The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

Journey begins

Liran arrived back in the fresh evening air with a sense of relief. Although he'd been caving since he was a child and in some ways, he liked it, in general, caves had brought him nothing but misery, so in many ways, he hated them.

He was surprised it was evening already. They'd arrived int he early afternoon—had five or six hours passed down there?

He stretched his arms, his legs, his neck. He was stiff from being shot and he had pain in his thigh from falling to the ground—it was sure to be a large bruise. He waited impatiently for the girl, pacing around, thinking about Wewe and Dit'eh... his ex-girlfriend. His only girlfriend. "Hah!" he laughed. She hadn't even really been his girlfriend. He'd just thought she was, but in the end, he'd found out she was a prostitute. A whore.

Liran groaned in frustration. Now he was faced with the likelihood that he would have to see her again, and it was the last thing on earth that he wanted. She had humiliated him. The bitch! He thought.

He pushed the thoughts of Dit'eh away with a groan. It gave him anxiety to think about it.

He ducked back into the cave and listened for the girl. What the hell is she doing? There was no sound of anyone climbing in the caves below. Only a dark, damp silence. He went back outside to the fresh air, grabbed a meal bar and waited.

Finally, what seemed like ages later, she arrived, breathless.

"What the hell took you so long?" he demanded, standing up, ready to block the entrance to hide it, and go.

"You know," she began haughtily, her hands on her hip, "You were in such a rush to leave that we could have forgotten something or missed something."

"Yeah, like what?"

"I don't know—how can I know what we might have missed? We didn't even look around before we left."

Liran rolled his eyes. "I've seen it all before. I got everything we need."

"Well, you didn't get the important message Adell left for me!"

"The important message?"

"Yeah—it was really strange. I don't know what happened. Maybe the computer malfunctioned because after she started playing the message, she wouldn't respond to any voice commands."

Liran stared at her in silence. Finally, he pushed, "And?"

"And what?" she asked.

"And what was the message?"

"Oh, yeah. Well it was strange. Maybe some sort of code or secret password. So strange..."

Liran groaned. She was so dense. "What was the message?"

"Follow the rabbit. Follow the rabbit. Follow the rabbit," she intoned, impersonating the deep voice.

"That's it? That's the important message we might have missed because I was in a rush?"

"Yes," she said, refusing to back down.

Liran picked up a rock and threw it from hand to hand. The girl backed away, a scared look on her face, and Liran bent and put the rock in the hole. "Help me," he said, gathering more rocks. "We have to hide this entrance."

In a few minutes, they'd covered the cave entrance and Liran was relieved to be on his way. He hoped he'd never see this place again.

20 April 2017

They walked in silence, which suited Liran. Once in a while, he would look behind him and catch a glimpse of her staring at him. He could feel her eyes boring into the back of his neck. It got uncomfortable to the point that he stopped looking back and tried his best to ignore her. He was glad, not for the first time, that he wore a neuroblock. Just the idea of her trying to poke around in his thoughts made him shiver. He would never get his neuroblock removed—he wondered how normal people went through life feeling safe and secure with freaks like her wandering around. Is she still looking at me? He stopped suddenly and turned—yes, there she was—staring at him.

"Why are you looking at me?"

She was shocked and didn't respond. "I..." she stammered.

Liran shook his head, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know?" she said at last.

"Well, stop it—it creeps me out." He turned and quickly walked off, continuing up the mountain.

"So I'm not allowed to look at you?" she yelled, rushing to catch up.

"No," he called back without stopping.

"That's just stupid!"

You're stupid, he thought, but just kept walking.

They arrived in a few hours at the wading pool and stopped to drink some water. He dug through the bag and got a meal bar—suddenly remembering that he'd eaten back at the cave, but she hadn't. He felt a twinge of guilt, but pushed it away. She must be starving.

"Here," he said, offering her the tiny wrapped package. "Eat this very slowly, chew well."

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a meal bar. It's a complete meal—it's small, but it will fill you up like you ate a big dinner. Just be careful to eat slowly."

She was out of breath and sweaty from the hike. She collapsed on a rock near the pool with a sigh and ripped open the wrapper.

Liran felt bad for rushing. They had made really good time and she had kept up with his pace, which surprised him. But he didn't want to be a dick. His own father had always played games like that with him. Always testing him and showing how much better than Liran he was at everything.

He walked away and sat by the pool, watching the reflection of the moon above them in the calm water.

"When do you think we'll reach Wewe?" she asked after she'd finished her bar. Her face glistened with sweat still.

"Tomorrow evening, if we walk through most of the day."

He remembered her eye problems and wondered if she'd be capable of walking during the day for a long period. He considered that maybe they should have a short nap now and then walk through the night? They could rest in that field where he and Akim had stopped. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "Do you want to sleep now here?" he asked. "You don't look so great."

"I'm okay," she responded, sitting up straighter. She wiped her face with her shirt, and arranged her unruly hair, putting on a good show, but Liran could tell she was exhausted.

LIran was also exhausted. "You know, I think it's better we sleep here for a few hours. I'll make a fire." He got up and started to collect twigs, which was easy because the water fed quite a few small trees and bushes in this beautiful desert oasis.

As Liran made the fire, he realized that it was the first time in a long, and possibly the last time in the next time to come, that he felt or would feel relaxed.

As the flames in the tiny fire grew, Imorah sat down across from him and they both stared into the fire peacefully. They had a big journey ahead of them, but for the moment, Liran actually forgot his worries, and the moon and the stars and the trees and the water -- everything seemed perfect.

"This is so nice," Imorah said, smiling.

"Ayah," Liran responded. It was also the first time he didn't hate her guts. She looked beautiful in the fire light with her curly black hair, and her hope and excitement. Her optimism was annoying, but there was also something charming about it as well. Liran wondered if maybe it was actually possible to pull off their plan. It seemed so... doomed.

He took a deep breath and laid down, and looked up at the stars, remembering the night he'd taken the medicine with Grandmother. Had that only been yesterday? It seemed like a lifetime ago. He remembered with a twinge of guilt how he'd promised the voice that he would change. That he would be courageous and stop being so angry. 

He resolved to be nicer to Imorah tomorrow. 

Maybe the plan would work? He had to follow through. She was right—they had to just take it one step at a time. First step right now was getting some sleep. He closed his eyes and heard Imorah lie down on the other side of the fire.