Willow Bloom and the Dream Keepers

by E. V. Farrell

  “Er, yeah … you could say I was pretty surprised. How did you know?”

  “You’re already a bit of a legend around here,” Jessie said frankly.

  The girl to Willows left nodded in agreement. “I heard about you before I came to ALFA too. I’m Sylvia,” she said.

  “You knew about Willow, didn’t you, Imogen?” Jessie asked her.

  “I did. But some people only found out at the Council meeting last night.”

  Willow’s face scrunched up. “Yeah … that was hugely embarrassing.”

  “Aagh, I can imagine,” Sylvia said. “Hey – don’t know about you guys, but after that class with Councillor Moon, I was fried.”

  “OMG!” Imogen exclaimed. “How freaky was he! And those pink eyes! I think I forgot to breathe a few times in there. ‘The first thing you have to do is breathe, people!’” she quoted, and they all broke into laughter.

  Willow suddenly felt a little lighter. She wasn’t such a fish out of water after all. Over the next hour she introduced herself to seven more Light Keepers.

  In the minibus returning to the hotel, Hugo took the Chabels out of their pouch to show them to Willow. They hovered in the air in front of them.

  “Cool,” she breathed, tapping one gently. It skittered away and then steadily floated back.

  “I know. The tech’s amazing.” Hugo plucked them from the air, one by one and placed them back in their pouch. “They say that if the Chabels were to fall into the wrong hands, they would self-destruct.”

  “Really? What happens?”

  “They disintegrate,” he said.

  Willow wondered whether the TriVrata had the same mechanism. And what if she were to fall into the wrong hands while she was wearing her pendant – would she self-destruct along with the pendant too?

  On the third morning of her training Willow hurried up on her own to the second floor for her last session with Ms Florence. Hugo had gone with a group of Helpers to practise finding portals in the woods.

  “Today, Willow, hopefully everything should come together and make sense,” Ms Florence told her. “You’ve learnt a number of incantations and a number of ancient poses for creating Light Streams on Thera. Now we’re going to put them together in their proper sequence. Follow my lead as best you can. I’ll correct you as we go along.” Tucking some of her red hair behind her ears, she sat cross-legged in the centre of the room. “Ready?”

  “Ready,” Willow said, sitting opposite.

  “First we do the hand sequence. That’s it – three pyramids – thumb tips together for the first, then the index fingers, fold the middle two down and then the smallest pyramid at the end,” she instructed. “Now the incantation: Ixana Domeni Gimentus Nomina.”

  Willow then continued with the second sequence, raising her arms above her head then clasping her hands together with her index fingers and thumbs pointing upwards.

  “Good. Let’s do it again,” Ms Florence said.

  Together they practiced the various incantations with their specific poses, some with palms together, some apart, some with twists. Over and over until her neck and shoulders ached.

  “They need to become second nature to you, Willow, and unfortunately we don’t have much time. Keep going,” Ms Florence encouraged. “A hot bath will soothe those muscles later.”

  Willow rolled her shoulders back a few times to ease the tension in her burning muscles then proceeded to repeat the sequences all over again.

  “You learn quickly, Willow – a good trait to have under the circumstances. Show me one more time and then I want you to practise activating the TriVrata again.”

  She was in the middle of activating the TriVrata for the fifth time when a woman entered the room. Ms Florence got to her feet and they exchanged a few quiet words at her desk. Willow thought she heard her name being mentioned. The woman glanced at her with a brief smile, then left.

  “Willow,” Ms Florence said, “Councillor Mullarkey would like to see you in his office in ten minutes. Let’s finish up for now. Do you have any questions before you go?”

  She shook her head. Why would Councillor Mullarkey want to see her? Willow closed down the TriVrata and returned it to the box on Ms Florence’s desk.

  Walking along a corridor, Willow pondered why she’d been summoned. Had she done something wrong? Maybe Council had stepped in and decided she was too young after all – or the Ancients had realised they’d made a mistake! She could see Councillor Mullarkey’s office up ahead, and her steps became suddenly heavy. His door was ajar. She hesitated, took a few deep breaths to quell her nerves, and knocked softly.

