Emerald Dreams (The Dream Traveler Series)

by Nicole Knight

  I get a job each summer, and that money becomes my spending money for the school year. So far, I have been really good at saving money; soon, I might be able to afford a junky car.

  I spent the afternoon working on school work.

  I was in the middle of a chapter of my English book when my phone went off again.

  Mads: Kennan and Lacey broke up last night. I think it had to do with you calling her out!

  Mads: I'm sorry.

  Me: Sorry for what exactly? Dragging me to something I didn't want to go to? For ditching me during the party? Or for ignoring me when I said I wanted to leave? Or looking at me like a freak when I defended myself? And I really don't care what happens between Lacey and Kennan.

  Mads: Ouch. I deserved that. Forgive me? Since when do you not care about Kennan? You have only been crushing on him since forever.

  Me: I don't know. I'm still angry, give me space. I don't care anymore because I don't want Lacey's sloppy seconds. At least someone heeded my warning.

  Mads: Just so you know, everyone is talking about you. Someone actually called you badass for flipping that guy.

  Me: I don't care what they say, bye Madison.

  Mads: :(

  I called her by her full name, so she knew I meant business.

  ◆◆◆

  Much later in the evening, around ten, I crawled into bed in a full set of workout clothes. I wore leggings and a t-shirt so that I could freely move. When I got to Morthshadow, I could immediately tell there would not be any wasted time today.

  "It's about time you got here," Wisdom said as I stepped through the bedroom door and joined the two men at the table.

  "Sorry, I had some things to take care of," I retorted.

  "Nothing bad, right?" Axel questioned.

  He was still feeling uneasy about my safety in Arlington. I felt uneasy too, but I had nothing to worry about while I was sleeping at my house. It was just Arlington Prep School that I was worried about. I didn't have anyone to protect me there but myself.

  "Nothing bad," I assured him.

  Some of the tension left the room with my response. Wisdom stood.

  "Let's start training," he said.

  At first, Wisdom decided to build on the skills he knew I already had. With my control over the air and wind, he told me to make myself hover. I had no idea how, but just like everything else, Wisdom made me learn it on my own.

  It took a little bit to figure out, but eventually, I learned to make almost a platform of dense air. I kept it cycling up while I brought the air from above my head down to my feet. The air would make its way up to my head on its own, pushing me up along with it. Then I would bring it back to my feet again. It was almost like making a little air vortex.

  I was able to keep this up for only a minute before I lost my concentration from the excitement. Wisdom assured me that with practice, I would be able to hover for longer amounts of time.

  Next, Wisdom insisted we test to see if I had control over water. He grabbed a bowl of water and threw it at me. I had no idea how to control or stop the water, so it all hit me in the face.

  Now that I was soaking wet, I was a little irritated. Both Axel and Wisdom bent over, laughing at me.

  "This was planned, wasn't it?" I asked.

  I clearly was not amused.

  "Maybe," Axel answered while trying to catch his breath.

  What pranksters, this is something I wouldn't have expected from these two. They are always demanding seriousness from me during my training.

  "We thought it would be best to see if you could try to learn something in the heat of the moment. Obviously, you are not quite ready for that yet," Wisdom retorted.

  He had himself mostly under control but was still wearing a mischievous smile.

  They made it so hard to be mad at them. Look at them; they look like fools from laughing so hard.

  Wisdom grabbed another bowl of water, and this time set it in front of me on the table. I took a seat and stuck my fingers in the water. I had a feeling that maybe feeling the water would help me control it. I took control of the water in my mind, just like I did air. It was manipulated roughly the same way. When I realized this, I slowly made the water into a tall narrow pillar coming out of the bowl; it reached well over our heads. I moved the pillar to stretch over Axel and Wisdom. Before they could react, I released control of the water, and let it all rain down on top of them.

  I heard a chuckle from Wisdom and a curse from Axel.

  "Now we are even," I told them.

  "Don't start a war that you can't finish."

  "Don't just stop at learning to control water, you are aware it has three forms. Control the other two as well." Wisdom instructed me.

  I hadn't even thought of doing that. This was starting to become seriously cool. Pun was intended.

  I compacted the water molecules as close and structured as I could while focusing on removing heat from the air surrounding the place I wanted to form the ice.

  It was beautiful watching the water freeze. One second it was just a liquid, and then you could watch all the molecules just glue themselves to each other and form solid ice.

  Next came the steam. I made all the water molecules do the exact opposite of the ice. They heated up and were spread out away from each other, just like all gasses could do. I had turned the cabin into a sauna before I was done controlling it. Sweat was running down the side of my face and down my back. Both Axel and Wisdom begged me to let the cabin cool down.

  "What's wrong Wisdom, you can't do it?" I teased him.

  "No, I cannot. I only have the power to create objects and make them disappear. Sometimes I can manipulate magic itself, but that's rare," he answered me.

  He stated it like I should have known all along. I had just assumed he knew everything he was teaching me.

