Speaking of the King…
Lyght was looking for him, but couldn’t find him. He frowned; in such a small room, shouldn’t he be able to see the man? He thought the King would clearly stand out. Maybe he hadn’t arrived yet? Lyght checked his watch, it was a little past eight. Maybe he was coming later? Lyght turned to ask Mikael, but was taken aback to see him in conversation with Lyaness. So she was staying for the dinner after all. Or maybe she would just be in the room, as the King’s messenger? He didn’t know.
Lyght did, however, see a tall man in black emerge from a circle of guests near the head of the table and raise his drink. He didn’t speak, yet the crowd quieted down in seconds as they saw him up front. Lyght recognized him with a jolt; it was the guard who had led them from the Belt to their hotel on the first day. Dressed in black just as he was that day, the man had on a flowing white cape to match this time, and a similarly adorned white sheath at his belt, holding his sword. He undid the belt and looped it around the back of the chair he stood behind at the head of the table, and spread his arms out. “Alright, everybody. Sit down, and we can get this under way.”
Lyght frowned. Who was this guy to be giving orders? And why was he here anyway, at such an elite gathering? The assorted dinner guests went to their places anyway, and Lyaness guided Lyght and Mikael to seats on opposite sides of the mysterious guard. She turned away as they reached their spots, saying, “I’ll be in the room, but I’m not eating with you guys. I’m to lead you back afterwards.” Lyght nodded as she walked away, but turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He looked into the stormy gray eyes of the tall man he’d seen once before, upon his arrival to the city. The guard. The man smiled and reached his hand out, and Lyght shook it tentatively, looking up into his oddly familiar face.
“Decimader Vuruman, nice to meet you.”
Lyght couldn’t help it, his jaw dropped as he looked at the King of the Dreamscape, everything finally clicking into place. He had escorted them into the city the first day… he must have been interested in them all along! Lyght was having trouble wrapping his head around it. All he could get out, however, was, “Yeah. I’m Lyght. Nice to meet you too.” That appeared to be enough for the King, however. After he turned and shook Mikael’s hand, who was looking similarly shocked, the most powerful man in the Dreamscape spread his arms out and said in a commanding voice.
“Alright! Bring the food in, and let’s get this show on the road.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The food was delicious – the music and the atmosphere were nearly as good – but Lyght couldn’t take his eyes off the man sitting next to him.
In all his life, Lyght had never anticipated in the slightest meeting Decimader Vuruman, King of the Dreamscape, colloquially known as “The Hero” for his feats in rising above the chaos to build and maintain the massive, diverse society they lived in. The man was as much a myth as anything else; in fact, Lyght had heard more than one person in Kona claim that Decimader wasn’t even real, or that he had died centuries ago and it had been covered up. That second one would’ve been hard to disprove, but Lyght had no doubt that this man was absolutely who he claimed to be. Lyght couldn’t understand how he hadn’t recognized him from the start.
He spoke with a commanding, yet kind air, and gave off a general sense of charisma. When he spoke, people listened. And it wasn’t just because of his station, either, although that was obviously part of it. It was also the fact that he just seemed like such a good guy. As Lyght sat there and watched a senator engage the King in conversation about the oncoming winter and other small talk, Lyght tried to pin down what it was that made the King so inviting to speak to. It had to be in part his listening skills; he listened attentively to whatever was being said, even if it was of little to no importance to him personally. When he spoke himself, it was in a quiet, but assured voice. It was the voice of a King, to be sure, but also mixed with the voice of an adviser, contemporary, and even friend. From what Lyght was seeing, anyway, the King seemed to be a pretty likeable guy.
He didn’t exactly look like what Lyght had expected either; although Lyght really wasn’t sure exactly what he’d expected the King’s appearance to be. He was tall, about Mikael’s height, with jet black hair shot through with bursts of silver. He had a weird color of stormy gray eyes that Lyght had never seen before, and a young-looking face. In fact, if Lyght had to pin an age on him, he would guess the man to be in his mid-thirties. Of course that couldn’t really be the case, as he was reputed to have reigned for centuries, ever since the founding of the Dreamscape itself. After all, he was the man who had created it.
