I was woken by a sweet scent wafting through the rooms. Waking up felt so natural, and I felt completely energized. More so than I ever had been on the farm. I sat up, looking down at this comfortable bed in appreciation. I wondered how many more nights I would get to spend in a room like this? I dug my journal out of my pack to write about the previous day; I had forgotten to write amidst all the excitement, and I had deigned to catalog my adventure. I hadn’t been particularly avid about keeping a journal before, but then, there wasn’t much interesting to write about. After I finished my entry, I rushed to get out of bed, changing my clothes (Much of which were new, as the group helped me shop in the market before we finished for the day). Exiting my room and rushing down the stairs to the main kitchen/bar area of Rysdan’s structure. Immediately, he saw an assortment of fruits and vegetables, and also smelled simmering meat, in a cast iron pan which sat atop the surface of the fire flowers from the day before. Rysdan flashed me a smile, and I slowly approached the bowl of fruit. “Umm..Good morning.” I said, suddenly nervous.

“Good morning. Was your sleep restful?” Rysdan asked over his shoulder. He held a look of discomfort on his face as he cooked.

“More-so than usual.” I agreed, pulling an orange from the assortment of fruit and setting to peeling it. “Why are you up so early? I’m a farm boy, I’m used to crack-of-dawn hours.”

“I actually don’t sleep like most people. I enter a state of meditation where my body rests, but my mind roams through the intricate networks of roots in the area. I don’t miss much, and there’s so much to see.” Rysdan responded, wrinkling his nose as he flipped the venison over in the pan. It didn’t take long before the smells roused the rest of the group, bringing them downstairs to join the group. Most people helped themselves to the meat, though Rysdan only took fruit.

“Do…do you not like meat? Why cook it if you don’t like it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

“Honestly, the thought disgusts me. And the smell is awful. I get plenty of nutrients from the plants I consume. Nevertheless, everyone else enjoys it, so better to get it ready rather than wait for someone else to rouse and hunt for their own meat.” Rysdan said, taking one of the fruits and inhaling, as if trying to rid his nose of an acrid smell.

“Never trusted vegetarians.” Dalor grumbled as he took a hearty chunk out of the venison. “Skin an’ bones they are.”

Alden slapped his plate down next to Dalor, smirking. “Ahh, at least we know how to earn a Dwarf’s trust.” He joked, earning him a friendly punch to the shoulder. He faked some pain and betrayal before laughing.

There wasn’t much more conversation over breakfast. Much of the group seemed quiet and to like to keep to themselves, but they hadn’t discussed strategy. And Rin hadn’t shared his capabilities from the night before, though the conversation had tended towards Rysdan’s immortality, so I suppose it was natural for the topic to be derailed. After breakfast, Rysdan ushered everyone outside, holding out his hand as the plants returned to seed form, and the wall of trees returned to their original, natural shape.

“That would be great for hunting.” Rin said quietly, almost imperceptibly, to his tiger, Near, earning him a large bob of the tiger’s head. He seemed satisfied.

“Oi, ye never shared yer abilities.” Dalor called over to the boy and his tiger.

Rin shuddered for a moment, petting Near behind the ears for some comfort. “I mostly hunt. Wilderness survival and the like. I tend to have some interesting strokes of luck when situations get dire.” His voice still had a bit of a rasp to it, as if he were dehydrated. He looked to Near with fondness. “Near’s the reason. Saved my life more than once.”

Dalor nodded. It was good to have a survivalist on their journey; perhaps he could better help track people they needed to find. We began walking, and in a few minutes, the trail we had strayed from came into view. Rein held back and kept close to me; I think it had him walking faster than he was used to, because I was keeping towards the front of the group with Rysdan. He was super interesting, and as the kindest of the bunch, I wanted to be around him more than the grumpy dwarf, the angry lady, and the dark assassin. Rin headed up the back, with his tiger, keeping an eye trained to their rear as if waiting for an attack from behind. Susurri stuck out as a large swatch of black among the day, but remembering last night, he was nearly impossible to see. I could tell he was someone that would be too dangerous to mess with.

