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

  She grinned. “I won’t be. You will.”

  He slumped. “Oh cripes. Now we are really stuffed.”

  They were interrupted by the soft cooing sound floating across the park. Nathan looked at Sarina, wide-eyed. “That’s our signal. You’d better tell me how I’m supposed to paint, and make it quick.”

  She shook her head. “You’re making it sound hard. Remember when we held hands to intensify the power before?”

  He nodded.

  “Right. So this time, you’ll hold one hand for the power, and then you’ll hold my painting hand—or rather, I will place my right hand on yours and direct you.”

  “We’re going to hold both hands?” He was aghast.

  “Yes,” she grinned, “like this,” and she moved around behind him, clasped his left hand in hers, then cautiously threaded her right hand under his arm and rested it on his hand. Her chin brushed across his shoulder accidentally.

  “Can you stop it with the tickling?”

  “I’m not trying to do that, believe me.” She drew a deep breath. “Now, let’s start. Close your eyes to help focus us.”

  They both closed their eyes. Sarina imagined a large, round portal, shimmering orange at the edges, hovering high in the sky above them. “See that in your mind?”

  “Yes.” He was obviously concentrating hard not to hurt her hand.

  “Don’t worry about my hand. We have to do this.”

  He nodded.

  “Right. Now I’ll direct you with my right hand. Try to move with me; like shadow-dancing.” She wondered if Nathan had ever tried shadow-dancing, but brushed the thought aside. She concentrated on feeling as if his hand was hers and gingerly moved it up to point at the portal. The pain increased, but she ignored it. She focused on the core energy deep inside her and let it run up through her chest and out through her arm. The cold plasma stream shot from her hand and dislodged their aim slightly. “We have to try to breathe together, I think. To stay stable.”

  “Okay.”

  Slowly and awkwardly at first, she painted with both her mind and hand, and using Nathan’s hand as her support, she constructed an elaborate-looking portal. It resembled the inside of the café in the labs, but still lacked the shimmering power of a live opening.

  “Nathan,” she whispered in his ear, causing him to flinch.

  “What?”

  “Open your eyes. That look good to you?”

  He opened his eyes and looked up. “Brilliant. What next.”

  “Like you said, we’re not going through this portal. But we still have to activate it. That means some major focusing effort, especially as we don’t have Paolo.”

  “Can I help too?” Lucio appeared from nowhere.

  “I don’t think—”

  “Yes, you can, Lucio, thank you,” Sarina said. “Can you reach Nathan’s and my left hand? If you can, hold it with both of yours and concentrate on sending your energy to that thing in the sky. We’re going to activate a doorway to my world.”

  Lucio nodded and moved around. An instant surge of warm energy flowed through them all.

  “Alright everyone, now we zap it to life. Ready?” They nodded.

  “Now.”

  The stream of energy directed from her hand pulsed momentarily—like a garden hose about to increase its pressure—then brightened dramatically. She strengthened the circular aperture by painting a fine stream of intense deep-orange around the perimeter. She broadened the spray of energy and wash-painted the entire portal, infusing it with life.

  The lab’s café appeared in the sky as clear as day. Giant faces stared down through the portal. Lucio flinched and almost let go of her hand.

  “It’s okay, Lucio. These are our friends.”

  “Big.”

  “They only look that way. Now stay focused and we’re going to—”

  Their concentration was broken by a muffled shout from the street end of the park. They whipped around in the darkness, and broke the connection with each other’s hands, causing the portal to dim abruptly to a misshapen drawing in the sky. A group of men were advancing on them, followed by a crowd of townsmen keeping their distance. One of the figures silhouetted against the flares was unmistakably that of Valkrog. She heard Nathan’s sharp intake of breath. “Drat.”

  Some of the men holding the flares moved to one side and came forward, allowing the flickering light to reveal the advancing group.

  This time it was Sarina who gasped, when she saw Rocco—sporting a bloodied cut above his right eye—Andreas, Tomas and Paolo. They were being shoved forward by Valkrog, still badly injured, and Makthryg, who was limping. They came to a halt a few paces from Sarina and Nathan.

