Chapter one(a)


The Skies brightened as a long streak of blue lightning ripped through the clouds.
It felt like rain. The atmosphere became cold with the winds picking up and objects flying around in the gust.
The sky rumbled again, with the blue lightning but also accompanied by a loud thunder clap.
People suddenly stopped going about their businesses and all eyes went up.
This didn't feel like your average storm brewing, something was not right. People walking about stopped and began to gather, muttering nervously and pointing towards the sky.
Suddenly, a large streak of lightning ripped through the clouds, hitting the earth.
A tremor went through the earth as the lightning struck the ground. Clouds of brown dust flew into the air, accompanied by the sound of tiny bits of rocks hitting the earth.
People screamed and began to slowly retreat into the city. They had never experienced an earthquake before, and certainly not one induced by a strange burst of lightning.
The lightning flash again, followed by a thunder clap; a clap so loud it was deafening and the light so bright it was blinding.
One odd thing, though, was the churning in the clouds; a spiral which could be seen forming right at the spot where the last lightning ripped. A spiral that had first started as a small hole just like when you made a puncture through a cardboard box, a puncture from which light escaped.
The clouds grew darker, as if from a storm, with the sky grumbling and more lightning flashing up inside the dark clouds.
The spiral kept growing bigger and glowing brighter. A whizzing sound could be heard, followed by more rumblings as sparks of blue and purple flew began to fly out of the spiral.
One curious thing also was the look of the spiral. Initially, it had seemed like some sort of cyclone forming within the clouds. Now, it was more of a tear; like the very heavens were being ripped opened from within.
The People were still watching. Maybe this was some sort of rare atmospheric condition. The air smelled of coming precipitation, after all, and cold drizzles of water could be felt.
A blinding flash spread across the clouds and then the spiral burst open. The heavens had finally opened.
This was no rare atmospheric condition.
People screamed and began running into the City, hoping desperately that it would be safe in there.
"The end is coming!!" Some of them yelled. If only they knew how right they were.
The hole got wider and wider and then something like a thick black smoke flew out through it.
The smoke flew rapidly towards the earth and crashed in a ball of fire. Then another smoke followed, and another and yet another and soon the sky was dark and hissing with these smoke-like beings rushing out from the sky like flies escaping from an open jar.
These beings rushed towards the City. They spread out across the widelands, dissolving the earth as they flew by.
The smoke-beings engulfed the city slowly just like a piece of paper that was being burnt from one end; the blackness creepling slowly, dissolving any form of life across it's part; plant, dirt, fowls or man.
"Ah!" The Old man gasped and quickly opened his eyes. He looked around him and sighed slowly. It had been a dream, albeit a troubling one.
Sweat trickled down his forehead and he looked around him. They were there; the spirits that spoke to him. He could feel them. This fact comforted him.
The Cave where he lay was dark and quiet. Once in a few moments a drop of water fell from the ceiling and hit the rocks, echoing softly throughout.
The Old man got up from the stone bed he lay on and snapped his dry fingers together.
The cave echoed again with the snap, followed by the whoosh of a fire being ignited.
He sighed deeply and dragged his feet across the dry rug that spread across the cave; Gorilla skin. They made for the best cave rugs; they easily contain the magical essence in the area.
He reached his hand for the animal skin bag that dangled from a Y-shaped pike. He muttered some incarnations, abating the spirits that roamed about, and then reached into the bag.
He withdrew his hand slowly as he felt the smoothness of the five glowing objects; the sapphire stones.
Walking slowly up to the divining table, the old man threw the stones on a small square hole and began to hum loudly. His eyes were shut tight and his mouth moved quickly.
The Cave where he was began to shake. It was sturdy as it is, so he had no fear that it might collapse.
A small draft of air rushed into the cave and a wisp of dust appeared. The Old man kept muttering and then he caught it: the revelation.
It came in the form of a white feather floating within the wisp.
He coughed slightly and then walked up to a big mirror. There were markings around the edge of the mirror, ancient languages.
The Old man placed the feather into a socket at the foot of the mirror and stood back to watch it light up. At that moment, the revelation played out.
"Its only a matter of time, he thought. The end is near." The Grand advisor wrapped his wrinkly hand around his Snake staff and began the two days trek to the Tower.
****
The new republic was a city situated in the centre of the widelands. It was a large territory surrounded by impressive walls and high outposts. The walls were white; such a white which reflected the rays of the sun in a way that made it glimmer in a crystal-like fashion.
The widelands around the city was a dry, scotched barren land; an almost intimidatingly expansive land hence it's name.
The widelands had once been flourishing with greens, so they had said, until the great war.
It was after the great war that the new republic was formed; the merging of the eastern, western, northern and southern territories under one supreme government; the republic. That supreme government was under the sole control of Pok Mak Loho and in a way, his council of dummy elders.
There was one building that literally stood out from the rest of the structures that made up the new republic; the tower.
The tower was a massive red stone building that, well, towered into the sky. It was situated in a far section of the city; away from the people.
The tower was notable for it's blinding halogen lamps, numerous outposts and the large number of dogs that were said to patrol the grounds. It was basically a do-not-think-of-peering-in territory. And no one did.
It was in this tower that Pok Mak Loho had his chambers.
The Supreme leader, Pok Mak Loho, stood in his  large chambers watching the orange sun as it began its decent. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air; dry, he noted.
He was a massive man with greying hair and dark, glistening skin. It could easily be noted that he had been a mighty man in his younger years; his muscles still bulged and his outfit added a certain reverence to him. The robe he wore was cut in such a way that it didn't cover his arms, they were tight on the shoulders, possibly to make his arms look larger. Who knows.
His robe had a tail behind it, a sort of loose cape that faltered with the wind, and his pants were loose; typical of the western people.
The supreme leader had been from the west, according to word of mouth; a great conqueror who'd joined the great war and single handedly unified the territories. Speculations, ofcourse.
On the walls of the chambers were mounted metal bowls of orange flames. The flames did not exactly light up the chambers, that was the job of the electrical fittings. No, as with most things regarding the supreme leader, it just made the chambers have a more intense feel.
The slow crackling of the flame could be heard in the quiet chambers and once in a while, a soft beep would also ring through the air. Possibly from the surveillance unit mounted somewhere on the walls.
He was not alone. The elders of his council each sat quietly in their seats; all eight of them.
They were all quiet, and not one of them would speak unless the supreme leader spoke. It was one of the reason the people referred to them as 'dummy elders'. Just one of the reasons. Another could be because they really did not make any decisons, they were by post the people's mouthpiece but that wasn't evident.
The supreme leader was in supreme control. This would be proven shortly.
The supreme leader turned around and faced them, his face grave and his hands clutched behind his back. The floor shook as he slowly walked back to his throne. He was bare footed; another western attribute.
He placed his legs on either side of his footstool and then sat down lightly on the throne.
"Let the cleansing begin." His words had a certain finality to it, one he used often and one he'd realised didn't encourage objections.
The elders began to whisper among themselves; the best they could do. One of the elders stood up and bowed. He was the chief elder; considered the wisest–Considered. He wore the typical red feathered caps of chiefs from the eastern region. As a matter of fact, the eight dummy elders comprised of two men from all four territories.
The Chief elder was from the east.
"But Supreme Leader," he began and that was as far as he went.
The Supreme Leader frowned and held his hand up.
"Let the cleansing begin." His voice was final.
The elder bowed even lower. He then turned to leave the chambers, a look of worry over his face.

Chapter one(b)

The new republic was divided into sections as was any typical city. It was the turn of the century, the twenty second century and the people had learned to adapt to new technologies. Their way of life was still the same, obviously.
There was the higher, middle and lower sections. In that order and with a good guess one could tell that the lower section was for the poor.
Although, the cleansing affected everybody, poor and rich alike. A sort of equaliser, if you may.
In most african territories, cleansings were common; albinos, twins, even dwarves. As long as you were different.
But those were archaic practices, gone with the centuries. The new republic had a different abomination to worry about.
The Cleansing happened every year. It was simply the practice of sorting; eliminating the abominations from the normal folks.
The abominations in this case were what some people called ọrọ nrọ, translated simply as Dreamers.
A Dreamer had the ability to live dreams; a normal person would sleep and have dreams, but a dreamer could live his dreams; literally experience them. The Dreamer usually felt conscious as the dream played out. It was like watching a recording except that you saw yourself in it and felt what happened within it.
It was a strange power and most people, even the Dreamers, didn't understand it.
For decades, dreamers have been cleansed and no one really knew the real reason for this. The supreme leader ordered it and that was all there was to it.
Night was slowly approaching in the lower section.
The lower section of the city was more or less the city centre. It was made up of tightly packed low buildings, congested walkways and crowded market places.
Passing by the lower section for the first time would almost certainly be a daunting experience.
On a normal day, the air would be filled with clatter and chatter. Cleavers thudded on wooden tables as butchers hacked away at bloody pieces of goat meat. Women chatted with each other as they expertly sorted through large piles of green vegetables. A bell could be heard as a man dressed in brown singlets and black shorts somehow maneuvered a rickety, smokey bike through the crowded corners, yelling something like "Fresh palm wine or fresh fish, or fresh oranges." Anything, but always supposedly fresh. Also, once in a while, an old lorry would stop by, it's trailer piled high with bags of rice and large men in nothing but shorts would jump down from the trailer and begin hauling bags after bags of rice around the market.
Ofcourse, in all this, little children still found room to play with their little dogs, or wooden carts or–if lucky– a model hover jet with a remote control.
All these happened in the crowded lower section on a normal day.
This particular day, the day of the cleansing was not a normal day.
The nervous voices of people hurrying back to their houses filled the warm evening air.
Bodies bumped against eachother as they moved to and fro carrying wares and closing up shops. Goats bleated in their sheds and the putrid smell of animal waste and warm, rotting vegetables filled the air.
Doors shut loudly and metal clanked as bolts were slid home. People constantly watched the skies, noting the sun's leisure descent and walking even faster to get home before the moon started it's shift.
In a matter of minutes, the lower section was quiet and for what would be the only time in a year, the streets were empty.
There was just as much nervousness in the slightly better, less crowded middle sections.
The middle section was a form of business district. The buildings were made of concrete and steel and rose just high enough to be classified as two-storeyed.
Most buildings had bright neon signboards on them, advertising businesses.
The roads were narrow–but wider in comparison to that in the lower sections–and ran down hill.
People trekked, or rode a cycle or maybe even a small car. But everyone was in haste. The long shadows cast by the setting sun being a constant reminder of what the night meant.
The higher section was simply described as the area of the rich. No much description is needed except that everything there was swanky and clean. The houses had gates and passing by, one could spot the latest model cars and cycles. The types that were AI driven.
Little dots of stars peeped out of the now dark clouds. The night air was warm and intensely calm. The street corners were empty except for the few moments when a man or a woman would hurriedly walk through an alley and into a building, locking the door quietly.
There was a rush of air as three huge hoverjets circled around the sky and docked at the border.
The hoverjets were just like airplanes, but bigger and with large rotors.
The huge doors of the hoverjets hummed slowly as they slowly opened and the ground shook with heavy thuds as Soldiers began spilling out of it.
The Soldiers were there to 'fish' out any Dreamer. They would take the Dreamer back to the Tower where the main cleansing would take place.
Finding a Dreamer could be sometimes tricky. As a result of this, each group of five soldiers carried a detector; a device that sensed the essence of dreams.
It was like this; every human had an essence of dreams, just like the scent of a perfume or the strong stench of a male goat, but it trailed off about an hour after waking up.
A Dreamer, on the other hand, reeked of this essence. It was all over them. It wasn't something pronounced. It was there, perhaps just the way you had a spirit within you. Except, the dreamers themselves weren't aware of it.
This was why the detectors were mightily important.
It was advised that on days of Cleansing, people should refrain from sleeping. This was because the essence present when someone slept could 'trick' the detector.
There had been a time, years ago, when a person had been detected as a dreamer when in fact he had just been sleeping all day.
The days of cleansing were  fearful days indeed because most parents had no idea if their children were dreamers.
Even most dreamers had no idea they had the ability.
The Soldiers spread out towards the various sections of the city, marching in unison. They were all dressed in black outfits with red masks over their faces.
"You have no idea what those people are capable of, so always cover your faces." The supreme leader has once said.
The windows and doors to  each house were locked with the members of each household waiting for the knock and dreading that one of them would be detected as a dreamer.
The night was quiet now, but in a few minutes would be disturbed by the wailing of mothers whose children were being dragged away. That was usually the sign that the cleansing had begun.
The Soldiers were five in number. The leader walked into a small compound, his pants flapping and his gloves tightening against the rusted iron railings that served as a demarcation between houses. The steps creeked as he climbed them and knocked once on the front door.
"Members of this household," he called out.
The door slowly creaked open and the soldier signalled to his men as they walked in.
The house was extremely silent, with only the sound of a fan whirling on the ceiling. The leader moved his head as he watched the members of the house; a family of five.
He could see them whimpering and shaking; a sight he was only too used to. He focused on the detector; it was all he could do to push back the countless cries and pleadings that played through his mind; he dare not look these people in the eye, that'll set off those cries again.
The brown square device had an LCD screen with a dial on it like a normal metre. He reached for the edge of the device and drew out a thin, white antenna about five centimeters high. The device beeped as he pushed the red power button.
He moved the detector from one member of the house to another, the device crackling but not doing anything else. Satisfied that there was no Dreamer amongst them, he turned and nodded to his group. They walked out, closing the door behind them. It was over in less than a minute.
Placing back the detector, he took a look at their faces, he could afford to now. It was almost the same, the look of relief and quiet thanks and also suspicion that maybe he would still take away their loved one.
The family began to hug one another once the thudding of boots faded away. They were relieved that the wailing would not be heard from their home.
Elsewhere, another group of Soldiers burst into a small house.
The house had four members: a man, a woman, a boy of possibly twelve and a girl of ten.
The house as usual was quiet, except for the beeping of an old holo projector; a form of television set invented a few decades ago.
The leader of the group stepped forward. His dark leather suit creaked lightly as his body stretched it in movement. He had an equally dark belt wrapped around his waist with small pouches. The belt jingled as he reached for a small pouch and clicked it open. The detector gleamed in his hand as he deliberately pushed the power button, his face stern behind the mask.
He watched the family line up before him and stare curiously at him, he grunted almost aloud. Let's get this over with, he thought.
The detector crackled lightly, burring as he placed it near the man. He stared at the man and then at the device, and looked up at the man yet again. He nearly chuckled, let them sweat.
The floor board creaked lightly as he moved to the next person on his left. He paused in front of the woman, a young woman of possible thirty-something. A fine specimen, he thought. The detector crackled and burred, nothing.
He then moved on, in the same deliberate manner to the young boy. The young boy stood tall, one of those kids who got hit by puberty really hard and early. He even had the mild-but-ignorable musky smell of the hormones of a teenage boy mixed with sweat and a faint bush smell. The soldier grimaced and scanned the boy, also nothing. Pompous little brat, he thought as he shifted over to the young girl of ten.
Once the soldier stood in front of the little girl, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Something about those eyes and the way the child stared at him; almost brazenly.
The stared at the detector and then at the girl, a wry smile playing over his face.
The detector emitted a purple spark from the antenna and beeped and then it buzzed, and the display screen began to alternate colors.
At that moment, they all knew that something had gone horribly wrong.
The Soldier calmly pushed the power button and pressed the antenna back in after which he replaced the detector into the pouch and snapped it shut.
The room was Still silent when he turned around and faced the other soldiers.
"That one." He said and exited the house.
The Soldiers grabbed the ten year old and pushed the door aside, leaving as abruptly as they'd come in.
Even though the mother of the child began to wail uncontrollably, she didn't leave the spot she knelt on.
The man breathed heavily, loathing himself and feeling weak as he felt his wife sniffling and shaking in his arms.
The young boy looked questioningly at his parents, wondering why they had just let them tak his sister like that.
The young girl, oddly, was calm. She didn't protest or kick back or cry. She just let herself go.
****
The moon was high and covered by thick dark clouds. The night was occasionally disturbed by the loud wailing of a mother.
The Chief Elder tried to walk faster, lifting his robe and taking the back roads.
The stone floors crunched loudly as he stepped past them in quick strides. He cut through the narrow streets because they were mostly badly lit.
Shifting quickly, he drew himself behind an empty stall and watched as some soldiers marched past.
His task was made even more difficult with the fact that the whole area was quiet and empty; it would be easy to spot anyone walking by, let alone an elder in robes.
His house was at the edge of the city, in the middle section. This meant that the cleansing would have not yet gotten there. He had to be fast
Gasping lighting and breathing hard, the elder pushed open a wide gate and entered into a fairly large compound.
The compound had a number of trees grown by the wall of the fence, and right in the middle, covered by a green lawn, was a stone two storey building; the type of houses that once you spotted would give you the idea that an elder lived there.
The builder was a bright orange with dark curvy patterns drawn into the walls. It was a mix if ancient and modern, the house. Attached to the side of the building was a wide spice with a sliding door; a garage, possibly.
The chief elder pushed open the door, which creaked gently, and then walked in.
He saw his wife and only son hurdled by a holo projector, watching a Live broadcast of the cleansing, waiting for it to be all over.
The broadcast was being relayed by drones hovering around the various sections of the city.
These drones were like the news cameras of the twenty-first century; some relayed just the ariel view with no access to the real action, while the drones enabled with special clearances went in with the action, showing the detection and sometimes adding commentary.
The living room was dimly lit by the rays of blue light escaping from the projector. The volume was set low and the light in the room flickered as the images on the screen changed. He closed the door behind him, not moving till he heard it click.
"My Lord, welcome." His wife said, turning when she heard the click and moving towards him.
The worried look on her face, he noted when she threw an arm around him. He pushed her aside gently and turned to his son, Amzhi.
Amzhi was close to nineteen years old. He was just as tall him, maybe even taller, light skinned like his mother and thinly built.
"Welcome, Father." He heard his son say.
He nodded and tried to smile. He then shifted his gaze back to his wife.
"Come, Mari, we need to talk!"
His wife frowned; surprised at the urgency in his voice.
The Chief Elder grabbed hold of his wife and took her to the corner of the living room.
"We have a problem." He began.
"What is it?"
He scratched his chin and then threw his gaze towards the other side of the room, at his son.
"Its Amzhi." He said.
"What about him?"
"The Cleansing." He paused when he heard a creaking noise. He slid over to a window, parting the curtains and watching as a group of soldiers walked across the road outside the compound.
"We don't have much time." His voice was low as if he was speaking to himself.
"I cannot understand you, my Lord." Mari said, her voice equally low.
He turned sharply to her, "I think our son is a Dreamer!"

