“I’m going to find him,” Kaleo repeated. He used the energy of his step-mother’s dreams to rebound off of, sliding from one pinpoint to the next, using things or people she was connected to. He’d only made it four pinpoints past the Amatessa the first time. So far, he was doing much better, already at the sixth person. Things became more difficult the further out he went, more difficult to track or connect, or just more difficult to keep a safe distance from.
“…eo…”
The echo reached his semi-pointed ears as an afterthought, like a gnat buzzing around his head. He ignored it and continued on, following each connection of energy until reaching a dead end. The vortex he hovered over was large, tinted in a faint pale blue. The images that roiled within it were wild, erratic, almost nightmarish in nature. The images scared him, tugged at him in a way that was almost familiar.
“..leo!”
That time, Kaleo clearly heard the echo. It was an incomplete echo, but when he looked up, he realized just how far into the Sea of Stars he’d gone. He was no longer in territories that were familiar, no longer near his starting point. The vortex beneath him pulsed wildly, drawing his attention back in time for him to suck in a startled breath. The rest of him got tugged right into the chaotic maelstrom beneath him.
“No!” he cried, though he knew it would do no good. No one could hear him, no one would care if they did. Any attempt to fight the pull that dragged him down was an attempt in vain. He had nothing to hold to, nothing that would give him purchase to pull himself out of the vortex.
Instead, he landed hard on his back, the black pinpoint above him closing off with a whoosh of wind that left him gasping. For a moment, Kaleo could not move, staring at the space above him that had been his exit point mere moments before. He was stuck in someone else’s dream; again. Something hissed to his left, making him turn wide eyes in the direction of the sound. His nose was accosted by the stench of sulfur and the hairs on his arms stood on end. Demons.
“It’s a dream. Gods, please, wake up, it’s just a dream!” he hollered as he rose to his feet, darting off in the opposite direction of the menacing hiss. The creature followed, tearing across dead grass and blighted trees. The surroundings tickled Kaleo’s memory, reminding him of something he’d seen once before perhaps in his own dreams. It was neither here nor there, not when his life was on the line. For him, injuries in the dream world were as real as injuries in the waking world which meant that death was equally permanent.
“WAKE UP!!” he hollered, hoping the dreamer might hear him. All he heard in response was the snarl of the demons hunting him. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed there was more than one. “Shit!”
He darted behind trees or stunted shrubs, even tried to climb a tree only to have the blasted thing snap in half from how brittle and frail it was. His wings were entirely useless in the dream world, disappearing at random and reappearing when they were not wanted.
The snarls were too close. He forced himself back up to his feet, finding a sturdier-looking tree before clamoring up its rickety, dry branches. Only shriveled handfuls of brown and gray leaves remained of the greenery that once was. The sky above was dark, roiling with wicked clouds and miasmas of fell magic. Just over the top of the tree line, Kaleo could make out the very faint outline of a spire.
“Illurian City,” he breathed out. He knew where he was. His mind wanted to make a logical connection to the dreamer, but the tree jolted, nearly throwing him from the branches he clung to. The demons barked and growled below him, clawing their way up toward him. He looked up, hoping for more space to put between himself and the demons but there was nothing to see except a naked twig that would not hold his weight. Pulling on his Power inside of a dream was too risky. The results were not always what was intended and, often, had terrifying repercussions on the caster in the waking world. He’d learned that the hard way as well, and had a wicked scar on his arm to remind him of his ignorant choices.
“Fionn!” he called, hoping the chimera might hear him. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn’t, much like his wings. When he made his first foray into the Sea of Stars, Fionn walked beside him, been there to witness the mistakes and pull him from the proverbial fire. There was no one to save him from his mistakes this time because no one knew where he was. “Argh, WAKE UP YOU BLASTED IDIOT!”
He felt the rake of a claw against the bottom of his leg at the same moment that he felt a sharp tug at the scruff of his neck. He gasped, pain radiating up his leg as he landed on top of a solid form. It took a moment for him to realize he was no longer being clawed at, to stop fighting and just breathe. Jaysen lay on his back beneath him, glaring horribly at Kaleo’s stupidity.
“What were you thinking?” the olven boy snarled. He shoved Kaleo off of himself as he spoke, making the young
