Dream Magic: Awakenings (21 page)

He clawed through the rock with his breathing, and emerged on one side of the rock.

Eric had his human form, and couldn't believe existence could be so light again. He panted for long minutes, sitting on the ground and leaning on the rock. It took time to think and feel coherently again.

Eventually, he stood up and walked to the end of the line, which was by now a few students longer. Knowing what to expect, his fear subsided. While he was waiting, he devised motions and strategies to breathe rock as well as distance.

Breathing rock for the second time wasn't easier, but he persevered. Each of the Eric-fragments transmigrated through the big slab, pushed by Eric's powerful breath.

Having rematerialized at the end, Eric fell to one knee. After a few seconds, he stood up and went to back to the line.

The third time Eric didn't sprint. He walked to the face of the wall and gently ran his hand over the surface.
Yuck.
A thin layer of blood and snot got stuck, and he wiped it off on his pants.

Eric inhaled. He envisioned parts of him swimming through the rock and reaching the end. He exhaled in a loud, inarticulate yell and pulled distance to zero. It was a simple realization - he was already everywhere; it was only his awareness of it that determined his location.
I can go to nothingness and back, no problem.

Eric took several more large breaths to wind down after the jump. The twisting no longer felt strange and he felt in-sync with himself. The slab of rock rested solidly behind him.

Eric straightened himself and looked around.
Where's the next exercise?

* * *

"Gather around everyone. I want to show you something," Annie said.

"Another exercise?" A girl asked.

"More like a short excursion; I'll show you a technique I learned not too long ago. We're going to do it together, okay? Hold hands with each other and form a circle. Once we start, don't let go!"

Eric grabbed hands with Rose and Lucy, and by the time the circle got completed, they all looked like they were about to break into a traditional folk dance. Annie's eyes wandered as she made sure everyone was following her instructions, and her expression turned serious when she began concentrating.

Nothing happened at first, but a sensation slowly enveloped Eric. It was subtle, similar to the feeling of gazing aimlessly into the distance.
Or when I concentrate too hard and things begin to flow and mesh together
- a feeling of moving without moving. Yet, this time a sense of direction emanated from Annie, or rather, the possibility of many directions rolled into a single one.

It occurred to Eric that Annie deliberately searched for this feeling, and it wasn't just a side-effect of whatever she was doing, because when she found it and successfully impressed it upon the members of the circle, things began to move faster.

Eric got lifted into the air. He glanced at his classmates, but a shimmering impaired his vision. His mind slowly acclimatized, and Eric realized that he could somehow sense the directions his classmates were looking in.

Eric squeezed his partners' hands, and got light squeezes in response.

Once again, as this feeling or sense grew and matured, he felt it all being herded together by Annie and directed into a single line of travel.

"Don't talk, just listen. The points you affix can change dynamically within the jump-timeframe, sort of bouncing back and forth. A temporally extended jump is called realm-walking. Its conscious use is extremely hard to master, but subconsciously it is the commonest way of navigating through a not-too-lucid dreamscene. That's why dreams are considered to be 'dreamy' and 'shifting'. Blinking and 'porting are minor extremes of this process, and so are time and space in general."

He got thrust forward in a way he hadn't imagined possible before. Like breaking the wall between two different dreams, but this was continuous movement both in- and outside.

"Such movement can feel like breathing, and we often regard breathing as a sense on its own - a sense of existence, if you will. There are more arcane forms of teleportation as well, but those are high level multidimensional operations rather than straight up teleports spells, and they can be very hard for humans to instinctualize."

Eric soared. Landscapes of deserts, mountains, islands, forests, and many others flashed before his eyes. His mind found points of reference to hang onto, only to be forced into releasing them a moment later. But, with time, the speed of his perception increased and he could hold on longer.

Eric found the mountain landscape most impressive: silent and majestic. The swampy region evoked an urge to slap down mosquitoes, but thankfully, there were none. The islands and their long beaches promised rejuvenation. The burning sun of the desert warned of challenge and danger. The jungle...
Something's wrong.