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Chapter 2

Mari, the chief elder's wife, let out a loud gasp and shifted backwards. She began to shake her head slightly, her lips quivering.
"It can't be." She muttered.
"We have to leave now!" The elder said, loud enough for his son to hear.
"Father, what is the matter?" The boy said, walking slowly towards his parents.
His father looked softly at him, crossing the room and walking over to his son.
"Amzhi, tell me, have you been having any strange dreams lately?"
Amzhi opened his mouth and then paused, he gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. The projector beeped and then buzzed quietly.
"Strange dreams?" He asked, looking at both his parents.
Amzhi took a step backwards and then thought of that night, three nights ago.
It had been a terrible dream, or so he had thought.
In the dream, he had seen himself carrying a jug towards a well to fetch water. This seemed relatively normal as it was a task he usually carried out on days when the city water supply was stalled.
The road leading to the well was a narrow, uphill dirt road which was littered with tiny pieces of blue and white gravel and solid lumps of clay; another abandoned project.
The walk up that hill, towards that well. would be tricky for any child on his first day. Especially on a raining day.
On this day, as he walked up that hill, it rained.
He remembered the sky being bright blue as he set out for the hill, and just as he reached the grassy field at the foot of the hill, the sky rumbled.
Walking up the hill with a sway in his steps, he suddenly noticed the darkness in the sky and the rumble increased as the sky opened up with warm showers.
The air suddenly smelled of freshly wet earth and the lumps of clay glistened and melted as the water touched them.
He knew he had to be extra careful now. He skipped past a lump of clay, his feet almost slipping. His brown leather sandals had turned darker from being soggy.
He had to be careful, but he wasn't. For a moment.
He was too concerned with the squishy sound between his feet and the sogginess of his sandals to noticed a glistening mound of a clay and gravel mix.
He may have seen it, possibly, and must have considered it a regular clay mound as he stepped on it.
Subconsciously, with the effort he'd put on his feet, he had expected the mound to crumble under his feet, but it didn't.
He let out a groan as he slipped and fell on his back, his jug rolling off his hand.
He grabbed his knee, wincing as he watched the rain run against the exposed pink bruise . It hurt and he had felt it. He knew it was a dream, but he really felt it.
He got up to his feet and limped tje rest of the way up to the Well.
As the rain kept falling, the red clay around the well began to wash away and he began to find it increasingly difficult to stand.
Suddenly, he slipped again, but this time he fell forward, into the well. He landed into the black water with a loud splash and then he began to cry for help.
His voice had been loud, very loud but the sound of the showers drowned out his voice and the water kept pulling him in. It was at that moment he'd woken up.
It had been a terrible dream, and would have also been a normal one except for the fact that he had found himself completely drenched, soaked through his sheets and unto the floor. And his knee was bruised.
Amzhi stared up to his Father, "I thought it was just a normal dream, but it felt....real."
Amzhi watched his mother gasp and place her hand on her chest. His father walked up to him, "I won't let them take you." He said and held the boy's shoulder.
As he said that, there came a loud knock at the front door.
"Members of this household!" A harsh voice filtered in.
"Amzhi! The back door, now!" The chief elder urged.
Another loud knock startled Amzhi and he stared straight at the door. He watched his father run up to the door and then turned to look at him.
"Now!" He whispered and Amzhi dashed to the kitchen and out through the back door.
The Soldiers were about to burst the door when it suddenly creaked slowly.
The leader of the soldiers walked into the house, nodding with disapproval and staring suspiciously at the two adults before him. They looked worried, the soldier noted, and failing at trying to seem otherwise.
He was familiar with that worried look, so he thought nothing about it.
The soldier also knew that this was the house of the chief elder; the only reason he had decided not to make anything out of the initial delay.
"Where is your young one?" The soldier asked with a husky voice.
The woman, he noted, was taking deep breaths and trying to look calm. Still failing at it.
"I..well, oh..yes, he is in his room." The elder mumbled.
The Soldier clenched his teeth, shifted his feet, and then he exhaled deeply. A drone was whirling outside the building.
"It is the day of Cleansing. All members of each household should be together in their living space until the exercise is over." The soldier dictated, just as he'd done a hundred times over.
He turned to his men, "Search the room and bring the young one here, now!"
Three of the Soldiers hurdled noisily up the stairway. There was a sound of creaking and crunching as they marched from room to room.
A few minutes later, the Soldiers came down with no one.
"There is no one up there. Its empty."
"What are you playing at, elder?" The Soldier asked, glaring at the elder.
The elder was about to speak when the noise of a crash, possibly from a wooden vessel, seeped in from the back.
The Soldier turned sharply to the elder and in that fleeting second, between when he shifted his head towards the source of the noise and when he looked at the elder, he noticed a slight change the elder's expression.
The soldier growled in realisation, "Out there. Now!" He commanded.
Right in the room, there were five Soldiers. Three of which were by the stairway, and the remaining standing two by the front door.
The elder noted that none of the soldiers were armed. It was the cleansing; no one ever resisted, that was the standard idea.
With that, the elder quickly reached for the huge cupboard beside where he stood and produced a beam gun.
A beam gun discharged large waves of UV light; enough to temporarily blind a victim.
He clutched the gun under his arm, the metal cocked against him, and positioned the gun towards the three Soldiers by the stairway.
"Close your eyes!" He urged his wife and without waiting, he squeezed the trigger. The house was suddenly lit up by flashes of light followed by the stunned screams of the soldiers.
A high pitched sound escaped from the gun as it quickly recharged.
The elder shifted quickly, turning to the leader who was closer to him and smacked him with the gun. The soldier grunted and fell to the floor.
Taking advantage of this and ignoring the other soldier, the elder dashed towards the back door.
A loud thud, and bang, as the door slammed behind the elder.
"Hold her!" The Leader growled and withdrew a small pistol from his pocket. He peeled off the mask on his face, an angry gleam on his eyes.
Amzhi sat nervously on a flat wooden board balanced on two drums.
His fingers fidgeted and he constantly rubbed the back of his hand over his forehead to wipe the glistening dampness from his sweat.
He'd heard about dreamers and knew what happened to them every year, his father was the chief elder so he had to know.
He knew about the cleansing only from his father's tale; neither dreamers nor the cleansing worried him, he'd considered it unfortunate for those who had been tagged dreamers but that was about it for him. Until the dreams started.
His first dreamer's experience actually happened about six months ago. The dream about the well was only the most recent of what he soon realised would be strings of dreams.
Six months ago, on a rainy night, just like any other night in the mid-season, he'd nervously prepared himself for bed. He was nervous because of the weather; he hated, or feared the rainy seasons.
On this particular night, he had decided to sleep early. His body felt unusually hot, like a fever was coming, so he'd decided to sleep it off. He wouldn't tell his mother anyways because she'd overreact.
The bed creaked lightly and the soft foam compressed as he fell on the bed. His windows were shut but he was still aware of the rat-tat-tat noises, soft rapping of the rain against his window.
His bed was positioned in such a way that he could stare out the window which was almost directly opposite him.
So he lay there on the bed, his hand gripping the bed sheets tightly, feeling uneasy as his temperature increased and as the room lit up from flashes of lightning.
He remained in that position, listening to the showers outside till he drifted off to sleep.
His eyes were suddenly open. He wondered if it was already morning, It certainly couldn't be because his room was dark, pitch dark. He felt for the bed covers but there was none, he shrugged, probably removed it while he slept.
Placing his feet on the floor and standing up, something didn't feel right. For one, the floor was sandy, as in covered in sand like in a beach. Odd. And second, he could hear the floor a few feet away creaking and voices, muffled voices. It seemed like people were moving up and down the hallway, even more strange because he couldn't remember his parents having any visitors.
Squinting his eyes and trying to get used to the darkness, he stretvhed his hamds ahead of him and groped for a doorway.
He turned to the direction he knew the door was normally located and began walking that way, his hand reaching for the air and feeling for any obstacles.
A loud bump and he groaned out loudly, his head and encountered a metal pole of some sort. He felt the thinness of the metal with his right hand and massaged his head with the right, wincing loudly and beginning to feel his confusion give way to fear. He wasn't used to being in the dark for so long.
Light began to seep in slowly as a door at the far corner, the opposite end of where he was, began to slide open.
Amzhi turned and watched the door, waiting for whoever was opening it to show up. He gulped, feeling his heart beat faster and completely forgetting the pain that throbbed in his head a few moments ago.
No on showed up. Not immediately. The door just slid up and light escaped into the room, but there was no sign of who opened it.
He turned around, he could still make out the light thudding of feet against the floor and muffled voices as they passed.
Heat, he felt it; a suddenly uneven burst of hotness on his neck just as if......he began to turn around slowly when he saw the dark figure with red eyes–like the one in the scavenger horror books he so enjoyed reading–breathing down on his neck.
His throat vibrated as his voice ripped through the air, and he found himself on the sand, a sharp splinter poking into his arm. That was when he woke up.
That had been the first occurrence, and the only thing that had bothered him that day, beside the fact that it was a terrible dream, was the throbbing pain in his head when he awoke and the open wound in his arm.
Amzhi tried to balance himself on the shaky wooden board when one end slid off the side of the drum and he crashed with it.
He was still trying to pick himself up and hope that the sound had not been too loud when he saw the flashes of light escape through a window.
He was just about to run back into the house when he saw his Father running towards him.
"Start the bike!" He yelled and turned to lock the door. He looked around and found a long rod which he used to hold the door.
Amzhi quickly rolled out the bike and pushed the ignition. The 2089 model Bike was ancient, according to him. It still used a push-button ignition when all other bikes are AI driven.
Luckily, his Father had taught him how to ride one.
He hopped on and wheeled the bike towards his Father.
Grabbing hold of the handle bars, he watched him leap unto the back seat. He pushed the accelerator and they zoomed off.
'The bike doesn't even have a holo cover,' Amzhi sighed.
They heard a loud noise as the Soldier burst through the back door and began firing rounds at them.
"Where to, Father?"
His Father groaned, "Just keep riding."

Chapter 3

Machi Undu was very much aware that she was a Dreamer. She'd discovered the ability on her eighteenth birthday.
Ever since that moment, three months ago, she had become aware that this day would come; the cleansing.
She sat high on the rooftop and watched the Soldiers move from stead to stead. Her ebony skin glistened under the moonlight, the soft wind hitting her face.
From where she sat, she saw a fast moving bike and also flashes of what might have been a gunshot. She wondered what that was all about.
She remained in that position until the Soldiers were just by their door.
She watched them push open the door and after a few moment, she heard voices.
There was no kidding herself what was going on down there.
Her Foster parents were probably telling the Soldiers in great detail how she 'manifests' at night.
Before they'd confirmed she was a Dreamer her title had been 'witch'.
The door to the rooftop pushed open.
"There She is." She heard the familiar croaked voice of her Foster Father.
Propping up the hood of her jacket, she stood up quietly and turned to face the Soldiers.
One of them stepped forward and brought out the detector.
"No need for that." She sneered and stretched forth her hands to be cuffed.
The Soldier slapped a laser cuff around her wrists and began to lead her back.
As she passed her foster Father who was smiling with his exposed kola-stained teeth, she paused and stared at him.
"What ever comes next will be a welcome break from you and your shallow minded pig of a wife."
Someone chuckled.
She spat and kept moving.
****
Jak Meka was a sixteen year old chubby specimen. He was also a Dreamer. He had no idea, though.
He sat in the living space squeezed in between his Mother and Aunt as they watched the live broadcast of the cleansing.
He saw the look of worry on their faces and wondered what really was the big deal. He didn't care if he was a Dreamer.
He turned to his Mother, "I don't care if I'm a Dreamer."
"Be quiet now. You have no idea what you are saying." His Aunt scolded.
He pursed his lips and folded his arms, listening to the occasional wails coming from the neighbourhood. He cocked his head as he heard the sound of boots at their doorsteps.
"They are here!" His Aunt whispered.
He watched his Mother raise both hands into the sky as she said some prayers.
"Members of this household." They heard a voice call out and the door waa pushed open.
Jak thought the Soldiers looked menacing. He watched in awe as one of them retrieved a detector. He suddenly felt nervous.
It was rare or nearly impossible for there to be an adult Dreamer. In fact, it has never happened.
So, it was not surprising that it was soon his turn to be scanned. He stood still, watching the device curiously as it began to vibrate and whiz and bring out an array of colors.
"Take him." The Leader said calmly. Two Soldier's walked up beside him and gripped his arms.
Jak turned to face his Mother and Aunt as if to say a final goodbye. His mother suddenly looked faint; her fair skin drained of its color and taking on a pale look.
He watched in horror as his Mother fell to the ground. His Aunt screamed and rushed to grab her.
It wouldn't have bothered him if he was a Dreamer but watching his Mother slump like that broke him.
"Mother!" He screamed and forced himself out of the Soldier's grip.
"Take him!" The Leader ordered. He shook his hand free and punched one of the Soldiers on the face.
He made to move towards his mother when he felt a hard blow to his head. Everything became blurred as the Soldiers lifted him out of the house.
****
The Colonel growled and rubbed his jaw as he engaged the gear and turned on the AI autopilot.
"Where to, Sir?" The voice of the AI boomed inside the vehicle.
He grunted and looked through the windshield, "Follow that bike!"
The vehicle revved and accelerated through the narrow street, the AI locked on the speeding bike.
Amzhi caught sight of the vehicle rushing towards them. He swerved to avoid a shop and turned sharply into a dark alleyway.
He could feel his father leaning unto him and groaning.
"Are you alright, Father?"
His Father placed his hand on his side and groaned. His robe was torn on the side and it was felt moist and cold. He was bleeding.
"I will be alright. Head for the border!" He said in a muffled voice.
Amzhi tapped the speed boost on the bike, it sputtered but nothing happened.
"Stupid ancient model!" He cursed loudly and dragged his leg through the clay as he reached a dead end.
He shot a quick glance behind him, the vehicle was no where. He quickly glanced to his left and his right. His Father was getting real heavy, he noted.
"Father?" He called out, just to be sure.
"Keep going!"
He nodded and turned the bike through a short street which joined the main road. His eyes was locked on the main road, so he didn't see the vehicle approaching.
He heard the loud roar and saw the bright lights as the vehicle rammed into them. The first thing he felt was his Father falling off the bike and then the impact as the vehicle collided into him.
He gave out a shout as the bike tumbled and crashed into a small shop.
He tried to move but his hand was caught in the handle bars.
The street was quiet. No one even dared to switch on a light.
Amzhi breathed heavily as he heard a car door slam and footsteps approaching him.
He looked through the corner of his eyes just in time to see the Soldier lower a stick on his face.
****
The engines of Hoverjet whirled noisily as the rotors slowly began to turn. The Dreamers were all marched into the Carriers, all twenty of them. Except the ones that had been knocked out.
The Soldiers marched in after them. The black of their uniform looking like shadows im the night.
The Pilots were signalled and the two huge doors slowly began to come together. After conducting a quick pre-flight check, the Pilots each began to take off.
The rush of air from the rotors agitated the red earth into a massive cloud of red dust. One after another, the Hoverjets began to head into the high moon, towards the Tower.
The cleansing was over.

