The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

19.1. Wake up

The moon was setting. They were hiking, had been hiking in the moonlight for hours. The surroundings were beginning to darken. The wind took on a chill. Imorah shivered and pulled Tashin's fur around her throat, relishing how soft and warm it was.

Ahead of her, Tashin trudged forward without his fur, through the wind, seeming to pay it no mind.

She was pretty sure they were headed back to the wishing tree, where they'd left from, but Tashin hadn't said a word so far. She didn't know what it was, but he'd been different since he awoke — hadn't spoken the entire time. He obviously had a lot of things on his mind, and Imorah wondered if one of those things was his son, Liran.

Imorah hadn't slept much after her nightmare. She'd spent many hours tossing and turning in a confused state, wondering what her future would hold — wondering if the dream she'd had last night was actually going to become her future. Would it come true: would she fall in love with Tashin? Was it her destiny to be with Tashin? Was the dream a premonition? Or was it a warning? Was it telling her only what might happen?

She had listened to him snoring for hours in the cool, shady cave, and then he had finally woken up, and without a word, started packing.

They'd been walking ever since, down towards the cave, taking a circuitous route to avoid it, and now through the desert, along a dried up river bed that formed a shallow canyon.

Imorah trudged behind him, following his footsteps. Soon enough, the sun arrived, and the fur was no longer a comfort, but a burden. She stopped only long enough to pack it, and take a quick drink of water, and then raced to catch up with Tashin, who neither looked behind him nor stopped once throughout the night.

Not even for water. Was he punishing himself for something? He seemed in turmoil.

When they reached the edge of a cliff, Imorah looked down and recognized where she was: it was the canyon. Down below and following along the creek bed was his cave.

They arrived just as the sun was becoming unbearable.

* * *

When Liran awoke on a bed, confused, he didn't know at first what had happened to him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, and the dimly lit laboratory came into view. He remembered where he was and wondered how much time had passed.

He'd been sitting in a chair, listening, watching. He must have fallen asleep. He got up and walked over to the metal staircase and looked down. He closed his eyes and listened. "Are they gone?" he asked C7, quietly.

"Yes, they are gone."

"How long was I sleeping?"

"Eleven hours and twenty-three minutes."

"What, really?" He hadn't known he was that tired. He did feel quite rested, and stretched his arms into the air and yawned. He felt great, actually. Except he was hungry and thirsty.

He walked over to the sink and hesitantly turned it on by pushing a button to the left. A slow trickle of cold water came out. He wondered where it came from, but instead of asking, bent over and let the trickle fall into his mouth. Ah sweet, pure water. He swallowed it down until his belly was full.

When he was done, he went back over to the chair/bed where he'd left his pack. "Turn on the lights," he told C7, and then retrieved a meal bar from his bag. There were only two left.

"So, C7?" he asked, taking a bite from the bar.

"Yes, Liran."

"Do you have instructions from Adell or Phiona?"