sure that my family on True Earth is taken care of in case it’s me. Make sure that I’ve made peace with everyone I care about.” Blade flashed into my mind.
The old man nodded. “Just so. And if you do so, what if it turns out to be one of the others? What harm will you have done to yourself?”
I sighed. “Okay, I get it. We can all prepare ourselves for it just in case. That way if it happens, it’s not so hard on the others and our families. But if it’s not us, then we’ve just made our lives better anyway.”
The old man nodded again. “Just so.”
“And that’s why you can’t tell me about Meridia?” I said. I brushed the hair back from my eye, looking straight at him. “Because if I know too much, I could ruin what’s supposed to happen?”
“I am afraid that is the case, yes,” he said.
“I don’t like that,” I said flatly. “I feel like I’m wandering around in a fog. I know what I have to do, but I don’t know why, and I don’t know what’s going to happen if I do.”
The old man threw back his head and laughed. It was a long, loud laugh, and it made me think of Yinnilith. When he looked back down at me, he had a broad, silly grin plastered across his face, showing his old and yellowed teeth.
“Find consolation in this, child,” he said. “You have just described the life of every man, woman and child who has ever lived. And now, it is time for you to wake.”
Before I could answer, he held up a hand and snapped his fingers.
I came awake in my bed on Earth.
PREPARATION
TESS
MY PHONE WAS BUZZING HARD on the floor by my mattress as I came awake in my room. Groggy, I picked it up and clicked it open.
“Hello?” I mumbled.
“Tess!” came Sarah’s worried voice. “Where have you been?”
The morning light was warm as it poured through our window. I basked in it, my eyes drifting shut. I shook my head again and forced myself to focus on Sarah’s question. “How long have I been asleep?”
“It’s been almost an hour,” Sarah said, hysteria slowly leeching out of her voice. “I thought maybe something happened on the other side before you fell asleep. Like the camp got attacked, or something.”
“Everything’s fine on the other side,” I said. “But something happened to me. Something really weird.”
Sarah’s voice rose again in alarm. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, fine,” I said. “Everything’s fine. Just…weird.”
Sarah sighed. “Okay. I want you to tell me about it, but first I want to pick you up. I told my folks you were going to hang out with us today so that we could go visit Anna. Can I pick you up in ten minutes? I’ll bring you back here for breakfast if you want.”
“Sounds good,” I said, hearing my stomach rumble.
I showed up at street level nine minutes later to find her already parked at the curb. I opened the door and got in. She smiled as I closed the door behind me.
“Morning,” she said. “Sorry to get you so early, but I want as much time with Anna and Briggs as we can possibly get.”
“Sure,” I said. “Where are the others?”
“Raven’s at my place. Blade is going to pick up Miles and Calvin and meet us there.”
“Now?”
“No, I wanted to give everyone a few hours to make excuses that would actually fly with their parents. We’ll get together at noon.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
We pulled into her driveway and came to a stop. I followed her through the front door to find Raven sitting in her living room, lounging back with her bare feet up on the coffee table.
“About time you guys got back,” she said. “I’m starving. Where were you, Tess?”
“Something weird happened,” I said. “I didn’t mean to freak you guys out.”
“Sarah thought the camp had been attacked.” Raven chuckled. “Of course, if that happened, one of us probably would have dropped dead.” She paused with a frown. “Sorry, was that too goth? I can never tell.”
“Let’s talk after we eat,” said Sarah. “My stomach is about to try and eat my other organs, I’m so hungry.”
I glanced at her. She couldn’t know, of course, that I’d skipped dinner last night so that Kellyn and Nikki could eat soup. I doubted Sarah had any idea how hungry a human body could get. But I wasn’t going to bring that up now.
We moved through the house to the middle of the east side, where the rising sun glowed brightly through the large windows in the wall. Sarah’s parents were both in the kitchen, and they glanced up as we stepped into the kitchen.
“Morning, Mrs. Preston,” I murmured. I tossed my hair forward to cover one of my eyes. I didn’t know her parents very well, and they always looked at me curiously. I supposed they just thought I was one of Sarah’s friends and wanted to know more about me, but it made me uncomfortable all the same.
“Morning, Tess, morning, Ester,” said Sarah’s mom. Her dad merely grunted and raised a mug of coffee. His nose was buried in some paperback book that he had propped up on his knee.
“I was wondering if you and Ester were ever going to get up,” Sarah’s mom said, looking at the two of them. “But I decided to let you sleep in. I remember what it was like, being a teenager.”
“Right, mom,” said Sarah, rolling her eyes. “Is there any breakfast left?”
“None whatsoever,” her mom said. “I don’t keep plates warm for late risers. But you’re free to make some for yourself if you want. I’m going to be heading out soon, so the kitchen’s all yours. What are you three getting up to today?”
“We’ll hang out for a bit, but I really want to head to the mall,” said Sarah. “I’m cashing in a rain check with Raven. I’m going to get her an outfit from one of my stores, and she’s going to get me an outfit from one of hers.”
Sarah’s mom froze and gave Sarah a glance. She recovered quickly and turned to the fridge without batting an eyelash, but her dismay was palpable. “Sounds great,” she said, her voice too high. Buried in his book, Sarah’s dad didn’t even notice.
Sarah laughed. “Don’t freak out, mom. Both of us promised not to go too crazy. I’m not going to turn her into a prom queen, and she’s not going to turn me into a death metal guitarist.”
“Oh, I wasn’t worried,” said her mom. But the red creeping into her cheeks told the truth. “You’ll have to use your dad’s car, thoug
h. I’m taking mine.”
“Sure,” said Sarah. “That okay, dad?”
Her father merely grunted, eyes still on the book.
Sarah’s mom left a few minutes later. Sarah’s dad drifted out of the kitchen around the same time, bumping gently into the doorframe as he walked out, eyes still glued to his pages. Sarah busied herself scrambling some eggs. I tried to help, but she shooed me away to cook for the two of us. Raven plopped down at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal.
“Are we seriously going to go shopping today?” said Raven in disgust. “I’m so not looking forward to that.”
“We have to go and get something so it looks that way, yes,” said Sarah, checking that her dad was well out of earshot. “But that’s just an excuse for us to go meet with Anna and Briggs.”
We took seats around the table with our food. Sarah stepped out to do one last double-check that her mom had left, and her dad was up in his office.
“Okay,” said Sarah. “So what happened to you this morning?”
I told them everything about the dream state, the old man and what he’d told me. Finally I told them what he’d said about the prophecy. Both of their faces grew solemn at that. When I finished, Raven looked out the window with a scowl.
“So we’re just supposed to wait around until one of us dies? Awesome.”
“That doesn’t change anything about the prophecy,” I said. “We’re no worse off than we were before. But he said we have to go rescue this Meridia lady.”
“I think that’s way too risky,” said Sarah. “We need to get to Wyrmspire. That has to be our priority. One woman’s life can’t compare to that. I’m sorry to say that, but it’s true.”
“Plus, if we go rescue her, we could go up against that hooded chick’s army,” said Raven. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
I sat back, at a loss for words. “But…he said it was important,” I stammered. “He said we had to save her.”
Sarah looked at Raven, her mouth twisting. Raven shrugged, her eyes aloof.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 38