Chapter 4

Pok Mak Loho, the Supreme Leader walked into his inner chambers and shut the door.
He knew what the Elders thought of him. They couldn't even hide their contempt.
"Well, I hate them too!" He raved and flung a clay vase unto the floor. He walked up to a mirror door and took off his robe. He watched himself closely in front of the mirror, carefully noting the white beard and beginning to feel a pang of that familiar fear; the fear that he would die soon and the People would be free to do as they pleased.
He walked up to his bed and sat on it. He had no successor. At least not anymore.
He sighed warily as he thought of his Son, Kari.
And then the thought of that old Dreamer crossed his mind and he snarled.
A Dreamer had taken his Son away from him, so he had the right to take others away.
He walked up to the huge window and watched the three Hoverjets approach from the Horizon.
****
The Grand Advisor took another slow step forward and halted by a Cliff side. He stared far ahead of him at the Tower in the horizon; his destination.
The moon behind it made it out as a silhouette.
He Shifted his gaze toward the far East. He could see a dense forest, dark as the night. It was the E-vu forest.
He sighed and marched down the sides of the hill. Slowly, of course.
****
The Tower was every bit what itbwas called: a tower. It was the tallest building in the People's city. The Hoverjets slowed and hovered into a space that served as a hanger.
The Tower was lit up with bright neon lights that seemed to illuminate the minute dirt itself.
The doors of the Carriers began to open.
A group of Soldiers stepped out first, followed by the captured Dreamers and then another group of Soldiers.
The Dreamers where placed into three lines. According to their age groups:
The first line age eight to ten.
The second, age eleven to fifteen, and the last comprising of age sixteen to eighteen.
Again, with the exception of the ones knocked out.
Not a word was spoken as they were lead to the Southern wing of the Tower. Not a word could be spoken. The youngs all looked frightened and the Soldiers were armed with laser rifles.
When they got to a large corridor, the Dreamers were randomly selected into three and shoved into a small room.
A Guard walked up to the pompous looking girl in a hoodie and ordered, "Follow me."
She was lead to a small room and pushed in. She walked inside the small room, noting the two sprawled boys on the floor. She groaned.
****
Amzhi opened his eyes slowly, blinking it and then shutting it again. He groaned and then suddenly opened his eyes again.
"Father!" He yelled.
"Your Father is definitely not here." Someone said. A girl's voice.
He turned to the source. He looked at the dark girl with huge round eyes and an oval face. Beautiful, he noted and then shook his head.
He forced himself on his feet and eyed every inch of the small room.
"Where am I?"
The girl, who had been leaning on the wall, moved up to him.
"The Tower. Like everyone else."
"The Tower..why?" He turned and stared at the Chubby boy on the floor.
"Who is that?"
She shrugged.
"Is he dead?"
She gave out an exasperated sigh and walked back to the wall.
"Enough with the questions. I'm as confused as you are."
Amzhi knelt close to the chubby boy and tapped his shoulders. He noted a bruise on his chin.
"He is breathing." He said, placing his hand close to the boy's nostrils.
He looked up at the girl who'd been watching him.
"Please," he said, pointing behind her.
She mouthed a silent 'what' and turned to see what he was pointing at:a water basin.
"I will need a wet cloth." He said.
She turned around and ripped off a small rag which she then soaked in water from the basin.
She walked over to him and stretched the rag at him.
Taking the rag, Amzhi placed it over the boys forehead and stood back.
He watched as the boy began to stir slowly.
"You really know what you're doing, huh?" She said, a slight smile over her face.
Amzhi stared passively at the wall,
"Yes, my Father taught me."
The young Chubby boy finally became awake.
"Where am I?" He asked, looking around.
Amzhi walked up to him.
"The Tower. You're in the Tower."
The boy got to his feet and looked at the two of them.
"Who are you?" He asked.
Amzhi exchanged looks with the girl.
"I guess we are all the same." The girl spoke.
The Chubby boy looked straight at the girl, "My name is Jak. Jak Meka."
She grunted, "Eastern tribe, huh?"
He nodded.
"You don't look as fair as the ones I know."
He nodded again, "My Father was from the West. I..eh..never met him."
Her face softened, "I'm Machi Undu. Also from the Western tribe."
Both Machi and Jak turned to look at Amzhi.
He spoke slowly."My name is Amzhi. Amzhi Orie."
They gasped.
"Like the Chief Elder Orie?" Jak asked.
He nodded, "Yes."
Machi clapped her hands, "Well, well. Its ironic don't you think?"
"What is?" Jak asked, literally looking up to the grinning Machi.
"Well, little one..."
"I'm not little. I'm fifteen!" Jak interrupted.
She rolled her eyes, "Oh, Sorry." And then she turned back to Amzhi, "Who would have thought that the Chief Elder's son would be a Dreamer? An abomination like us."
She flayed her hands as She said that.
She looked at both of them, "You are Dreamers, I think. Because why else would you be here."
Amzhi began to pace.
"He's wounded." He muttered quietly.
"What?" Jak asked.
"My Father. He is wounded. He tried to protect me from the Soldiers and now he is wounded."
Machi threw up her hands, "Typical bureaucrats. You send people's children away for years and when it becomes you turn, you try to fight it."
Amzhi shot a sharp look at her but still spoke calmly.
"My Father was always against the Cleansing."
"You don't have to call it that, you know," She scoffed,
"To cleanse means to make pure. To take something dirty and make it clean. What you people do is the exact opposite. Taking people's Children away to–" She screwed her eyes and asked, "What do they even do with Us?"
Jak chipped in, "Yes. I was about to ask what they do to Us. Do they..uhm..you know..kill us?"
Amzhi shook his head, "No."
There was a collected sigh of relief and then the room fell silent for a minute or so. There was still that nervous urgency lingering in the air.
"They banish us." Amzhi said. Hanging on to the words.
Machi chuckled, "That's not bad. I'll just assume its a vacation, I needed to leave anyways."
Jak nodded, "Yes. That doesn't seem bad."
He quickly added, "Although, I don't need to leave. I'll miss my mother and Aunt Rika."
Amzhi folded his arms and shifted his gaze between both of them.
"Its really not that good. They banish us to the E-vu forest."
"The evil forest?!" Both Machi and Jak chorused.
Amzhi unfolded his hands and began gesturing, "No, not 'evil'. E-vu; as in the letter 'e' followed by 'vu'."
"Who's idea was that?"
He shrugged, "I don't know but my Father told me that's where they banish Dreamers to. Have you not heard of the e-vu forest before?"
Jak nodded slightly, "I think I saw it in a book once." He paused and then his face contorted into that of worry, "I think the book said something about strange Creatures, like monsters, and barbarians. It sounds scary."
Machi sat with her legs folded,
"So, they capture us and plan to banish us into this evil forest?"
"E-vu." Amzhi corrected. She waved it off.
"This is crazy."
They stared at her.
"I've read about the ancient practices of the twenty-first century and I thought we would be more civilised than they were. Can you imagine that there was an era they killed twins. Twins! Barbaric. And now we are slowly going back to those times."
Jak nodded absentmindedly, never once taking his gaze off Machi.
"I don't see why we shouldn't go across the border now."
Jak had an I-don't-get-you look on his face.
She rolled her eyes, "I mean, they obviously want us to die out there. So, why not be free to live our lives across the border, huh?"
"You mean like escape?" Amzhi asked.
"Going across the border is prohibited." Jak said timidly.
"For the normal ones. We aren't normal remember? Abominations, rejects; Dreamers."
Amzhi turned to face the door of the small room.
"I do need to see my Father again. I need to know that he is well."
"Me too. I need to know that mama is okay and Aunt Rika."
Machi jumped up and smiled broadly, "It's agreed then. We'll escape!"
****
The Grand Advisor Stopped at the border; a high metal fence enclosing the people's City from the widelands. The Tower stood alone in the far end of the City.
He walked towards the checkpoint and grunted to the half awake guard on duty.
The guard jerked to life and tried to look alert. He recognized the Grand Advisor and quickly ran out to meet him.
He bowed, "Sir!"
The old man grunted again and began to walk through the gate.
The guard ran after him, "Do I get a Taxi for his Holiness?"
The Old man grunted, "No. I do not trust your technology of these days. A Car driving itself, humph!" He grunted again.
He began walking, "AI, they call it. Man made magic." He shook his head.
The real reason why he didn't want to take the taxi was because he wanted to walk through the sections of the City and feel the People's pain. He knew what the day of cleansing signified: Families torn apart.
When he reached the Tower, he was taken to the Supreme Leader's Chambers.
He remained standing, resting his weight on his snake staff. He watched the doors of the chambers fling open and the tall imposing figure that is the supreme leader walked in.
"I wasn't expecting you." He said, waving his hand to dismiss his guards. He was not wearing his royal robe. He had on a casual printed shirt and loose trousers.
"I have received an omen."
The Supreme Leader sat himself on his throne, not bothering to offer the Grand Advisor a seat. Let the old man stand.
"And I assume its bad?" He asked, resting his hand on his chin and running his finger through the edge of the lion carving on the throne.
The Old man took a step forward, "Its unlike anything I have ever seen before."
"Oh, really?" The Supreme Leader asked, looking bored.
"The end is coming." He said emphatically, pointing his snake staff towards the window.
"Tell me about this omen."
The old man breathed deeply, "The gods have shown me the end. It wasn't clear but I saw dream demons entering our world. I saw fire and death and people screaming. I saw hell!"
The room echoed as he spoked. The Supreme leader looked interested now.
"Dream demons?"
"The foul existence that lives beyond our realm. Spawns of the devil!" The old man showed his teeth as he spoke.
"I don't believe in such fables. But I'm inclined to ask: how can we stop this? I believe you have a solution."
The old man shook his head, "I'm afraid I don't." He hesitated, "But.."
The Supreme Leader eyed him suspiciously, "But what?"
"I believe our hope lies with the Dreamers."
"That's enough!" He shouted, "So, the People have solicited you to make up tales for me to release those abomination?"
"You don't understand."
The Supreme leader growled, "That's a new low for you. Of course, on the day of the cleansing. I should have seen it coming."
The old man stared straight at the Supreme Leader, "I have been the Grand advisor for decades. I do not need money for anything and I always respect the–"
He raised his hand, "Let me stop you there. I think that's the problem: you have been around for too long."
"This is a matter of death!" The old man shouted.
"I've heard enough." He pushed a button and two guards showed up almost immediately, "Take him and lock him up. Let him stew for some days."
The Old man walked up to the Supreme Leader, "I don't care what you do to me. The end is coming and you are too blind to see it. I hope it may not be too late when you realise the truth."
The Supreme leader turned sharply at the guards, "What are you both doing? I said lock this old fool up!"
"I warned you!" The old man yelled as they dragged him away.
The Supreme Leader breathed heavily and sat back on his throne.
"Stupid Old man. They have been talking about the end and Hell since the twenty-first century. I'm not going to be the first fool who acts on such fables."
****
"Bad news and good news!" Jak cried and walked away from the door.
Machi spoke up, "Give us the bad news first so that we can cushion ourselves on good news."
Jak nodded, "okay. The bad news is: That door has an electronic panel and It may take hours to break out of it."
"Oh and what is the good news?" Amzhi asked.
"The good news is, I'm good with electronics and can break us out of here. It may still take hours, though."
"Good." Machi said, "That will give us enough time to plan."
Jak stepped back and sat on the floor, "I will have to work on a gimmick for the panel. Luckily, I carry a shrunken tool box hidden in my jacket. I can re-size it and begin work."
He snorted, "One of the wonders of the twenty-second century."
"You should sit. You have been standing all night." Machi said to Amzhi. He shook his head, "I am fine."
Jak produce a small blue box from his jacket and pushed a button. They all watched as it grew to the size of a cereal box. Jak looked at them as smiled when he saw the impressed looks on their faces.
Amzhi turned to him, "when did you discover that you were a dreamer?"
Jak shrugged, "Tonight. They used their detectors."
He turned to Machi, who sighed and watched the floor intently
"A few months ago, on my eighteenth birthday."
They were silent, waiting for more. It didn't come.
"I discovered mine a few days ago. It had been in a dream. I..." He paused, "What is that noise?"
They all rushed to the door and poked their heads through a rectangular opening. Well, excluding the chubby Jak.
There was a faint growing noise going through the corridor.
"Who is shouting? Tell me, I can't see!" Jak kept on saying.
Amzhi found himself locked eye to eye with an old man being dragged through the corridor. He didn't blink. Couldn't blink. All of a sudden, He felt the room around him spinning and growing smaller; he felt himself going deeper into the old man's mind. Everywhere became bright as if he was staring at the sun.
His eyes began to burn. He shook his head and struggled to shut it.
"You have to do something! The End is coming! Do something!"
The noise grew faint again and then the corridor was silent once more. He shut his eyes finally, breathing rapidly.
They peeled themselves from the door and walked back to the centre of the room.
"That was weird." Machi muttered.
"What was happening? Who was shouting?" Jak asked.
Amzhi could hear Machi telling Jak what had just happened. But he wasn't hearing what they were saying. He could still see the old man's glassy eyes locked on his. You have to do something. The End is coming!
He could visualise the sky ripping apart and those dark creatures entering through it.
"It felt like he was talking to us," Amzhi muttered quietly.
They stared at him.
His eyes were still shut. Then he opened them and turned to look.
"Woah!" They both chorused.
"What is it?" He asked.
Jak dropped the blue box and crawled closer to him,
"Your eyes. How is it doing that?–bend down please."
Amzhi bent himself low enough to be Jak's height.
"Doing what?"
"It's white. Like halogen white."
Amzhi shook his head, "Is it normal now?"
Jak nodded.
Amzhi sat down cross legged close to the others.
"We need to find that old man."
"Why?" Machi finally spoke.
He sighed, "I–I saw something. Something scary, and those words he kept shouting."
"The end is coming?"
He nodded, "I think it was a warning and I think he was talking to us."
Machi turned to him, "But I looked at him too, how come I didn't see anything?"
"I–I don't know. I thought you saw it also. The room was spinning and I think I was in his head. I am not sure."
"What did you see?" They asked.
"I saw myself alone in the widelands. The sky was yellow and the sun extra hot. I heard people screaming and then I looked over to the City. It was dark. I mean, there was a dark cloud like a blanket covering the city. I did not move. I just stood there and then there was a loud sound, like a thunderclap and the sky starting–opening. The sun grew hotter and the opening bigger until I saw them."
"What–Saw what?" Jak asked, obviously visualizing it all.
He stared at him, "Demons, I think." He said, matter of factly.
"They began floating through the opening and soon the whole world began fading."
"It does sound scary."
"It was. I think this has something to do with us."
Machi nodded, "I think you saw a prophecy or something. If we weren't all considered 'abnormal' I'd have called you a weirdo."
Amzhi looked at her, "Thanks?"
She turned to the brooding Jak, "How long till we break out of here?"
He picked the box. "Good news; it can be done in an hour."
"Good. Obviously, our plans have changed. Now, we find the old man."

Moreeeee

Chapter five(a)

The Colonel stepped out of his Rover and walked around to the back carrier.
His face was expressionless as he looked at the unconscious man. He turned around and then signalled a group of Soldiers.
"Take him to the med area. Let the nurses treat that wound."
As the Soldiers began to lift the man, he said: "Oh, and cuff him. Don't let him out of your sight."
The Colonel watched them take the man away. He scratched his chin. He hadn't meant to shoot him, it was just a father protecting his son afterall.
He began to walk towards a lift that would take him to the Supreme Leader's chambers.
Another cleansing was done and yet, he wasn't still convinced that he was doing the right thing.
He entered the lift and pushed a green button. The lift hissed and the doors closed. He calmed himself as he got whisked up to the Supreme Leaders chambers.
Walking out of the lift, he stepped out and stared aroumd him.
There were ancient paintings that covered the wall. The Chamber had a huge throne in the centre of the hall, flanked by a row of four seats. The Elders' seat.
Walking further, he felt the usual dread he always had whenever he was up here. An uncomfortable type of dread.
The head of a Tiger rested on a mantle piece, its eyes curved in rage and its teeth exposed in fury. A beautiful creature. Tigers have been extinct since the second half of the twenty first century.
The Colonel rubbed his palm together as he held on for the Supreme Leader's arrival.
The huge door leading to the inner chambers flung open and Pok Mak loho slowly walked out.
The Colonel stood stiff and noticed the grave expression on his face. This was not going to be a pleasant fifteen minutes-or so.
Pok Mak Loho paused and noted the Colonel as if he had no idea who it was. He walked up to a glass cabinet and took out a bottle of the 'yellow stuff'(no one knew what it was).
He was deliberate with his motions, pouring the yellow liquid into an emerald cup and shaking it.
He arched his head backwards and poured the liquid down his throat.
He winced loudly and shook his head. He then turned towards the Colonel and gestured hin to a seat.
"How was the Cleansing?" Pok Mak Loho's voice echoed. He'd somehow experienced a sudden boost in his mood. I bet that boost would disappear when he hears about the Chief Elder.
"Marvellous, Supreme Leader." The Colonel spoke and he nodded.
"There were a few resistance, though but we have it taken care of."
Pok Mak loho walked up to his throne and levelled himself on it.
"Hmm, resistance. That is to be expected."
The Colonel raised a finger and then paused. How exactly was he to say that the Chief Elder was the one who resisted.
"What is it, Colonel?" He asked, merely out of curiosity.
The Colonel shifted in his seat, his leather outfit squeeking with his chair.
"The Chief Elder tried to resist. His Son is a Dreamer and he tried to hide him." The Colonel said straight, watching the Supreme Leader's face. He'd been right.
Pok Mak Loho shot up from his throne, his eyes a glimmer of red and his hand formed into fists.
"Two disloyalties in one night!" He barked.
The Colonel stood, simply because he felt uncomfortable sitting while the Supreme Leader stood. Especially in his current mood.
"Where is he?"
"He is in the Med Area, Sir! He-uhm-He got shot in the process of escaping."
A wicked gleam spread over his face, "Good. Good. Get him in here first thing tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Sir!"
He sat back down, "I hate infidels."
The Colonel felt he didn't need to give a reply to that, so he didn't.
The Hall was quiet for a while, then the Supreme Leader spoke.
"Any disturbances from the outcasts?"
"No, Sir!"
He rubbed his fingers while he thought, "Cowards! They would be only too glad when we send the rest of their kind to the e-vu forest."
He got up again, "The final phase of the cleansing begins tomorrow. At sunset, when those nasty creatures roam the forest." He chuckled and began to walk back towards his inner chambers.
That was his dismissal. The Colonel turned to leave.
****
The Grand advisor sat in his dark cell, facing the wall. His eyes were closed and his lips moved silently.
He plucked two of his fingers into the air and retrieved a white chalk from the air.
He got on his knees, as if praying and began to draw a circle on the floor. He then made the circle thicker and crossed it with an 'X'.
Muttering silently, he spoke into the circle and a small flame appeared.
He shifted back, as if surprised but then a smile played on his lips.
"Go to them," he whispered, "and lead them to me. One of them will understand you, just the way one of them linked with me."
At that instance, the small flame began to wave and then a small red bird with a long yellow tail emerged from the flame.
The bird circled around the room and then flew high through a small hole.
The Old man scraped the white chalk off the ground and blew it into the air. The cloud of white chalk sparked and then it circled to form a gateway. He then reached for his staff and walked, slowly, through the gateway.
****
Amzhi lay on the cold floor, his eyes on the ceiling and his mind of a couple of things; his Father was one of them.
"I wonder if he is okay." Amzhi spoke, counting his words as usual. He sighed and turned on his side.
Jak was tinkering with the blue box, his tongue out to aid his precision. He paused and looked at Amzhi for a while, and then resumed his work. He missed his Mother. I wonder if I'll ever see her again, he thought.
The small room was quiet for a while.
Machi was hunched up by the wall with her knees drawn up and her chin resting on them.
"Follow me."
She quickly looked up. That was a voice right? She was sure she heard something.
"Follow me." The voice again.
"Did any of you just hear that?"
Amzhi shifted his head and Jak looked up.
"Hear what?" They chorused.
She didn't answer. She was certain. She kept lookimg around the room and then she saw a small hole from a crack in the wall.
The boys followed her gaze and all three of them were staring at a small hole. The hole was about the size of a stone and it sat at the end of a running crack on the wall. Moonlight passed through that small hole and fell on the floor. That light began to flicker.
"I think something is out there." Jak said.
Amzhi nodded, "An insect. Maybe a bird."
"Follow me." Machi heard the voice again.
She stood on her feet and walked closer to the wall.
"I can hear a voice."
The boys exchanged looks but said nothing.
She placed her hand on the crack, "Follow me. Thats what the voice keeps saying."
She began to run her hand through the line of the crack, edging it closer to the hole.
The boys watched in a tense silence. The flicker had increased.
She quickly withdrew her hand an gasped. Jak gasped, too.
A small bird pushed itself through the hole and began to fly around the room.
Amzhi looked at the bird and then at them.
"You see, a bird. I said it, didn't I?"
Machi kept her eyes glued to the bird, she pointed, "That's it."
"What?"
She turned to the boys, "The bird. It was what spoke to me."
Jak turned to her and then the bird. He tilted his head as if trying to hear it speak.
"What-what is it saying?"
Machi listened, "Nothing. It hasn't said anything since it came in here."
"Its just a bird." Amzhi said.
She shot a sharp look at him, "I know what I heard!"
Amzhi looked away, "Sorry. I am not doubting you."
The bird circled one last time and then perched on the basin. It fluttered and then looking at Machi, it began to squeak.
Well, it sounded like squeaking to Amzhi and Jak but Machi understood.
She moved closer and squatted before the bird.
"You are the one who understands me?" It asked.
Machi nodded.
"You have to follow me."
"Why?"
The bird fluttered, "The Sage sent me to you. All three of you."
Machi stared at the boys and then the locked door,
"Who?"
"The Grand advisor." It chirped.
"Oh, you mean the old man?"
"Yes. The Old man."
"But we can't get out. Its locked, the door." Machi said.
The boys looked at one another and then watched on as the conversation progressed.
"I will take you to him."
The bird fluttered and then flew up into the air.
"Follow me." It said and flew through the door in a red smoke.
The room was quiet again.
"What did it say?" Jak asked. He thought it was cool to be able to talk to birds.
Machi looked at them and then towards the door.
"Come on." She said and placed a hand on the door. She pushed lightly and the door opened.
"The door is open!" Amzhi said, surprised.
Jak sighed, "I've been working hard for an hour and all that bird did was blow smoke into it."
Machi poked her head back inside.
"What are you waiting for. Let's go!" She whispered.
They looked out the door and down the corridor; it was dark and unguarded. The bird appeared again, but this time with a visible trail of red smoke.
They followed it through the corridor till they reached a metal door at the end. The bid chirped and vanished through the door.
They looked at Machi.
"This way." She said and pushed open the door.
The metal door lead to a stairway.
"That is alot of steps." Jak muttered.
"So?" Machi said and began to desend them. Amzhi followed behind her.
Jak stood still.
"I hate stairs." He muttered.
The steps lead down to another corridor.
"Second floor." Amzhi said, pointing at a green sign on the wall.
They turned to see a gasping Jak finally reaching them.
"I hate stairs." He said to them.
Machi smiled, "Next time we'll use the lifts."
Jak brightened, "Really?"
"No. It is too risky!" Amzhi whispered.
Jak whined.
"This corridor is well lit than the other one. We will have to be careful." Amzhi said looking around.
"Where is the bird?" Jak asked.
"This way." Machi heard the voice and turned. The bird was by a small maintainace hatch. The maintance hatch ran through the ceiling of the building.
"There. Let's go."
Amzhi removed the cover and entered first.
Jak turned to Machi, "I hate tight spaces," he whimpered.
"You hate or you are scared of them, which one?"
"Both."
Machi chuckled, "Move in. I'll go in after you. Don't worry, I'll let nothing will happen to you."
He smiled broadly and forced himself into the hatch.
Machi entered and closed it behind her.
The hatch was dark, save for the red glow from the bird. Amzhi was in front, crawling, careful not to touch any wires. His eyes were fixed on the bird.
Jak was behind him, crawling slowly. His hands got sweaty whenever he was scared. They looked like they had been soaked in water now. Machi was close behind.
After crawling for a while, Amzhi paused and looked through a small opening.
"First floor corridor." He whispered, he looked at his hands and noted a break on the hatch. "Be careful there is a..."
There was a loud noise and the hatch split open.

