The Dream Sanctum: The Eternal World
Read The Dream Sanctum: The Eternal World Online
Authors: Kay Solo
The Dream
Sanctum:
The Eternal
World
By Kay Solo
Copyright © Kay Solo 2016
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely
coincidental.
All rights reserved. No
portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
K
ai crouched down behind the wall,
casting a furtive glance around the corner at the nearby door. The room was
dark and quiet, the only light emanating from the dim porch light outside. He
shifted uncomfortably. He had made the mistake of hiding too quickly, and his
legs ached in protest.
Lindsay knelt next to him, her eyes focused on
the door, looking and listening for any signs of movement or sound. Past her,
into the main room, Kai saw at least a dozen other people hiding behind various
pieces of furniture or in doorways, all silent, all still. As the silence
lingered uncomfortably long, Kai’s heart thudded in his chest. They only had
one chance to do this right.
Suddenly, Kai heard footsteps on the other
side of the door. He motioned with his hand, and the few people who had stood up
to let their blood circulate hastily ducked back down. A key turned in the lock
and the door slowly opened, a hand reaching for the light switch that would
inevitably give them all away.
“SURPRISE!” A chorus of voices echoed through
the room as everyone jumped out of their hiding places, and the person in the
doorway leapt back with a terrified shriek. The room immediately filled with
laughter, and lights came on as everyone celebrated the successful execution of
their plan.
“Happy birthday, Kwin!” Lindsay said
cheerfully as she and Kai made her way over to the young girl standing in the
doorway. Before Kwin could reply, Lindsay took her into a tight embrace. “It’s
great to see you! Gosh, you’re shaking badly. Did we scare you that much?”
“No,” Kwin replied, though Kai detected a
slight waver in her voice. “It… it’s cold outside.”
“I suppose it was also the cold that produced
such an ear-shattering scream as well, yes?”
They turned to see a young man heading towards
them, rubbing his pointer finger in his ear. Kwin rolled her eyes, but smiled
warmly as he too scooped her into a hug.
“I tend to let my defenses down in my own
home, Alastor. Apparently that was a mistake.”
“Whatever you say, short stuff. Oh, Lindsay’s
right. Shaking like a leaf, you are.”
“Let me go already.”
Kwin gave him a playful smack on the shoulder
as he released her. The young man with faded brown hair stood over a head
taller than the blonde girl before him, and was more than a decade older, but
most of the maturity between them belonged to Kwin.
“So! Eleven years old already. It seems like
just yesterday you were only ten,” Alastor said.
Lindsay snorted into her drink, setting it
down hastily as she started to cough.
“And yet I feel no older. Then again, I’ve
rarely paid attention to these annual traditions,” Kwin replied indifferently.
“You really should, you’re becoming ancient
already,” Alastor said seriously. “Age twelve is when you start waking up
before sunrise to watch the weather on TV over a bowl of flavorless oatmeal.”
“If I’m ancient, what does that make you? A
corpse?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m still moving
around.”
“A reanimated corpse, then,” Kwin retorted.
“I’ll need to return you to your coffin, but first, do regale us with stories from
your day. You know, back when fire was a new invention.”
“Children, children.” A young woman with vivid
red and purple hair and dark skin walked up to them, shaking her head
exasperatedly. “Why must we argue when there’s cake to eat?”
“Ella’s right. This is a time to celebrate by
ruining our health,” Alastor agreed. “Besides, the cake is about as large as
Kwin herself. The professor guy really made sure everyone would have enough.”
They followed the rest of the guests as they
attempted to crowd into the small kitchen. The chairs had all been moved out to
the family and dining rooms, leaving only the table upon which a large cake
sat. While it wasn’t really as large as the eleven-year-old, it did stand at
four layers high, decorated elegantly with weaving designs of multiple colors.
A ring of candles was lit on each level, and two single digit candles rested on
top, proudly displaying the birthday girl’s age. Alastor and Kwin stood side by
side, and Alastor looked beside himself with excitement.
“That cake looks like it took
days
to decorate. I can’t wait to tear
it apart and devour it.”
“Behave yourself, man child.”
At that moment a man walked in from the other
room, clapping his hands twice to get everyone’s attention. He was a tall,
strong-looking man, but he moved with a slight limp and his hands shook
slightly. However, despite his visible frailties, he had a powerful voice that
could quiet any room. This man, Kawamari, had been Kai’s teacher – and as it
had been more recently discovered, Kwin’s father.
“All right everyone, let’s hurry so the candle
wax doesn’t get on the cake!” he said. “Are we ready to sing?”
Amidst a chorus of cheers, Kwin shook her
head.
“I know, it’s not your favorite part, but
humor us,” Kawamari continued with a smile. “Now here we go! One, two, three…”
Kwin’s face became more and more pink as the
song went on, and she very determinedly avoided looking at anyone. A look of
deep relief crossed her face as the song ended and she stepped forward to blow
out the candles. There were far too many to take out in one breath, though she
tried admirably, and soon everyone was helping clear them away as the smell of
smoke filled the room.
As the crowd dispersed to form a line as the
cake was cut, Kwin gladly took the first piece and escaped to the family room.
After taking their own cake, Kai and Lindsay followed her and sat next to her
on one of the large, comfortable sofas.
“What an utterly pointless tradition,” Kwin
muttered, though she didn’t seem annoyed. “I believe it was created simply to
instill awkwardness in people. Everyone is singing, and what am I supposed to
do? I can’t sing with them, of course, and if I do something silly like pretend
to conduct them I simply appear narcissistic. I’ve thought about this for a
long time, but I still don’t know what to do when confronted with that
horrific
birthday song.”
