The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults)

by Robert Scanlon

  Paolo saw a number of nods around the room and some hands raised. Then Marco, one of the longest-serving Elders, stood. From where Paolo was standing, he looked like he was trying to avoid eye-contact, as if what he might say would challenge Andreas.

  “I know I speak for a few of the older members here when I say that perhaps the time has come to stop fighting Makthryg and live alongside him. We must negotiate with him and make a ____.” Paolo missed the last word, but he assumed Marco was suggesting making a deal with the sorcerer.

  Tomas, Andreas’s good friend who also shared the cabin with Paolo, stood. “Marco, we need to find a way to free us from this nightmare. Makthryg refuses to collaborate and my suspicion is that he is after more than just ruling this township. We must find a way to bring back our women and children for good. I say we fight!” Tomas sat down, looking around at the others, many of whom were nodding, and held grim expressions.

  Marco stood firm. “And what if we lose? Makthryg and that demon of his, Valkrog, will kill us all.”

  Andreas held up a hand. “No, Marco, I believe he needs us. I believe he has an ulterior motive, though for what, I cannot fathom.”

  Tomas stood again and faced the group. “And in any case, even if we don’t fight, in my opinion we are still the losers—and I for one am not prepared to live with that.”

  A short man sitting to the side stood up, red-faced. “I’ll tell you what I heard,” and he turned to face away from Paolo, who was now forced to watch Andreas’s face for any reaction.

  Andreas paled and his face fell. Paolo saw the other men looking at each other, some with raised eyebrows and questioning faces.

  The man turned back and now Paolo could see his ruddy face and his mouth once more. “You saw what that evil bird did to the boy’s father many years ago. Need we risk its wrath again, now that it’s in the killing mood? I say we find the boy and we give him up to Makthryg in return for peace!”

  The hall erupted into chaos, and with everyone standing and talking at once it was impossible for Paolo to glean any more information. He was about to step down from his crate when Andreas, who was holding both arms high trying to calm everyone down, spotted Paolo at the window.

  Paolo froze, trapped in Andreas’s gaze, when suddenly Andreas recovered, broke eye-contact with Paolo and waved everyone to sit. The men took their seats and he glanced back one more time. With an almost imperceptible movement of his head, he motioned Paolo to leave. Paolo jumped down from the crate and ran, thinking furiously. Why did Makthryg want him? How could he avoid being given up by the townsmen?

  Paolo returned to the cabin he shared with both Andreas and Tomas, lit some candles and lay down on his bed. Exhausted from a long day delivering seed, he was now doubly tired—and stressed.

  He yawned and let his mind wander over what Marco may have said to the men in the hall. Would Andreas end up agreeing? What could Makthryg possibly want from him? Why him? The thought was still lingering in his head when he fell asleep.

  … and the girl’s face hovered over him, floating above the bed. Paolo sat up, startled and shrank back against the pillow. The girl again. Why was she always in his dreams?

  The girl smiled and floated away towards the door, beckoning Paolo to follow and holding her finger up to her lips, motioning him to be silent.

  Paolo got out of bed and followed her out of the door, and floated behind her, drifting down the lane to the forest.

  “Where are we going? What is your name?” Paolo was surprised to hear himself speak. He was even more surprised when the girl turned to float backwards and answered him.

  “My name is Sarina,” she said, “and I have something to show you. Follow me, it’s quite safe.”

  Smiling, she rose up into the air and started to float over the treetops. Paolo had no choice but to float up with her and across the forest. They descended in the clearing, near to the log where he had felt the strange forces a few days ago.

  “Look,” Sarina said, “have you seen this before?”

  She floated over to the ground next to the log and pointed to the grass and moss. It was glowing a deep blue, emanating from under and around the log.

  “Not as clearly as that on the ground.” He looked back at Sarina, puzzled. “Actually I’ve only ever seen it on my hands and on the ground when I pushed hard into the moss.” He grimaced as he remembered that night and Valkrog’s attack.

