The Dreamcatcher: A Dreamland Series Novella (The Dreamland Series)

by E. J. Mellow

  Contents

  Copyright

  Praise for The Dreamer

  Praise for The Divide

  Title

  Dedication

  Quote

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Excerpt from The Divide

  The Divide Chapter 1

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  The Dreamcatcher

  Copyright © 2016 E.J. Mellow

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical article and reviews. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

  Published by Four Eyed Owl, Village Station PO Box #204, New York, NY 10014

  Editing & Copy Editing by Dori Harrell

  Cover Design by E.J. Mellow

  Cover Photography by Gabriela Slegrova Solms

  ISBN 978-0-9962114-6-8

  Praise for The Dreamer

  “Lyrical, vibrant, imaginative. EJ Mellow's striking, original voice will draw you into a mesmerizing world.”

  - Emma Raveling, Author of the Ondine Quartet

  “E.J. Mellow's world-building skills are breathtaking!”

  - Cassandra Reads A Lot

  "Action packed, with twists and turns...truly an excellent piece of writing."

  - Red's Midnight Readers

  “A new voice in NA that I can't wait to hear more of.”

  - Will Read For Feels

  “This book totally kept me coming back for more.”

  - Awesome Book Assesment

  Praise for The Divide

  "Filled with action, suspense and romance...This book was epic!"

  - Daydreaming books

  "In all of. Holy. Terra...I am shattered and I completely blame E.J."

  - Cassandra Reads A Lot

  "Fantastic world-building and beautiful imagery...one that pulled me into each page.”

  - Will Read For Feels

  "Ms. Mellow does NOT invoke her last name with this book. I wasn't MELLOW for most of it."

  - Textual Love

  "One of those rare books that literally leaves you begging for more!!"

  -Red's Midnight Readers

  To all those with a book boyfriend…

  or seven,

  this one’s for you.

  Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;

  I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

  —Sarah Williams

  — 1 —

  THE ROOM WAS stifling with the influx of bodies packed tight, and an anxious shuffling filled the windowless space as the Nocturna guards tried to suppress their growing claustrophobia. If they felt comfortable being contained within four walls, they would have chosen a different profession. Dev cracked his knuckles one at a time, a restless habit he’d acquired after being forced to appear at these biweekly gatherings. Even though he’d graduated above the ranks of all the soldiers here, his spotty attendance was not well received.

  Alex’s rather verbose and overwrought reprimand of him being a role model to the rest of the cadets still rang in his ears. And it did the job to motivate him to show up so long as he never had to endure that speech again. At least the old man was effective in his irritation.

  Letting out an impatient breath, Dev watched the stout general in the front of the room address the mass of soldiers. The blue-white lights above highlighted the gray in Alex’s cropped hair, and his burly chest puffed up at the end of his sentences. The information he shared was always the same, or a close variation—the Metus numbers were slowly rising, extra shifts were added to the schedules of every team, and Dev and Aveline were continuously assigned to patrol the northern part of the grasslands surrounding the city.

  Glancing around the white space, it was easy to discern Dev wasn’t alone in his eagerness to start today’s rounds. The constant twirling of Arcuses, tapping of feet, and shifting of bodies were subtle indicators for Alex to get on with it already.

  “And make sure to report back every sighting or anything else odd that occurs on your patrols,” the general said—his routine closing line, which was followed by its usual collection of relieved sighs.

  “Thank Terra,” Aveline muttered beside Dev as she stood from leaning against the wall. “I actually think I manifested the ability to sleep during that.”

  Dev gave his partner a wry glance. “At least that would be one positive thing that would’ve come from attending these things.”

  “Yeah, well, still not worth it.” Aveline pulled her long, pale hair into a ponytail and readjusted the Arcus strap across her chest. “You ready?”

  “Lead the way.” He inclined his head toward the door.

  Pressing tight into the cluster of other guards all waiting to exit, Dev peered down as an arm brushed against his backside. With the graze being more of a grope, he was not surprised to find thick lips fashioned into a sly smirk pointed up at him.

  “Oh, sorry,” the girl said in a honey-laced voice. “Close quarters.” She gestured to the congested group as a way of an explanation.

  “Ah yes, I forgot you have issues keeping your hands to yourself, Candice. Especially while in crowds.”

  “You didn’t seem to think it was an issue the other night.” Her gaze remained bold.

  “And with you”—Dev leaned in—“I never will.”

  A snort came from in front of them, but he ignored it, watching as a blossom of pink spread across Candice’s ebony skin. He smiled crookedly. “Safe rounds,” he murmured and, with her features still in a fluster, slipped through the door.