Chapter 5(b)

Jed Nwasi worked under the Colonel as a Soldier.
He was one of the Soldiers who were required to carry out the 'Cleansing' yearly.
"I don't know why they make us do it. You need to see these youngs. They're all innocent and normal-looking just like our own Ali," he'd told his wife once.
He knew better than to question the Colonel or the Supreme Leader.
He watched the nurses take the wounded Chief Elder into a Med ward.
A pity, he thought, having your child taken away from you like this.
He hated the supreme Leader.
And he hated himself more for nothing having the heart to do anything about it.
"They'd kill me and who knows what they would do to Oma and Ali?" He muttered to himself.
He signalled a lower ranking patrol man.
"Make sure no one enters that ward except the nurse and make sure the Elder doesn't leave."

"Yes, Sir!"

Jed felt the night air on his face as he walked back to the main grounds.
He thought of the final phase of the Cleansing and that wretched forest. Most of those Young would never survive the final phase.
If only he could do something.
"Calm down, Jed. Don't think too much about this. The penalty for treason is death."
He reminded himself.
He walked into the ground floor of the Tower and entered a lift to the first floor.
The Lift dinged and the gate opened.
He stepped out and went into a room. He stepped out moments later with a black bag and dressed in civilian clothes.
He wasn't on duty on Cleansing night.
Atleast he'll get to see his wife and his daughter, Ali.
He smiled at the thought.
He walked into the corridor and started towards the lift.
As he reached his hand to push the button he heard a loud crash.
He stopped and looked around him. The corridor was empty.
He turned and walked to where the noise had come from.
He paused in surprise.
On the floor were three youngs.
He looked above them and saw the broken maintenance hatch.
His first impulse was to retrieve his pistol, but he just stood still, watching them.

****

Amzhi landed first. His body hitting the floor with a loud thud. The hatch opened wider and Jak let out a yelp as he fell, followed by Machi who landed on him.
Amzhi groaned as he tried to get up.
He watched Machi roll off Jak's plump body and get on her knees. He was about to speak when he heard footsteps approaching.
He looked around him, the corridor was wide and well lit; no hiding now. Where was that damned bird anyway?
Machi and Jak must have heard the footstep as they looked alert, watching the place the sound was coming from.
A man came into view.
A Soldier perhaps. He was obviously surprised as he didn't say anything at first.
He gazed at them and then at the broken Hatch on the ceiling.
He finally regained his composure, "What are you doing here?" He tried to sound menacing, but his voice was a soft mix of curiosity and more curiosity.
Machi studied the man.
Tall and dark, father figure type, harmless if handled right.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the right words eluded her.
She breathed calmly and then tried to speak again.
The Man interrupted this time.
"You're Dreamers."
They exchanged looks. Was that a question or a statement?
"Yes." Machi said.
The Man's expression softened and then tried to go hard.
He was battling with a decision.
"What were you three doing up there?" He asked, stretching a finger at the damaged hatch.
"Nothing." Amzhi said.
Machi looked at him and then turned to the Man, "We are escaping."
Jak gasped and Amzhi gave her a what-are-you-doing look.
She ignored them and stared boldly at the man.
The Man stood still, clearly hesitating. He stared at the ceiling and at them again.
He made a decision.
"Follow me."
Jak, who had been silent all the while, finally spoke.
"What if we get in trouble?" He whispered to the others.
Amzhi shrugged.
Machi rolled her eyes,
"What other trouble can we get into again?"
The Man turned back to see that they haven't moved.
"Come on now!" He said sternly, "This place will be filled with people soon."
They followed him through a dark corridor and stopped at a door.
"We will have to take the back stairs.
No one uses it anymore."
He pushed open the door which creaked and walked through it.
Th stairway was completely dark. "Watch your step." He said.
He was standing by a brown door by the time they got down from the last step.
He looked at them as if to be sure they were complete.
He then took out a bar and pried open the door.
Amzhi was watching the man intently.
"Where are we going?" He asked."
The man didn't answer, instead he opened the door slowly and stepped out into the night.
He turned to them, "Wait here," and he was gone.
****
A patrol officer entered the corridor where the Dreamers where kept. He began walking past each cell, occasionally poking his head here and there.
He could hear the sniffling sounds of the crying ones and the restless shuffling of feet.
He walked past one of the cells and then stopped.
He didn't hear any sound from the cell; no sniffling or shuffling. He began to walk back to the cell. He stopped in front of it and leaned on the door to look in.
The door pushed open and he fell forward.
The Officer raised his eyes to look around and his gaze fell on the empty room. He quickly jumped to his feet.
"We have an empty cell and three possible runaways!"
He said into a microphone.
He quickly picked himself up and ran through the corridor towards a lift. The lift ran to the first floor and then stopped.
He stepped out and into the now crowded hallway which was filled with the blaring sound of an alarm.
The Officer ran up to the spot under a broken maintenance hatch. He brought out his radio, his eyes glued to the gaping hole.

****

The Colonel was walking briskly through the grounds when his radio blasted.
He pressed a button and listened attentively to the cracking voice coming through.
He turned to the Soldier beside him,
"Gather your men and search every inch of this building."
He radioed the gate: "Nobody leaves the Tower!"
The Colonel stood still, trying to understand what had just happened; three Dreamers had just escaped their cells.
It was about time, he shrugged.

****

Jak rubbed his fingers together in a bid to dry the sweat gathering around it.
He was very nervous. He could make out the dark outline of both Amzhi and Machi.
How were they so calm? He heard a sound and looked around him.
"What's that sound?"
At that moment, a black truck pulled up to where they were.
The doors swung open and they heard the Man's voice.
"Come on!"
Amzhi stepped out into the open and turned to Jak, "It is the sound of a truck."
He then hopped into the front seat.
Jak shook his head, "No, but..."
"Lets go!" Machi interrupted him and got in the back.
Jak climbed unto the back of the truck and shut the door.
The Man engaged the gear and the truck started moving towards the wall.
"What is your name?" Amzhi asked after a little while.
The Man turned to look at him and then faced his front.
"My name is Jed."
Machi leaned forward. "Are you helping us."
Jed looked through the mirror and then focused on his driving.
He didn't answer the question; he hadn't made up his mind yet.
He turned the truck into the grassy road leading to the main gate of the tower.
He could see some armed Soldiers gathered at the outpost. An odd sight.
He quickly turned to Amzhi, "You, to the back! And all of you get down!"
He slowed the truck to a stop just beside the outpost.
A Soldier walked up to the truck and tapped the glass lightly. Taking in deep breaths, he looked at the Youngs crouching at the back. Satisfied, he then he pressed a button which made the side window wind down slowly.
He put on a broad a smile when the Soldier came into view.
"Hey, Madi!"
The Soldier smiled, "Oh, Jed. Its you."
"What's happening out there?"
The Soldier turned to the outpost and then back into the truck.
"You would not believe what happened."
Jed put on a curious look, "Try me."
"Three Dreamers have escaped from their cell."
"What, how did that happen?!" Jed said with mock dismay.
The Soldier shrugged and then looked him.
"The Colonel gave orders that no one leaves the grounds."
Jed groaned, "Come on, Madi. So you won't let me through?"
The Soldier looked confused, "I..uh.."
Jed interrupted him, "It's Ali's birthday today." He sighed and feigned annoyance, "I have been away all day busy with so I'm supposed to miss my girl's birthday?"
The Soldier hesitated, "No. That would be bad." He thought for a while, "Okay, but I will have check your truck."
Jed raised his voice, "Why? Because I have the runaways in my truck?"
"Jed, calm down. I'm just.." He sighed, "You know what? You're free to go."
The Soldier raised his hand and the gate was opened.
Jed gripped the wheels tightly, only loosening it and exhaling when they crossed the gate.
He turned to see the youngs getting back to their seats.
"It's your daughter's birthday?" Machi asked.
"I lied." He said, driving towards the lower section.
"Thank you." Jak said timidly.
Jed turned to him, "You're very young, what is your name?"
"Jak, Jak Meka." Jak replied.
Jed nodded, "And you two?"
"My name is Machi Undu."
Amzhi hesitated a little, "And I am Amzhi Orie."
Jed gave him a quick glance, "You mean....?"
Amzhi sighed, "Yes, the Chief Elder's Son."
Jed nodded, "I thought there was something familiar about you."

The vehicle became silent as they drove on.

"Now, you three owe me a lot of answers." Jed said.
"We do?" Machi asked.
"Yes. Like why did you leave your cells?"
"We answered that before; we were escaping."
"Why and where do you intend to go?"
Amzhi held Machi's arm, "I don't think we should tell him about the bird."
"Tell me about what?" Jed asked,
She yanked her arm free, "don't tell me what to do."
Jak turned to her, "I agree with him."
She gasped, "Whatever you say."
Jed slammed the breaks and they came to a sudden stop.
He turned around, "I believe I just put my Family's life, my own life and my job on the line by letting you three into my truck. Don't you think that's enough to tell me what is going on?!"
His voice was harsh.
The three of them sat quietly at the back and then Amzhi spoke up,
"We were following a bird."
Jed's face took on a confused look, "What?"
Jak quickly narrated how the bird got into their cell and how they escaped.
Jed became quiet. He always thought there was something weird or special about Dreamers. And now he had three in the back seat of his truck giving him something about talking birds.
He started the truck again and they drove on till they got into the Lower section of the City.

Chapter 6

The Colonel got to the outpost. He beckoned a Soldier to him.
"Have you seen them?"
"No, Sir!"
The Colonel scratched his chin. There is no other way they could have left the Tower. unless..
"Has any one gone past this gate?"
The Soldier frowned, No,Sir. I haven't let anyone through."
The Colonel turned around.
"Wait, Sir!"
The Colonel faced the Soldier, "what is it?"
"Er..I let someone past the gate."
The Colonel's face became stern, "I gave you orders not to let anyone through."
"Yes,Sir." The Soldier said quickly, "But it was Jed, he said it was his daughter's birthday."
"And you let him through?"
"Yes, I thought.."
"Shut up! At least you checked his truck and it was clean?"
The Soldier opened his mouth and then scratched the back of his head, "No, Sir. He got annoyed and.."
The Colonel stepped forward and smacked the Soldier across his face.
"I hate incompetence."
The Colonel ordered his men to get to Jed's house and search everything.
"Oh, and bring him in also." He finished.
****
Oma, Jed's wife, was preparing dinner when she heard the sound of a truck approach the compound. She smiled and was about to get to the door when she heard the sound of another truck. And then another.
She peeked through a window and was surprised to see Soldiers marching out of the trucks and towards the door. Her husband was not among them.
She reached for the encrypted phone She kept in a box for emergencies and she dialled her husband. The call would be untraceable.
****
"Where are we going?" Jak asked as they passed various low houses.
"I'm taking you three to my house. It will be impossible to cross the border. Atleast not tonight."
Jak rested his head on the glass window, watching rows of identical wooden shacks move rythmically as they drove past. The houses reminded him of home and his family. He may never see them again.
Jed pushed a button on the truck and it switched to AI auto pilot.
Jak turned to look, "That's cool."
Jed smiled and then turned to face them.
"You said something about a bird. Where is it and.."
His phone buzzed and he took it out. He frowned. Oma never called him on this phone unless it was an emergency.
"Oma?" He spoke into the phone.
"Jed, what's going on?" A frantic voice said over the phone.
"What do you mean?" He asked, already visualising the worst.
Amzhi, Machi and Jak watched curiously as his expression changed.
"There are Soldiers around the house. They don't look friendly."
Jed felt his heart skip a beat, "Already?"
"What's going on?" The voice said.
"I will explain. Just don't tell them anything. Hang on and watch them, call me when you are sure they've left."
"I will." The voice assured and the connection ended.
Jed kept staring at the white display of thr phone and then he gripped it tightly.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
"What is going on?" Amzhi asked.
"They are at my house, probably looking for you three."
"But how..." Jak was asking.
"Obviously, I was the only one who left the Tower after the alarm went off. Now, they are at my house. I'm beginning to regret my decision."
Machi stepped in, "Your Family will be fine. I know that. But you can drop us off here and we'll be out of your life. Nothing can go wrong again."
He shook his head and looked at them, "No. You three won't last a couple of hours on your own. Even your magic bird abandoned you."
"What do we do then?"
"You'll hide. I'll take you somewhere and when the Soldiers leave my house we will all go there. In the morning, we'll smuggle you out of the City."
He stared deeply, "Then, you are on your own."
*****
Oma stood a few feet from the door, waiting. She heard the footsteps approaching and then she got startled as the door was smashed in.
The Soldiers spread through the corners of the house.
"Where is your husband?" One of them asked.
She calmly patted the rough edges of her gown.
"I have not seen him since the early hours."
The Soldier looked at her with all the suspicion he could mutter, "Your Husband is needed for questioning."
Her faced showed the slightest hint of worry.
"What for?"
The Soldier looked at the little girl who entered from one of the rooms. He smiled mischievously.
"He is suspected for helping three Dreamers escape," He said with a smug look.
Oma clutched her little daughter and watched the Soldier talk. She tried her best to give nothing away even though She was worried. What has her husband got to do with Dreamers?
She didn't say anything, though. She knew to keep quiet and be of little help as possible. She held her daughter firmly to her. Let them look.
The Soldiers searched the whole house but found nothing. Obviously.
They began to walk out through the door. The Soldier who'd been standing in the living space all the while turned to them.
"We will be watching you. If you hear from your Husband tell him to report to the Tower." He turned and left.
It was obvious that he didn't believe the woman had no idea where her Husband was.
Oma watched them leave and sighed with relief. The briefest of reliefs. Worry began to creep in. She walked up to a window and pulled the curtains close. She switched off the lights and opened the curtain slightly. She could see a man sitting by an unlit shed, smoking and trying to act natural; obviously one of the Soldiers. She also some some men casually walking down the road. They were really watching.
****
"I agree with Machi, it is still early. You do not have to help us."
That was Amzhi.
"I can't do that and its already late. As long as they think I have you three, I'm already a traitor." Jed said, focusing on the road.
He turned the truck into a dark street illuminated by the headlights of the truck. He turned off lights and switched on the navigation system.
Jak sat up, "What happens to you and your Family if we are able to escape?"
Jed shrugged casually, "We'll move out. I hate this City anyways."
"And your job?"
Jed turned, "What I do is not a job. We have no free will. Everything we do has to be exactly what the Supreme Leader says." He looked at them and then turned away, "Even if it's wrong."
He was quiet for a while, then he spoke.
"I have a friend that lives in the City Limits. It's close to the border, that's where we are going."
The truck became quiet again except for the beeping of the navigation system. They kept moving through dark streets and side roads. The main road will be packed full with Soldiers, Jed thought.
"What do you do?" He asked after a while.
"What?" Amzhi asked.
"I mean, they say you people are-you know-evil. I don't think so, but what do Dreamers do?"
Amzhi stared at his hands, "I-I really don't know."
"I didn't know I was one until today." Jak spoke.
Jed looked into the mirror, "What of you, Machi?"
"Dreams," She began, "The day I turned eighteen, I dreamt of my parents. I-I never knew them, except for this made up images." Machi closed her eyes as She spoke, "In that dream, I felt them. I saw them laughing and it felt so real," She chuckled, "I even had a birthday cake. I ate it-you know, and I tasted it. It really felt real."
She turned up to look at them, "I think Dreamers are able to experience their dreams as if its real."
Amzhi, "Yes, I remember-" He didn't finish that statement. The navigation system turned red and began blaring loudly. Something was wrong.
"What's wrong?!" They asked.
Jed quickly turned to them, a look of fright on his face.
"Get down!" He shouted and at that moment something plowed into the truck.

