Dreamcatcher

by Christian Rosnell

  Lyght couldn’t help but smiling a bit, feeling like he understood now, “So it was part of the evaluation process? To see how I reacted to an attack.” Lyn shrugged, “Well, yes and no. I guess you could say that, but really I like testing my students all the time. It’s one of my jobs as a teacher, you see, as well as something I guess I just enjoy doing. I love seeing how you young people react to stressful situations. I find that I never fail to learn anything from analyzing the different individual ways of problem-solving that each one of you have. That, and”, Lyn paused here, smiling, “I just thought it would be kind of fun.”

  Lyght shook his head at this. This really was like dealing with Mikael. Who was this guy, anyway, who could come off as powerful, quiet, commanding, and playful at different moments? Lyght felt he had trouble pinning him down, figuring out who he was and what he stood for. It kind of bothered him that he couldn’t figure it out.

  Lyn took a deep breath of the brisk autumn air and arched his back, stretching. The sun was just beginning to rise over the ridge on the horizon, casting soft shades of yellow and orange upon the cloudy sky and the mists swirling in the depressions and gulleys beneath the rolling hills in the south of Zone Zero. It was quite a beautiful sight to look upon – Lyght wished he could be out here for the sunrise more often, but it was much too early for his taste. He never had been a morning person.

  Lyn looked over his shoulder at his student, an apologetic look on his face, “Hey, I’m sorry for being late this morning. I forgot we were having this, to be honest. Luckily, I prepared beforehand.”

  Lyght waited for him to go on, but that’s all he said, so Lyght walked over to stand by his teacher as he looked out at the sunrise. Something was bothering Lyght, so he asked, “Lyn? How did you get into the air above me without me hearing you? You had to have used some Dreamcasting trick, but I don’t see it.”

  Lyn laughed a little, “Want a little training this early, then? During your evaluation session?” Lyght shook his head, “No, I –”, but Lyn waved a hand. “No, don’t worry about it, I’m kidding. Well, this is kind of above your level right now, but what I did was supercondense the moisture particles in the air – and this was easier with all the mist – to form a sort of cloud that could support my weight. Clouds move very quickly in the wind, so I also directed my Dreamcasting power to create wind that would spur the cloud onward from the city to the Zone, making it here in about five minutes. So yes, I did only remember about this meeting at the time it was supposed to start. But nevertheless, I’m here now, so let’s get started.” Lyght nodded, wondering what was going to happen next.

  “So”, Lyn began, “the way this works may not be what you expect. It’s a lot more laid back and casual than maybe you believed coming into it. Essentially, this is a question and answer session where I get to know you a bit better, see how you respond to various situations, and evaluate what you’ve learned so far and how far you’ve come. Make sense?” Lyght nodded.

  “OK”, Lyn said. “So, I’ll start off with an important question; what is your primary motivation? Simple question, but vague, I know. You can really say anything you want, as long as it’s real and genuine; and believe me, I’ll know if it’s not. What is your motivation for joining the Legion Academy, and trying to become a member of the Legion?”

  Lyght took a deep breath before answering. Heavy question.

  “Hmmm…”, Lyght began, still looking out toward the horizon, “I wouldn’t be lying to say that originally, I didn’t really know the answer to that myself. Or, at least, I couldn’t rationally explain it. It was more of an emotional thing. It –”, Lyght paused, “Well, it may make most sense in the context of how I grew up. You may or may not know, but my father and I were nomads when I was a kid. My mother had died when I was very young, so it was just my dad and me roaming around the Dreamscape.” Lyn nodded, listening intently.

