THE DREAMER
CHRONICLES

Suddenly, emerging gracefully through the sea of black, appears a tall elderly man, edging on sixty. He's draped in white from head to toe and wears a long golden necklace, accompanied by an enormous pendant that bears a striking resemblance to the Ngaio Sceptre. I find myself fixated on the significance of the pendant, but his eyes sharpen as he notices my curiosity. The old man is styled with greyish slicked-back hair and a scar on his neck, underneath his meticulously groomed white beard. His deep sunken eyes tell many untold stories, none of which veer toward happiness. He strides toward me, urgently clipping a small metal device to my ankle. A devilish smirk brushes across his face as he examines my blue eyes. And just as swiftly as he arrived, he turns and glides away. The men in black who gather around promptly move out of the way, bowing their heads as he passes. Obviously, this man holds some importance to the colony. I gaze down at the device now attached to my ankle and see a flashing green light. Suddenly and without warning, BANG! I take a hit to the temple with the handle of a sword, and everything goes dark.

A thunderous rumble catches our attention, something we hadn't heard yet. It wasn't a moving of land or a crashing of stone or ice, this was something different, something...giant. We subtly glance at one another, not wanting to be the first to believe the tall tales. However, it becomes harder to dismiss our imaginations as this rumble becomes louder and louder. Almost as though it was coming toward us. "IN THE CAVE, NOW!" Gorah screams, pointing to a rather small opening in the cliffs, barely big enough for the group to squeeze into. The thunderous rumbling comes to a sudden stop just as the last of us nuzzles into the remaining half a foot of space. Like an overfilled elevator we're awkwardly huddled together, hoping no one missed their toilet break. Silent and nervous, our only movement is our darting wide eyes. We listen for anything that might give us a hint at what had been trampling towards us only seconds ago. Yet, there is nothing, just the howl of the cool wind rushing through the canyon. For what seems like minutes, only mere seconds have passed, the rumbling continues. This time, it's moving further away, toward the entrance to the canyon. For a split second, I think I catch a glimpse of a colossal shadow casting itself on the mountain wall, but I dismiss it as a figment of my weary mind playing tricks on me. One by one we step out from the shelter, a little embarrassed. The silence is broken by Mar who erupts into a fit of laughter.

"Who are you?" "We are the keepers of the Universe, encompassing the infinite dimensions that exist." "Sounds big!" my thoughts are heard. He lets out a deep, hearty chuckle before continuing. "Our purpose is to safeguard all forms of life within our reach. We form a league, united by our allegiance, with the shared goal of protecting existence from any potential harm. The individuals gathered around this table hail from various realms, some of which extend far beyond your current experiences. Ethan, you are here because a higher power has guided you." "God?" "You may certainly call it that. It's been bestowed with many names throughout existence. However, it is beyond the confines of a mere name. It is an ineffable force, one that is felt with profound reverence and awe. It transcends time and space, encompassing the very essence of the universe. We, in turn, serve this omnipresent force by aligning ourselves with its intentions for self-preservation. You can imagine it as a greater being, seeking its own survival, while we act as its guardians, keeping destructive influences at bay, much like warding off harmful viruses." "Why was I brought here?" "You've been chosen to help protect and serve the Universe. It is a decision that has been made not by us, we're simply passing on the message. You have served us quite well already, but now we ask for your full and undivided assistance."

Three resounding thuds rip me from sleep. The world around me is cloaked in impenetrable darkness, a void so deep that a hand outstretched would be a struggle to find, if it weren't attached. "Oh, no," I mutter, almost unconsciously, as a sinking feeling washes over me. Two things I dread the most, Dad's home and the front door's locked. I'm dead. I know this with utter certainty. I can hear the church bells ring at my funeral. "Oh, for God's sake, who put these here!" It turns out the singing bells were an accidental collision between Dad's forehead and the chimes that adorn the porch. "Open the bloody door!" I rub my eyes in hopes that it's just a dream. Unfortunately, a few more bangs confirm my fears. "If you don't open this bloody door in ten seconds, I'll break the friggen thing down! Ten...nine..." The crash of a pot plant breaks the count. "Uh, seven..." His slurred voice is more than enough evidence to assume his whereabouts prior to the front doorstep. I shoot out of bed, desperate to find the door, stumbling over everything that's ever fallen to the ground. Thankfully, there's not much of a house, so the door isn't too hard to find.

A bony hand suddenly bursts out through the barred door and grabs hold of my shirt, yanking me back towards the darkness. A deep and withered voice violently whispers. "PLEASE...please help me!" Quicker than what my neck is comfortable with, I whip my head towards the raspy sound and stare deep into an old man's dark and scared eyes. He presses his wrinkled face up against the bars, with a look of desperation. We are locked in stare as I mull over his plea. After all, I don't want to set free a dangerous man, but his depleted body tells me that he's far from posing any threat to me, or anyone. Even while I'm locked in his tight grip. "I can help you, but I need a favour in return. Help me find a woman." "A woman? There's got to be hundreds of women trapped here!" I can almost see his defeat. I shift my head to the direction of the faint light escaping from the cells I'd recently passed, my eyes catch the light. The old man's jaw drops like he suddenly recognizes me and immediately releases his grip. "My word, your eyes." It suddenly dawns on me that she would have stood out much like I do. "My mother...this woman that's quite close to me, she has my eyes." He sharply interrupts me, his old, weathered face now growing with excitement. "I know what a mother is, and I most certainly know your mother. Quite well, in fact." "You do? Is she okay?" "I'm sure she's perfectly fine, for now. Tomorrow may be a very different story. It's said, she's to be executed." I can see the sorrow in his eyes as he tells me this and my heart falls to the depths of my body. My mother has made quite an impact on so many people's lives.

A deep rumble in the earth rattles the stones beneath our feet. It's only small at first, but soon grows in intensity. So much so that it becomes impossible to stand and we are tossed to the ground. Then, a monstrous BOOM! Out from the mountain's side bursts the gigantic metallic worm that had burrowed the deep trenches in the valley and created the earthquakes that sent us on our quest. The thousands of razor-sharp teeth that line its humungous open mouth, which drips with oil and churned up molten rock, spin rapidly. Like the gears on a bicycle, they're lined from largest to smallest and all leading into its inescapable stomach. Up the side of its endlessly long body run more teeth to aid its burrowing. It is designed for destruction and in this case, death. As the sky hails down dust and dirt, the man-made creature falls toward us with its mouth stretched wide enough to swallow us whole. The giants act quickly, snatching us up and diving headfirst down the mountain and toward our assailants. We crash and tumble down its face just before the creature violently clashes with the peak, tearing open a great hole where we had been mere seconds ago. Now sliding toward danger and with no retreat available, we are most certainly underprepared for this fight. Hundreds of Shadow Guards line the campgrounds below and have already set up a defense line with rail guns and rocket launchers, to which they begin to fire with everything they have. Explosions shatter the boulders around us creating a massive landslide that keeps pace with our descent. The metallic creature above has managed to turn around underneath the surface and is ripping up the mountain side as it charges towards us.