  Sarina pointed to his arms. “Like that you mean?”

  Paolo turned his palms up and stared at the deep blue glow. “Yes. Like that.” He looked back up at Sarina. “What does it mean?”

  Sarina shrugged and said nothing.

  Without warning a loud screeching noise enveloped them both, and they clamped their hands over their ears in agony. Paolo looked up to the sky and gasped. “It’s the creature! Run!” But his legs would not work, and he could not get away—

  Andreas closed the door behind him and saw Paolo sitting up in bed looking at him. “Paolo, you look like you’ve seen a ghost! Did that sticking door wake you up? I must adjust the frame.” He bent down and peered at the door, closing it and then with a strong yank of the handle, wrenched it open again with a shudder, causing the entire cabin to vibrate. He nodded. “Yes, I’m sure that’s what must have woken you.” He sighed and straightened, placing his hands on his hips and looking over at Paolo.

  “But tell me, Paolo, what were you doing spying on our meeting?” Andreas kept his eyes trained on him as he walked over and sat down in the chair near the bed.

  Paolo wriggled in discomfort, picked up the notebook on the floor next to the bed and held up the pencil in an unspoken question. Andreas nodded and waited for Paolo to write his answer.

  Paolo held the notebook closer to the candlelight and scribbled his response, then handed the notebook across. When Andreas had finished reading, he put the book down and fixed Paolo with a pained gaze.

  The door opened and Andreas and Paolo saw Tomas grinning at both of them as he entered and closed the door behind him with a firm kick.

  “What’s so funny?” Andreas asked, puzzled.

  “I told that angry old man to go and get some sleep and think about what he can do to help, rather than telling everyone what they are doing wrong! I’ve been waiting to have a chance to set him straight for years,” then his voice fell quiet and his face dropped as he saw the look on Paolo and Andreas’s faces. “What happened?” Tomas raised his eyes at Andreas and moved to sit down so he could see both of them.

  “Paolo is scared he’s going to be given up to Makthryg because some of the Elders will give in to his demands,” Andreas said with a grim expression, looking back over at Paolo.

  “How did he? Oh.” Tomas looked at Paolo as it dawned on him that Paolo had eavesdropped the meeting. “It seems our little friend here has some pretty good spying skills.”

  Paolo made a gesture with his fingers.

  “Aye, I know, Paolo, not so little eh?” Tomas said, smiling.

  Andreas stood up and paced the floor. He stopped and faced Tomas.

  “I don’t believe for one moment that Makthryg has any intention of returning the women and children, whether he captures Paolo or not. Our only real hope is to try to discover what he really wants from us and why he believes Paolo is a part of that.”

  Tomas grunted. “Hmmph. It’s one thing to discover what he wants and another thing completely to prevent him getting it.”

  They both looked at Paolo, as if looking at him might reveal the answer.

  Paolo knew he might have the answer to some of their questions, but something told him that right now wasn’t the best time to tell them about the log and the blue glow. And especially not the time to tell them about the blue-eyed girl.