That was weird… how could he have lived such a ridiculously long life? Was he even human? Lyght burned to know more about him, but he didn’t want to interrupt the conversation.
It didn’t matter, however, as the senator the King was speaking to turned to speak to a Legend beside him, leaving the King free, cutting into his steak at the head of the table. Lyght opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, but the King preempted him, speaking to both Lyght and Mikael, “So… pardon me for asking first, but tell me a little about yourselves.”
Lyght shared a glance with his friend and of course, Mikael took the initiative and answered first, “Well, we’re from the village of Kona in the Hope domain, but you already know about that.”
Mikael paused; obviously highly aware of who he was speaking to. To Lyght, it seemed that so much of what was important about them; their mission to destroy the Dark, their pasts, and their motivations were somewhat taboo to talk about. Lyght wasn’t sure how the King would react if Mikael told him these things, so he was pleased to see that Mikael took the evasive route for once. “I mean, our lives have been pretty simple up until our invitation to come to the Legion Academy. We’re Dreamcasters, obviously, but other than that, what do you want to know?”
The King chuckled a bit and shook his head, “I don’t know, to be honest. Pardon me for bringing this up, but you should know; the Legion keeps track of all Dreamcasters. We know when they discover their powers, where they’re living, and general details about them. We don’t spy on them of course, that’s not necessary, but suffice it to say that I already know significant details about both of your pasts as nomads, both of you living and traveling with your fathers. I’m also aware – and please know you have my condolences – that both of you lost your fathers at an unfortunately young age.” Lyght nodded and looked down, a bit surprised that the King knew so much about him. He felt the King’s hand on his shoulder, and he looked up.
Decimader Vuruman smiled at him, “Sorry for bringing it up, but what I mean to say is that I’m very impressed with what you guys have been able to handle so far in your young lives. It’s something that a guy like me, old as I am, doesn’t always see.”
Lyght, shocked a little bit at the complement, tried to think of what to say, but the King kept talking. Going back to cutting his steak again, the King took a bite and swallowed it, saying, “Good enough, I guess.” He looked up at Lyght and Mikael, a small grin on his face, “You know, I have to hold these damn things every month. Politicking with these senators and Legion members gets really annoying at times, but they’d get really mad if they didn’t think I was listening to them, so…” He laughed, and Mikael along with him. Even Lyght laughed a little, but something was bothering him. Something from their invitation letter he wanted to ask about.
“Hey, um…”, Lyght began, but the King waved a hand, “Call me Decimader, that’s fine.” Lyght nodded, “Decimader – you mentioned in the dinner invitation you sent that Mikael and I are the first Dreamcasters to ever come to the Legion Academy from the Hope domain. I think I remember Lyn saying the same thing on the trip here. My question is… why? It seems like a ridiculous coincidence to me that in the thousand-plus year history of the Dreamscape, there has never been a single person to even make it to the Academy from the Hope region, let alone to make it into the actual Legion. Is there any expla
nation for this you know of? And if this true, then why us?”
Decimader nodded, confirming what Lyght had said, “Good question.” The King of the Dreamscape scanned up and down the three tables, frowning, and then nodded to himself. “Yeah, like I thought. Remember how I said the First Legend would be at this dinner? Well, he usually is, so I guess I expected him to be here. I’d hoped to introduce you guys to him; he usually loves to meet the class leaders and other rising young talent. Anyway”, the King shrugged, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back, “this would normally be a question I’d let him answer, since he’s the hands-on guy in control of the Legion, but I suppose my answer will have to suffice.”
