Finding The Soul Bridge (The Soul Fire Saga Book 1) (14 page)

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He was in the forest, lost and alone. It was cold; a light breeze blew soft snowflakes into his face. He turned his face away just to catch the swirling wind and snow in the face again. It was twilight and Thist couldn’t tell if the sun was rising or setting. He was nervous, even scared, and stood transfixed in place. “Jem, Kelvin” he called feebly. His voice didn’t echo. The sound was lost in the deep of the forest. Thist closed his eyes. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the forest of despair”

Thist opened his eyes. He knew he was dreaming but he knew he had some control.

He took a deep breath and scanned his surroundings. He willed the snow away and it stopped.

The air was cold but clearer, “Where are you?” he asked.

“You know I’m in your mind, you have control of most things here”

“Most things?” said Thist. “What don’t I have control over in here?”

“You have no control over who you are and no control over who I am.”

“Who are you?” asked Thist.

“Come into the light”

Thist scanned for a brighter place in his vision. It appeared as he thought about it.

Right in front of him was an old hunchbacked man, sitting in the mud by a fire. He approached the old man cautiously.

The old man looked up. His face was a hazy image, his features were there but Thist couldn’t make out a distinct face.

Thist startled, “Why don’t you people show your faces?”

“We can control what we look like in your dreams, because we project what we look like to you.”

“So, why don’t you let me see what you look like?”

“We cannot remember what we look like.”

“What is your name?”

“Ray”

A cold wind swept over them. And Thist shuddered.

“You know,” said Ray. “You can have this dream wherever you like, it doesn’t have to be here in this forsaken forest. Just take us to a place where you feel comfortable.”

Thist smiled, a warm feeling came over his skin and his dream changed colours as he saw fit. A warm fire-lit cabin materialized around him, with soft cushions on the floor.

“That is strange.”
said Ray looking around.

“What?” asked Thist.

“You don’t need shelter or warmth in your dreams, you don’t even need food or drink or air, you can be a god in your dreams but you make basic need instead.”

Thist looked around the hut that he created and chuckled. "I guess I’m still new at bending my own dreams. I wish I could bend things in real life."

“You can.” said Ray.

“How?” asked Thist.

“For most people it’s a simple thing, they can change things about their own life, it just takes a little work. But most people cannot control their own dreams.”

“What if I gave them some of the tea, then they would control their dreams?”

“No they won’t, it’s not the tea.” Ray paused, “It’s the spoon.”

Thist looked confused. “Is there anything special about the tea?”

“No, it’s all in the spoon.”

“What makes the spoon so special?”

“It’s imbued.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s uniquely magical. There can never be another like it.”

“What does it do?”

“It imbues magic into what you use it for.”

“What kind of magic?” Thist was intrigued and knew the dream would not last. He may never meet the same lost soul in his dreams again and he wanted to know all that this man could teach him before he disappeared.

“You have a gift Thist, a gift that is born into one man every one thousand years. The spoon found you and chose you. It needs for you to make it count.”

“Tell me more about the spoon before you go!”

“I cannot, I have had only one message for you. I bid you farewell and I hope your journey is long and full.”

Ray faded. His light dissipated to the edges of Thist’s vision.

“Wake up!” shouted Kelvin

Thist came to. “What?” he stammered. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“No.” said Jem “its early evening, Thist. “We got caught in a hailstorm from hell remember?”

Thist staggered to his feet, stiff from the cold, his clothes still wet. He started to take his clothes off.

“Leave your pants on.” said Kelvin. “We cannot stay here, we need to press on.”

“This forest is not for me.” said Jem.

An eerie sound of hooting owls had filled the night. “There must be a lot of mice in this forest.” mumbled Thist, still disorientated.

The rain storm had cleared up as fast as it had started. The moon was out just on the horizon, giving a lowly night light to everything.

The boys walked through the night forest trying to gauge their way in the poor light. Their feet itched and ached from being wet and muddy in the forest undergrowth. It was easier to navigate on a moonlit night in the forest than in the day, as long as you knew your stars. All you needed was some moonlight, then you could see the silhouette of the mountain tops on the background of a starry sky.

Jem was lost in thought as he trudged through the forest, pace after pace, following the lead of Kelvin and Thist. He was too tired to care, his legs burned and his eyes stung. He missed home, his mother and her sweet reprimand. How different his perspective was now, when he longed for her the most. She only cared like a mother and every reprimand that he had suffered under her was always for his best interest. It was ironic, he thought, how it felt to him that the further away he was from his mother, the closer he felt to her. If only she knew that he was well and alive and at least where he was. “No” thought Jem. “If she knew where I was now, she would scold me.”

The night waned on, the shadows changing as they walked. The cold of their wet clothes added to the bone tiredness of travelling day and night in a wild forest. A bitter tasted filled Jem’s mouth, he couldn’t remember being this tired in his life before. “I have to stop” said Jem.

“No, no.” said Kelvin and Thist in unison,

“If you stop,” said Thist. “Then the…” his voice trailed off.

“Then the what?” said Jem.

Thist turned and walked on, “Just keep going.”

“The what?” insisted Jem.

“Calm down.” said Kelvin, “he is just trying to make your heart race a little…is it working?”

Jem shrugged, “Sure, a little, maybe.”

“We cannot stop now, it’s not safe at night on the ground in the forest, let’s just press on and get to the tavern as soon as we can.”

“Is there place to sleep at the tavern?” asked Jem.

“Yes.” said Kelvin. “It’s a general stop for weary travellers.”