  Lyght, feeling a bit awkward, continued on nevertheless, “Well, what he was looking for was the Legion. See, we didn’t know much about who the Legion were at that time, or where they were located. Nobody did.” Lyn nodded, “You have to be personally invited by the King.” “Right”, Lyght responded, “but we didn’t know that back then. So we searched for them, the whole first eight years of my life. That was my dad’s dream you see – to join the Legion. He was a Dreamcaster, obviously, and well…”

  Lyght wasn’t sure how to continue. The reason his dad had wanted to join the Legion was because he believed – as did many throughout the Dreamscape – that the sacred mission of the Legion, the one they kept so secret, was to destroy the Dark once and for all. Well, Lyn had said to Mikael back on the second time they’d met that this what not actually the case. Lyght didn’t want to talk about his dad’s – and later his – plans to destroy the Dark, because he wasn’t entirely sure that was something that he should be talking about. Especially to someone so senior in the Dreamscape. No one ever asked questions about the Dark, and Lyght didn’t really want to be the first one to start.

  Nevertheless, Lyn urged him on, “Go on.” Lyght sighed and looked out at the rising sun, making a decision. He felt he could trust his teacher; he didn’t need to worry about telling him sensitive information… or so he hoped. Lyght took a deep breath and said, “OK well, this is weird, I know, but bear with me. Remember how me and Mikael were originally under the impression that the mission of the Legion is to defeat and destroy the Dark?” Lyn seemed to perk up a little at this, nodding. “Well, you may not know it, but in a lot of the smaller towns and rural areas in the Dreamscape, this kind of thinking is common.” Lyn frowned, looking very interested, “Really? I wasn’t aware of that.” Lyght nodded, “Yeah, It’s what drove my dad to want to join the Legion. He wanted to destroy the Dark.”

  Lyght took a deep breath. He had never told anyone this before, except for Mikael. “Look, the reason my dad wanted to destroy the Dark, a seemingly impossible task, was because the Dark was responsible for my mother’s death. Whatever happened traumatized him until his death; he never told me the exact details. All I know is that days after I was born, my mother died in some kind of tragic circumstance. Like I said, he never did tell me what happened, but…” He trailed off, and Lyn put a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but Lyght appreciated the gesture all the same. Lyght nodded appreciatively, collecting himself, and continued.

  “So, essentially that is my motivation. Or it was, originally. I always dreamed from a young age of joining the Legion, just as my father wanted to, and destroying the Dark once and for all. That was my primary goal in life ever since my father was killed in a random attack by some bandits – and I still don’t understand that as much as I want to, although I have my suspicions.”

  Lyght looked off at the sunset, thinking back, “However, as I grew older, I guess I drifted apart from that dream somewhat. Mikael and I, as Dreamcasters, experienced the Dark firsthand as we were growing up in Kona, and were motivated to find out more about it. I mean, it forces everyone but Dreamcasters to simultaneously fall asleep at a certain time. It’s kind of hard to explain, but Mikael and I figured there had to be something wrong with it all. So we formed a plan that once we turned eighteen, we would track down the source of the Dark, whatever and wherever that was, and try to destroy it ourselves with our powers. But before we could start that mission, you showed up at our village initiation ceremony, and the rest is history, I guess.”

  Lyn stood there in silence for a few moments, thinking. He sighed, running a hand through his mane of long dirty-blond hair, “Well, I must say I admire your commitment and courage. From one Legend to an aspiring one, that’s very impressive. It’s the type of stuff that most Legends are made of.” Lyght glowed inside at the complement.

  Lyn continued, “Although I must admit, your original plan, to destroy the Dark, what happened to that? I mean, you chose to come join the Legion, didn’t you, despite the fact I told you that’s not our purpose? Why?”

  Lyght shook his head, “To
be honest, I don’t think I can explain that one logically either. It just… felt right for me at the time. I guess our plan to destroy the Dark was really vague. And…” Lyght paused, significantly hesitant about saying this. But he’d already revealed enough to Lyn, so Lyght figured he might as well trust him all the way. “Well, I guess I wouldn’t pass up a chance to destroy the Dark, but I just don’t know how. I guess I’m thinking that the powers and training I receive through the Academy and hopefully from joining he Legion might give me the tools I need to ultimately complete the task one day. I just don’t know, I really – ”. Before he could finish however, Lyn interrupted him, putting a heavy hand on Lyght’s shoulder, and looking down into his student’s face.