Chapter 7

"Sir, he just activated his navigation system. He is heading for the City limits," one of the control room experts said as he tapped a touch pad.
The Colonel nodded and thought for a while.
"Get Men out there and get a  lock on his system. We'll box them in."
The Colonel walked out of the room. He was going to meet the Supreme Leader.
****
Jed grunted and tried to grip the wheels as the truck took a hard hit from the side. The engine died.
He turned around frantically, "Is any one wounded?"
They squeezed out from the back.
"What was that?"
Jed pushed a button, the truck  choked but didn't start. The AI was damaged.
"I think they followed us." He said, pushing open a compartment and pulling a lever, "I just don't know how."
They heard a revving sound. Amzhi looked through the window, "They are coming again!" He said, pushing himself low.
The truck shook again as a it got rammed again.
"The truck won't start!" Jed grunted as they got hit again.
Jak squeezed himself from the back and hopped in front.
"Let me try," he said, pulling out some wires and trying to peel the insulation. He was wheezing as he struggled with the wires; a task made extremely difficult by his sweaty hands.
"Let me do it." Jed said, taking the wires and peeling it off.
"Join the yellow ones together," Jak said, looking.
"They're coming back!" Machi shouted.
The truck lit up and came to life as Jed joined the wires. He quickly engaged the gears and accelerated quickly. The incoming truck missed them narrowly.
Jak tapped the damaged AI board, "what server is this connected to?"
Jed tried to understand what the question was about, "The Tower, why?" And then realisation hit him.
"That's how they followed us. They simply had to connect to this truck when you activated your navigation system."
Jed slammed his hand on the wheels and cursed himself.
"We are getting through that border!" He muttered through his teeth.
The two trucks behind them closed in faster, flanking them from both sides. They positioned closely and rammed the truck from either side.
"Hold on to something!" Jed said as he stepped hard on the breaks and turned through a back road. Most of the units in the truck were displaying red which meant they were damaged.
"Our speed is dropping." Jak observed.
"I know! It will just have to take us through the border."
There was no way he could get them through the border without taken the wide roads. And if he takes the wide roads they'd be exposed to more attacks; a risk he just had to take.
He kept driving through the dimly lit back roads till he got to a connecting bend. He made a sharp right and burst out into the wide roads.
The two trucks surfaced almost immediately.
The  border was in sight, and as expected was swarming with Soldiers. He stepped hard on the accelerator, the truck rolling towards the border gates.
The Soldiers heard the truck approaching before they saw it. The outpost was built in such a way that there were towers by each side of  gate. Each tower had an armed Soldier stationed in them.
The Soldiers in the outpost opened fire at the battered truck approaching.
Someone screamed inside the truck as the bullets began to rain on them.
"Stay down!" Jed shouted, trying hard to focus only on the gate. Just a few more feet and they'd be in the widelands.
The truck ran into the gate and broke through. Jed grunted and shook as he tried to steady the vehicle. He looked behind him and saw the two trucks were still in pursuit.
To his left lay the vast yellow land that was the widelands. While to his far right was a very green, very dense forest.
It would be difficult to lose those trucks in the widelands, he thought. So he turned the wheel hard to his right and the truck began  wobbling towards the greens.
"We don't have much time!" Jed said, willing the vehicle to keep moving,"See that Forest? That's where we will be safe."
The greens started with a low swampy vegetation that crept on till it got to the Forest.
"What's happening?" Machi asked when She noticed that they had stopped.
"We're stuck. Get out, quick!" Jed shouted, reaching beneath his seat and retrieving a rifle.
They all got out immediately. The trucks were very close now, they noted.
"Go into that Forest. I'll buy you a little time."
Amzhi nodded and began wadding through the dark swamp water. Machi got into the water also, trying hard not to get irritated by the oily vegetation and sticky green vines.
Jed fired a shot into the approaching headlights. The trucks stopped immediately.
"Will you be alright?"
He gasped when he heard the voice, "What are you still doing here, Jak, move along!" He cried.
"Will you be alright?" Jak asked again, turning to see the others already halfway through the swamp.
"Jak, Come on!" Amzhi shouted.
Jed placed a hand  on the boy's shoulder, "Yes. But it is you I am worried about. Now, follow them and make sure you stay alright."
Jak nodded and began stumbling through the swamp. He gasped when he heard another shot, and turned back. He waved and then suddenly became anxious  to reach the others.
Jed kept thought of his wife and daughter close by as he kept firing shots at the Soldiers, who were now returning the shots.
He would never see them again, he was sure of that. But atleast he fought.
He grunted when he felt something hot rip through his chest. He looked at it; he was bleeding.
He gritted his teeth and fell on his knees.
****
Amzhi placed his hand in front of him to shield his face from the slapping leaves as he ran into the forest. He paused by a huge tree, panting and  resting his weight on his knees.
The others caught up with him.
"Are they behind us?" Amzhi asked.
"I don't think so," Machi said, looking around her.
Jak walked slowly, wheezing and hoping he wouldn't throw up.
"Are you okay?" Amzhi asked, to no one in particular.
"I'm scared," Jak said, rubbing the back of his neck and sitting on a fallen tree trunk.
Machi walked up beside him and rubbed his hair.
"Stop that!" He said, shifting his head out of reach, "I'm not a child."
Machi shrugged, "Okay."
The forest began to make a creaking sound and the thin moon light that seeped in began to disappear.
"What was that?" Jak said, getting up from the trunk and moving closer to the others.
"Look!" Machi pointed.
The path from which they came through was closing up. Grasses began to grow over the path and thick vines twisted over to make it look inacessible.
They watched in awe as this happened and then they heard voices.
"We have to move. Let's go," Amzhi said and they began to move deeper into the forest.
****
"Is he dead?" One of the Soldiers asked, putting down his weapon.
"Yes," another Soldier said, squatted over the dead body, "Such a fool, Jed." And then he looked up towards the swamp.
"They went in there. Come on."
They were six in total. Two of them remained with the trucks.
"I hate this place," One of the men whined as they began moving through the swamp.
"Keep moving." Another said.
The four Soldiers got off the swamp and stared at the dark forest before them.
They remained silent for a while except for the sound of water dripping from their suits.
"Isn't that the–" One of them spoke,
"Yes–the E-vu Forest." Another said.
"Should we go in there?" A third one asked hesitantly.
"That is where they entered."
"So, should we?"
At that moment, the entrance they were looking at began to shift. The Men gasped and jumped backwards.
They watched with surprise  as the path literally closed up with grasses and vines.
"There is an evil force alive inside this forest. Let's get out of here!"
The Soldiers quickly retreated.
"Do you think that's the reason it is called E-vu forest?" One of them asked as they quickly wadded through  the swamp.
"What do you mean?"
"E-vu like evil. Maybe they named it Because there is something evil in there."
"That's stupid. Let's report back to the Tower."
****
The three Dreamers walked on for a while in a nervous silence. The Forest felt alive. It whispered and the air would be cold at one moment and become incredibly hot.
"This place is bizarre." Jak stated, his voice ringing through the forest.
Machi kept her eyes down. Something was watching them. She could feel it.
"Hold on." She said.
They stopped and turned to her, "What?"
"Where are we going and what are we doing?"
Jak turned to Amzhi, hoping he had the answers.
"I–I don't know," He looked around him, "Do you think you can call that bird?"
"No." She quickly said. Machi didn't want to feel any more weird and strange than she felt at the moment. She felt it was weird enough talking to a bird, calling one would be crossing the line.
They moved on for a while, with Amzhi leading the way. Machi clutched her arm as She walked on. She was trying hard to ignore the voices in her head. They had to be in her head, and certainly not from the Forest around her.
"Strangers!" She heard something scream in her head.
She gasped and turned around, the Forest silent and dark.
Jak gasped also; a transfered shock. The Forest was making him edgy and not knowing what direction they were heading made it worse.
"What is it?" Amzhi asked. It was getting increasingly difficult to stay brave. He was afraid, which to him was a natural feeling. He couldn't, however, let that fear show. Jak was scared and Machi seemed unsure of everything. It was up to him to add a little confidence to the group.
His father always told him: "Of what good is a party if every man in it is afraid. A true leader never shows his fear and a true leader is one who reconciles with the fear within him."
"There's something–I–I can hear something." Machi said, looking around her.
Jak gulped and moved closer to the group. He thought: Why am I even a Dreamer? I don't talk to birds, hear voices or live dreams. Maybe the detector was wrong.
The Forest began to shiver as if a gust of wind was passing through. The moonlight began to creep back in and a creepling sound was growing.
"I hear something!" Jak said, excitedly. And then the fear began to creep in.
"Stay close!" Amzhi urged and they all bunched up together.
"Strangers!" A voice called out just as the gust of wind passed through their ears. The voice was harsh and full of contempt.
"Strangers, strangers, strangers!!" Shrill voices began calling out.
The three of them remained fixed in their position, each of them trying  hard to find where the voices were coming from.
At that moment, a thick Fog appeared. The Fog rose up slowly like a smoke being released from a hole in the ground. The fog warped slowly, white in color and thick as the clouds. The fog began approaching them, slowly taking the form of beings. Human beings.
"Are those?" Jak quivered.
"Spirits!" Amzhi shouted.
"Run!" Machi yelled, grabbing both their arms and pulling them with her.
Running, Jak thought, he was sick of running. He'd done more running this single night than he'd ever dreamt of his entire life.
The forest seemed to tell them where to go. Machi was in front, gasping and listening attentively to the voices in her head.
"Left." She heard a voice say and a path turned up to her left. She took it. She looked to her sides and saw Amzhi and Jak surprisingly keeping up with her pace. Then She looked beyond them and saw the fog.
The fog seemed to be running with them. She felt it creeping towards them, enraged voices coming out of the thick mist.
Skipping through some trees, they reached an open clearing and kept rushing straight ahead. They saw it too late. A steep slope.
"Watch out!" Jak yelled as Machi tripped and began rolling down the slope. He tried to halt himself but found it to be impossible. His hand felt for something to grip and it caught Amzhi. They both fell through the slope, rolling through the dirt and leaves and almost not stopping. Their voices rang through the air; voices of fright.
Machi felt herself thrown against a tree and She went unconscious. Jak had blacked out halfway into the slope. Amzhi felt himself hit the flat earth. He groaned, trying to keep in focus the blurry images around him. He heard a voice and saw a bright light like a lightening flash and then it all went dark.

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Chapter 8

The Colonel found himself entering the Supreme Leader's Chambers for the second time in one night. A dreadful thing, he thought.
"What is going on out there!" The Supreme leader screamed as he walked into the Chambers.
He was looking especially terrible at the moment. His eyes were drawn and distant, spotting heavy sacks underneath them. His face sagged a bit and the white hairs on his chin seemed without order.
"Three Dreamers, Sir." The Colonel bowed, dreading his presence.
"Three Dreamers what?" The Supreme Leasder's voice echoed.
"E–Escaped," The Colonel said slowly,"Sir." He added.
The Supreme Leader walked, with a slight limp, to the wall and pulled on a rope. The huge drapes over a window fell and he was staring at the large, spherical moon.
"How exactly could they have escaped if they didn't strange, evil powers." He said with a calm voice. A calm voice laced with supreme loathing. He then turned to the Colonel.
The Colonel opened his mouth and shifted his feet where he stood. He'd actually expected an enraged tongue lashing from the Supreme Leader, instead he was looking at a man staring at him with a calm look that equalled a thousand tongue lashings.
"Colonel!" He called out.
"Supreme Leader!" He hunched himself in attention.
The Supreme leader walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"This–Dreamers– abominations, as I like to call them, are curses from the Devil himself. The people, they do not understand this." He turned away from him, "I know even you may have your doubts." He turned to the Colonel again, his eyes flashing, daring him to admit he had doubts.
"No, Sir!" The Colonel said, aware of that dangerous look.
The Supreme Leader smiled, "That is why you are a Colonel. You are professional."
"Tell me, where did they escape to?"
"I received word from my men. They entered the Forest West of the widelands; The E-vu forest."
The Supreme Leader chuckled, "The what?"
The Colonel looked uncomfortable, "The E-vu forest?"
"You mean the Forest of mists?"
"I–er?"
"The forest of Mists. Not the E-vu forest. The E-vu forest is a made up name for the young. I shouldn't have to start telling you about the Forest of Mists. It's written in the great hall."
He walked back to the window, "So the abominations decided to wander into the Forest of mists? a well deserved fate. The Cleansing would have taken them there either ways."
"Go and get me that Old fool. I believe he has something to do with all this."
"Yes, Supreme Leader."
The Supreme Leader watched with a wary eye as the Colonel departed.
He sighed and walked up towards the glass cabinet. His body was deteriorating and he now needed the yellow liquid every other hour.
"The yellow liquid." He chuckled to himself. It was more than 'the yellow liquid'. It was his life's force and at his age, it was waning.
It was almost that time of the year; the time when it was required that he replenished his life force.
"I can't fight immortality," He mumbled to himself, "but I can certainly try.
****
The Corridor was noisy with the sounds of welders reinforcing the gates holding the cells.
The Colonel walked in the middle with two armed Soldiers following by his side.
The floors clicked with the sounds of their boots as they approached the dark cell.
Standing aside, he gave an order for the cell to be opened. One of the Soldiers nodded and placed a key card into the lock. The cell clicked open and the Soldier stepped aside.
Running his palms together, the Colonel walked into the cell. He stood at the centre of the dark cell and looked around silently.
"He is gone." He muttered to himself, after he stepped out. This didn't surprise him, the Old man was a Sage or something.
****
The Old man stood at the entrance of a cave, scraping at the wall and muttering to himself. He was harvesting white star crystals that formed together on the wal of the rock; very potent for warping potions.
He paused when he heard a fluttering sound around his head. He looked around him, watching the bird zip from side to side.
The Old man looked ahead of him.
"Where are they?"
The bird fluttered and whistled. He listened intently and then shook his head. "That is not good."
He placed out his palm and stared at the bird as it perched on the open palms.
"You have done your work." With that he quickly brought his palms together and a bright yellow flame flew in the air followed by a thin film of red smoke.
He sighed, the star crystals will have to wait for another time.
The Old man bent to the ground and picked his staff. He brought out a red roach and crushed it between his fingers, smearing the milky substance over his palm. He then added a few grains of the star crystals to the milky substance and placed them at three points on the ground.
A purple warp formed and he stepped into it, disappearing with a whoosh.
****
A fire was crackling nearby. He could feel its warmth. He could also hear people chatting in hushed voices. Or where they far away?
Amzhi opened his eyes and focused it above him; He was in some kind of hut. He turned to his side and watched the flames rising from a fireplace in the middle of the hut.
He heard the voices again. This time he tried to get up. He winced as a sharp pain shot through his head. He touched it and felt something cold wrapped around his head.
Clutching his head, Amzhi got up on his knees and crawled towards the only door in the hut. The door was actually weaves of palm fronds draped across the entrance of the hut.
Pushing aside the palm fronds, he looked around.
There were people hurdled around a huge bonfire talking. Machi was also there.
The group immediately became quiet, aware of Amzhi. He crawled out fully and stood on his feet. He was aware of the noises around him; birds and crickets and the snapping of the fire.
"Where am I?" He asked as he reached the fire. He appreciated the warmth.
"These people saved us." Machi spoke.
Amzhi wanted to know who 'these people' were. His look obviously said so.
A man, tall and very dark stood up from a log. He was probably in his forties. He had on a well worn leather jacket, the kind typical of the Southerners. The Man's face was grave, as if he was mourning, or maybe it was his natural look. He noticed that the Man's hair was shaved completely, reflecting the moon's light with a mirror-like intensity. There were black dots visible from the middle of his forehead, in a straight line, and possibly to the back of his head.
"My name is Lo," He said, with his hands stretched out, "I am the Leader of the castaways."
Amzhi looked at him and then around him. They were in some sort of camp. He could see huts scattered around the wide area. Beyond that, the forest was visible. He didn't note any transmission cables or artificial light fixtures or see any bikes or trucks. This was obviously one of those tribes you read about who didn't believe in technology.
"Castaways?"
Lo held Amzhi's shoulder and pulled him to a raised tree stump.
"Sit." He said and Amzhi sat on it, in between two women who stared into the fire, seemingly unaware of him.
Lo walked back to the stump on which he'd been sitting.
"Your friend here,"He motioned towards Machi," She is just regaining her consciousness. "
Amzhi looked at Machi, hoping She could explain anything. She seemed as clueless.
He felt the pain again and touched the cold wrap around his head.
"You're healing. Let it be." Lo said.
"What happened?" Amzhi asked.
Lo threw some sticks into the huge fire, mumbling some words.
"Calm down, young one." Lo said, "The fire is refreshing. Sit close to it and heal. When your other friend–the fat one– when he wakes, I will explain everything to you." With that, Lo resumed gazing into the fire.
Amzhi groaned and got up from the tree stump. The women didn't flinch, he might as well not have been there. He walked over to where Machi was and sat on an empty stump beside her.
"What happened?" He pointed at a brown cloth tied around her arm.
"I have no idea." She said,"What happened to your head?"
Amzhi shrugged, "Also no idea."
"Where is Jak?"
Machi pointed to a hut beside the one he had emerged from. He followed her finger and then turned back to her.
"Do you know who these people are?"
Machi stared at him, "I only know as much as you do. I don't like so much questions."
"Sorry." He muttered and made to get up.
Lo suddenly gazed at Amzhi, "The fat one is dreaming. Let him be."
****
The Sky was light blue and cloudless. The sun rays beating down on the brown roofs of the clustered settlements in the Lower section of the city. It was a lovely day to fly.
Jak steadied the controller in his hand as he watched the model hoverjet rise from his feet into the air.
He laughed excitedly and followed it, keeping his eyes on it and expertly turning the knobs of the controller. He ran through the narrow streets, almost colliding with a man steadying a basket of fish on his head.
"Careful, young boy." The man grunted.
"Sorry." Jak stuttered and increased the altitude of his toy.
He noticed that some kids were following him with eager eyes. He ignored them, he wasn't planning to share his toy. He remembered how his hover board had been damaged because he had let a boy 'try it a little.'
The best way to avoid sharing it with them, he thought, would be to go back home. If they had ideas about taking it by force he knew he wouldn't be able to resist them.
He could see his stead from where he stood. He controlled the hoverjet and landed it the roof and proceeded to run home.
Jak ran his hand over the engraved eye on the door(it always fascinated him) and then he pushed open the door.
"Mother, I'm back!" He called out as he got into the house. He didn't get any answer and the house was dark.
Odd, he thought, because it was a bright day.
He heard footsteps coming from an inner room.
"Mother?"
He ran towards the room and stopped at the door. There was a Soldier in there, moving about as if searching for something.
"You!" The Soldier said, walking quickly towards him, "Dreamer!"
"No," Jak shook his head in fright, "I'm not a Dreamer!"
The Soldier grabbed him by the throat. His eyes were pure white and his face Hard set.
"Let.me.go!" Jak struggled and choked as the Soldier tightened the grip on his throat.
Jak pushed the hand away and fell flat on his face.
He gasped and turned around. He wasn't in the room any more. He coughed and massaged his neck; it hurt.
Jak found himself surrounded by the greens of a forest. He felt something drip on him. He looked up and saw the sky turning dark, unleashing showers of water on him. And then the fog appeared. He'd seen it before. He saw two people, a boy and a girl, running frantically away from the growing fog.
"Wait for me!" He yelled, picking himself up and trying to run.
"You're on your own." They replied, disappearing from his sight.
Jak kept running and then he stumbled and fell.
He gasped and tried to pick himself up but then the fog engulfed him. He screamed.