  “Come in,” a voice said from behind the door.

  Willow opened the door wider. “Hello, Councillor. You asked to see me …?”

  “Yes, yes. Come in,” he beckoned from behind his large desk. “Take a seat.”

  Stepping forward, Willow’s foot tripped on a bit of gathered rug. She grabbed at the brown leather chair just in front, her cheeks blooming a hot red.

  “Careful! You’re not in any trouble, Willow,” Councillor Mullarkey told her, smiling, “there’s no need to be anxious. I’ve called you here regarding your guide in the Dream Keepers’ world.”

  Willow sat down and the voice in her head told her that maybe they were having trouble finding a guide because of her age.

  “Under normal circumstances, Willow,” Councillor Mullarkey said, “the first introduction with your guide would occur on Thera. However, as these circumstances are far from normal, special dispensation has been given by High Council to hasten your meeting. And because of your youth, it has been decided that a girl of similar age would be an appropriate assistant.” Councillor Mullarkey’s soft grey eyes peered above his glasses. “She will be your companion while you are on their world. Are you ready to meet her, Willow?”

  What! How could she possibly be meeting her guide? She couldn’t be going to Thera now! What about Hugo! Willow’s palms went clammy. She must have looked confused because Councillor Mullarkey smiled.

  “Let’s make a long-distance call, shall we?” he said.

  Aah, thought Willow as the penny dropped. A communications device – of course! “Okay,” she said. Super cool on the outside, totally freaked and excited on the inside.

  Councillor Mullarkey lifted the lid from a small, plain wooden box sitting on his desk. Inside the box a quartz crystal rod lay on its side. He picked it up then closed the box gently, turning it upside down to reveal an intricately carved base. In the middle of the base was a key-hole that perfectly matched the end of the crystal rod. He placed the rod in the key-hole, tapped some of the carved symbols on the base with his finger, and then waited. The crystal rod began to turn. First one way and then back the other way. A series of clicks could be heard, as if it was performing some type of activation sequence. All at once the crystal lit up, projecting a white screen above the box. An image slowly formed. Moments later, the face of an aged man appeared. An aged man with shiny purple eyes.

  “Hello, Councillor,” he said from the holographic screen. “Goodwill to you. We are ready when you are.”

  Willow sat completely motionless. She was sure her heart had stopped beating.

  “Excellent,” Councillor Mullarkey replied. “Chancellor Daris, this is Willow Bloom.” He raised his eyes in Willow’s direction. “Willow, I’d like you to meet High Chancellor Daris.”

  Willow scrambled around in her head as she tried to reconnect the sound back to her mouth. This face speaking to them was essentially an alien! “H-hello,” she stammered at last.

  “Goodwill to you, Willow.” His voice was croaky but gentle. High Chancellor Daris didn’t look any different to a human except for his sparkling purple eyes and pearlescent golden skin, which looked just like Peonie’s.

  “As you have been informed, we have arranged this introduction so that you may feel more comfortable upon your first arrival. Avari Nova has been selected to be your guide.” He motioned to someone out of view and a
girl’s face appeared on the screen. She had dark hair and the same shiny purple eyes, and though her skin was the colour of milk chocolate it had the same golden pearlescence as High Chancellor Daris.

  Avari smiled at her. “I am told you are in the middle of your training but that you will be ready to arrive soon. I look forward to meeting you in person – and assisting you with your important duties. It is an honour to be working with a Light Keeper.”

  Willow was a little surprised that Avari had called her a Light Keeper – as if she already was one! She hadn’t felt like a real Light Keeper until just now. It had a nice ring to it. She smiled back. “I’m honoured to be working with you too.”

  “I am sure our association together will be a fortunate one. I will see you soon here on Thera,” Avari said.

  “Goodbye. See you there,” Willow said. The thought of travelling across the galaxies to meet another girl was so weird. She now had an alien friend! Who’d have thought – in a gazillion years! Or longer!