We traveled for two days in this way. Rein kept pulling me aside to teach me how to read the landscape. When we stopped to rest, he even made it a point to teach me something about using a dagger. While I practiced, Susurri kept a close eye on me; I got chills more than once. Occasionally, he even gave me a pointer with his creepy, somehow audible whisper. The tips were helpful, though I couldn’t help but be wary of him. I tried to stay up with Rysdan after dinner most nights, trying to glean as much information from his super long life as I could. On the third night, the topic of meditation came up.

“So, you’ve never attempted a meditation?” Rysdan started, cocking a curious eye towards me.

“Err…No. I’ve never needed to. Why?” I asked. Rysdan always had some good knowledge to share when he asked me questions like this.

“Well…there are three main ways people learn if they have an ability. The first is a natural manifestation. Their ability just sort of…shows up when they get to a certain age. The next is a near-death experience. Some people never manifest their abilities until they realize they’re about to be killed, and that sudden trauma causes them to awaken. The third is through study. Soul-searching, meditation, and research. Most people who are proficient in magic achieve it by study, but natural abilities vary, and most people have one, whether they’re aware of it or not. Many people simply haven’t awakened it. You’re old enough that it should have manifested if you were the natural type, so I was just curious what your aptitude is.” He watched me, a small gleam in my eyes.

“Wait…” I paused, trying to put together his long speech. “So you mean…I might actually have some sort of ability I don’t know about?” Excitement bubbled in my chest as I replayed Rysdan’s words through my mind again and again.

“Precisely. I wouldn’t doubt it at all; the Oracle wouldn’t choose a child unless they had some sort of exceptional skill in something. Now, off to bed with you. I need to start my meditation, and you should sleep.” He smiled and smacked me on the back. He hadn’t set up his forest mansion since the first day, mostly we just found a place to camp just off of the trail, though he did grow a comfortable bed roll for me to sleep on. It was still comfortable, and despite my racing mind, I again found myself drifting towards the darkness of sleep.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

“Stay Back, Eron!” I heard from behind me. The voice sounded like my mentor’s, Rein’s voice. He always worried about me a little too much. I took a step forward, following a pull that seemed to have gripped tight onto my chest. “It’s not safe!” One step, and he already sounded miles away. I stepped forward again, and the yells grew silent. I was drawn, step by step, irresistibly forward, towards a golden amulet set with a black pearl in it’s center. I couldn’t help but think I had seen this amulet before, but I could not recall where.

Behind me, a barrier that swirled with competing light and darkness snapped shut, locking the rest of my friends out. I didn’t look back, but I could feel the comfort of their presence shatter. I began to panic, but I took another step closer to the amulet that drew me. Not in control of my own body, I reached my hand forward to grab the amulet. In one, swift fluid motion, it was mine, and as my eyes fixated on the piece, I felt the barrier shatter, an intense force rushing inward. I felt the force before it hit me, time slowing its pace so I could fully experience the terror. I turned in slow motion, shielding my eyes, barely able to force my body to move before I felt an impact.

I shot awake with a painful yelp, grabbing my chest. The taut feeling I had felt in my chest before was gone, and I realized now that my hand was clutching it. Despite the dream being so short, I was surprised to find the sun rising. Ember, Dalor, and Susurri had jumped from their bed rolls, weapons at the ready. I felt many eyes on me, and I moved my hand sheepishly to the back of my neck.

“What’s wrong, Eronous?” Rysdan’s voice rang from the front of the ashen remains of our fire. He had been talking with Rein about something, but I heard them stop talking as I woke.

“I…it’s nothing…” I said, shuddering a little as I spoke. “just a dream…a nightmare, I guess.” I took a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh as the startled party slowly sheathed their weapons.