The landscapes were beautiful the way paintings were beautiful.
Something's missing.
Other than his fellow realm-walkers, he didn't see any humans. Except in the desert, plant life was lush and the animals...
There are no animals!

Eric spotted a few small birds and when he concentrated - which wasn't easy, considering all the mind-boggling movement - he could sense several species of bugs, but those were the same as in the green fields and light forests of Dream Camp.
Shouldn't a jungle be full of animal life?

"Hold on," Annie said.

The ground turned bleak and transparent. Plants grew scarce, and the ground itself lost its earthy texture. Line formed squares on the translucent floor, literal place-holders, as if saying: 'geography goes here'.

Eric's entire hand-holding group came into focus as they descended. They landed near a patch of assorted greenery, and surprisingly, a human being.

Maeve?
She was rummaging through a box and throwing small green items over her shoulder, which bounced off the translucent tiles a few times before coming to rest.

Eric chuckled.
They look like tiny frogs. What a silly thought.

Upon coming closer, Eric was surprised to see that they were indeed small tree frogs - unmoving but otherwise unharmed.

"You're not supposed to be here," Maeve said without turning around.

"Hello! I got permission from Master Joe to visit the shelved realms, and I was just introducing my students to realm-walking. What'ya doing?"

Maeve sighed and slowly straightened herself. "Realizing I can't handle it alone. With everything going on at the Outpost, and managing all this plant life, I can't possibly handle the animal biosphere... This latest cycle was taxing. I'll have to bring in a specialist." Maeve sighed once more. "Yeah, that's what I'll do."

"What's with all these frogs?"

"Surplus. They breed like rabbits and I had to put them in stasis. Which reminds me, I had some rabbits too... hmm..." Maeve started rummaging through a big sack.

"Anything we can do to help?" Annie asked.

"Unless you have an expert in both zoology and realm-weaving in your group, I don't think so," Maeve said.

"All right. We'll leave you to it then." Annie turned around to leave and motioned her class to follow.

"Wait! There
is
something you can help me with..." With tired steps, Maeve walked behind a cluster of trees, and guided back a white horse with a long, straight horn on its forehead.
Beautiful.

After a moment of awe and exaltation, the kids ran to Annie, clamoring for permission to pet the unicorn. Annie looked questioningly to Maeve, who nodded.

"Slowly!" Annie yelled after the kids crowding the animal, who endured the ordeal with dignity.

When Eric looked into the eyes of the unicorn, he could see a wise kind of innocence. To Eric, the animal's radiant aura felt like the color white, fresh bed sheets, and the seeds of a dandelion floating gently in the wind.

"Is it a real unicorn?" A boy asked, stunned.

"As real as they get," Maeve answered.

"Remember when I told you that some feelings are so strong they can become places? Well, they can become animals too," Annie said.

"Kyle and Lyle will get green with envy when we tell them," Lucy mused.

"That's what they get for not coming to classes," Eric said. "Besides, they would find another, throw a lasso around it and ride it like the little cowboys they are."

Rose and Lucy smirked.

"Would you please take it home? I found it not too far from here, must've wandered off," Maeve asked Annie.

"Of course, it would be our privilege," Annie said.

Maeve nodded. "One less thing to worry about. Travel from where we are now straight to the Playground. After you reach the Playground, keep going in the same direction until it gets too bright. The unicorn will find its way from there; just don't let any of your kids go farther beyond. Can you handle it?"

"Yes," Annie said.

"Good."

Annie gently patted the unicorn along with the others, and let her hand rest. "Come on everyone, let's take it home! Put one hand on top of mine... we'll take a shortcut."

When the fear is gone, don't rush to fill the temporary void with nervousness, anxiety, need, addiction or negative habits. Take the deepest breath you can... then breathe out. The world is yours to dream!

- Practical Guide to Nightmares,
Dreamer's Handbook

"I'm glad you decided to come. As you know, the final nightmare class is not a teaching class, but a trial." Mr. Smith dangled a vial of black liquid in front of them.