  “What if I told you”, Lyn looked up to the sky, and back down again, “that there was a way to destroy the Dark, and there is a highly secretive organization in the Dreamscape working to bring it to its knees?” Lyght looked in disbelief at the Legend towering over him.

  What is he talking about?

  Lyn turned all of a sudden and walked to the opposite edge of the hillside, “Well, that’s it. I feel like I’ve learned enough about you from that one question. Funny how that can sometimes work, isn’t it? It was a good talk, Lyght, I really enjoyed it. And believe me, we’ll speak again. Until then, think about this. You may have heard the name.”

  The Legend pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket, and scrawled something on it quickly with a pen. Throwing it up into the air and pushing on it slightly with Dreamcasting, the Legend started down the hill towards the base and waved. “See you in class, Lyght. Think about that until we speak next.”

  Lyght, frowning, darted forward and caught the paper in midair. Unfolding it, he set eyes on two words that he hated. The name of a certain organization that he was near certain had been responsible for hunting down and killing his father. And now, after all these years, the name had followed him all the way here, scrawled on a little piece of paper by a real Legend.

  Dream Syndicate.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  A brutal scream pierced the night as Seth felt his hand come down like a thunderbolt, burying a wickedly-curved bright silver dagger up to the hilt in the eye of his victim. Vision blurred a deep, foggy red, Seth felt his body pick the man up and slam him mercilessly back down to the floor, bones crunching and breaking with a sickening sound. As a finishing move, Seth watched… and felt… as he crouched down, spun on his heel, and drove his elbow into the man’s sternum with the force of a rampaging bull. The man coughed up blood explosively as his chest cavity caved in. A look of fear… real fear, arose in his eyes as the seconds oozed by.

  One…. Two…. Three…

  Silence.

  After a few long, silent moments, Seth felt his eyes – vision pulsing now with red needles – lock intently on the man’s face, now deadly still and silent. Seth felt his heart sink right through the dusty floor he knelt on as he looked into the man’s face, suddenly terribly familiar…

  Seth let out of scream of his own as he jumped up, aghast, tumbling out of the bed where he’d lain and onto the floor, reaching up for the knife beneath his pillow and snapping it up in front of his face – only to find no enemy to fight. Breathing hard, Seth’s arm trembled for a moment before he struck out viciously to the side, frustrated. The curved knife slammed into the wall with a prodigious force, shaking the structure of the building. Panting hard, down on his knees upon the cold wooden floor of his room in the capital city, Seth just felt like giving in.

  But he couldn’t.

  Stumbling to his feet and brushing away the tears of frustration from his memory… or dream… Seth crossed the room shakily and flicked the light on, squeezing his eyes shut against the sudden brightness. Pulling on a shirt, he crossed the room and opened the curtains – it was still nighttime. He’d just have to make do with that. There was no question of going back to sleep, not when it had almost just made him snap. And he hadn’t done that in over five years, not since…

  Seth shook his head violently. Couldn’t think about that now.

  No, I just have to walk over to the bed… good… and reach underneath for that pack. There.

  He pulled it out and slung it over his back, turning to walk out of the room without a second glance, kicking the door shut behind him with perhaps more force than was necessary. He descended the steps at speed, banged open the back door of the hotel, and took off running.

  It was a Dark night – Seth guessed about 5 AM judging by the visibility – so he wasn’t likely to run into anyone, save for possibly the occasional Legend here or there. That is, he would have seen them if he walked the city streets. He had no intention of doing that, however.

  Closing his eyes and bringing his right hand in a fist to his sternum, Seth tried to clear his head with a deep breath. It partially worked. He snapped his eyes open determinedly, and jumped.