  Makthryg held a knife pressed to Paolo's throat and spoke. “How convenient. I see you have already begun the task I require from you, if your friends are to live. Agree to pass your power to me—and the secret of its summoning—and this one will live. Show me how to harness it, and they all live.”

  She walked forward. “First you let them go. I will not do anything until I have fixed the problem in my own world.” What else was she to do? Her right hand twitched and she wondered if she had enough remnant cold plasma to bring it to bear on the group of men. But they had used Andreas and the group as shields. Too risky. Right now all she could do was stall.

  Makthryg advanced towards her, pushing Paolo roughly, still pressing the knife to his throat. Paolo looked at her and shook his head slightly. Makthryg laughed. “See how the boy doesn’t wish you to give me the power? These fools are so backward they don’t recognise a better future is within their grasp, if only they stopped fighting it.” His expression darkened and his smile vanished. “Now give your power to me, or I will—”

  His last words were drowned out by a scream of fury from the bushes next to him. Lucio came flying out of his hiding place—Sarina hadn’t even noticed him creep away—and flung himself at the sorcerer like a whirling dervish; a blur of spinning arms and legs. He managed to knock Makthryg away from Paolo and repeatedly kicked him in a chaotic rage, until one blow connected with Makthryg’s phantom injury and the sorcerer howled in agony.

  The group used the distraction to burst into action. Rocco snatched a flare from the man close to him and launched into a frenzied attack against the group of thugs behind him, slashing at them with the flaming torch which spat trails of sparks. Andreas lashed backwards with his elbow and caught the man behind him on the chin with an audible snap, and the man fell to the ground. Tomas dropped down to a crouch, then leaped backwards into the two men behind him and crashed them to the ground, until all she could see was a whirl of arms and legs in the darkness.

  Paolo grabbed the knife and was advancing on Valkrog, his mouth drawn back in an angry sneer. The bird-creature stood without reacting, his beak twitching. Sarina realised his leg would stop him from being agile and started to run to help Paolo, but was pushed aside by Nathan. “He’s mine.”

  The frenzied melee continued as more townsmen joined into the fray.

  A crazed voice yelled. “Stop. I have the boy.”

  She saw in the uneven light that Lucio was cowering before Makthryg. The sorcerer had his hands raised and was beginning to chant. His voice was shrill, edgy and out of control.

  “No!” Eva ran out from the crowd and tried to run to the boy, but Tomas stopped her. Nathan also stopped in mid-stride, his mouth open in horror.

  Sarina raised her good arm. If she had any energy left, it would be to save the brave young boy. She no longer cared about her own life. She unleashed a spray of orange plasma at the sorcerer, but before it touched him, it was stopped by Valkrog, who held up his wing to blast a continuous stream of black power toward her. The two energies met, and the creature’s black power deflected Sarina’s, forcing it to the ground near her feet.

  “Not this time, Witch.” He started to walk towards her, and she tried her best to raise her right arm, but the lack of power in her wrist and forearm was too great, and she only managed to
lift her shoulder. He forced their entwined energy streams along the ground towards her as he came closer.

  A banshee howl erupted from high above them and fifteen or more figures descended out of the sky towards them, circling the entire crowd on the ground. A voice yelled from above, and something akin to a laser zapped down from one of the figures in the circle and threw Makthryg to the ground. Lucio escaped to Sarina, and the fight resumed.

  Valkrog released his energy from hers, looked into the sky and flew up. Injured, and on the ground, he was still a formidable enemy, but in the sky, with both wings working, he was deadly. Sarina screamed up at the circling group of figures. “Get down to the ground! Don’t let him fight you in the sky!” She ignored the group of men fighting and moved to the centre of the circling figures, and strained to see into the night sky. They had heeded her advice and were descending.

  She recognised all fifteen. Dreamer kids. Projecting themselves into this world, just as she had done in the past. The one who had shot the bolt of energy was Lena, and Valkrog was hunting her down.

