sure.
He thought about this for awhile and then looked down, noticing that he had gotten closer to the black dragon. Fear came. He didn’t want to be closer to that one. Still lying on the ground, he started to inch the other way but somehow he kept getting closer to the dragon. He rolled around on his belly, facing the field away from the dragon, crawling, straining to remember the feeling of hope that he had felt. The more he thought about it the more he moved away from the dragon. He wanted to turn back and look but something made him keep his eyes ahead of him.
The mist was getting thick now and he couldn’t see the ground, even on his belly. There was a thunderous THUD… THUD. The second was softer and coming from behind him. The dragon was leaving. THUD. He pawed the ground, wanting to keep moving away but it was so hard to figure what way to go. THUD. His fingers closed around a vine that was on the ground. He pulled himself along, holding to the vine, hoping it led away from danger. THUD. Soft now. Deep breathing from high above him. There was the fear again. What if this was not the white dragon? What if this was just another Iumenta? He looked up into a violent flash of bright blue.
Chapter Twelve
“It has been said that love is the strongest power for good in this world, and that if more people loved there would be far less suffering. I would disagree with that theory; it is not love itself, but what and how we love, for surely the tyrant loves the suffering he causes just as much as the mother loves her child.”
Legon’s eyes blinked open. He felt cold sweat covering him and his breath was ragged. He stared up at the canvas ceiling of the tent; he couldn’t hear Sasha’s breathing. He sat up trying to wave off the grogginess.
“Where is she?” he thought.
The dreams were always a bit better when she was close, but she wasn’t in the tent. Then it came to him.
“The Jezeer,” he said.
Tonight Sasha was learning the Art of the Waking Sleep, a form of meditation that allowed you to stay up for hours with no sleep at all. You could put yourself in a state that was almost as beneficial as sleep, only it took a tenth of the time. Tonight was her night to learn. He had to admit she was doing well with the training, but it still seemed as if they were missing something.
In the two weeks following their departure from Salkay, both of them had learned a lot but felt as though they hadn’t. It was aggravating in many ways. That wasn’t going to matter for long, though, since they were almost to Salez and then maybe Legon would get some answers. Or maybe not-it was hard to say. He wasn’t sure of who to talk to or what to do, and Arkin wasn’t talking about what he needed to do there.
He lay back down, still exhausted. The dreams had been going full tilt now, yet it was odd that they changed every night. Some nights he was close to the black dragon and other nights to that blue light. No matter what he did, he couldn’t figure out what that light was supposed to be. Arkin had said that dreams symbolize what was going on in the mind, but there was no answer for these dreams. What was he supposed to be figuring out? The way he felt when he went to bed seemed to have an effect on what the dreams were like. If he was happy with himself and his day, usually he was closer to the blue light, but if he was unhappy he felt closer to the black dragon.
Legon realized it was going to be morning soon. He needed to sleep. They had a big day tomorrow. They would be entering Salez, and he was going to need his wits about him. As soon as he closed his eyes, though, a noise outside made him start and shoot straight up. “What was that sound?” It sounded like a voice. It could be that he was just hearing things, but he better be sure. He stuck his head out of the tent and saw Sasha sitting next to the fire, eyes closed, trying to master the Waking Sleep. Arkin looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
“Nothing,” said Legon. “Never mind, thought I heard something.” He flopped back down; he hadn’t heard anything. It was just in his head.
Sasha was vaguely aware of Legon saying something as she was deep in concentration, trying to figure out the Waking Sleep. In theory, once in the right state she would have waking dreams but still hear her surroundings. It wasn’t going well. Her mind was reaching a different state for sure. However, that state was sleep. She kept drifting off and Arkin would catch her before she slumped into the fire. She thought she had come close once, but it turned out to be nothing.
Then it happened. She heard everything around her just like Arkin had taught them. She was aware of what everything was, and she could feel her mind and body filling with energy. Strange dreams suddenly filled her mind’s eye. Dreams she wasn’t in control of but could still see, hear, and feel. Time seemed not to exist either, but somehow she knew how long she was out. She brought herself out of the waking sleep and looked at Arkin, who was smiling in the light of the sunrise. She slumped down.
“Why was I out for so long? I thought I should sense time, right?”
“You should. I was ready to tell you to go to bed and get some sleep the old fashioned way, but just then you achieved the Waking Sleep, but only for about five minutes. Then you fell asleep for five hours.” There was a placating look on his face.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You were fine where you were, and I figured if you woke up on your own you could have another try.”
Arkin stood and walked off without another comment. She was a little put out. She had been sitting there all night long sleeping and he had just watched her? Or did he go to bed himself? If she had been doing what she was supposed to she would have known that, but still, what if she had taken a header into the fire? She stood, feeling stiff, and started on breakfast.
“Morning, Sash,” Legon said, coming out of the tent.
“Good morning. How did you sleep?”
“Meh. Had another one. I don’t know why they affect me more when you’re not there.”
“I have a soothing personality.” She turned and gave him a warm but fake smile.
He laughed. “Yeah that’s it.”
As the day wore on they drew closer to Salez. Soon they could see a dark haze over the next hill, indicating that the city would be just on the other side. Arkin’s training had filled the last few weeks, but some of the most important training was how to protect their minds. Magic users and Dragons could read thoughts, but if you knew what you were doing you could block them out.
“Remember, there are going to be many people at the gate, so if they do have someone checking thoughts they’ll only be looking for obvious things like aggression. In light of that, keep your thoughts focused on the mundane, understand?” Arkin warned.
“But what if one tries to go deeper?” Kovos asked with a little nervousness in his voice.
“You won’t know if they do, but if it looks like someone is paying a little too much attention to you, clear your head. If that doesn’t work then try to hurt yourself.”
“Do what?” Kovos asked.
“Fall off your horse or something like that. Anything that will agitate the people around you and more important, your mind”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll fall off my horse anyway, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it,” Keither said with a chuckle.
They headed east and came over the top of the hill. When they crested the top, Legon felt his stomach drop. In front of them was the largest city he had ever seen. Salez was beyond huge. The smoke from thousands of
