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

to push his power as far as possible. This is why we must stop him, all other reasons aside, because he is a danger without remorse. When kindness and grace utterly fail to sway a heart, then it is kindness and grace to end its darkness.

-Excerpts from ?The Dream Weavers?
By Melina Isador

Chimera found herself on the edge of an onyx arena, looking deep into the perfectly formed structure. Smooth benches ringed around the center, which was broken by a giant cloudy quartz crystal. Was it a dream? It had to be. No one in the real world with that kind of money would blow it trying to make a sixteen-foot crystal right out in the open where any half awake person could find it. Besides? the place felt like it had an ancient air about it. As if it were made to look before her time.
She took a hesitant step forward, feeling drawn further into the arena as if some invisible hand were tugging on her sleeve. ?Okay then, what?s going on?? She asked the empty air, trying to sound more confident than she felt. Somehow talking out loud to confirm her thoughts felt good, even though she only did it when alone now a days. The world had taught her to know better than to open herself; to allow vulnerability into her life. Despite the fact that it was probably a dream she did not want whatever it was that was pulling her to realize her weakened state. She hated feeling weak? if her heart had been stronger it would not have been broken half a year ago.
?It?s a monument of our triumph,? a voice answered from across the arena, breaking into her thoughts. She looked up to see a black haired young man with disturbingly pale skin leaning against one of the entry archways, staring back at her with cold eyes.
His tone was indifferent, either trying to hide something or truly apathetic to whatever had been achieved. She had seen a number of goth types in her time and this guy out did most of them. There was something? very disturbing yet entrancing about him.
?What?s the occasion?? She asked, trying to fit the pieces together. How had her subconscious come up with this guy? Was he supposed to be death? No, she?d always imagined death to be more repulsive. There was a strange beauty in his focused, understanding stare. Or was he her own dark past?
His clothes were either muted, ash grays or dark blacks and browns, a long coat, gauntlets, he looked like he belonged in a medieval forest though, waiting to rob some unsuspecting cart or challenge someone to a duel with his long, thin sword.
?We?ve recently stopped one of our adversaries,? The Youngman explained, returning her analyzing gaze, though with less curiosity, ?This one was of particular nuisance.?
?Well, who are you?? Chimera pressed, not daring to turn her eyes from him. It felt as if the second she turned her back he would be beside her and she would rather keep him a arms length at the moment. Part of her wanted to run away but the other half wanted to step forward and be what he was: unafraid.
?Around these parts they call me Reddivor.? He answered, lowering his eyes to a brooding stare at the ground and pushing himself off the archway. ?And you??
?I meant who are you in the plural sense.? She clarified, taking another step forward. Was he intentionally avoiding the question or was she just suspicious? She felt she had to pursue this further?
Reddivor sighed, shaking his head, and looked up, giving her a smile, a chilling smile. ?We are Dream Weavers.? He said simply, as though there was simply nothing more to answer.
She felt her cautious side finally kick in and force her to take a step back. What was going on? What was a Dream Weaver? Where had she heard that before? had she heard it here? Where was here? Why did she feel so? tired?
?Do you want to join us?? He asked politely, extending his left hand in welcome and walking down the stairs toward her.
On the palm she could see a black mark, lined with glowing red, like a tattoo lined with blood. Only, it could not be a tattoo. To her horror, she watched the mark writhe and grow across his arm, reaching out, consuming him? and consuming her.
?Of course not.? Some one answered for her before she could get her voice working. ?Sorry, but she?s with me.?
Chimera spun around, breaking from her wide eyed stare at Reddivor and found herself looking at a bright eyed young woman standing in the entrance directly across from him. She was clad in a dress with a dark over skirt split down the middle to reveal another layer that was crisscrossed by black netting it seemed. She had a ribbon about her waist and another in her hair, keeping most of it back though a good portion of its black mass fell free over the right side of her face. ?Come on, Chimera,? the girl said, offering a comforting smile, ? I?ve been looking all over for you.?
?Smolder,? Reddivor muttered under his breath, breaking off his attention on Chimera and glaring at the new comer, ?I thought I sensed you near.?
