The Dream Weavers Collection Part 1 - K.R. Gomlok (13 ebook reader TXT) 📗

But I must set these thoughts aside for the moment, for a great peril has awakened in this world. Last night I was searching for Chimera again and while drifting I ran into a familiar consciousness. I have met it before in the real world, in darker times, in the adventures into the Ersatz. It was still human but it was filled with anger and bitterness over what wrongs it had perceived that had been stopped. It wanted revenge?
This dream was dark? darker than any nightmare I have yet calmed. I was lost in a great living labyrinth of monsters who formed the very walls that trapped me. I realized his dream had fallen to this not because he felt despair, but because he wished the darkness to over take him. When I tried to protect myself from his unrestrained malice, he realized my control over the Dream World. He was intrigued for a moment, inquiring if I would join him. ?What is this power?? he asked me, ?Can I access it?? I would not answer.
At that moment the Wings of Freedom appeared on his left palm. But unlike mine, which glowed blue, his was a twisted, sharp, black mark that glowed red around the edges. His glee was horrible to witness as I stood frozen, unable to escape from his nightmare. The walls grew high around me and arms reached out to hold me there, keeping me prisoner in the dark abyss of his mind.
I got away at last but I don?t know how long I can keep this up. He is hunting me. I can smell his malice as it travels through the Dream River, forever seeking my destruction. He is gathering aid from others, awakening their inner Dreamer before its time, corrupting their growth with his teaching. I hope Zach will be safe. Tonight I go to a long sleep. If I don?t wake up, I hope Zach will find this and continue this quest, whatever it is. He will not fall?

Excerpt from ?The Dream Weavers?
By Melina Isador

?Don?t give up Zach,? Melina told him, trying to smile, ?We?ll see each other again.?
Zach could not meet her gaze. He could not accept these words; they were the elements of an ending. They stood in a garden, surrounded by strange plants, mostly roses, and welcomed by the sea that invaded the far end. Melina was just standing there, on the edge of the water, waiting as it came closer and closer to overtaking her. ?Don?t go yet,? he pleaded, still looking down. ?I need you here. You need to graduate, to live your life.?
But even to him his words sounded empty. The waves lamented upon the soft sands as he stared down at them and from the garden wall he could hear the lay or a nightingale, singing a bitter dirge. He searched desperately for the right words but it was soon too late, the white waves began to touch her heels. Who was he kidding? This was the end of Melina Isador.
?Take care of her, Zach.?
He felt the familiar warm sting of tears but looked up at her anyway. All the brokenness she had possessed seemed washed away; she was at last perfect in her final moments. Her dark hair fell in braids about her snow-white gown and she smiled at him, a last farewell as the waves bore her away. And yet he dared not avert his gaze. ?I promise, Melina.? He whispered, lost in her absence, ?I promise you I?ll look after her.?
And she was gone. Not too far away, Melina Isador took her last breath in a hospital that had failed to identify the deadly poison that had infected her veins.
Zachery Farren Ember could only mourn for the ending of a young life that should have gone on. And yet it had ended here, a far cry from the greatness it was intended for.
In all the years he had known her, he had never thought she would perish before him. Come to think of it, it was one of those things that he hadn?t given much thought to. He?d always known and feared the moment of death he?d eventually have to endure, but somehow he?d never considered the death of anyone he knew.
Yet, even in the wake of her ashes, Zachery knew it would not end there. This was the end of Melina, but it was not the end of her legacy. Her tale would continue through her friends and family, through the light that she had inspired in their hearts. He would not let the story end this way; not now, she deserved that much.
He woke up to the light touch of tears on his cheek, tears that fell unanswered to a cold tile floor. What had just happened? He blinked his eyes a few times and sat up. His memories rose with his consciousness. He was in the Dreamoor hotel, Dremoor. Somehow, he had apparently stumbled his way to a couch in the lobby and no one had disturbed him. He had the eerie feeling that someone else was watching him, someone was there besides the clerk snoozing at the counter. Someone around? immediately, his thoughts turned to Melina and his tears reformed. Yes? she was gone. Somehow he knew she had not lasted the night. But, as he strode over the smooth ground unheeded, he felt a new strength within himself like the rising flame of a Phoenix. This was not the end?