  If anyone had been watching from ground level, they would’ve had the impression of a sudden blur, but that would be all. When Seth used his true power – which was very sparingly anymore – there was not an eye in the world that could see him, an enemy in the world who could hurt him, or an obstacle in the world who could block him.

  So Seth jumped with all his might, fiery orange and yellow lights burning a trail in his vision against a background of deepest blue and black. Within the span of a short few seconds, he landed in a crouch on top of the twisting black spire that crowned the Tower of Justice, one of the tallest buildings in Glory. Seth, still a bit shaken, jumped down to the sloping rooftop, walking to the edge and looking down at the city immediately below – seeing much of the view obscured by Dark. Seth could only see about a block or two even from up here. He could make out fuzzy lights from the buildings farther away, but that was all. And even that was because it was so late in the night. Seth stood on the lip of the building for a minute, toes over the edge, relaxed – wind blowing his through hair and swirling all around him. It felt good to just stand here, alone, atop the world.

  But he couldn’t do that for long. Or he’d…

  Pulling the straps of his pack tighter around his chest, Seth held his breath and stepped off the building.

  After a hundred feet in free fall, smiling at the feeling, Seth brought his hand to his sternum again, then kicked off the tower as hard as he could, sending himself flying forward like a missile, vision spinning with blues and yellows. He landed on another, shorter building, and kept up his run, flying off of that one in the same manner. In this way, Seth used his power more than he had in years, spinning and flipping off of dark steel buildings in the soaring capital city. While the city was still silent at this hour, the wind was alive and yelling in Seth’s ears as he jumped and fell in a zig-zag pattern across the city in a matter of minutes, finally landing on the top of the gate that separated the Belt from the Heart of the great city. Jumping off of that and landing on the dusty street below, Seth took off running into the night, not looking back.

  As Seth tore along so fast that he knew he’d be virtually invisible, he kept his eyes locked forward and his focus ahead. He left the Belt behind in minutes – though while it was at a pretty narrow point here in the northwest of the city, it still would’ve taken well over an hour to cross while walking. Seth blazed through it in no more than five minutes, although he did struggle with the curving, twisted streets in the Belt. He’d be much faster out in the country, he knew.

  And that he was. As he left the Belt behind, he could just make out a purple smudge on the horizon. His destination, Mount Victorious – an odd lone-standing mountain in the rolling plains of the Pride domain. A volcano, actually. Seth knew of the place, though he’d never been there. He hadn’t even been entirely conscious of heading for it, but he just felt a burning need inside to get away, whatever it took. At the same time, something was pulling him back… something he knew he needed to ignore; something that hadn’t sank its claws into him for awhile, thankfully. But now it was back, and he had
to admit he’d forgotten what it felt like. How much he hated it.

  That primal instinct telling him to kill everything, and fast.

  It’s what he ran from now. But as much as he hated to admit it, Seth knew he couldn’t outrun himself.

  As Seth’s heels tore up the dusty path beneath him at an unreal pace, he evened his breathing and began to reflect; or he tried anyway. What had happened? What had he just experienced? It had been a very vivid, very real memory that he’d experienced while asleep. So it couldn’t have been a dream, could it? Dreamcasters weren’t supposed to be able to have dreams… but then again, he felt like he didn’t know what was possible or impossible any more.

  Seth sighed, remembering; he hadn’t been in control of his body during the memory, dream, or whatever – but he had been inside his body. As if that made any sense. And what he’d experienced was an almost dead-on recollection, as far as he could tell, of an actual event that had happened in his life. The worst one, actually.

  Seth tried not to dwell on it too much, but he really couldn’t help it now. The memories came flooding back in of their own accord, swirling around him and suffocating him. Seth recalled he and his brother growing up with their parents in a small, one-room log cabin in the bitterly cold, snow-laden northern reaches of the Fear domain; the domain where lawlessness and chaos ruled… as he would live to find out. He remembered waking up to screams one morning, his parents dead on the floor, bandits emptying their food cupboards and running… escaping off into the cold winter night.