?That?s Ember, thank you,? The young woman corrected him lightly, ?And if you don?t mind I?d like to leave your realm so don?t try to stop Chimera.?
?What?ll you try if I do?? He countered loftily, turning his nose up at her.
Almost before the words left his mouth, he was sprawled against one of the walls, no wind left in his lungs to argue.
?Hurry, before more get here.? The young woman ordered Chimera, though her annoyed gaze still rested on Reddivor. ?Anuro really wants you bad. He?s not going to let you go that easy.?
Frozen in shock Chimera could only give her a weak nod before following her into through the archway into an ill kept courtyard. What had just happened? One second Reddivor had been standing there and the next he was smashed into the wall. What was this woman? Though it was still a mystery, Chimera would rather it stay that way. Whatever these people were they were trouble.
She stopped short as they passed through the arch into a gray abyss. She could not see what they were standing on, though it felt hard even through her shoes. Was she wearing shoes? She frowned, trying to remember if she had taken her shoes off.
Beside her, the young woman breathed deep and closed her eyes. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that the arch had dissolved away and they were now trapped here quite literally in the middle of nowhere. Chimera groaned and fell to her knees, why was this happening to her? Why was she always left behind? Apparently this Ember girl did not care enough to explain?
Earlier in her life she might have burst into tears at that point but now she only scowled and clenched her hands on the insubstantial platform they had found themselves on. Only, it was not insubstantial anymore, it had smoothed out and taken shape. She opened her eyes and stared into the white floor that had formed beneath her, watching as black spider-webbed across it, strokes of brown emerged, and lines of relief raised them into the likeness of a tile floor. She scrambled to her feet and turned to Ember, hoping for an answer this time.
But Ember was not to be interrupted. Chimera stood in awe as the strange girl moved as if dancing in her sleep, spinning her hands in a spindly motion above the forming floor. The expanse of tiles stopped as Ember shifted her movements and spun her arm over her head as clouds swirled in the new sky. After the clouds settled, Ember thrust her hands up into the air and clapped them together over her head. Almost immediately an archway formed above her and began to grow into a corridor.
It then became apparent to Chimera that the girl?s movements were directly connected with the formation of these things. Now aware of this, she observed with new interest as Ember wove her hands about herself, bringing up broken towers and sprouting grass in between the tiles that made up the floor. Walls grew around them, crowned with ramparts that overlooked the landscape as it was born below.
?Stay here till I get back,? The young woman told her, turning to leave through one of the archways. ?You should be safe from Anuro here. And don?t worry, Rusiu Akatsuki never fails.?
?Wait! Why should I trust you?? Chimera demanded, forcing her mouth to work. What in the world was going on? This was all just a bad dream? or was it? If only she had the peace of mind to sort it all out?
The young woman stopped, perhaps thinking up a good answer. ?If this was a trap,? She said at long last, giving Chimera an over the shoulder reassuring smile, ?You?d already be stuck. Besides, it?s all just a dream to you, right? Just try not to wander into the nightmare.?
Chimera tried to call after the girl, to tell her she did not understand. But her voice caught on her pride. She did not need her help, she would find her own way out. All she needed was someone to say it was the right way? or at least someone to talk to.
She sighed to herself, gathering her thoughts in an attempt to discover a solution. If only Melina were still here?
?But I am still here.? Melina answered her, looking down from her perch upon the walls. ?I?ve been in this place for a long time.?
Chimera did a double take and rubbed her eyes, what? There she sat, in perfectly good health, clothed almost identically to the strange girl who had brought her here. It was Melina to all appearances but something felt odd about her, something was missing?
?You?re? alive?? Chimera asked hesitantly, trying and failing to find a valid answer for her friend?s strange revival. She had been dead, had she not? ?What is this place??
?This is the dream of a very interesting person.? Melina explained, leaping down from the wall and landing with unnatural grace. ?But it is also your dream, since you are now here and manipulating its flow with the first threads of your influence.?
?So I am dreaming.? Chimera concluded, thankful for a logical explanation. But then? was it such a good thing after all? True, it meant she was not going insane but it also meant Melina was