* * *

The morning air was crisp and stagnant, just what Zach needed as he walked through the yet undisturbed city on his way to the hospital. He had left a note explaining things for his parents since he could not find their room and now he was on his way to confirm his suspicions. If Melina was still alive? if his hope against hope were granted? he almost smiled at how much he would cry and make a fool of himself. He just needed to put things in perspective; the crash had not seemed to have fatally wounded her, she could be okay... In fact, to his perception it looked like she had leapt out before the moment of collision. In a few weeks he would be telling her how worried he had been, all the things he had forgotten to say. And yet, some dark foreboding still followed him, whispering doubt into is heart.
To his surprise it was the same feeling he had experienced earlier in the hotel lobby, as if someone was watching him. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder and scanned the sidewalk behind him. Nothing? No one was there.
Sighing, he continued on his way and kept to the open sidewalks as best he could, avoiding the looming shadows of the city. Inside he was anxious to break out into a flat out sprint but his skeptical side said their was nothing to worry about, he just was not used to cities.
His steps slowed until he came to a final stop. There in front of him, just across the street, was the hospital.
Now was his moment of truth, now was the time to set his heart to rest, one way or another. Breathing deep, he crossed the street and traversed the silent parking lot, focusing only on the doors at the far end despite a sudden interruption of wind that swept through the place. He felt is heartbeat pick up and start to pound in his ears, begging him to cut the tension and close the distance somehow. In an agonizing half minute he was through the doors and into the lobby.
Everything seemed to blur about him, details he usually would have noted were blocked out as he hastened to the front counter and made his demand. ?Is the patient who occupied room 522 alive?? he said between the heaving breaths left from his last sprint.
The person at the counter, who was on the phone, gave him a tired glance and tapped a few keys on her computer. ?Name?? she asked, practiced politeness in her voice. He wondered how often she dealt with people like him?
?Melina Isador,? he answered quickly, leaning onto the counter in his anxiety. ?Accompanied by Chimera Twilight,? he added in after thought, as if to acknowledge her closer relationship to Melina rather than to speed the search. The seconds stretched into eternity as he stood their, his foresight going wild with possibilities? and yet somehow he knew the answer before it was spoken.
?I?m sorry,? the woman told him, looking up from her desk. ?Melina passed away at two o?clock this morning. Chimera is currently in a waiting room on the first floor, would you like to see her??
Zach felt the piercing grief of his loss break through the barriers he had erected. He had known this would happen, had he not? Even so it still broke his heart to finally confirm his dread, to dash his hopes he had kindled knowing they would die. But even in that moment of dark realization he felt her last memory touch his heart; don?t give up Zach, we?ll meet again. Take care of her.
I will, Melina, he promised her once more, I will.
?Would you like to see her?? the woman repeated, giving him a concerned look.
Melina would willed him to not despair in this darkness, he knew that much of his deceased friend, and he would not let her down, not now. Zach gave her a bittersweet smile and nodded, ?Yes,? he confirmed. ?I?m here for Chimera.?
After all, her story was yet to be told.

* * *

?Zachery?? Chimera greeted him quietly as he walked through the doors to the waiting room. She was still wearing the plain white shirt, forest green jacket, and blue jeans she?d worn yesterday, evidence that she had not returned home.
?I?m sorry? Chimera.? Zach said quietly, walking to where she sat. ?I?m just wondering? what happens now??
The frustrated look she gave him caught him off guard. ?It?s over Zach, all we can do is move on with our lives now. Nothing we do will bring her back.?
?I know?? he tried to consol her, searching for the words of comfort he had always lacked, ?But why give up now??
His words rang as fake in his own ears. Now? Nothing had begun. What was he talking about? He could see the loss written on her face, the frustration, the pain, the sadness that was mirrored inside of him. What