  Willow had just finished explaining her inter-galactic phone call to Hugo over lunch when there was a sudden hush in the dining hall. She turned to see the French woman from the first night walking briskly towards a raised platform across the front of the dining area.

  Councillor Leveque stood quietly, waiting for some lastminute diners to be seated. “As many of you have been informed,” she began, “the plan to continuously activate multiple Doorways across the world has now been precisely calculated and is ready to be undertaken. Within thirty-six hours, in fact. This should give most of you enough time to return home, at which point we will begin activating portals all over the world. They will be activated in sequential order according to the Earth’s date line, starting in the Pacific region. Once all time zones have been activated, we will endeavour to have Doorways open on a continuous rotation across the entire globe. This will be the first time since the Dark Ages that we will have had so many Doorways open at once. We were up against the Dark Force’s magic then, and we are again now. We will carry out this schedule until further notice.”

  Whispers broke out around the room and Councillor Leveque paused briefly, waiting for them to subside. “This is a temporary measure only,” she continued. “When we can determine what the UnderLord Maliceius is plotting, we will alter our strategy as required. Obviously this is a huge commitment. Most of you who are on active duty are used to performing perhaps one activation per week, or less. This plan requires at least two and for some of you, three. The Dream Keepers will assist you with adjusting your bodies to the stresses of additional travel. Council Members will give each of you a schedule before you leave this evening. I thank you for your time and your patience. Any questions, please see your Council contacts. Travel well, everyone.”

  Willow was sitting in one of the armchairs at the entrance hall reading her activation schedule when she felt an overwhelming urge to turn around. Finally, when she turned, she saw Ambrosia Abernathy standing only a few metres away, glowering at her. Ambrosia held her gaze a few seconds longer, folded her arms firmly, then sniffed and marched away. Willow shuddered, her skin bristling. Tucking her schedule into her back-pack, she made her way out to the main square. That was twice now that Ambrosia had managed to rattle her. It was just as well they were heading home.

  Her mother was waiting by the minibus. Her eyes narrowed. “Willow? Are you all right?”

  Willow pulled her back-pack off her shoulders and swung it around to the front of her body. “Yes, Mum.” She climbed the stairs of the bus and strode up the aisle towards the back seats. She was determined not to let Ambrosia get under her skin. It would all work out eventually. Ambrosia would realise she wasn’t the enemy.

  Final Preparations

  Back at home, Willow ate her porridge and couldn’t believe she’d just completed three days of intense training at the Academy, and met two aliens from Thera.

  Hugo’s arrival interrupted her thoughts. He headed straight towards the fireplace.

  “Man, it’s cold out there.”

  “I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been out yet,” she yawned. “And don’t tell me you’re here to drill me on activations already. We’ve only been home …” with a glance at the clock, “eleven hours.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  “Good,” she said. “Because we have to go to the woods. It’s our last chance before school tomorrow.”

  Hugo nodded. “I know.”

  The air was perfectly still. Willow studied a sky laden with voluminous clouds. “I bet they’re snow clouds. They’re just the right shade of grey and they look a bit different to normal clouds.”

  Hugo raised his brows. “So now you’re a meteorologist too.”

  “Yes, I am.” She scooped up a bunch of dry leaves and threw them at him. “I learnt lots of secret Light Keeper skills while you were out running around with your Chabels.”

  The sound of their footsteps along the leafy path was amplified against the stillness of the woods.

  The cold air stung Willow’s fingers and she promptly rubbed her hands together to keep them warm before shoving them in her coat pockets. “Can’t believe I left my gloves.”

  “Humans are the only ones crazy enough to be out in this weather. There’s definitely something to be said for winter hibernation.” Hugo pulled out a pair of gloves from his coat pocket. “Here, want mine?”

  “Thanks, but I’ll cope,” she said.

  Hugo wriggled his fingers into the gloves.

  “I hope you’ve got zippers on those pockets,” Willow commented.