Chapter 9

They heard the scream come from inside the hut. It was Jak's voice.
Both Amzhi and Machi got up quickly.
"Leave him. He is dreaming." Lo said, gripping Amzhi's arm.
Amzhi released the grip and ran into the hut. Followed by Machi.
They watched Jak sit up from the mat he'd been sleeping on. He was breathing rabidly and he was so drenched that he was shivering. His eyes were still closed.
Machi picked some sticks and threw it into the dying fire in the middle of the hut. The fire increased and the hut got warmer.
Jak's breathing steadied and he slowly relaxed. Then he opened his eyes.
He looked at the faces staring at him and then he relaxed even more. He suddenly felt cold so he got up to his feet and moved to the middle of the hut, around the fire. Amzhi and Machi joined him.
He watched the orange core of the fire and the yellow flames as it danced as if to a silent beat inside the fire.. It felt as if he was staring in a mirror.
"I had a dream," Jak spoke, his eyes still on the fire, "but I didn't know it was dream. What I mean is I didn't think it was a dream. It felt so.." He turned around when someone entered the hut. Jak turned inquiringly to Amzhi.
"Do not worry. They rescued us."
Jak nodded and realized, for the first time, that they were inside a hut.
"Ah, finally," the man said as he walked up to them, "You are awake."
Jak kept staring at the man. The Man stopped in front of him and looked him over. A chubby one, he thought.
"My name is Lo. Come with me."
They all walked back to the bon fire outside. There was only a young girl sitting around the fire. Lo sat on a high stump(presumably for the Chief). They all sat around the fire.
"I know you have some questions?" He said, stirring the fire with a crooked stick.
"Yes." Amzhi said, "A lot of questions." Machi added.
"I will start with you, uhm, what is your name?" He pointed the stick towards Jak.
"Jak."
"Yes. Okay, Jak."
Jak adjusted himself on the stump, his clothes were dry now.
"I had a dream," he started, "in there and I didn't know it was a dream at first." He looked at the faces around the fire, "I'm not even still sure it was a dream. It felt like a memory. Like–"
"Like you've experienced it before?" Lo cut in.
Jak nodded, "It felt real. I was so scared." Machi tapped his shoulders affectionately.
Lo patted flicked the edge of his jacket as if removing some dirt.
"That is because you lived that dream. When we saw you on the forest, we knew at once that you three were Dreamers."
Jak looked surprisingly at him, "Am I?"
He nodded, "look around you, we are currently in the forest of Mists. Only Dreamers can get into this forest."
"Why?" Amzhi asked.
Lo wiggled in his seat, "it is said that there is a vengeful spirit that lives in this forest. The spirit of the first Dreamer."
"The first Dreamer?"
Lo nodded, "Not much is known of him except that his spirit lives in this very forest."
Machi spoke, "That fog, we could hear voices in it."
Lo looked downcast, "Yes. We think that it's the spirit of the lost Dreamers."
"Lost?" They chorused.
"Dead. The ones killed during the final phase of the cleansing." It was the young girl who spoke.
"Be quiet, Sara." Lo snapped.
"Killed?" Jak asked with a look of fright. Lo shot a look-what-you've-caused look at Sara, who didn't seem moved by it, and continued speaking.
"I believe you three have experienced the cleansing?"
"Yes." They answered.
"They captured us from our homes and were going to banish us to the e-vu forest. That was what my Father told me."
Lo chuckled sadly, "You have no idea where you are, do you?" He didn't let them answer, "look around you, this is your so-called e-vu forest. But, we know it here as the forest of mists."
Machi looked around at the people walking about the camp.
"Are they also Dreamers?" She slowly asked.
Lo nodded, "We are all Dreamers." He smiled when he saw the surprised looks om their faces.
"I told you, only Dreamers can get into this forest."
"You're a Dreamer?" Jak whispered to the young girl, Sara, who just nodded. Jak smiled, relieved. At least they were not alone.
Amzhi touched the wrap around his head, "So, what happened to us?"
Lo watched the fire, "It's the period of Cleansing. We knew the final phase would soon commence and they'd be sending Dreamers in here when the moon was up; when the fog comes out." He stared at them again, his eyes glowing like the fire was in it and then he continued, "But we didn't expect to find three Dreamers running wilding into the forest."
"How did you find us?" Machi asked.
Lo stared at the young girl fondly, "Sara did. You see, as a Dreamer, you get to have certain abilities. You figure them out and you develope them. Sara's ability is discernment. She saw you three and sensed the danger you were in."
Jak looked at Sara and smiled, "That's awesome." She ignored him.
Lo became serious again, "We arrived just in time to stop the fog from taking your essence."
"What does that mean?" Amzhi asked.
"Whatever it is, Amzhi, it doesn't sound good." Jak mumbled, resting his face on his palms.
"You're right, it isn't good," Lo said gravely, "That is what the final phase of the cleansing is all about." His voice was rising, the flames with it. "He sends those children out into this forest of mists at the time the fog is out. The fog–it–it feeds on Dreamers. It engulfs them and takes their very essence, their dream spirit and without that essence, they become part of the fog. And no one has dared to stand up against that Devil that lives in the Tower! No one!"
Lo looked around at their faces; it had happened again. He was on his feet and breathing hard, the flames of the fire rising high into the air with his voice. He closed his eyes and calmed down. The flames began to die down also.
He sat back on the stump, "Not even us." He said softly.
The camp became silent.
Machi stared into the fire, watching the dazzling flames beat at a pulse. There was a voice in there. A tiny whisper, she couldn't make out any words. She stared enquiringly at Lo.
"You hear him?" He asked, feeding some sticks into the fire.
The voice was getting clearer now. She could hear him greeting her.
She stared up again, "Yes, the voice–it's –what's in there?"
Lo smiled and nodded, "Every Dreamer has an ability. A special ability. Tell me, do you hear things speak?"
Machi looked around her, at the curious glances of Jak and soft admiration of Amzhi, and the distant look of that strange girl, Sara, "Yes, I hear these voices in my head. Muffled voices."
Lo got up, "It's your ability; you're an omniscient Dreamer."
"Like a God?" Jak asked, shocked.
Lo chuckled and faced Machi, "Not in that sense. Everything has a voice; the trees, the fire, the wind, the very earth we walk on. You can hear them and even talk to them. Including the animals."
"Yes. We've seen that," Jak said excitedly, "She was communicating with this magical bird and.."
"Magical bird?" Lo asked.
"Yes, uhm–that's how we escaped the Tower." His thought drifted back to Jed. He was dead and it was their fault, "We were following it."
The flames kept dancing about.
"Why?"
"I think Machi can explain it better." Jak said and they all stared at Machi.
Machi hated being the focus of attention.
"The little bird told me that we were needed. He said we should follow him and we did."
"This bird, who sent it?" Lo asked.
"An Old man." Amzhi answered, "He had strange eyes that glowed and when I looked into them I saw–I think I saw the future."
"And then his eyes were all glowy." Jak added.
Lo didn't pay any attention to that, "You zoned into this old man. Tell me, what was in that future?"
As Amzhi was about to speak, he stopped him. "No, don't worry. Give me your hands."
Amzhi stretched out his hands and Lo walked up to him and grabbed them.
He held each hand in his and shut his eyes tight. Amzhi felt a growing hotness in him and then his eyes went all glowy and White.
The flames in the middle of the camp began to rise and then it turned yellow. Everyone around it watched the flames as it swayed and burned brightly.
Lo finally let go of Amzhi and the flames died down to it's normal size.
Lo looked at the ground for a while, and then turned to them, "You all need to rest now." He turned to Sara, "take them inside. The moon will soon go down."
He began walking away.
Amzhi finally regained himself and ran up to Lo, "What just happened?"
"I zoned with you. We connected. Go and rest, everything will be fine."
Lo left Amzhi, who still stood where he was, and walked into a large hut.
He looked around at the faces of the people seated around a wooden table.
"The prophecy is true."

Chapter 10

Pok Mak Loho, winced as he felt the last drop of the yellow liquid stream down his body. He felt the familiar dizzying weakness and then the surge of life back into his body. He walked up to a mirror and looked himself over; the paleness was gone and his skin was oily bright once again.
He smiled, and then frowned. He'd have to  journey deep into the mountains again if he wanted to get any more of that yellow liquid.
His life force was weakening. First, he grimaced, the final phase of the cleansing has to be carried out in about eighteen hours. Send those abominations back where they belong.
"Supreme Leader."
He was startled slightly; he'd been so deep in his thoughts to notice someone enter.
He regained his composure quickly.
"What?!" He bellowed.
"The Old man is gone."
                              ****
His name was actually  Oro, the Old man. At least that was how he had been addressed in his youth. He'd been around  for countless decades. Again, that was what people said.
Long before the new republic was formed, uniting the North, South, East and West under the Supreme Leader, long before the cleansing of Dreamers, sometime in the early twenty first century,  a strange man appeared on the hills.
Back then, the widelands had been a vast green of various plantations merging harmoniously with the forest in the west.
Oro had been an apprentice to a local herbalist in a small settlement in the West.
An Idi, as they called it. Learning the names of hundreds of unique species of herbs. Learning their uses and where to find them.
Being the apprentice of a herbalist was regarded, to the People, as an honour. You spent days in the forest, conversing with nature and learnt to listen to the lessons of the earth.
A big privilege. Oro hated it.
Oro regarded himself as an intellectual. On his free days from the herbalist shop, he would wander into the town library and pick out books. He had no preference; he picked any that caught his fancy.
It was very strange to see an Idi high up in the trees, flipping through the brown pages of a book. The tree part isn't what's strange, it's the book.
"What are you doing?" The herbalist asked Oro one day.
He looked down from the mango tree his was perched.
"Reading." He said. He closed the book and jumped down. It would be a taboo for his elder to be looking up to him.
The herbalist shook his head disapprovingly, "An Idi has no place with books." He said the 'books' like he'd just muttered the most profane obscenity. "You will take over from me one day. You will not need books then."
Oro wanted to argue. What if I do not want to take over from you? What if I want to study the many languages of the world, travel across the great sea, travel to the big cities and go to school?
But he didn't argue. There was no point, he'd made those arguments numerous times and here he was, still being told that he had no place with books.
It could be said that Oro's life took a distinct turn the day he least excepted it. It was the Harvest season; the end of the year.
To an Idi, this signified a four week break from the greens of the forest and the brown of mother earth. There was no real explanation for this, except that it'd been done every year for so long that everyone had forgotten the origin.
Oro pushed open the sturdy Iroko door and walked into the old library. As usual, it was empty. He smiled at the silence and the almost intoxicating smell of old books.
He walked up to the counter and bowed In  greeting to the Old woman leafing through a book. She was the librarian, of sorts.
She smiled, "Hello, Oro, My favorite bookworm. You know, an Idi has no place in a library." She paused, and then began laughing. Oro joined, too. It was an old joke, one he still didn't get but was as fond as a greeting.
He walked towards a shelve of books and selected one: Ancient Fables and urban mystics.
"You have read that before, haven't you?" The librarian asked.
"It's my favorite," He clutched the book in his armpit, "do you believe in magic?" He asked.
The Old woman patted her white hair and then smiled, "Magic is all around us.
But if you mean supernatural forces beyond our understanding, then yes. I do."
"It is fascinating," Oro said, rubbing the old cover of the book, "to think that there might be powers out there, beyond our understanding."
The Librarian nodded, "It is, isn't it?" She got up from her seat and walked around the counter, "I have some new books you might like."
Oro smiled and waited by the counter as she walked into a small room. She emerged moments later with a big black book.
She handed it to him, "You seem like someone who would appreciate this knowledge."
Oro looked at the book with awe and then held it. He felt a strange sensation throughout his body as his hands touched the book.
He smiled again, "Goodbye." He said and walked out through the door. The Old woman smiled thoughtfully and nodded slowly. "He will soon be ready."
In those days, once a male young reached the age of sixteen, he was required to leave his Father's house and build his own. This has been a tradition for hundreds of years. It still held in the twenty first century.
Oro walked into his small wooden house, one he'd built by himself, and one people thought was shameful for an Idi.
"Your mates are using cinder blocks and iron for their houses and yet you chose to use wood, why?" His Father had scolded about a year ago. He hadn't answered, simply because his answer would have been 'I don't care'.
He switched on a lamp and dropped the book on his table(made of wood, of course).
The book was about Magic and the supernatural. In the following days tjat came, the book became his sole obsession.
He rode his bike into the forest one day, listening attentively.
The forest is alive, according to the book(atleast the herbalist got that one right) and it speaks when you listen.
He rode deep into the forest and came out in a small valley. He had a brown bag flung over his shoulders. The book was in it. He'd been to this valley countless times before.
He fell the bike and walked to a single tree that lofted in the middle of the valley. He dropped the bag and took out the book. He rested his back on the edge of the tree and opened the book.
He flipped the cover and then the pages of the book began flipping as if a gust of wind was directed at it. This always happened; it was as if the book chose what he should read. He didn't think this odd.
The pages stopped flipping and he began staring at an image on the page.
The image was of a young boy sleeping. Above the young boy was a cloud in which some images were drawn. These images were his dreams. Oddly, beside the boy sleeping was the same boy, but awake and watching the images in the bubble.
"Dreamers."
The bold text on that page said.
Oro spent the next hour reading about this strange phenomenon. A Dreamers fantasy, they wrote.
"To dream is to live. There should be  no distinguishing between  reality and dreams. They are both two of the same thing. Like identical twins born of the same egg."
Oro couldn't understand the message in what was written. He felt a draft of air and then he looked up. It was late afternoon and the sun was high, but mild.
Oro stood up when he noticed something far in the hills. Beyond the valley, in the horizon, were seven hills. He could see what looked like black smoke rising from the hill in the middle.
He quickly placed the book into his bag and flung it over his shoulders. He stood the bike and straddled it.
The old bike wobbled through a small lane by the side of the valley. When he got to the foot of the hills, he could see a single road which branched seven times towards each hill. He took the one in the middle.
The lane rose rapidly as he ascended the hill, so much so that the old bike almost began a backward retardation. Oro got out from the bike and began the straining task of rolling the bike to the top of the hill.
He fell the bike when he got to the top and tried to catch his breath. He stood still, looking  at a small mud hut sitting in the middle of the hill. The smoke he'd seen was coming out from the roof of the hut.
He looked around him to see if he could find anyone. No one.
He walked slowly towards the entrance of the hut. As he got closer, a massive shadow hovered around him. Was that a bird?, he thought.  Then there was an ear piercing shrill noise. Oro looked around him, but saw nothing. He wanted to run but he  stood still, transfixed, not by fear but by a strange urge willing him to wait.
It was then he saw it; a big bird.
The bird kept circling above him, the blue sky in it's background. Oro noticed that the wind had picked up and the grasses on the hill rustled aggressively. The silent valley was now waking up, it seemed.
The bird made that shrill sound again, this time more piercing, and then it swooped down.
Oro's instinct to run overcame that strange urge to wait, and he found himself running towards the slope of the hill. He ran past his bike,  panting and nearly tripping on the rocks scattered on the hill.
He was aware of the sound behind him that was drawing closer.
The valley was still far off, and the forest even farther.
He felt his heart beating fast, and then he tripped over a strong vine that seemed to come out of nowhere.
He fell face down on the grass and then quickly turned on his back, facing the incoming bird.
He yelled, the sound of his voice even sharper than that of the bird. And then, he felt a heavy tap on his head and he blacked out.
Oro woke up and turned his head to look over the room. He was in a hut, a big hut. He knew because of the typical sturdy walls and thatched roof. There were dark markings on the walls. He looked to the far corner of the room; there was someone there, he couldn't see him clearly, the fire in the hut  only made him look like a shadow. He was mumbling, like he was conversing with someone, but he was alone.
Oro sat up. Then the  man turned to stare at him. Oro gasped. He was a thin old man, with white hair and white eyes. His eyes were literally all white, and they shone like glass.
The Old man  kept mumbling as he drew closer to him. He walked with a slight limp, and he carried a grey stick with white cowries wrapped around the edge with a thin string. A witch doctor, Oro thought.
Witch Doctors weren't common in the West. There were herbalists, but no witch doctors.
He limped past Oro and sat down by the fire. He stared into it for a while, and then he spoke.
"You should not wander into places you aren't invited ."
"I am sorry, I did not mean–"
"I am not a witch Doctor." He interrupted Oro.
Oro sighed with relief.
"I am a sage."
Oro got up and walked towards the old man. "Sage, sage," he thought,  where had he heard that word before? His eyes opened widely,
"A magician? You are a magician."
The Old man stared at Oro, "A sage is   more than a magician. It's beyond conjuring tricks that pleases the eyes; a Sage has a mission, a calling."
Oro frowned, "So, you cannot conjure up things like in books?"
"Oh, I can do that. It is just not what a Sage is mainly about."
Oro nodded, then he remembered. "The big bird that attacked me, what happened to it?"
The Old man got up and walked towards the entrance of the hut, he turned back, "Follow me."
Oro followed the Old man outside the hut. He stood by the entrance. How long had I been unconscious? He asked himself when he saw the bright moon high up behind a thin cloud.
He looked away from the moon. The Old man wasn't there anymore. He looked around him and then he saw a man standing by the edge of the hill. He could only make out the back. He walked up to the man, noting that the man was decades younger than the Old man but wore the same brown garment. It couldn't be, could it?
"It is not a magic trick," the man spoke, "a Sage has the ability to take on many forms."
Oro waa awe stricken. He didn't speak.
He watched the man stretch out his hands and to his surprise, his garment seemed to tear away and his flesh seemed to turn inside out, and then a whirlwind blew over the man. Oro covered his face, shielding it from the dust being carried by the wind.
He took his hand off his face when the wind died down He heard that familiar shrieking noise and looked up to see the big bird hovering a few feet from him.
He gulped and tried to say something, but no words came out. The bird flapped it's wings and flew high into the night sky and then it swooped down and landed right in front of Oro.
He watched the bird wiggled its feathers in front of him, and he tried to look when the gust of wind came back. He couldn't.
He heard a crunching noise and he looked up to see the man back to normal.
"You were that bird? Oro said.
The Sage nodded and began walking back towards the hut.
Oro stood still, watching him. He wanted to ask why the bird had attacked him earlier, and what a Sage was doing this far out in the West. Instead, he walked up to the Sage and said, "Teach me."