  "So that why you couldn't tell me how to do things?" I asked, already sure of the answer.

  "That's exactly why. Now please stop steaming up my cabin," he demanded.

  I let go of the steam, and I allowed a strong gust of the outside wind to make its way into the cabin. Within a matter of seconds, the steam was gone and replaced by fresh air.

  "While you are doing so well, you should try to control the last element, earth," Wisdom told me.

  "Okay, what should I do with it?" I asked.

  "Why don't you try to grow a flower in this pot?" he said. He held out his hand, and a weird looking flower pot appeared in his hands. It was already filled with the dirt I needed.

  I picked the pot up and set it on the table. And then I found a fruit lying on the counter. I bit into it and found a seed. I separated the seed from the fruit and placed it in the soil. I covered it and gave it a little water. I waited for it to grow, but nothing happened.

  "Maybe you should focus your energy onto the seed to help it grow," Wisdom hinted.

  I focused my awareness on the little seed sitting in the pot. How did plants grow again? The cells had to multiply using the water sunlight and dirt as its energy source. We didn't have sunshine here, though.

  I tried focusing my energy into some kind of light to fuel the seedling. A floating ball of light appeared and hovered over the flower pot.

  After a few minutes of concentrating on speeding up the cell growth, I could see the little plant start to poke through the surface of the soil.

  It's incredible that I can just create life like that. I was beyond amazed.

  "Focus on that little ball of light you created. That is wonderful; I have never seen anything like that before," Wisdom said encouragingly.

  I focused on the ball of light and made it bigger and brighter. It was floating near my shoulder. When I turned to look at it, it looked like a miniature version of the sun.

  Then that made me think of something.

  "Wisdom, why is there a forest in the middle of a land that doesn't see sunlight?" I asked.

  "They've learned to take in the light of the moon and turn it into the energy," he s
aid it confidently, implying I should have known that.

  Sometimes he could be so sassy for an old man. There were lots of things he expected a newcomer to know.

  He spoke again before I could think of a smart ass reply, "That is enough magic training today. We know you can manipulate all four elements which is great. Axel go work on the physical training with her while I get back to my studies."

  He turned his back to us and pulled a book off of one of his many shelves. We were dismissed.

  I had a new-found confidence in my magic, so I did something that old version of me would never have attempted. Magic had woken up this part of me, and it was slowly changing me. I had a little bit more confidence in myself. It made me feel warm, like the little ball of light I had just created.

  I looked at Axel and said, "Beat you to the ground; winner gets to choose the workout."

  He smiled at me.

  "You're on," he shouted, standing up from his seat suddenly.

  I ran through the door bumping shoulders with him as he tried to push me out of the way. But I knew he wasn't going to win. He got to the ladder first, but I climbed up onto the deck rail and jumped.

  For a second or two, I panicked, trying to feel the air around me. But then I found it just waiting for me to control it.

  I forced a wind tunnel underneath of me and quickly hovered to the ground. My feet had touched the ground before Axel was even halfway down the ladder.

  When he stepped onto the ground and saw that I had beaten him down, he smiled and said, "No fair, you cheated."

  "I never said magic wasn't allowed, you should know better," I told him teasingly.

  "You are right, I should have known better. What is our workout today?" he asked playfully.

  "It's a new concept to you, don't worry I'll show you how to get the hang of it," I told him.

  I knew this was going to be fun.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Axel

  Violet told me that we were about to do something called ice-skating. I have no idea what it is, but it sounds cold. I am not fond of the cold.

  Violet flooded a small open clearing we found a short walk from the cabin. She used an underground spring to supply the water. Then she iced the whole thing over, all of the water turned into a solid sheet of ice. I watched as everything froze.

  It was remarkable. I was jealous for the first time that I was not gifted with magic.

  She somehow created shoes for us that had what almost looked like sword blades attached to the bottom. She handed me a pair and told me to put them on. I had no idea where to start. She sat down on the ice and slipped on her ‘skates’ as she called them. She crawled over to me once she was done. I was struggling to undo all the funny looking strings.

  “Here,” she said. “Let me help.”

  I was relieved at her offer. I felt like a fool struggling to get these funny looking shoes on.

  I let her take control, and she slipped the skates onto my feet and tied the strings.

  Why were these shoes so hard to get on?

  Violet slowly stood up and balanced on the single blade on the bottom of each of the shoes.

  “This is how it’s done,” she told me as she started to ‘skate’ away.

  She picked one foot up and leaned a little forward. As she picked each foot up, she used it to push her further along the ice. She skated a few circles around me and then stopped.

  “Think you can do it?” she asked.

  She was partly teasing. I could tell she didn’t believe I would get the hang of it. I would give her a pleasant little surprise.

  “Sure I can, can you help me up?” I asked.

  She reached her hands out to help me up. I tugged her arms, and she fell down on top of me. Her stomach was pressed against mine, and her face was only inches from my face.