Rin, who never seemed to say much, suddenly piped up. “Dreams are windows of clairvoyance. You never know when one will come true.” He said, just loud enough to make himself heard without too much effort on his part for volume. “You need to tell us when something like that happens. What was it?” His head pulled up from Near as he fixed me with his golden gaze. It was offputting,

I shook my head to clear myself of jitters. “It was noting, really. But if you insist…” I took a deep breath as I gathered my thoughts on where to start. I recounted my dream to the rest of the group, feeling a sense of foreboding coming from the rest of them as I continued. Did some silly nightmare really mean that much to everyone? None of his dreams had ever come true before, so it’s not like this one would either…Right? As I finished my tale, I felt everyone’s eyes on me.

“What?” I asked in frustration, breaking the momentary silence that had fallen. I tended to get uncomfortable with long silences, so I often just talked to make sure it wasn’t completely quiet. This time I just wanted one of them to tell me why this was wrong. Why were they hiding something from me when they had made this huge deal out of me telling them that dream.

“I’m pretty sure that was a vision, Eron.” Ember said, as gently as she could. “It’s not likely to be a symbolic dream, it was incredibly specific. It’s something that’s going to happen.” She looked at the party, wondering why this boy was with them now. Especially if he was going to get them in trouble. “Or at least, it was one version of the future. It’s not set in stone like the past is. Either something dark is calling you, or it’s a warning so we can help you avoid a dark fate.”

Rysdan shook his head after she spoke. “Well, the past isn’t set in stone either, but it is infinitely more difficult to change. Especially considering memories get rewritten whenever someone is successful.”

Ember snorted as if Rysdan was dumb. “I’ll believe it when I see it, old man.” She laughed, shaking her head. She’d had enough with his tall tales of immortality and superiority, and she was just about done with him leading the group. She frowned as Susurri gave her a serious look. “YOU go calm yourself.” She jeered back at him, stalking over to her bag again, taking a deep breath. “Either way, there is no point in dwelling on it. We have a few more weeks of travel before us if we’re to get there in good time.”

“Perhaps we shouldn’t be in such a rush.” Susurri whispered, controlling the sound so it reached everyone’s ears. “If it truly was a vision, as you said, then perhaps young Eronous needs to train more. Mentally as well as physically.”

Rein raised an eyebrow. He had wanted to see how Susurri fought, as he had always watched their training, but he wondered what options he could offer mentally. “And how would you recommend fortifying the mind of a child?” He asked matter-of-factly. I admit, that statement stung, because my mentor had just called me a child. But it wasn’t wrong. I took a deep breath, fighting would get us nowhere.

“You have telepathic skills.” I said quietly, fidgeting with my fingers as I spoke. “I could…try to resist you entering my mind. I could build up mental walls.” This activity didn’t sound fun. To repeatedly have someone invade my brain, even someone who is a friend, felt disturbing to me. I had a feeling today wouldn’t be very much fun at all.

Rein turned to look at me, even dropping down to one knee to meet my eye level. “It could help, I suppose, but I can’t make any guarantees, Eron. Very few people are able to prevent my entry to their mind.” Glancing around the group, his eyes resting on Rysdan. “But among this group, Rysdan has the best chance at teaching you this skill. I’ve been unable to penetrate his mind for this whole journey, not even while he sleeps.”

“Rather a pesky ability you have, Rein.” Rysdan chuckled, shaking his head as if it were no big deal. The rest of the group looked surprised. I definitely hadn’t felt Rein’s mind entering mine, and by the looks of it, the rest of the group didn’t either. “Nearly three thousand years of life is a lot of time to build your mental fortitude, but you’re right, I have picked up a few…we’ll say, tips.”

He bent over to whisper in my ear. “The key is memory. When he enters your mind, you must blockade him with a strong memory. Happy memories work best, though difficult ones can be layered to increase the barriers.”

I nodded, looking over to Rein with a hardened look on my face. “Well, no time like the present!” I said. I was excited to pick up a new skill, and excited to get started on the next leg of our journey.