Chapter 11

The final phase of the cleansing was set to begin in a few hours.
There really wasn't any ritual involved in it except that the Dreamers are herded towards the forest of mists and made to go in.
On the face of it, it doesn't sound like a terrible punishment, except that the final phase is carried out when the moon is high. When the Fog is alive and roaming.
Then again, most People had no idea what the Fog did. They just assumed the Dreamers are banished into the forest of mists, never to set foot in the city again.
Most people, excluding the Supreme Leader.
The Supreme Leader sat on his throne, listening to one of his Elders rant about something he wasn't paying attention to. His mind was urging him to get over the final phase of the cleansing and begun his journey into the mountains.
"I have heard you, Elder." He said, a hand on his chin(whatever the Elder had been talking about), "As we all know, it is almost time for the final phase of the cleansing."
He heard mumblings, but ignored it.
"Also, and more importantly, I know that most of you would be wondering where the Chief Elder is." He shifted his gaze from one face to another. Pitiful Old fools, he thought.
He cleared his throat, "He is in custody, presently battling to stay alive." He heard gasps, then his face became stern, "His Son is one of those abominations and he tried to hide him. He tried to go against my will." He kept watching their faces as he talked, "I believe this is both a good and a bad thing. A Good thing because this serves as a perfect example; now none of you will ever think of going against my Will. A bad thing because I now need a new Chief Elder."
He scanned their faces. Pathetic. He really didn't need a Chief Elder, he didn't need any of them at all. But he needed an intermediary between himself and the People. He certainly was not going to talk to them directly.
"You," he pointed at one of the elders. A relatively young one, with fewer grey hairs in his head.
The elder stood up, "Supreme leader." He bowed.
He acknowledged the bow, "You are now the new Chief Elder."
He looked towards the window, at the high moon.
"Now, to more important matters."
****
Lo began pacing around the room, he had a grave look on his face.
"I tell you, I saw it!"
"Sit down, Lo and let us discuss this. You are getting too distracted." A woman in a grey cloak said.
Lo walked up to the wooden table and drew up a seat.
There were six people seated around the table, including Lo. These Six people made up the council that made the decision on everything concerning the Castaways; the Dreamers sent into the forest of mists by the cleansing. The Council was evenly distributed; three males and three females. Lo was of the highest rank.
"Now, tell us what you saw." One of them said.
Lo placed his hand on the table and narrated the vision. When he was done, he noted the silence amongst them.
"So, is this good news?" One of the council members asked.
Lo thought for a while, "If the prophecy is true, which I suspect, and we go according to it, then the world's end is upon us." He looked around the table, "And that is not good."
"But the prophecy also spoke of three young Dreamers who could prevent the end. What if–"
"It cannot be!" Lo shouted, "Have you seen those three? They are as inexperienced as a new born young. They don't even know anything about their abilities."
"Then we can train them." Someone said.
Lo became silent, and then he nodded, "Fine. We will train them. But we haven't much time."
A whistling sound was heard in the room and they all turned towards a huge oval mirror.
Lo stood up and walked up to the mirror. A thin ray of light entered the room from a hole in the roof and reflected on the mirror. The whistling sound got louder as the reflection got brighter.
Lo turned to the council, "The final phase is about to begin."
****
"I cannot believe we slept throughout the day." Amzhi said, sitting cross legged inside the hut.
"It must have been some sort of spell, I think." Machi replied, "I feel exhausted."
"And hungry." Jak put in.
"What?"
"I don't know about you both, but I'm hungry."
Machi and Amzhi mumbled in agreement.
"Come on." Jak stood up and walked out of the hut.
"Hey!" Jak waved when he saw Sara walking by. She paused and waited as he 'ran' up to her.
"Hi." Jak said. She nodded.
Amzhi and Machi joined them.
"What happened to us, why have we been asleep all day?" Machi asked.
Sara looked at them, "It was important that you slept through the day because you were wounded."
"So, it was magic?" Jak asked.
"In a way, yes." Sara replied.
Amzhi touched his head, "It doesn't hurt again."
"Me too." Machi said, rubbing her arm.
"You must be hungry." Sara said, "Follow me."
Jak beamed.
They walked into a wooden shelter that had a long table with chairs positioned around it.
"This is the dinning area." Sara explained and opened a cabinet where she retrieved three clay bowls.
She dropped the bowls on the table and walked towards the end of the table where a pot was sitting over a fire.
Jak pulled up a chair and sat on it, the rest following his lead.
Sara brought a big steaming bowl with a ladle in it.
"What really happened to us back there in the forest?" Machi asked as she watched the girl pour a broth which contained what looked like chopped pieces of meat into the clay plates.
Sara placed the bowl on the table when She was done and sat on a chair.
"It was around this time when I saw it." She began with a dazed look.
Sara had been sorting a pile of vegetables when She felt it. She dropped the vegetables as her hand trembled. Her breathing quickened and She closed her eyes. She began to see flashes of images in her head; this only happened when there was danger at hand. The premonition wasn't clear this time but She knew that the persons she was seeing were close by.
She got up from where She was sitting and went into the large hut where the council stayed.
"What is it, Sara?" Lo asked when he saw her.
She was breathing hard, "I'm having them again."
Lo stood up, "What is it this time?"
"It's not very clear but I can see three persons, young persons, running in the forest. They seem–" She looked up, "Scared."
"No one can enter this forest unless..." He looked at her, "what sort of danger are they in?"
She closed her eyes, "I can see the Fog." She said, dreadfully.
He looked at her softly, "Go back to what you were doing. Thank you."
"Yes, Father." She said.
Lo stepped out of the hut and signalled two young men.
"We will need a cart." He said to one of the young men.
Lo walked fast in front while the two young men stood on either side of the donkey drawn cart.
They walked on until they reached a clearing.
"Keep your eyes open." He said to them, "We shouldn't be out here by this time."
The young men looked unsure, "Then why are we out here?" One of them asked.
Lo shot him a scornful look and was about to lash out a remark when they had some noises.
"What was that?" Lo asked.
"Over there!" One of them said, his hands stretched towards a slope where they could see some persons rolling down. They also saw the fog slowly creeping down the slope, towards the persons who fell.
"Pul up your masks!" Lo said, dragging a black cloth over his face and running towards the slope. The mask was to protect them from the fog. It couldn't see them if their faces were covered.
Lo reached the base of the slope and muttered some words. Immediately a bright light appeared, followed by a burst of flames towards the growing mist.
He grunted as burst after burst of flames rushed through his sleeves and out his hands.
The voices in the mist screeched and the mist retreated and dissolved into the air.
Lo kept breathing hard as he walked up to the unconscious persons. They were very young, he noticed.
He signalled the young men and they drew the cart up towards them.
"We'll take them back to the camp. They must be Dreamers."
Lo looked back into the forest, seeing a little of the mist forming again.
Sara looked up at them, "When they brought the three of you to the camp, you were all unconscious and wounded."
Jak gasped, chewing a rubbery piece of meat and swallowing hard.
"What if you hadn't had that premonition?" Machi asked.
"Lo said that if they had been even a few minutes late, the Fog would have taken your essence."
"So you saved our lives." Jak said, "Thank you."
Sara smiled faintly and let the dinning area.
They ate in silence for a while before Amzhi spoke.
"We still have not talked about that Old man."
Jak stopped eating. He wished they wouldn't bring up that topic. He felt safe here and someone had already died because of that Old man. He wanted to say this.
"We have to find him." Amzhi said.
"Do we?" Jak asked, pushing his plate aside, "I think it's a bad idea."
"What do you mean?"
Jak shrugged but didn't answer.
"I think Amzhi is right, Jak." Machi said, "Didn't you see the flames when he did that strange thing with Amzhi?"
"I know. But I'm afraid. We would have died, if not for them. Why can't we just stick with them, I'm sure they can handle it."
Amzhi shook his head, "I know what I saw when I looked into that Old man's eyes. We have to find him."
"How?" Machi asked.
"I–I do not know." He thought of the blasted bird that lead them out of their cell and abandoned them.
"We cannot go out there on our own, that's for sure." Machi said.
"Thank you." Jak put in and Machi looked at him.
"I'm not saying we should stay here either."
"What then?" Amzhi asked.
"We could talk to Lo. I'm sure he could do something."
Amzhi nodded, "Okay." He had to see that Old man. Those images, they wouldn't leave his head.
****
The cells dinged open and the Soldiers began herding the weak looking Dreamers, one after the other, into the back of a huge truck.
The Supreme Leader sat quietly at the back of a Rover, watching the truck with a sneer as the Dreamers walked slowly into the back.
Words couldn't describe why he loathed Dreamers intensely. Actually, it could be summed up in a few words; He lost his only son to a Dreamer. That was many years ago.

Chapter 12


"Slow down, Kari." He yelled as he watched his son run across the hillside, towards the mountains.
"You're too slow, Father."
He walked quickly when he saw his son standing with a strange man. The strange man had his Son's hand in his.
"What do you think you are doing?" He yelled and pulled his son to him.
The man smiled.
A middle aged man with dark flowing hair and long beards.
"Your Son is gifted." The strange man said.
He held his Son's hand, "What do you mean gifted?" He asked, looking suspiciously at the strange man.
"Supreme Leader!"
He broke off from his reverie and turned to look at the Soldier who'd opened the side door.
He gnarled, "What!"
"We have arrived at the edge of the forest."
He looked around him. He shook his head, how long had he been secluded to his thoughts?
 
"Very well," He said, stepping out of the vehicle, "Bring them out."
The doors of the truck swung open and the youngs  walked out slowly, not one word being uttered.
"Place them in groups!" The Supreme Leader ordered.
The Dreamers shifted slowly as they were placed into pairs. 
After this was done,  the Soldiers looked at the Supreme Leader for their final orders.
The air was tense and quiet. Most of the youngs out there thought they were about to be executed. They were aware of the Soldiers awaiting orders. Thankfully, they noted, there were no guns.
The Supreme Leader nodded.
"Alright," a Soldier boomed, "Under the Law of the new republic, you are hereby banished from the People's City for possession and manifestation of evil abilities." The Soldier said this with as much conviction as he could mutter. Not so  much.
The Supreme Leader watched all that was going on with a bored expression.
It was getting boring and tiresome. He was thinking, if he started executing Dreamers maybe that would be easier.
Then again, it wouldn't still bring satisfaction. His thoughts trailed off again.
"What do you mean gifted? He asked the strange man.
The strange man walked closer to the boy, " Look at him," he said, almost sniffing the boy," The very essence of dreams flows within him."
He pushed the man away from his Son, "I do not understand."
The Strange man chuckled, "You will. Soon." And he began walking away.
Father and Son stood still watching him, then the strange man turned, "And when you do, I will be right here waiting."
As he said that a gust of wind blew over him and he wasn't there anymore.
That very night, he began noticing strange things.
The time was somewhere around midnight when he heard screams from his Son's room.
"Kari!" He rushed into the room and halted by the door. He son was wriggling on his bed, and groaning with his hand gripping the bed tight.
He rushed towards the bed and held both shoulders of the boy.
"Calm down, Kari. It is just a bad dream." 
How right he was.
The boy's wriggling and groaning slowly reduced and he was soon breathing normally.
This was the first instance, so He thought nothing of it.
"Sir! He heard someone shout.
" what?" He turned around him, "What is it?"
The Soldier looked at his feet, "They are gone."
"Oh." He looked up at the high moon as the thin cloud peeled off, making the night brighter.
He climbed into the vehicle, "The Fog comes." He smiled wryly.
                  ****
They were seventeen in total, broken into eight pairs, with one group having an extra man.
The moment the Dreamers got into the Forest, there was am initial sense of relief which quickly faded into uncertainty.
"I say we should wait here and hope someone finds us." A boy of about thirteen said.
"That's stupid." Someone muttered.
"What do we do now?" A girl asked.
The biggest boy in the group saw this as an opportunity to exercise his superiority.
"I would like to make two things clear." He paused, making sure he had everyone's attention. Satisfied, he continued, "I think I am the oldest here. I am seventeen. Is there anyone older than seventeen?" He looked around. No one. He smiled.
"Good, so I am in charge. Second, we have to stay together. I used to spend time in the forest, hunting and fishing." He paused,  "In my dreams, though."
Everyone chuckled.
With the mood lightened a little, he continued. "This is also a forest, how hard can it be?"
As he said that, they began hearing a creaking sound.
"Look!"  One of them gasped.
They began mumbling as they watched the path through which they came begin to close up.
"We cannot go back there." The Seventeen year old said, "So we move forward."
They Dreamers lined up and began moving into the forest. No one noticed the mist that had  begun to rise from the earth.
                           ****
Amzhi found him rushing towards a hut.
"Lo!" He shouted and ran up to him.
Lo looked at him and wondered what it was now.
"What is it, Amzhi?"
"I need to ask you something."
Lo shuffled his feet hurriedly, "I'm busy right now. Can it not wait?"
Amzhi shook his head, "It is about the Old man I–uh zoned with."
Lo narrowed his eyes, "What about him?"
"I need to see him. We–need to see him."
Lo shook his head and frowned, "That cannot be possible now."
"Wait, but–"
Lo interrupted him, "Like I said earlier, I am busy. We have Dreamers in that forest right now." He pointed, as if they were right in front if him.
Amzhi followed his hand, and opened his mouth to say something but He was interrupted again.
"Half of which will not make it to this camp." He looked up into the sky, "I don't have much time." With that he rushed off leaving Amzhi staring at the sky.
As he was about to look away he saw a short streak of blue lightning flash through the skies. An odd colour, he thought.
                     ****
"How long have we been walking?" A young boy asked, rubbing his feet and sitting on a fallen tree.
"Keep up." The seventeen year old shouted from the middle of the line.
"I'm tired." Another said, joining him on the stump, "And hungry."
The young boy looked at the line; it was still visible. "Let's rest here  a little. We can still catch up with the others."
The second boy nodded, smacking his lips and looking around.
"Do you smell that?" He asked, sniffing the air.
"Smell what–oh yes, I do, what is it?"
The second boy stood up, "I think it's moisture. Like there is water around here somewhere." He said excitedly.
"Yes," the first boy said, getting up from the fallen tree. He looked at the line which was getting less visible, "Shouldn't we call the others?"
The second  boy was already walking towards a cluster of trees, sniffing the air.
"We can still catch up, but right now I'm so thirsty."
The first boy followed him.
They walked behind the cluster of trees and came upon a small stream with clear, flowing water that glistened under the moonlight. The stream rushed silently, whooshing as the waves caught twigs and stones in its path.
"I told you!" The second boy said excitedly.
The first boy started laughing and rushed towards the water, his feet scraping the ground.
"It's delicious!" He exclaimed, lapping up the water hungrily.
"And it's cool!" The second boy said, making a big splash as he jumped in.
"My turn." The other said and plunged into the water. They wadded around in the water, gasping and laughing happily.
"Oh, look, it's like steam." The first boy said, pointing towards the mist hissing silently above the water.
"What? The other asked, then he noticed the 'steam' that seemed to be covering the stream, " I think we should get out." He said with a growing panic in his voice.
The mist grew thicker and it was beginning to get difficult to see anything. The hissing was also getting louder and an owl hooted nearby.
The boys quickly scrambled out of the stream and watched as the mist surrounded them. That familiar feeling of fear was beginning to creep back in. Their clothes stuck to their skin and dripped with water.
"What are those?" One of the boys asked, shutting his ears with his palm to drown out the voices.
They were about to scream when the mist completely covered them.

