1 The Dream Rider (25 page)

He spun around with fury in his eyes. The rain continued
to fall, soaking both of us. Mallock lashed out with his sword again. He spun
and weaved, stabbing and slashing more quickly than ever. Now, though, I wasn’t
held back anymore. I put one hand behind my back, keeping my balance and
deflected every assault he could throw at me. He tried sidekicks, punches,
swings
with his blade, but each one was turned aside as I
dodged and ducked away from them all. Sparks flew from our swords as they
continued to clash in an epic display of speed and agility. Mud flew all over
the place as we continued our dance of death.

Mallock was becoming frustrated and his movements less
coordinated. Finally, he flipped backwards to create space between us. His
breaths were labored. His chest heaved from the effort he’d exerted.
Surprisingly, I felt fine and stood ready in the deluge for his next attack. I
remembered the bear from my dream, how angry it had seemed, how terrifying. But
I had stood my ground and emerged unscathed.

“Why won’t you die?” Mallock yelled and jumped through the
air.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I could see the
individual raindrops falling. The crowd in the background seemed to almost
stand still. I watched as Mallock’s glistening sword cut through the air
towards my neck. I easily ducked beneath the swing of his blade and spun around
with my knees bent, thrusting the tip of my sword into his chest.

The weapon sunk deep, all the way to the hilt. Thunder
clapped again through the roof as the rain continued to pour on us. Mallock
blinked rapidly, the sword in his hand shook for a moment before falling into
the mud. His eyes were full of disbelief as he stared at me.

“How,” he coughed and jerked me close. His thick, dark
hair was matted down from the rain. “You’re just a kid from Earth,” he spat
with disgust.

“I’m more than an average kid from Earth, Mallock,” I
shook my head.

“Perhaps,” he said as his eyes became wider. “But you’re
still mortal.”
 

I felt a sudden stick through my lower back. I shoved him
away and saw a long, narrow knife drop to the ground. He fell to the ground
laughing a sickly laugh, my sword handle still sticking out of his chest. Then
he toppled over onto his side and became silent.

I reached back and felt blood seeping out of the wound.
He’d punctured one of my kidneys. I became woozy and spun around looking into
the crowd. Up in the box, Taurus made a sudden move with one of the guards,
throwing him over the side. Another raised his weapon but it was too late, the
huge man took him down with an elbow to the nose. I mustered what strength I
could find and jumped hard towards the box. Jari panicked and scurried through
the door as Taurus took down the last guard with a chop to the throat.

I landed next to Nela and unfastened the straps holding
her down. Her deep green eyes brimmed with relief. She embraced me hard,
wrapping her thin, muscled arms around me. As she stared into my eyes, I felt
something I’d never felt before. I brushed my lips over hers for a moment,
savoring how soft they were then pressed fully into them. Then we pulled away
for a second and she looked at me with concern.

“Finn, you’re pale.”
 
Then she saw the blood on her hand and looked at the wound on my back.
“Taurus, get help!” she ordered.

I grabbed him on the shoulder and shook my head. “It’s too
late,” I said as the world began to spin around me. I smiled at her. “It’s
okay.”
 
I staggered over to the
game master’s microphone and looked out on the stadium full of people.
“Siderians. You have been slaves for too long. But now you have been given a
chance to choose your path, to choose the life you want. Every day, the choices
you make determine whether you will be free or a slave, sick or healthy, happy
or miserable. But you do have the choice. Never let anyone…” I grabbed the
railing in an attempt to steady my collapsing frame. Nela grabbed me and placed
herself under my arm. “Never let anyone take that from you.”
 

I fell to the floor next to the railing and heard the
commotion from the stands all around. Nela stared down at me, tears filling her
eyes.

“Please, Finn. Don’t go. You can heal yourself. Don’t go,”
she repeated. Her tears fell down onto my face as she cradled my head in her
hands. The skin felt so soft against my face.

I wanted to stay. But I could feel the life draining out
of me. I tilted my head slightly and looked up at Taurus. “Take care of her
while I’m gone,” I told him.

He smiled at me and nodded. “I will.”
 

The lights began to fade around me and soon the only thing
I could see was her face, framed by the glow of the arena. She was trying to
smile but she couldn’t hide her sorrow. I coughed a few times and the pain
surged through me. The last thing I saw before everything went dark
were
those beautiful, glowing green eyes.

A man’s voice filled the darkness, like it was coming
through a can, resonating with a strange kind of reverb. It began to get
louder, fuller, the voice clearer as it sang to me.