  Not until he had a better idea himself. He turned over to go back to sleep and to avoid the searching looks from Andreas and Tomas.

  ~~~

  Paolo felt himself drop out of the sky, and directly down towards the red-tiled roof of a h
ouse in the middle of a neat row of brick houses, with neat fences and neat green lawns. He twisted in the air to look at the roofs he was falling towards. Why was he so calm when he was falling so fast?

  Without thinking, he slowed until he floated to a halt on the roof of one of the houses.

  He turned around and looked for a way down. He almost fell backwards off the roof when he saw the blue-eyed girl hovering in front of him.

  “Is this real or a dream?” Paolo asked, feeling a little silly as he realised it must be a dream, since he was able to speak.

  The girl said nothing, but took him by the hand. They floated off the roof and down to the grass, where she sat down and patted the grass for him to sit next to her.

  “I suppose it’s as real as we make it,” she shrugged. “Lately I’m not really sure about anything actually. Anyway, my name is Sarina. Pleased to meet you,” and she stuck out her hand towards Paolo, who looked at it, confused.

  “Well?” Sarina said, “aren’t you going to shake my might-be-not-real hand then?”

  Paolo hesitated, then held out his hand, wondering if he would feel anything, or if as soon as he touched anything the illusion would be shattered. He was astonished to feel Sarina’s hand as real as he would any person’s.

  “My name is Paolo, and I already know your name. Or did you forget? And you’re the only person who can hear me. In my real world, I am deaf and mute.”

  Sarina looked shocked. “What? You already know my name? How? And I’m the only one who can hear you? In your world you are mute?”

  “Yes. We’ve met before, in one of these”—he struggled to find the right word and failed—“real-dreams.”

  She fell quiet and her shoulders slumped.

  “What’s the matter?” Paolo said.

  “It’s so confusing. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve just gone completely bonkers. All this ‘your world’ and ‘my world’ and weird dreams that seem real …” she trailed off and stared into space for a while before continuing.

  “Like I said, lately I’m not sure about anything much. In my world I love to paint, draw and write but …” she lowered her head.

  “But what?” Paolo wanted to help. After all, this girl was the only person who could actually hear him—and speak to him.

  Sarina looked back up at Paolo. “I’m hopeless with numbers, maths and almost anything to do with science.” She looked back down at the ground. “My mother has been taking me to all these experts who want to poke around in my head and find something wrong.” Her eyes glazed over as she remembered something and she shuddered. “She just doesn’t understand.”

  “That’s like lots of things,” Paolo said. “At first I wasn’t very good at calculating the seed spreads in the fields”—he saw from her confused expression that she didn’t understand exactly what he meant—“but now it’s really easy.” He looked at Sarina. “Don’t you have a good friend you can ask for help?”

  “Oh, Georgia tries to help, but I think I’m a hopeless case. The numbers just swirl into a fuzzy mess in my head and I can’t make any sense of it, it’s no use!” She hugged her knees with her arms and buried her head.

  “Do you mean like this?” Paolo said and he waved some shimmering coloured numbers into existence in the air in front of Sarina.

  She looked up and stared at the numbers floating around—then Paolo waved his hand around some more and messed all the numbers up. Sarina turned to Paolo with wide eyes, a question forming on her lips. “How?”

  Paolo erased the fuzzy numbers with a wave of his hand. “If you ask me, I don’t think the how is important, you just have to believe you can do it.”

  “You can do all that, yet you can’t speak or hear in your world?”

  Paolo looked glum. “It is the result of one of Makthryg’s curses that went wrong.”

  “Who’s ‘Makthryg’?”

  “He calls himself a sorcerer and I think he wants to be the ruler of our world. He’s taken over the fortress on the top of the hill. The townsmen are scared, but they won’t bow down to him. He cursed a half-bird, half-man creature into existence who does his dirty work, and recently he has been flying in and out of the township and terrorising the townsmen. The same creature who killed my father.” Paolo sighed.

  Sarina’s head jerked up. “Your father was killed?”

  “He was trying to protect my mother and my new-born brother, and stop them being sent away with all the others. I was only nine and I wasn’t there. If I had been, maybe I could have stopped the creature incinerating him.” He sighed. “Lucio would be five now, and I’ve never had the chance to play with him.”

  “I’m so sorry. Why did this Makthryg want to send the women and children away?”

  “He wanted to control the townsmen, and he also needed workers for the mines he’s been drilling in the west. The women and children work in the mines, and unless the townsmen do his bidding, they won’t be coming back. They’ve been gone five years now.”