  “You’re horrible,” Aveline said once they’d traveled down the hall.

  “Why?”

  “Candice has no idea what she’s getting into.”

  “On the contrary, I think she has a very clear idea. In fact, she usually comes up with all of them. And let me tell you”—he arced a brow—“they can be pretty creatively flex—”

  “Ugh, gag me with Metus droppings, why don’t you?” Aveline shoved Dev’s shoulder. “That’s not what I meant. You shouldn’t play with her like that. And yes, I realize I just set you up for another disgusting innuendo, so just don’t.”

  A half smile flirted across his lips. “As long as you’re aware.”

  “Dev,” she chastened.

  “Ave, she knows I don’t do serious. They all know.”

  “Yeah, well, they have a funny way of forgetting, and then I have to hear about it.”

  “Oh, is that what this is about?” Dev turned to her, realization dawning on his face. “You don’t have to be so passive aggressive. If you want me to buy you earplugs, you just have to ask.”

  She attempted to throw a punch to his arm again, but he sidestepped, his amused chuckle echoi
ng down the hall.

  “I give up.” She stalked forward. “I’m no longer covering for you when they come to me with death threats, asking where you are.”

  “I like to think of those more as demands of passion.” He caught up with her in two long strides.

  “I pity the next girl you meet,” Aveline said with a shake of her head and pushed through the doors to the outside. “I really do.”

  Even though Dev laughed, deep down he couldn’t help but agree. The place his heart should’ve been had been hollowed out for decades. And though they’d all tried, desperately so, no one had yet been the one to refill it.

  And Dev wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to encounter anybody who could.

  —∞—

  Air whipped against his face as he careened forward, each thump of his heart a welcome reminder of the adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream. With eyes closed he imagined the same thing he always did when traveling the zipline—that he was flying, dancing across the sky like the Dreamers above, unbound by this land’s gravity. His body swayed left and then right as it followed the wire around buildings, and from the many times he’d traversed this path, he knew he had ten more seconds until his grip should tighten to slow down.

  “You look like an idiot when you do that,” Aveline called out, causing Dev to blink his eyes open as he approached the landing where she stood.

  “Takes one to know one,” he said as his feet hit the platform.

  Aveline snorted. “Are you sure you’re older than me? Because that comeback was adolescent lame.”

  “That’s because I have to lower them to the maturity of the people I’m around.” He smiled sweetly at her.

  “Right,” she said with an eye roll.

  “You know, Ave.” Dev tilted his head to the side. “I can help you deal with it.”

  Her brows pinched in. “Deal with what?”

  “Your overbearing love for me, of course. You obviously don’t know how to deal with it, and keeping it bottled is never the solution.” He patted her on the shoulder, and she smacked his hand away.

  “You are officially delusional.”

  “Shh, just let it out,” he cooed and then quickly pulled her into a hug “Accept the love, Ave. Feel the love.”

  “Colló! Dev, put me down!” She hissed as she squirmed and kicked in his arms. “I’m seriously. Going to. Murder you!”

  He held steady, dodging a backward elbow to his nose, and didn’t let go until she stopped struggling and went limp in defeat, just like all the other times. He grinned. “There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” She shot him a glare that didn’t quite hide the amusement in her eyes. as “I don’t know how I’ve dealt with you over the years.”

  “I think you’ve done a fine job,” he said while taking in her delicate features and skinny frame, which always brought back memories of their early days together. She was so eager to impress him when they were first partnered, to prove everyone wrong who said she was too weak, too small to be a guard. While parts of her attitude had definitely changed since then, her spark to be great had only grown into fire. Dev liked to think he had something to do with that. He made sure to teach her how to take care of herself, use her smallness as a strength, and to never fall into predictability. For in combat, as soon as one knew your tendencies, behaviors, you’d already lost.

  “So do you think we’ll see any tonight?” Aveline asked, gazing out to the landscape on the other side of their platform. They stood on top of the northern wall that separated the city of Terra from the rest of the land—a land that as of late had been crawling with more and more nightmares.

  Stepping to her side, Dev studied the quiet field that swayed gently in the breeze below and, save for a solitary elm tree in the distance, sloped unobstructed for miles. “I don’t know. They’ve been strangely absent the past couple rounds. Maybe if we’re lucky, we will.”

  “Only you would think that was lucky.”

  His smile was coy. “What can I say? I’m a man of act—”

  Dev was cut off by a bright burst of light exploding in the distant sky, and he glanced up, locking on to a burning orb falling at supersonic speed, racing to the ground. Dev shielded his eyes from the blinding light and watched with amazement as the blazing star crashed down right at the base of the elm. The ground rumbled with its contact, and the brilliant light flickered and sputtered before going dark, throwing the land once more into its usual shadow of night—as if nothing had happened at all.