I shot up out of my bed and looked around. I was back in
my dorm room. My alarm was playing
Alive
by Pearl Jam. My breathing was quick at
first as I gasped for air. I ran my hands along my pillow and sheets,
appreciating the soft feel of them for the first time in what seemed like ages.
Even the smell of my dorm room was welcome.

I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and planted them
firmly on the short carpet. I was alive. And I was home.

I smiled and moved over to the window. I flipped the
latches and slid the glass open, letting in the cold morning air of fall. My
lungs inhaled the crisp oxygen in deep gulps. I could hear birds singing their
morning songs in the trees just outside my window. Leaves were still turning
colors; the maple closest to my window was ablaze with a fiery orange. A few
students were already walking around the campus, scuttling along the sidewalks
to their destinations.

I pulled my head back in from the window and closed it
shut. I checked my phone to see what day it was, still a little confused as to
how much time had passed. To my surprise, I’d only been gone one night. It was
literally the next day. I didn’t even have any text messages or voicemails from
anyone. It was hard to believe, but there I was, back in my normal life.

The soothing heat from the hot shower coursed over my
body, relaxing every muscle I had. I just stood there with my eyes closed as
the steam rose up around me. I don’t know how long I stood there, but I
remembered my suite mate would need the bathroom soon so I switched off the
water and grabbed my towel from off the top of the door.

After I got dressed, I headed to the breakfast place we
had on campus to meet up with Nate. He had texted me while I was in the shower
and asked if I wanted to grab a bagel or something. The chewy bread, egg, and
cheese tasted so good in my mouth. I hadn’t had a good, hot meal in a long
time. Well, it seemed like a long time.

Nate looked at me like I was crazy. “You okay, man? You
seem a little out there.”
 

“Me?” I shrugged. “I’m fine. What do you mean?”
 

“I don’t know. Just seems like you’re eating that bagel
like it was the best thing you ever tasted.”
 
He took a bite of his own sandwich.

I smiled. “It is pretty good,” I diffused the line of
questioning.

“You ready for today’s quiz?” he changed the subject after
taking a sip of orange juice from a
styrofoam
cup.

I’d completely forgotten about the quiz. “Probably not,” I
answered. “I’ve been kinda busy.”
 

“Busy?” he laughed. “Doing what?”

I didn’t know how to answer. “Working on other
projects.”
 
He seemed satisfied
with the response.

The morning classes dragged by slowly, just like they
always had before. I actually felt like I did okay on the quiz, even though I
hadn’t studied much for it. My astronomy class was interesting given the new
information I had regarding other planets. Although, a big part of me still
wondered if it had all just been a long, crazy dream.

After the lecture, I walked over and looked at a huge map
of the stars that nearly covered an entire wall on one side of the classroom.
One section highlighted our galaxy and I traced my finger from where the little
arrow pointed out earth to the other side of the Milky Way. Somewhere over
there was Sideros. I wondered what Nela and the rest of the prisoners from my
group were doing. I remembered how soft her lips had felt when I kissed her.
For a second, my heart pounded a little faster just thinking about her then
went back to normal as I stared at the distance between us.

My Astronomy professor was standing behind his lecture
stand. He was an older man, short with graying hair and a droopy face. His
eyes, though, were full of mischief and he always wore red socks, no matter
what outfit he had on. He must have noticed me standing around after class.

“The universe is a fascinating place, Finn,” he shuffled
towards me.

Startled, I glanced at him for a second then returned my
attention to the vast picture before me. “Yeah, it sure is,” I nodded.

“I would love to be able to see it all. I bet there are
some amazing worlds out there.”
 

I laughed a little. “I believe there are, professor. I
believe there are.”
 

The rest of the day went by just like it always had. After
I finished blowing leaves at work, I headed to the flag football field for the
first game of the playoffs. Nate was already there warming up when I arrived. I
hurriedly put on my cleats and grabbed a set of flags laying on the sideline
near some of the guys on my team.

I jogged out onto the field and as soon as Nate noticed
me, he flung the ball in my direction. It sailed fast in a tight spiral; my
hands shot up quickly and snagged the ball out of the air over my head.

“Nice catch,” he shouted, tipping his head up. “You gonna
do that during the game.”
 
I smiled
at his barb.

“I guess we’ll see.”
 