The King looked around the room, then leaned in and began to speak in a somewhat quieter voice. Lyght couldn’t help it; he leaned in a little bit too. “I know it seems like too big of a thing to be a coincidence, and I agree with you”, the King said. “Although I know some details about all the Dreamcasters in the land, as I said, I don’t make the decisions of which ones to invite to the Legion Academy and when; the First Legion and his staff do that. Well, Lyn is actually one of the members of that council, and he’s one of my senior advisers. And although you haven’t asked, I’m sure you’re also wondering why one of the most senior Legends in the Legion came to your village personally to announce your invitation to the Academy; as well as escorting you all the way here. You may have deduced that this is not the traditional way we do it.” Lyght and Mikael exchanged a glance, and nodded.
“Well”, the King continued, “you’re right. And the rationale for having Lyn escort you here is actually tied hand-in-hand with what I believe to be the reason you two are the first two Dreamcasters to come out of the Hope domain.”
The King paused for a second, looking around the room, as if to make sure no one was eavesdropping, and then locked his gaze back on to Lyght and Mikael, continuing, “This may sound odd to you, but in the centuries and centuries that I’ve ruled here, it had never crossed my mind that there had never been any Dreamcasters from Hope join the Legion. Until a couple years ago, actually, I somehow never realized that no one from your domain had ever made it into the group of the most elite warriors in the land. The Legion – the elite group of Dreamcasters who work with me on a mission that has been central to the survival of this land for centuries. Obviously, as you might expect, I can’t tell you what that is now, but if and when you are inducted into the Legion, they’ll tell you that.” Mikael smiled, “Good. It’s just a matter of time then.” Decimader laughed, “Confidence. I like it. Anyway…”
“Well, I can’t think of any subtle way to say this, but I’ll do my best. Just know that this is confidential information, and you can’t tell anybody, including any of your friends in the Academy, or even the other class leaders. Lyn knows about it, but it specifically pertains to you guys, so you could say that this is one of the main reasons I wanted to meet with you tonight; to tell you this.” Lyght was bursting with anticipation at this, in a little bit of disbelief that the King was actually saying this stuff to him, but he focused in anyway as the King dropped his voice again and leaned in.
“So, like I said, I’d never realized that in all the centuries I’d ruled, there had been no Dreamcasters whatsoever to emerge from the Hope domain. Well, I finally did notice, but not in the way you would’ve thought. It happened a few years back, when a strange inscription was found on a wall deep in the mining caves of the Pride domain. Now, normally this wouldn’t have caught my attention, but I happened to come across the phenomenon in my annual review of business reports. One of the unfortunate tasks I have to do every year, being King and all that.”
“Well anyway, it turned out no one could decipher the strange inscription; and to be honest, I have to admit I was rather bored at the time and lacking anything to do, so I went to check it out. And as it turned out, I was the only one able to understand it, because the inscription was written in a language that only I know – one that predates the Dreamscape itself. Now, it’s impossible that anyone here in the Dreamscape wrote that, for they wouldn’t know the language, nor would they understand the background behind the content spoken of in the inscription.”
The King looked back and forth at them, laughing a little, “Confused? Well, long story short, the inscription basically was, for lack of a better word, a prediction. Or better yet, a promise. It spoke of two Dreamcasters from the domain of Hope – and yes, this was when I first thought about the fact that there’d never been one – who would rise up to defeat what I can only describe as a great enemy of the Dreamscape. One that I have been preparing to fight for the entirety of my reign, but have been unable to find. Until now.”
“Because if this promise is real – and I have information that says it is – what this means is that by virtue of the fact that you are both very talented Dreamcasters from Hope, the first in history, you two must be the ones to help me fight this enemy that I’ve been so long in trying to find and defeat. Since you two are here, what I know by process of deduction is that the enemy is now surely out there somewhere, and we need to get down to business on how to take him out as fast as possible.”
Lyght just sat there, confused and excited at the same time. The King wanted them for a vital mission, a real purpose that would protect the Dreamscape! Maybe… maybe the enemy was the Dark? Lyght couldn’t be sure, and he wasn’t sure how to ask, but the King leaned back and spoke again.
“So, what this means for you guys is that you have to keep working to make it into the Legion. Sorry, but we can’t offer free passes just because we think you have potential to do something great, based off such mysterious circumstances as we have here.” Lyght and Mikael both nodded.