"While fear on its own is terrifying, it is the confusion our minds create to avoid fear which allows nightmares to disfigure and magnify that fear out of proportion - making it appear so much worse than it is. This concoction will force you to follow the fear to its source and face some of your deepest fears directly. Think of this 'nightmare essence' as a vaccine - you deal with the fear now, in a controlled environment, so the nightmares at the Outpost will become more easily illuminated for and by you."

Master Joe stood behind Mr. Smith with solemn dignity, giving weight to the words and making them official.

Color drained from Eric's face.
What if we fail?

Other than the two teachers, Eric, Rose and Lucy were alone in the class and the treehouse it took place in. This wasn't one of Maeve's insanely-big-on-the-inside warehouses, but a small, cozy, log-cabin kind of treehouse. It even had a fireplace.

"You can still change your minds, but I have to ask each of you," Mr. Smith turned to Eric, "are you sure you wish to proceed?"

Eric cleared his throat, and answered "Yes."

Mr. Smith turned to Lucy. "Are you sure you wish to proceed?"

Lucy, too, was paler than usual. She nodded tentatively, and followed it up by saying "Yes."

Mr. Smith looked at Rose. "Are you sure you wish to proceed?"

"I guess so," Rose said.

"Not good enough. You have to be sure this is what you want."

Rose contemplated for a moment. "I'm sure. I wish to proceed."

"Very well. You will need that resolve," Mr. Smith said and swayed the vial again. "I'll give each of you a vial such as this one. You will have to assimilate the contents of that vial. The common options are drinking it or letting it absorb through your skin, but any other option will work as well. I will now demonstrate, after which it is your turn."

Mr. Smith uncapped the vial and stared at it from close up. The liquid sprouted tiny tentacles which wiggled around. The black tentacles slowly elongated, and when one of them made contact with Mr. Smith's eyeball, they all latched onto it.

The liquid filled Mr. Smith's eye, soaking up through his tear-ducts and tracing his nerves. His other eye turned black too as the liquid emptied from the vial.

After several seconds of staying motionless in that state, Mr. Smith's body began to convulse.

Rose, Lucy, and Eric glanced at each other questioningly.
Is that supposed to happen?

Master Joe walked forward with slow, measured steps. He let his right arm fall with a snap, and a large hammer materialized in his hand.

"I have a confession to make; you guys are not the only ones who will pass a personal milestone today. I modified that potion, which Johnny probably realized by now, but I'll nudge him just in case. Don't worry, his obstacle is different than yours - you'll still get the standard version."

Master Joe raised his hammer, swung it, and severed Mr. Smith's head right off his convulsing body.

A part of Eric marveled at how clean the cut was as the head rolled on the planks of the wooden floor. After a few seconds, it dissipated into a bloody mist.

The convulsions became more chaotic and fast beyond perception - the headless body looked like it was about to explode. Instead, the bloody mist flew back into the body, and the seizures slowed. When they stopped, a smiling boy stood in front of them, only slightly taller than Eric. He wore blue jeans and a t-shirt.

"That was a bit too much old-fashioned zen; I almost couldn't handle it," the boy said to Master Joe.

"Well, it worked, didn't it? Johnny my boy, a slap won't do anything to people like you. How many times have I told you? When you meet yourself on the road, kill it! Even if it's your mental composition - especially if it's your mental composition."

"I saw the logic of it, but I didn't quite... grok... what you meant. This balance is so different. The zen bridging emotion and logic is..." The boy struggled for words, but couldn't find any.

Master Joe simply nodded.

"Do you need me here?" The boy asked.

"Nah. Go have fun," Master Joe said.

The boy ran to Master Joe, hugged him, waved to everyone, and ran out of the tree house with a happy grin on his face.

The three of them waved back, half-stunned and unsure of what happened.

The hammer in Master Joe's hand shrunk as he pocketed it. When he withdrew his hand from the pocket of his robe, it contained three small vials, all filled with a liquid of midnight black.