The course of the game went back and forth. The other team
scored first, then we tied it up with a long run by Nate for a touchdown. We
intercepted a pass on the second play of the ensuing drive and two plays later,
scored on a slant route to one of our faster players, Eric. His long,
deliberate strides made it look like he was moving in slow motion, gliding
across the field.

With thirty seconds to go in the game, we trailed by two
points, having missed on a conversion early in the third quarter. Our team had
the ball on the opponent’s twenty-yard line with no timeouts left. On the first
three downs Nate tried a couple of passes that had been knocked down by the
defense leaving us with less than ten seconds left and one play to go. Nate
told the other receivers to flood the right side of the field and he would try
to get the ball to one of them. They all nodded and broke the huddle. He
grabbed me as I started to head to the other side.

“Pump and go deep to the corner,” he ordered with a sly
grin. I nodded and jogged over to the sideline.

I watched him as he went through his cadence. While he was
barking out the sequence, my eyes drifted beyond him to the bleachers. I
thought I glimpsed a familiar face sitting in the crowd. She had long, sleek
brown hair, wearing a green hoodie and blue jeans.
Nela?
My attention returned to the game
as the center hiked the ball to Nate.

I took off and cut my route short, turning to the outside
of the field. My hands shot up fast and clapped once, calling for the ball.
Nate pumped his throwing arm hard and the defensive back lunged forward two
steps. As soon as he did, I turned up the field and sprinted down the sideline.
The other player’s momentum carried him too far in the wrong direction, and I
blew past him towards the end zone.

Nate stepped and heaved the ball high into the air. But
his front foot slipped as he let it loose causing the oblong ball to fly too
far in front of me. I pumped my legs hard, darting down the sideline to reach
the pass. Everything seemed to slow down for a few seconds. I could see the
ball spinning slowly through the air, the tip wobbling ever so slightly;
descending fast. At the two-yard line I took a last step and jumped as hard as
I could, laying out parallel to the ground. My hands extended out and I felt
the leather hit my fingertips. Everything sped back up and I squeezed the ball
hard while pulling it back to my body.

I hit the ground hard and rolled over a few times before
coming to a stop. I was in the endzone on my back. For a second, I held onto
the ball like it was a child I’d just saved from a burning building. Then, I
held it up with one hand for the referee to see. His arms shot up signaling the
touchdown, followed shortly by the screams of all my teammates and the fans.

The guys all rushed over and smacked me on the back,
hugging me, and giving me high fives. One picked me up and threw me over his
shoulder.

“Great catch, Finn!” Nate’s jubilation was overwhelming.
“I knew you could do it.”
 

Amid the chaotic celebration, I glanced over at the
bleachers to see if the girl was still there, but she was gone.

Thirty minutes later, I flung open the door to my dorm and
set my backpack on the bed and started taking off my cleats. A rush of emotions
came over me. It was the first time in my life I felt like I’d done anything
amazing. I was no longer an average college student. I could do anything, be
anyone. I believed in myself for the first time in my life.

As I removed the second shoe something caught my attention
on the computer screen. I knew it should have been in sleep mode while I was
gone but it shone brightly in the dim light that poured through my window. I
stiffened and looked around to see if anyone was in the room, but it was empty.

“Hello, Finn,” a digital image flickered for a moment on
the screen before becoming clear.

“Sam? What are you doing here? Are those new clothes? How
are you in my computer?” I blathered, confusion filling my head.

"Nela brought me here,” she giggled as she spun
around showing off her black leather jacket and jeans. “The digital landscape
of Earth is much bigger than on Sideros. Here, I’m free to come and go as I
please.”

“The Internet,” I realized out loud. The World Wide Web on
Earth was a huge place. For an artificial intelligence like Sam, it would be
like her playground.

“Mmhmm,” she nodded, smiling.

“So, you’re going to finally be free, too.”

“Actually,” she corrected, “I was also sent here to help
you in case you ever needed it. All you have to do is call. I have taken the
liberty of installing an application on your computer that syncs with your
phone allowing direct contact with me. When you activate it, I will respond
instantly.” Her face beamed.

“You know,” I confessed, “I wasn’t sure if you were really
going to help me before, you know, when I was on Sideros.”

“I will always help you, Finn. And whether you realize it
or not, you helped me too.”
 

The image began to fade away on the liquid crystal
display. After she disappeared, the computer’s desktop went black and a
blinking cursor appeared. It began to type words across the dark background and
it was then I realized that Sam had been the one hacking into my system all
along. I smiled as I read the words she’d left on my screen.

“Sometimes greatness must be awakened from the most
unexpected places, dream rider.”