“It sounds great.” said Jem. “Delicious food, strong drink, warm and comfortable beds.”

“And pretty young ladies.” reminded Thist.

“How can you think of tupping tavern girls when we are this tired and worn out?” asked Jem.

“Sometimes it’s all I can see.” said Thist “as if it’s a colour on its own.”

Kelvin cleared his throat, twice, then tried to speak, then cleared his throat again.

Being cold and wet had taken hold of his health in a short time. He knew they couldn’t stop now but that they were overdue for proper rest.

“Oh well.” whispered Kelvin. “Trudge on.”

They reached the plateau as the sun started to rise in the distance. The wisps of clouds were skimming the tops of their heads and the hues of orange and red were different and surprising in a way. The air was fresher than ever and in the distance a ground shaking rumble whispered itself through the rocks to their feet.

“The raging river.” whispered Kelvin. “Can you hear the rumble?”

Thist and Jem’s faces hung heavy with bags under their eyes as they scrutinized Kelvin. He had motivated them and encouraged them through the night of difficulty and now it seemed that he had lost his voice.

In the distance they could see a large estate on the far edge of the plateau just before the rocky highland split into a deep gouge. The local people had called it ‘Everdrop’ as it had been given the name in a legend. In the legend the cliffs were so high that if you had to fall to your death from the top then you would die of starvation before hitting bottom.

Kelvin looked to the distance and shook his head, “Everdrop.” he whispered.

They made their way through a veritable forest of stone formations, each one carved into a unique and disturbed looking figure by eons of wind. A light breeze gave the fresh, mild air a chilly bite. Jem wrapped his cloak a little tighter around him. Everything was damp and slippery. The tavern was not two hours walk from where they could see it but the exhausted traveller could care less. Jem stopped without notice and went down on his knees. His head hung forward and he fell asleep. Thist and Kelvin stared at him in delirium for a few moments, allowing him but scant seconds of rest, then Thist reached out his hand to wake him but Kelvin stopped him. “Wait.” He whispered. “He is too tired to be woken just yet. Count to twenty and then wake him.”

Kelvin’s words rang dull in Thist’s ears, he staggered back one step and then started counting. As he reached twenty he put a firm hand on Jem’s shoulder and said in a stern voice “Jem, you must wake now your life is in danger.”

Jem opened his bloodshot eyes and looked up at Thist. His eyes were vacant for a second and then his pupils focused. Energy surged through his eyes and then his body. He stood up looking refreshed and rested. “Wow, how long did I sleep?” he inquired.

“Twenty five seconds.” whispered Kelvin. “Get up or else you will freeze, it’s just a short walk still.”

“How do I feel so refreshed?” asked Jem.

“It’s an illusion” whispered Kelvin, “it’s called a power nap and will not last long.”

“That is amazing! How does it work?” asked Jem.

Kelvin was in no mood to talk. “Only your mind rested, your body did not. If you do it too much then you will become paralyzed. Let’s go.”

Jem took note of how his body felt and was immediately sorry for doing so. His body felt beaten up, his back felt broken, he was cold and wet. His feet burned and all his muscles ached but his mind felt fresh, for now. His mind started racing,
‘How do the others feel? What do we have to do next?’

Jem looked at the other two boys. They were like the undead, just plodding one foot in front of the next. Kelvin looked like he had switched off but he had not. Thist was following behind Kelvin with his head hung low almost touching Kelvin’s pack.

Jem knew that he had to take the lead. He rushed ahead of the group trying to find a higher outcrop that he could scale just to check their bearings amongst the statues of wind carved stone.

He looked up towards the distant tavern building. It looked more weathered as they closed in on it and there didn’t seem to be smoke from any chimney.

Jem called at the others, “Come on we are nearly there, I can smell fresh hot meals and cold ciders already.” He lied.

Kelvin smiled. “And a warm bed, and dry clothes?”

Thist lifted his head and looked to the tavern not an hour’s trudge away, “How does one hut seem so near but so far?”

Jem clapped his hands in encouragement. “Come on let’s hurry it up a bit, then we can lay down for rest in a shorter time.”

The boys picked up the pace trying to increase the rhythmic plod of their weary feet.

Jem gritted his teeth as they approached the building. It was derelict and abandoned. The other two were almost sleepwalking and didn’t notice as soon as Jem did.

“Guys!” called Jem. “Approach slowly, something seems wrong.”

Kelvin looked at the building and blinked several times. “It’s dead, there is nobody here.”

Thist was shattered. He rolled his eyes and head up to the sky and flopped over backward, rolling over onto his side with his pack still on his back.

Kelvin put up his hand for Jem to stop and wait. Then after a pause and a think Kelvin said, “Let’s go in and check if we can make good shelter, check for some supplies, and if there are any predators sheltering here already.” He slung his pack to the ground and readied his bow in his left hand. Kelvin’s nerves were fried, Jem was looking even more exhausted than before and his face drooped.

“Let’s just do this.” said Jem. “Just do what comes next.”

It was an old teaching, he remembered from childhood, whenever you are in a hopeless situation, ‘Just do what comes next.’

“Take that large board.” said Kelvin. “Use it like a sword to parry and thrust and cover my back.” He drew his bow, his back to the door jamb. Kelvin gestured for Jem to open the door.

Jem grabbed the handle, turned it and shoved hard. It opened an inch and then struck an obstruction on the inside and ricocheted back and hit Jem in the face. A flock of carrion birds squawked and fluttered out of the far window making a terrible noise.

Kelvin startled and swung his drawn bow in every direction of noise waiting to impale any would-be adversary.