  The orb of light Violet had created to follow us around was right behind my head, so I could see the light reflect off of her eyes. They were the brightest green I had ever seen. There were traces of blue in here too.

  It was like staring into an ocean.

  She giggled at me when I made no effort to move or get up.

  “No fair, you cheater,” she said, teasing me.

  I mocked her words from earlier, “Now we are even.”

  She smiled again and rolled off of me and sat on her knees.

  “You know this isn’t much of a workout right now, I can already feel my muscles getting smaller,” she teased again.

  I liked this playful side of her, alot.

  She didn’t seem like the lost girl she was when I found her. She seemed comfortable and happy. I felt honored to see her become this new, more confident person.

  I hope I helped make her that way.

  She stood up and started skating around me again. I slowly sat up and brought my feet underneath me. I was now in a squatting position with my hands stretched out beside me, keeping me stable on the ice. I very slowly stood up. I wobbled the whole time, trying to keep my balance.

  Violet looked at me and just laughed.

  “Here,” she called out.

  She skated up to me and faced me. She grabbed both of my outstretched arms and started slowly pulling me along the ice. My legs began to spread outwards.

  “Angle your feet and point your toes together some. It will help correct your leg position,” she told me.

  I did what she said, and my legs began to come back together. Once they were in a comfortable distance from each other, I pointed my feet out straight.

  “There you go,” she told me.

  Her smile was playful, but her eyes were encouraging. Soon enough, I began picking up one foot after another and propelling myself along with her guidance. It was sometime later when she let go of my hands and told me to try on my own.

  I tried and pushed myself forward a few feet before I fell.

  “It’s okay,” she called to me. “Get back up and try again.”

  I did as she said and started pushing myself forward. I was a little wobbly but doing it.

  Violet cheered and started skating around me again.

  “Good job,” she praised.

  I not so secretly enjoyed the praise. I could feel my face turn red, but she was kind, and she pretended not to notice.

  Violet circled around me one last time before she skated up beside me and grabbed my left hand with her right one.

  “I know you don’t need my help,” she teased again. “This is something couples like to do together, skate, and hold hands.”

  “Then I don’t mind at all,” I responded.

  I gripped her hand a little tighter and smiled at her.

  “So is a couple another word for a man and women in courting?” I asked.

  “Yes, that is exactly what it is,” she replied and smiled.

  “What boyfriends and girlfriends do?” I asked just to make sure.

  “Yes, it’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do,” she answered me again.

  I’m glad she wasn’t annoyed with all of my questions because I had a lot of them about her world.

  “Does that mean I’m your boyfriend?” I asked.

  My heart was beating a million times per minute, waiting the seconds it took for her to respond.

  “Only if you want it to mean that,” she answered shyly.

  “I would like that,” I told her.

  “Me too,” she answered.

  She stopped skating and pulled me to a halt with her. She pulled me in front of her and then kissed me.

  At that moment, I was the happiest person in Morthshadow.

  I had a girlfriend.

  I wish I could tell Mother and Sister about this.

  The thought made me sad through my smile.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Violet

  I woke up back in Arlington after the best night of my life. Axel and I were now official, and we had a blast on the ice-skating date.

  Exercise didn't have to be super physically demanding.


  I got out of bed and got ready for the day. It was Monday, and I had to go to school. I was expecting all kinds of harassment and bullying.

  As I walked to the front of the school from Mom's van, some girl approached me.

  "Hi Violet, I just want to say that what you did at Lacey's party was brave. I always thought she was a bitch too. I was just too scared to say anything. Thank you," she then changed her direction and walked toward a group of girls who all smiled and waved at me.

  In the hallway, one of the guys on the soccer team gave me a high-five.

  Were they all for real? I thought I was going to be outcasted further into the black depths of unpopularity when I walked through these doors. Not only had I not been picked on, but a few people went out of their way to get me to notice them. How does that happen overnight?

  I've only been dreaming of this day for forever. I wasn't being picked on or made fun of, and someone besides Mads actually tried to talk to me.

  Speaking of her, I guess I could let her off the hook. It was almost lunch, and she had been following me around all day when she could. I had been giving her the cold shoulder. In a way, if she didn't invite me to that party on Friday, none of this could have been possible.

  We were in separate classes now, but I wanted the puppy dog act to stop.

  Me: Okay, you're off the hook.

  Mads: Really?! Thank you!

  Me: Why is Lacey keeping her mouth shut for once?

  Mads: Because of you. She's afraid that if she pisses you off, you might try to pop one of her fake boobs.

  Me: I wouldn't touch those suckers with a ten-foot pole. She doesn't have to worry about that.

  Mads: I wouldn't tell her that. That's the only thing keeping her away from you.

  The teacher cleared her throat, and I looked up and put my phone away. As the teacher turned back to the board, a note was thrown onto my desk. I looked around, expecting it to be for someone else, but my name was scribbled on the other side. I slowly opened it to avoid alerting the teacher.