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Chapter 13

"Thirteen...fourteen, plus me fifteen." The seventeen year old paused and thought for a while, "Weren't we seventeen in total?" He asked to the mumbling of the rest.
They were hurdled together now in an uncertain mass of grumbling youngs.
The seventeen year old knew that he had to act quickly, he noticed that they were all getting afraid. Even himself. The Forest was dark, in a way, and it made little creaking noises that reminded him of horror books he'd read years back. The air also smelled of moist, rotting wood.
He had an idea and began walking towards the path they'd come from and then, suddenly, he stopped and immediately turned back to join the rest. He couldn't risk getting lost himself. Too bad, he'd told everyone to stick together.
"Everyone!" He called out, waving his hands. No one answered. Apparently, they were not listening to him. He was losing control.
The grumbling was getting louder and someone muttered something like 'we're going to die out here' and that seemed to make everyone even more nervous.
A bird perched on the crooked branch of a tree and screeched loudly.
The grumbling stopped and they all turned to find the bird that made the noise.
Everyone was suddenly becoming aware of the forest around them. The sticky leaves on the floor, the rustling of the wind against grass, the chirping of insects and then, the screeching of that bird.
"What sort of bird is that?" Someone asked. It had black, rough feathers patched unevenly on its skin as if whoever created it was in a hurry. The skin of its neck was bare and red, and it vibrated constantly. The bird stood on thin, stalk legs that had small, blunt-looking claws at the end of each digits.
The bird shook it's rough feathers and screeched again. A high pitched screech that pierced through the tense night and echoed through out the forest.
They were all focused on the weird-looking bird so no one saw the thin mist seep out into the open from the trees and form into a thick Fog.
A child of about twelve gulped slowly as she watched the bird shiver and flutter and screech and squawk. She stepped backwards a bit, her feet crunching on some dry leaves and then a faint whisper crossed her ears. At first She thought it was from one of the boys beside her, but then She heard the whisper again; strange words but filled with contempt.
She quickly turned to find the voice and was soon staring at a man that seemed to be covered partially in a cloud. His eyes were pure white and his face set in a scowl. The cloud surrounding him seem to emit some sort of hotness that was both warm and searing hot.
She screamed loudly, making everyone shift their attention from the bird to her.
The biggest boy, the seventeen year old, and every other person watched in shock as the strange man covered in a cloud engulfed the girl, absorbing a thin, light blue film of smoke from the her. The girl began to shake violently.
"Run!" He shouted to the others as the shaking reduced and the girl's arm went limp, the man in the clouds growing bigger and more visible.
The limp body of the girl dropped to the ground with a light thud and the Fog moved over it, towards the scrambling kids.
Birds fluttered noisily and the trees groaned as the loud voices disturbed the night.
The path was not wide enough and the trees on either side seemed to be too thick that it only encouraged movement on a straight path.
Bodies bumped against each other, over taking and slowing down.
The leg of a young boy caught a weave of grass and he fell down. He tried to get up but was knocked down again. He began to cry. The frightened kids ran past him, totally unaware of his wailing.
One boy stopped and gripped the kid on the floor by his arm and tried to pull him up. The young boy who'd fallen tried to rest his weight on his legs but winced loudly and dropped on the ground again. He'd sprained his ankle.
The other boy, the one to the rescue, picked up the injured boy and wrapped his arm over his shoulders.
He strained himself as he tried to move himself and the boy, constantly aware of the harsh voices getting louder and hissing of the Fog as it approached them.
They limped slowly, trying to catch up with the rest. The air was now vibrating with the hissing and the air suddenly became hot.
They strained on, ignoring the warmth approaching them. The wounded boy clenched his teeth and fell to the ground. Sweat trickled down his face and unto his lips. Bitter, probably from the leaves and trees.
"Run. Go, leave me." The injured boy croaked as he gripped the soft earth with his fingers, hoping the sharp pain shooting through him would subside.
The other boy shook his head and tried to move towards him but stopped as he saw the cloud cover the boy.
He whimpered and wiped his eyes, moving away from the fog and trying to focus his vision which was blurred with sweat.
He stumbled unto the ground and closed his eyes as the heat increased.
****
Sara gasped and opened her eyes. She lay on a wooden bed covered by a green mat. The wood creaked as She got off it and immediately ran out into the hot night.
She looked around for her Father, but didn't find him. "They have gone for the other Dreamers." Someone had said.
She couldn't wait or hope that they would do something. The premonition had been too vivid.
She quickly ran into a hut.
"I need your help!" She muttered to the three Dreamers. The hut was cold, She noted, or maybe it was her, and the fire burned slowly and low.
"Follow me!" She said, not giving them room for questions.
Walking quickly, Sara passed by the Council hut and quietly grabbed a leather bag. She'd certainly need it.
"Where are we going?" Jak asked quietly.
Sara stopped and turned to look. Satisfied that they were all with her, She continued moving.
"I had a premonition." She whispered. Edging past the back of a hut and crouching by a clump of bushes.
"Why are you whispering?" Machi asked.
Sara listened to the voices and watched as a group of women walked by. Then She turned to them.
"Because I don't want to be heard," She raised a dark cloak over her head and slung the bag over her shoulders, "Or seen." She then crossed over into a back section of the forest.
Machi stared at Amzhi who just shrugged. Jak was already following her.
"Let us just go."
****
"What's that smell?" Jak asked, sniffing the air as he bent over a tree branch. It was the smell of rotting plant materials under humid conditions.
"The Forest's essence." Sara answered, and paused.
"Well, it smells disgusting." Jak retorted.
"Shh, it can hear you." Sara said stretching her hand and then turning to check for the others, "Please be fast." She beckoned when she saw them walking slowly.
"Do you want to tell us why we are here?" Amzhi asked, feeling somewhat unsure of being back in this part of the Forest.
Sara squatted and closed her eyes, moving her head from side to side.
"I told you, I had a premonition."
"That doesn't tell us anything." Machi said, edging closer.
"Remember the way I said I had a premonition about you three in danger?"
They nodded, and then She opened her eyes, "There is someone out there who needs our help. And I have found him. Come on!"
She was agile. Jumping across fallen branches, never looking down but somehow not stumbling. The leaves rustled and the air hummed.
"Do you feel that!" Sara asked.
"Yes, this air is getting hotter."
They came by a patch with trees lined up together.
"That is why." Sara whispered, pointing. They all gasped.
They saw the Fog trailing slowly, a young boy suspended in the air with the light blue smoke, his essence, being sucked out of him. The air was hot and hissing sound was lingering. The harsh voices could still be heard.
The body dropped with a thud and the fog began moving towards a second young boy.
Sara quickly reached into the bag and brought out a white substance which She crushed with her hand.
She stepped out into the open and Amzhi rushed after her.
"What are you doing?"
The Fog stopped, attracted by the noise. The strange man in it turned, the voices getting even more enraged. Amzhi looked up at the white thickening fog and he suddenly felt faint, his eyes going all white and the visions coming back to him sharply. He dropped down to his knee, the voices around him muffled.
He felt someone grab him and pull him away.
Sara leveled her hand with her face and blew rapidly into her palm. The crushed substance which were in it scattered into the air towards the approaching fog. The hissing stopped and the voices reduced, just as the Fog was held in it's state.
She ran up to the petrified boy on the floor and grabbed him. She turned to the others.
"Help me, please, it will not hold him for long."
Amzhi shook his head and his eyes cleared. He watched Machi grab the young boy and they began running away from the Fog.
****
Lo pushed the leaves aside and emerged in a small clearing. He was dressed in a dark shirt tucked roughly into dark pants. A black cloth was wrapped around his face, showing only his eyes.
Five men emerged from behind him, also dressed alike.
Lo walked up to the middle of the clearing and stopped. The air was warm and dry. A sharp metallic taste lingering above him.
The grasses beneath him were brown as if scorched by a fire, the strands black and shrivelling with each touch.
"Aw, this is horrible!" Lo clicked his tongue and muttered to the men around him.
"We were too late." Someone said, shuffling his feet and smacking his boots against the earth, the grasses flying off as ashes.
They mumbled and walked around the limp bodies on the ground. Lo squatted by the bodies and muttered something.
They were merely empty vessels now; their essence sucked away.
The bodies began to shrivel into tiny bits of ashes and scatter against the wind.
"This is getting worse, Lo." A man named Markus said.
"Yes!" Another concurred, "Last year we were able to save just five out of fifteen Dreamers."
Markus moved up from behind Lo and stood in front of him, his face all sullen, "Look at this." He said, pointing around him, "innocent children, dead, because they were different." Markus turned his back and began walking away.
"Not couldn't even save one!" He shouted.
Lo quickly stepped forward and gripped his shoulders, turning him towards him.
"That's not true!" He yelled, "We saved those three!"
Markus was about to say something when the light around the forest grew brighter.
They all looked up as the sky grew darker and the moonlight began to flicker.
"What is that about?" He heard somebody ask.
Lo walked around slowly, rubbing his hands together. The winds were beginning to pick up.
That's odd, he thought, usually once the fog was done the moon returned to normal. Unless...
"There's someone still out there!" He shouted. Moving back to the others and looking around him.
The men quickly raised the dark cloths over their faces, their mouths moving as they called up their essence.
The forest around the six men glowed like a rainbow; a floaty, smoke like rainbow, with each man surrounded by the color of his essence: blue, purple, red, yellow, purple and purple, in that order. Lo was the red; flame's essence.
Leaves rustled as the winds picked up. The essence around the men were like coloured smoke, dancing awkwardly in the wind.
The bushes rustled and their attention shifted to it. They steadied their nerves, ready for anything.
The rustling increased, birds flapping away as whoever was coming got closer. And then suddenly, the path opened.
"Sara!" Lo shouted.

Chapter 14

Njonu Caves.
The Old man, Oro, sat  by the mouth of a large cave, watching the moon intently. The night air was calm and a warm breeze blew past.
His eyes were glassy and they reflected the moonlight like crystals.
He watched the moon brighten and shook his head. He looked beyond the cave and towards the vast forest below him.
He watched the stars around the bright moon flicker and then turn black.
The dark cave behind him lit up with a bright blue light as an Njonu sprite appeared.
It whistled with the air as it floated towards it's master.
The Njonus were said to be guardians and companions of Sages. Just Like a was guard, in some sort, to a king. Except that the Njonus were more powerful and even wiser.
Their caves were hidden deep in the mountains, only accessible through the portal of Sages. Or the more treacherous, uncharted Jungle that lay beneath.
The sprite was a floating, transparent blue being in the form of a woman. Her face was radiant and white, like some sort of lamp was being shown directly from behind her. Her hair floated as it would underwater or against a massive wind; swaying freely and scattering over her face. Her feet was bare and the color of the night sky with white dots on them(which resembled stars), and suspended a few feet above the ground.
Njonu Sprites take the form which their particular Sage defines. Sprites are so powerful that if they ever merged with a Sage he could become a mini-god. With powers unimaginable.
That never happened, of course. It was against the rules and it was dangerous to both the Sage and the sprite.
A dangerous thing as the Sage's mortal mind could very easily corrupt the sprite. Whether intentionally or not.
"It is not your fault." The sprite whispered and floated over the the Old man's side. He turned to the Njonu, and smiled.
They'd been together for many decades and she hadn't aged a day. He, on the other, was now an Old man.
He remembered their first meeting. In this very cave, many years ago.
Word had spread around the village that the young Idi, Oro, had neglected his herbalist studies to spend time in the hills with a strange man.
Oro had been approached by his Father who warned him that he was going mad.
"So be it." He had replied.
The  herbalist had been more subtle, even nonchalant when talking to Oro.
"I hear you now spend time in the hills."
Oro nodded, standing before the herbalist who was sitting on a creaking wicker chair.
The herbalist coughed and shrugged his shoulders, shifting one foot and placing it upon the other.
"What do you do out there?" He asked.
"I'm learning." Oro said.
The herbalist didn't push further.
"Let us just hope you do not regret this."
And that was it.
He had passed by the library one day and had discovered that the librarian was no longer there.
What ever happened to her? He thought.
Oro rode his bike through the forest and into the valley everyday.
He always fell the bike under that lone tree and walked up the hills; it felt more enchanting feeling the grasses against his fingers and chewing the bitter greens between his teeth.
"Do you know the reason why I agreed to teach you without any hesitation?" The Sage asked Oro. He was in the form of young lion, sitting and looking sternly at the boy.
"No." Oro said, trying to contain his excitement and wondering when he would get to change forms. I'll probably go for a hyena, or an eagle, maybe a–
"Focus and pay attention. I can hear you!" The Sage snapped.
"I chose to teach you because you are a natural. You have an open essence."
Oro walked towards the young lion and sat on the grass in front of it.
"What does that mean?" He asked.
"Do you know the reason why you were able to read the great black book?"
Oro shook his head, "Because I have an open essence?"
"Yes, exactly." The Sage transformed back to his normal self, the middle aged man, and got on his feet.
"Follow me." He said and began walking down the hill.
They walked quietly for a while before he spoke.
"If you had been any other person, I would have killed you as that bird."
The Sage said gravely. Oro gulped.
"But I saw, just in time, that you had been chosen by one of us."
"Chosen, by who?" Oro asked, puzzled.
The Sage stopped and turned to him, "Lady Maku, of course."
"Lady who?" Oro asked.
The Sage shook his head, "The one you call librarian. The one who gave you that book."
Oro stood transfixed, "She is a Sage?"
"No, guardian, my Njonu."
Oro shook his head. He was totally confused.
"Come with me, you will understand soon enough."
The Sage moved quickly, his feet barely touching the ground.
Oro tried to keep up, raising up a cloud of dust as his feet scraped the dirt.
The Sun beat down warmly on them as then got to the foot of the hill and proceeded to walk towards the very first hill.
The Sage, Oro noted, appeared to be walking slowly but he was indeed very fast. It was a task keeping up with him. This made him excited. If being a Sage gave you these strange abilities, then he was all in.
They walked up to the edge of one of the seven hills, the foot of which was muddy.
Oro hadn't realized that the hills were somehow connected to the valley. This one, for example, looked like a cup stacked at the edge of a table. A really vast and green table.
"Watch your step." The Sage said and took a small muddy path around the edge of the hill.
Oro followed him, stepping over the mildly sticky mud and feeling his heart lurch at the sight of the almost endless steep of the valley. He walked around the path and found himself at the back of the hill.
He gaped at the vastness before him.
The hill was surrounded by a lot of trees which looked like small balls of green plants from their height.
The Sage stood by the edge of the hill, his hand crossed behind him, preventing his loose robe from moving with the wind. He noted Oro's amazed and almost dazed appearance. He turned to him.
"Look below, and tell me, what do you see?" He asked Oro.
Oro walked to the edge, standing beside the Sage. He stretched his head outwardly, and looked below him. The Forest seemed even thicker from this point. Maybe even dangerous.
"A vast forest?" Oro answered, unsure whether there was more to it than he could see.
The Sage nodded slowly.
"That's right, and  beyond that?"
Oro looked up, feeling his gaze travel beyond the forest and towards the foot of a mountain. He looked further upwards, the mountain towered high into the sky, so high that part of it seemed to be blocking the sun and cutting it's light. White, the color was.
This one was easy.
"Mountains, white mountains." He said with more confidence.
The Sage shook his head, "Somewhere over there is the Njonu caves." He wrapped his robe around his waist, "And that is where we are headed."
He felt intrigued, Oro that is, and then he became apprehensive. The mountains were far off and the forest below looked uninviting.
Sure, the Sage was here but that was little comfort. He could neither turn into a bird nor a lion, or anything at all. And who knows what lay below in that forest. He only knew about herbs, and he was even a full Idi yet. What would he do if a beast attacked him? feed it some herbs?
The Sage quickly turned to Oro.
"I cannot concentrate with all that doubt running through your thoughts."
Oro watched the Sage take out something from the air and then take a few steps backwards. He watched him arch his back and begin to move around in circles, as if making impressions on the earth.
"I don't mean to doubt, but how do we get over there? It looks impossible."
The Sage looked up, "It almost is." He then arched his back up and muttered some strange words loudly, immediately the circle lit up and a purple gateway appeared, humming like a bunch of wasps were hovering around it.
He stepped back as if to admire what he'd done.
"Which is why we are going through here." He turned to Oro, "Follow me."
With that he walked into the portal, rays of light escaping as he did so.
Oro looked around him, aware of the silence and the humid air, he was unsure about the weird looking purple thing.
Then again, he thought, he was unsure about everything.
He slowly moved towards the humming gateway and put one foot in and then closed his eyes as he walked through it.
It had felt like just taking a few steps forward. Oro opened his eyes slowly, blinking rapidly to clear his vision from the light. He turned around him and saw the portal staring at him. He'd done it wrong, he thought to himself.
"Don't take too long." He heard the Sage's vibrant voice and turned around.
The first thing he noticed was the clear white sand crystals on the ground. And then the thinness of the air around him from the altitude.
He'd been right to think that the mountain towered towards heaven. The Valley below looked like a faint green carpet, the forest an unkempt grass and the hill from where they came like a raised Stone slab.
The Sun was warmer from up there and the walls of the mountains sparkled white as rays of light bounced off them.
The Sage had stopped where he was, waiting for Oro. He reached out his hand and handed Oro a brown cloth.
"Here, take this."
Oro collected the cloth and looked questioningly at the Sage.
"It is for your face. The winds can get treacherous up here, and you don't want those sand crystals in your mouth." The Sage said this gravely and with that drew up a white cloth over his own face.
"Why?" Oro said, trying to wrap the brown cloth over His face. He was clumsy with it and couldn't seem to get it over His face properly.
At that moment, the whistling of the wind could be heard and a cloud of sparkling white dust rose from the ground and moved rapidly towards them.
Oro panicked, his hand shaking as he fumbled nervously with the cloth, in a vain attempt to shield his face from the cloud.
The Sage quickly turned to Oro. Too late.
He watched the boy drop limply to the ground.
The Sage walked slowly towards him, his robe fluttering in the wind. He stood over the boy for a few minutes until the wind died down and the cloud settled.
Then he picked him up and placed him over his shoulders. Their shadows became clearer as the sun grew brighter.
The Sage walked up to a cave, stood still for a while and then entered it.

Chapter 15

Oro bolted upright from where he lay, looking around and breathing rapidly. The few seconds before he woke he'd felt as if he had been choking.
"That is why you do not want those sand crystals in your mouth." The Sage said calmly as he walked closer to him.
Oro looked around him. They were in someplace dark, except for what looked like the light of dawn seeping in through a crack. Had he been asleep that long?
"Did I sleep all through the Day?" Oro asked.
The Sage chuckled lightly, "No." He saw Oro relax, "You slept all of three days."
Oro gasped loudly. His jaws felt weak and his mouth tasted bitter. He rubbed his chin.
"An after effect of tasting those crystals. Here, take." The Sage said handing him a spherical bottle.
Oro took the bottle with both hands(it was that big) and drew it closer to his nose. He winced and drew back. It smelled like bitter lemons(he hated those) and then like orange.
He placed the mouth of the bottle on his lips and arched his head backwards, taking in the liquid.
It tasted like–nothing. The smells the liquid produced deceived your taste buds into expecting an explosion of various tastes; sour, sweet, even bitter. But the moment the liquid touched your tongue, it felt like air, except this time time in liquid form.
"What is this?" Oro asked, dropping the bottle and cleaning the liquid running down the side of his mouth.
The Sage looked at him, bemused, "You do not want to know. Not yet."
The Sage dragged a stool and placed it in front of Oro.
"It was not all bad." He began, "I know you wondering where this place is, I know."
Oro nodded.
The Sage continued, "Like I said, it was not all bad. We are inside an Njonu's cave."
Oro gasped and looked around him, wondering where the Njonu was.
The Sage smiled faintly, "Njonus can be a little bit timid naturally, so it was good that you were asleep these past three days." The Sage picked up a smooth rock, "For you see, now your Njonu knows you."
Oro opened his eyes wide and moved them towards the edge of their sockets, checking for this Njonu.
The cave was silent and it felt almost as if he was alone. The darkness, to him, intensified and then something caught his eyes.
A small blue light came into his view. He fixed his gaze on it as it slowly moved closer to him. The blue light grew bigger as it approached him. There was something engaging about looking into this light. Something that made you not to turn away.
The blue light was surrounded by a film of air and within it was a white globe which pulsated regularly, just like a heartbeat.
Oro was faintly aware of the Sage somewhere around him. He couldn't see him, but he was faintly aware of his presence.
He stared into the light for a while and then looked away when he heard the Sage's voice.
"That is an Njonu Sprite."
Oro shook his head in a bid to get his vision back to normal. Then, the cave got brighter and the blue light disappeared.
"It was–" he paused, thinking.
"Enchanting?" The Sage put in.
He nodded and ran his fingers through the skin on his arm.
"Why is it like that?"
"The Njonu is still a sprite. A spiritual being, if you must. What you just saw is it's natural form," the fire in the cave cackled and the light increased, He continued, "But in due time, you will be able to define a form for it."
"I heard this small voice in my head when I looked into it."
The Sage nodded, "Ah, yes. I believe it was speaking to you." He then chuckled, "We've both been watching you this past three days while you slept. It thinks you're interesting."
"What happens now?" Oro asked.
The Sage got up from the stool, hus face serious, "Now, you'll have to meet my other student."
****
The Old man walked slowly back into his cave.
"We have to find those three Dreamers." He mumbled, "But I cannot see them. I can still sense them," he said with relief, "which means that they are still alive."
The Njonu floated to his side, listening.
The Old man turned to the Njonu.
"And I know the only place they could." He gripped his snake staff tightly, "We just have to get to them before he does. Take the form of an Inkapi, and bring them to me."
The Njonu whispered and then glowed brightly, transforming itself into a small, blue bird. The Inkapi. And then it flew off into the night.
The voices that plagued the Old man intensified as the Njonu went away.

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