  “Why didn’t he send you away then?”

  “That’s how I got the deaf-mute curse. Makthryg captured me—he was looking for my father because he thought he knew the whereabouts of a particular substance. I wouldn’t tell him where he was and he got angry and tried to make me talk using a curse. But it backfired and had the opposite result. All I remember is a searing white pain and running into the forest. I think Makthryg let me stay as a reminder to all the men what might happen to them or their families if they stood in his way. Now they all avoid me, or poke fun at me. They think I bring them bad luck. But I can’t hear them anyway, nor say anything to defend myself.”

  Sarina took Paolo’s hand. “I’m glad you knew your father. Mine died just before I was born. I bet you miss your mother though.”

  Paolo looked up with tears in his eyes. “I miss her a lot. But no matter how hard I try, I can never remember her face. Am I bad because I can’t remember?”

  Sarina held him while he cried.

  “We make quite a pair don’t we. Me the crazy artist who can’t do sums; and you, locked up in your own world, with all your friends sent away. Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ll be your friend.”

  Paolo pulled away, held her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Thank you. I’m lucky I’ve found people like you. My father’s friend, Andreas who took me in, is another. Andreas takes me seriously and will ask for my opinion. He knows I’m able to solve things even some of the Elders cannot. But nothing will stop me finding my mother. I have to see her face again.”

  Sarina was rubbing the back of her neck and wore a puzzled expression.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone is watching me—” she whipped her head around to look up and pointed. Materialising on top of the roof was a partly transparent, bird-like creature. “When you said half-bird, half-man, do you mean that half-bird, half-man-like ‘thing’?”

  “Yes,” Paolo said, looking to where she was pointing, “that creature. Which means we are in danger. We need to get out of here. Now.”

  Paolo stood up and pulled Sarina up by the hand and they started to run, when, bit-by-bit, the world dimmed and faded to black, leaving Sarina’s voice echoing in his head. “Help Paolo, help!”

  Then there was nothing.

  ~ 4 ~

  Attack

  The light was starting to fade and most of the men were making their way back to the Square or their cabins, weary from the hard day’s labour in the fields.

  Tomas had dropped off his tools at the cabin and was heading down towards the town hall when a movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to stop and squint into the distance.

  “Rocco?” he said to his red-headed companion, without taking his eye off the sky, “Is that what I think it is?” He pointed up into the air.

  Rocco set down his swag and shielding his eyes, peered up. “I’m not sure, Tomas, the sun is too bright. Looks like a bird to me.”

  Aye,” Tomas said, “but if we can spot it at that distance, that�
��s no bird we’re looking at. My bet is that it’s Valkrog—and he’s heading our way. We must sound the alarm—Rocco, you run down to the hall and alert the Elders. I’ll go to the tower and ring the bells. Let’s jump to it. If I’m right, we need to take cover, and quickly.”

  They sprinted down the hill, one eye on the sky and the growing speck in the distance.

  “Valkrog is coming!” Tomas shouted on the way to the bell tower, “Everyone take your positions and take cover.”

  The bird was growing bigger in the sky, its giant wings making short work of the distance to the township.

  Men ran from every doorway, some carrying crossbows and shields, others carrying supplies to the bunkers and joining the crowds filing through the solid doorways.

  Tomas started ringing the bells and on the other side of the farmlands, Andreas stopped in his tracks. He dropped the tools he was using to repair a plough and started running.

  The bird-creature was now visible to all, maintaining a deadly path towards the village. The men in the streets took up their defence positions, tucked into nooks and behind walls and doors, their crossbows aimed and ready.

  Andreas reached the outskirts of the cabins and raced down Main Street toward the tower.

  “Tomas, Tomas! Are you in the tower?”

  Tomas’s head appeared out of the doorway, grinning. “Who did you think was ringing the bells, Makthryg’s butler?” He held out Andreas’s longbow just as Andreas skidded to a halt at the door and jumped inside. “Looking for this were you?”

  “Thanks,” Andreas said, stopping to catch his breath, “Let’s get into the tower and take position.” Both men bounded up the stairs and got into position behind the arrow slits cut into the tower wall.

  Valkrog circled high above the township, his huge wings flapping and echoing through the township’s narrow streets. He stopped and hovered in the air, several hundred feet above the hall, and began to dive with his wings folded back.