“I don’t think anyone has solved that problem
yet,” Kai laughed while Lindsay nodded seriously from his side.
“There are certain perks to being an
introvert, and one of them is getting to escape most of these silly social
obligations,” Kwin sniffed. “Never mind that, though. Do you know what’s
happening in a few days?”
“School starts?” Lindsay said through a
mouthful of cake.
“Thankfully not. One of the Sanctum’s most
challenging events is coming up, and I don’t believe you two have ever got to
participate before. It’s called Cloud Skipping. It’s like an obstacle course,
but four miles above the ground.”
“Oh, sounds like Lindsay’s type of game,” Kai
said with a grin as Lindsay shook her head furiously. “Skipping on clouds,
though. That seems simple enough.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? The goal is
simply to get from one end of the course to the other, but you’ve been in the
Sanctum long enough to know that it’s never that easy. The course’s conditions
are completely unpredictable, and that is due mostly in part to the audience’s
ability to influence the course itself.”
“What do you mean?” Lindsay asked.
“Anyone who is watching instead of
participating can use their imaginative talents to attempt to distract the
racers. In the past we’ve seen sudden storms, high winds, flocks of sky dragons
and even fake clouds to trick people into jumping the wrong way. Of course,
this is only the start. The course is different every single year. There is
absolutely no consistency, so there is no way to plan ahead. Ah, and before I
forget, there is one very important rule: no flying allowed.”
“Oh, of course!” Lindsay sighed. “How silly of
me to think that you might be allowed to fly when you’re hopping around
thousands of feet in the air.”
“Almost twenty thousand feet, to be more
precise,” Kwin added helpfully. “You can fly if you fall off, however. There
used to be rules against that but for some reason people found that to be too
frightening.”
“Yes, for some reason,” Lindsay replied
darkly. “Why are you telling us this? Do you want us to participate?”
“Perhaps. I would like to make this a group
effort, and I know Alastor will be participating as well. The more the merrier,
as they say. Besides, you know by now that the Sanctum’s events are one of a
kind and should not be missed if it can be helped.”
“Oh, that reminds me, Alastor said he wants us
to join him and Ella on the Coliseum grounds tomorrow night. Now that she’s in
the Sanctum full time he wants to show her the ropes,” Kai said.
“She’s going to need all the help she can
get,” Alastor interjected, sitting down cross-legged on the floor in front of
them. In his hands was a paper plate holding a gargantuan piece of cake. “Kwin
and I were able to get you two to fly within a matter of days, but Ella has
been in the Sanctum for two weeks and I’m still trying to teach her not to trip
over gopher holes. I didn’t even know we had those in the Sanctum but her feet
have found at least five already.”
“I will refrain from passing judgment on your
elder sibling so quickly, especially in light of your happy reunion, but my
initial impression is that she isn’t quite as adept as you are,” Kwin said
seriously, though Kai detected a flicker of amusement.
“I appreciate you being so diplomatic with
your insults,” Alastor replied with a grin, then held up his hand as Kwin
quickly attempted to clarify. “I tease, I tease. There’s definitely a different
learning curve with her, but make no mistake, she’s brilliant. She had her
choice of almost any school in the nation. She just learns differently than we
do.”
“I will offer any assistance I can. With any
luck, Ella too will be able to take part in the race. I must admit it’s
slightly odd not having Elvia around anymore, but with some effort we’ll be
able to bring her up to speed. I’m just thankful we aren’t training her for
battle against the Nightmares.”
“Will there be any time for training us?”
Lindsay asked. “You know, since we’re going to be jumping and speeding around
miles above ground and all.”
“Nope! No training for you, you’ve had more
than enough time to practice,” Alastor replied, patting Lindsay on the back as
she frowned. “There’s really nothing to stress about. You do your best, and if
you fall off, just fly. Just ignore the pounding terror in your heart and
everything will be fine.”
The celebrations continued on long into the
night until, finally, a weary Kwin explained that she could hardly keep her
eyes open. The guests immediately stood up from their seats around the living
room, moving to throw away their plates and clean up whatever else they could
on their way out.
As the guests dispersed, Kwin met Kai,
Lindsay, Ella and Alastor at the door. Within the mess of cars and people at
the end of the driveway they could see Frederick, Alastor’s driver, waiting
impatiently. Frederick gestured at Alastor irritably, and Alastor replied with
an overly enthusiastic, purposely naïve wave before turning back to the others.
“So what’s on our schedule tonight, grandma?”
he asked Kwin.
“Teaching you to mature at a faster pace,”
Kwin shot at him, then looked at Ella with an exasperated sigh. “This man is
regarded as one of the most talented and intelligent people in the entire
Sanctum, are you aware of this?”
“Oh, I am,” Ella smiled. “But while we’re
discussing what we should do, why don’t we continue our Sanctum tour? There’s
still so much I haven’t seen! Besides, tomorrow night is lessons with Alastor,
so I want to make sure I have fun while I can.”
Kwin nodded, then shooed them from her
doorstep, looking incredibly eager to sleep. Kai and Lindsay started their walk
home together, waving to Alastor and Ella as they got into Frederick’s car.
They walked home quickly, eager to get to
sleep themselves. For most other people, saying goodnight meant saying goodbye
until morning. For Kai and the others it only meant that they would be seeing
each other momentarily, and that the real adventures would be starting very
soon.