  Without thinking, she aimed her left hand at the children and released a soft beam of orange power, brushing gently over each. The first to feel it flinched at its touch, then as it offered no harm, they kept descending and she softly painted them all, retracting the beam once they landed.

  Now they were all identical copies of her. Fifteen Sarinas.

  “Keep circling him. I’ll draw him in.” It was Nathan. He moved into the ring of identical kids, which Sarina also joined.

  Nathan stared up at the bird-creature preparing to swoop and attack. “Hey, you. Come down and fight me instead. Fighting little kids is no fun. Fight someone like me. I reckon I could break your other leg with one kick. Then I’ll pull all your talons off, one-by-one. Before I rip off your head with my teeth.”

  The creature shrieked and swooped down in front of Nathan. “Then you will be the first to—”

  He stumbled back, blinded by the continuous flash of the mobile phone. Nathan pressed the button until the battery was gone. The creature stumbled around blinded, then fixed his half-dazed eyes on Sarina. “You! You die!”

  “Run around the park!” She yelled at the kids. If they could confuse the blinded bird-creature and drive him crazy, perhaps someone, anyone, could come and tackle him. She ran around with them, and shoved Nathan out of the way. “Get something to club him with! Try anything!” she hissed at him on the way past. The creature had singled her out and was advancing. Why? How did he know which ‘Sarina’ to chase? Then she realised. None of the other identical Sarinas had a wrist in a splint and their arm in a sling. How obvious.

  She slipped the sling off and let it drop, then clenched her teeth and ripped off the splint. The pain was blinding. Shards of searing, white-hot streams of molten agony shot up her arm and she staggered forward. But managed to stop herself falling, and ran.

  “Run everywhere. Now! Distract him! Scream!”

  Not that she really needed to tell them to scream. They were already doing that. She joined them and ran screaming like crazy.

  The bird-man was confused, his stare flicking from Sarina to Sarina. He stopped and sneered, raising his wing to take aim at the nearest child.

  Sarina rushed at him, raising her left hand momentarily as she ran past and letting her remaining power paint him with orange light. He looked at her blankly for one moment, then he was behind her and she was running again.

  Even as she ran, she thought how surreal the scene had become. A pack of identical screaming girls ran amok in the park, while men brawled on the street behind them. Lit by eerie flickering flares, it was like a spectacle from a bizarre horror circus show. Makthryg had climbed to his feet and evaded his pursuers, and ran into the mass of Sarinas. He screeched something unintelligible and raised his hands.

  Now!

  Sarina shoved the other Sarina in front of her into the sorcerer’s path.

  His eyes flamed fury and he thrust his hands forward at the girl in front of him, cursing and spitting in a shrill voice.

  A sudden flash of violet sparked between the two figures, and a loud thump tumbled from the air. Both Makthryg and the Sarina fell backwards onto the ground and lay there, unmoving.

  Sarina also slumped to the ground, kneeling and protected her pounding arm in her lap.

  The group of kids stopped running and moved back to allow the townsmen to enter the circle. Andreas, Tomas and the others arrived and stopped, looking around in bewilderment. Sarina looked over to the street and saw that, thankfully, the townsmen had overpowered the group of thugs. Paolo raced in, with Lucio on his heels.

  “Sarina!” Paolo, clearly distressed, knelt by the prone figure next to Makthryg.

  Sarina could barely speak, but called across to him and the others. “Get something to bind them.” She pointed to the two unconscious figures on the ground.

  Paolo whipped around, straining in the darkness to find the source of the voice, then seeing her, rushed over. “What happened—are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “No more than I already was, but my arm is in need of Lucio and your mother. Help me up.” She held out her left hand, and Paolo helped her to her feet. Gently.

  “Clear the area!” Her voice was stronger now.

  Nathan came to her side to add support. “Who was hurt? Which kid?”

  She gave him a weak smile. “Watch.”

  Some men arrived with coils of rope. She was grateful to see the rope was thick and heavy. It would do, to start.