Looking pleased, the King continued, “But while you’re working on that, I would like you two to meet with me again here in the tower of Triumph – my messenger will come tell you again when it is time to meet – so I can work with you personally on what I just mentioned. Tonight, I was just trying to find out more about you. And I’m not lying when I say – despite the fact I don’t know either of you all that well yet – that I’m impressed with what I see. You may very well be the ones promised to meet this challenge.”
Lyght and Mikael looked at each other, smiling. That was one thing they liked, a good challenge.
Decimader Vuruman stood up, as the dinner was drawing to an end. As Lyght and Mikael stood up with him, the King laughed to himself about something. Lyght looked at the man questioningly, but he shook his head.
“Ahhh, what I’d give to be young again. Destiny… that’s not something that everyone controls. You guys control not only your own, but to an extent everyone else’s. Don’t waste that chance.”
Lyght and Mikael shared a glance, and Lyght looked back into the King’s stormy gray eyes with determination.
“We won’t.”
End of Part III
Chapter Thirty-Three
The birds sang in the maples and oaks that circled the crest of the small hill as reddish, fallen leaves swirled across the ground in the brisk late-autumn wind. Lyght stood with his arms crossed, back against an oak as he looked out at the warming horizon. Morning was coming soon, and although it was slightly overcast, there should still be a fairly good sunrise. Too bad he probably wouldn’t be able to hang around to watch it for long. Pushing off of the tree, Lyght stretched and yawned, looking around the clearing and down the slopes of the small hill. Nothing. He frowned.
He was supposed to be meeting Lyn here this morning for his “evaluation”. Last week, the Legend had mentioned to him after class that he was due for a mid-program evaluation, to be done in a one-on-one setting with Lyn himself. However, Lyn hadn’t gone into specific detail about what was supposed to go on during this evaluation. All Lyght knew was that he’d been told by Lyn earlier this week that his evaluation would be on Thursday morning, and to be at this location at 7:00 AM. Well, Lyght was here now – he’d even been a little early – but it was more
than a few minutes after seven now, meaning Lyn was late.
That was odd in itself; it was not like Lyn to be late to anything. In fact, he was always the one always getting on everyone’s cases when they were late for class or training, which were often held early in the morning. Lyght would’ve thought that maybe he’d gotten the wrong location, gone up the wrong hill maybe, but he’d double checked that. No, it seemed like there was nothing to do but sit here and wait until…
A shadow slid over Lyght from above, and he suddenly looked up in alarm.
Against the cloudy sky, a massive object plummeted right toward him. Without time to think or determine what it was, Lyght hit the ground and rolled away, landing in a crouch and grabbing the hilt of his sword from over his shoulder. Lyght had slid the weapon a few inches out of its sheath when it hit with a thud, and he closed his eyes, sighing with exasperation. Lyn.
The Legend, usually stern and in-command while in lessons, had adopted the more laid-back demeanor that Lyght had seen previously, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants. Lyght couldn’t be so sure, because he hadn’t been able to speak to the man very much outside of lessons, but Lyn sure had been acting casually recently. In fact, Lyght got the weird feeling like he was with Mikael as the Legend laughed at Lyght’s initial overreaction and whipped his own giant dark blue sword out in a blur, sending it flying into a maple just beside Lyght’s head, as Lyght hit the ground in shock. Grimacing and wiping the leaves off him, Lyght jumped up and glowered at his teacher, unsure for a moment of what to say.
Lyn just laughed, “Very good. You always were good at keeping your composure.” Lyght paused, still at a loss for words. Composure? The giant of a man in his deep blue armor took a few steps towards Lyght, putting his arms out, “You know, most people would probably have attacked me back, or at least yelled at me. Showing the presence of mind to not only dodge my initial attack, but to remain relatively calm in the wake of my second, indicates to me that you know how to stay composed in unfamiliar situations. Allow me to say – this is a crucial quality to have when it comes to leadership.”
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