  “What in all of Terra?” Aveline stepped forward before looking at Dev. The shock reverberating through him was mirrored on her face, and they both remained still until a sense of duty finally registered. Like a racehorse out of the gate, Dev shot toward the grappling pole with Aveline quick on his heels, and when his feet hit the soft soil below, he lost no momentum as he turned in the direction of the fallen star and ran.

  — 2 —

  GINGERLY APPROACHING THE tree, Dev scanned the area. There was no evidence that a fiery mass just fell, not even a single singed stalk or errant leaf from the tree’s canopy above. The only proof of a possible disturbance was the surrounding grass being slightly bent back and a sweet scent in the air, a sign of the recent presence of Navitas.

  Moving forward, Dev instantly locked on to a form, and if he thought he couldn’t be any more shocked from the current events, he was very wrong. For there, lying motionless on the ground, was a girl. Her eyes were closed, and her almost black hair fanned around her head, making it appear like she was floating in water. Two pale legs protruded from funny-looking blue shorts, and long graceful arms stretched out of a plain gray T-shirt.

  He glanced at Aveline before taking a couple of steps closer, and then stopped dead when the girl’s eyes fluttered open. Deep pools of brown stared straight into the leaves above, and Dev couldn’t help but smile when she wiggled her toes and fingers like a newborn.

  “Dev,” Aveline whispered. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  He remained silent, too transfixed.

  Could this really be happening? He wanted to gaze up at the sky, study the millions of stars zooming by like he had on so many occasions before, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away.

  She kept perfectly still while her eyes roamed over Aveline, assessing what was there before latching on to Dev’s form. He watched in fascination as she studied him from his boots up to his head, and when their gaze connected, it was like the world rippled out from under him and then slammed back together. He stood in a frozen moment with this otherworldly stranger whose cheeks deepened in color each second he stared.

  What are you thinking, little one?

  Aveline’s buzzing whispers snapped Dev back into the present, and with forced calm he said what they both knew. “It’s a Dreamer.”

  Aveline sputtered in annoyance. “I see that it’s a Dreamer, Dev! But what’s she doing here?”

  Great question, he thought as he tilted his head to the sky, watching as the stars moved across to their dreams successfully. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Something must have gotten crossed with her journey to her landscape.”

  “That’s never happened before. It’s impossible,” Aveline said, thumping her fists onto her hips.

  Dev scratched his chin while glancing down to their newly arrived guest again. “Well, it happened now.”

  “Excuse me,” an enticing feminine voice rang out as the girl on the ground began to sit up. She immediately stopped, however, when she caught sight of Aveline taking a protective stance. “Whoa.” She raised her hands innocently, and the cute gesture had Dev taking a more detailed appraisal of the girl. Her eyes were larger than normal, saucerlike, making her emotions of annoyance and confusion easily discerned. She had light freckles dusting her delicate nose and scattered across her cheeks, drawing attention to their prominence, and her long, dark hair framed an oval face that ended with full pink lips. There was no denying her beauty.

  “I’m not going to do any
thing but stand,” she continued. “Can I stand?” She glanced back and forth between the two of them.

  “She can hear us,” Aveline whispered to Dev.

  “Of course I can hear you! What’s going on? Where am I? Who are you guys?”

  Dev raised a brow while trying to bite back a smile. “Inquisitive, isn’t she?”

  The Dreamer let out a huff while settling back on her knees. “Please stop talking like I’m not right in front of you. Like I said, I can hear you. And I have a name. It’s Molly.”

  It took all of Dev’s strength not to laugh. She was simply adorable. And that name, Molly—star of the sea… He allowed another moment to admire this delightful conundrum before raising a hand to stop Aveline, who had just opened her mouth to say something they’d both most likely regret. Instead, he answered with the one thing he was probably supposed to say in a situation like this. “Hi, Molly.” He stepped forward. “What’s going on is that you’re dreaming.” He wiggled his fingers like the elders did when telling stories. “Where you are is in your dream. Who we are…well, we’re obviously figments of your imagination.”

  The land fell quiet as Molly studied him, her eyes reducing to slits. “Dreaming?” she repeated.

  “Yes, dreaming. You know, a series of thoughts, images, sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep.” Dev listed off part of the definition the elders made sure to hammer into them at a young age.

  Molly watched the two of them from her position on the ground, her brain seeming to work in overtime, and Dev might have felt sorry for her if he wasn’t too busy being captivated.