  “Tie them up. Together. Bind them tight.”

  Andreas stepped forward. “But—”

  She held up her good arm to stop him. “Just do it and watch.”

  He shrugged and moved to help the men.

  The kids stood and watched. She looked at them—all still identical—and wondered about where such courage came from. She realised with a shock that their own world was still in dire jeopardy, yet these kids were selflessly helping.

  She looked back at the two figures on the ground, now side-by-side, trussed to the nines, and still unconscious. She placed her hand out in front of her and with a deep breath, called up the orange beam. She swept it around all the kids, and watched them return to their normal appearance, then finally aiming the beam at the two figures on the ground.

  The entire group gasped as the Sarina on the ground slowly returned to its original form.

  Valkrog.

  They all turned to her and applauded. She curtsied.

  Paolo looked at her. “That was impressive. How did you know Makthryg’s curse would affect them both?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t know for certain. It was an educated guess, I suppose. I saw him suffer a similar injury to the bird-thing before, when we neutralised the Xtrium. Then they both had missing fingers. You yourself saw Makthryg fall unconscious; which I knew happened at the same time as the agents in our world fought and stunned Valkrog. When I saw them both limping ...” She looked back at Paolo and Nathan. “I put two and two together. They are connected somehow. I guessed that injuring one would injure the other. When I ran past the creature, I used the same transformation energy I did on the kids to make him look like me. I was lucky to get Makthryg angry enough to unleash a curse. Which he unwittingly inflicted on himself.” She staggered suddenly, and Paolo steadied her. “Now can I please have my splint back on, and my sling back? Nathan and I have a job to finish. But not before Eva and Lucio give me some of their best anaesthetic.” Paolo went to fetch them.

  Nathan was frowning. “How did you know who was the right Sarina to push in front of him?”

  She smiled. “She was the only one limping.”

  Lucio arrived, towing his mother. “Sit down, Sarina,” Eva said. They both knelt beside her and she closed her eyes. The warm, soothing sensation flooded into her, and settled on her arm. “Breathe.” Eva’s soft, healing tones in her ear. She breathed deeply.

  After some moments, the pain had subsided, and she
hardly felt the splint being replaced and her arm in the sling. She opened her eyes. “Thank you. I feel much better now.” She cast her gaze to the sky. The portal was barely visible. She assumed bringing dream-images of the kids through to this world had consumed a great deal of the portal’s energy.

  She stood and looked at the children. “Thank you. Unfortunately our job is only half done. Please return now.”

  Lena floated forward, not quite real, but real enough. “But, Sarina, we can help you!”

  She shook her head slowly. And looked back at Nathan, who was also shaking his head. She bent down to the girl’s level. “You’ve already given me the greatest help I can imagine. But you can help me much more by going back to the Professor. Now, please return, and be quick, because I’ll need all your power back there with him. Yours especially, Lena.”

  She gestured to the children and pointed to the sky. They nodded, and flew up, one-by-one, until they shrank into dots, then vanished completely.

  Andreas and Paolo came up to her. “We have these two secured for now,” Andreas said. “We will build a gaol for them, the likes of which has never been seen here before. They will not escape again.” He creased his brow. “Now what must we do to help you and Nathan?”

  Nathan joined them and glanced up at the dim portal. “I think we still have time. Do you have the strength, Sarina? That was pretty intense.”

  She nodded. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I think it would make a big difference to have Paolo and Lucio boost our energy. Can you explain to them what we need to focus on, while I try to think of a way to negative paint with cold plasma?”

  He nodded and looked at them all. “Sure. It’s like this. We have to send a massive, sudden blast of plasma energy into that portal up there”—Nathan pointed up—“after Sarina opens it again properly, and this plasma has to be filtered. Imagine a powerful jet of water that also has poison in it. We don’t want to blast the poison into our world; only the good stuff.”

  Paolo frowned. “Why does Sarina’s power contain poison? If it were Makthryg you spoke of, I would understand, but Sarina?”