  Hugo looked down at his pockets and then over to Willow. “Studs. Why?”

  “Just a story my dad told me. You don’t want the TriVrata to fall out of your pocket, that’s all,” she said.

  “Fair call. But the TriVrata stays on my wrist until we’re inside a portal.”

  “I know that. I meant for when the TriVrata is active in its pyramid form and you have to find a new portal after I’ve left.”

  “Oh, noted. So – you ready?”

  “In too deep now,” she answered. “But I’m glad the Council gave all the new Light Keepers a few extra days before starting. It gives Mum and Dad time to go over any lastminute repairs to the Sanctuary fields with their gadgets too.”

  Willow looked around the woods for any unusual signs.

  “Yeah, my dad’s going out with them too. Makes them all feel better, I guess.”

  They crossed the path, taking a shortcut through the trees. They were nearly at the exact spot where Peonie had first appeared. Willow slowed right down. “This is the place. This is where I first saw her.” She gestured towards the tree trunk where she had sat with Peonie. Willow’s body started to feel strange again, but it was different this time. “I’m not sure if …”

  “Goodwill to you, Willow,” she heard Peonie say from behind her.

  Willow swung around. “Peonie! Hello – goodwill to you too.”

  Peonie’s golden skin seemed more luminous than she remembered.

  “You seem brighter somehow,” Willow said.

  “My arrival and appearance are now governed by the clarity of your thoughts. Did you notice the sensations were more gentle today and much less drawn-out?”

  “Yes,” Willow said. “Why is that?”

  “Because now you know what to focus on. And that makes our connection stronger.”

  “So, the more focused I am, the quicker and easier it is for you to appear?”

  “Precisely,” Peonie said.

  “That’s so cool.” Willow gazed at Peonie, once again mesmerised by her presence.

  Hugo tapped Willow on her shoulder. “Err, have you forgotten something maybe? Like that I’m here? And that I can’t see Peonie like you can.”

  “Oh my God, I completely forgot.” She turned back to Peonie. “How do we do this? How does Hugo …?”

  “I have to find a portal with the Chabels,” he said, pulling out the leather pouch. Then with a self-conscious gri
n he waved in the direction of the invisible Peonie and said, “Hi, Peonie.”

  “I will see you both inside the portal,” Peonie said to Willow.

  Hugo released the five blue spheres and motioned for Willow to follow.

  They hurried along through the woods staying close behind the glowing Chabels. Hugo didn’t take his eyes off them, the bare trees making the task just that little bit easier. Without warning, the Chabels made a sudden turn to the left.

  “Crap!” Hugo muttered. “Quick! This way.”

  “They don’t exactly wait for you,” Willow shouted from behind. She recalled watching Hugo from the window at ALFA, zig-zagging across the grounds. Only this time she wasn’t laughing.

  “Nope,” he yelled back. “They do what they’re meant to do – and they do it well. But I was hoping they wouldn’t be this jittery with their changes in direction by now.”

  “Didn’t your dad say something about them having to bond to you. Maybe they’re still doing it.”

  “They sure seem to be taking their time about it,” he said, swinging his arm to push a young branch out of his way.

  “Hey!” Willow cried. “Watch it!”

  “Sorry.”

  The Chabels eventually stopped in a small clearing. They drifted, keeping to a small area, and gradually came to a complete stop.

  “Hope they bond sooner rather than later,” Hugo said, catching his breath. “At least then I won’t need to chase them like this.” He looked around. “This must be it.”

  “Where is it then?” Willow asked.

  “Just wait.”

  Moments later her eyes adjusted to something like a shimmering heat wave. “I think I see it!” she breathed. The air in front of them was beginning to warp, and even though it was invisible, a dome-like structure could be seen forming in the clearing. “That’s incredible,” Willow said.

  “Yep.” Hugo looked on casually, as if to emphasise that he was now a dab hand at finding portals after their weekend training. The Chabels moved forward then disappeared. “Step through,” he gestured.