Keeper of the Lost Cities: War

Chapter Thirty One

Keefe was laying in a pasture, watching the bright blue sky through the leaves of the trees above him.
A gentle breeze ruffled through his hair, making him sigh in contentment.

He suddenly startled upright, getting the sense that he wasn't alone anymore.

And he was right.

There was a certain shade sitting a couple paces away, reading a book under one of the trees.

For a moment, Keefe rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing things correctly, and when Tam didn't fade, and he noticed he was in one piece both mind and body, he stumbled to his feet and ran over to Tam, almost tripping over his feet as he practically tackled the boy.

  Tam's laughter was equivalent to the sound of pure happiness to Keefe as they rolled a through the grass and wildflowers because of the impact.

"I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before." Keefe noted with a smile of awe on his face as he pushed himself up so his face wasn't in the grass anymore.

"That's not my fault, you're just not that funny." Tam smirked, looking up at Keefe.

Keefe scoffed at Tam's playful mood, the teasing was something he had been longing to hear for who knows how long now.
"It's not wise to insult the person who's got you pinned." Keefe clicked his tongue and then laughed when Tam's cheeks turned red when he noticed their positions.

"You know you keep proving that I'm right about your emotions towards me when you do stuff like that." Keefe noted, shifting so that he laid next to Tam to give the boy some space.

"Yeah, whatever, we both know I have a crush on you," Tam suddenly sat upright, turning to look down at Keefe.
His face was still red a little bit, but he was dead serious now.
"The real question is what do you want?"

Keefe sat up as well, feeling a bit uneasy because of the question he had been avoiding finding the answer too.

"You tell me." Keefe whispered, taking Tam's hand into his own, flipping it over and holding it against his chest where his heart was.
Even a knife couldn't stop how quickly his heart elevated at Tam's touch.

Their eyes locked, and Keefe couldn't help but feel the urge to brush Tam's bangs out of the way so that he could clearly see both of his eyes.

Tam didn't flinch under his touch, his gaze merely closely watching where Keefe's hand went.
And where it went after brushing his bangs back, was underneath Tam's chin, where he slowly pulled it forward.

Their foreheads hadn't even touched when Tam, and the scenery around them, vanished into a void of darkness.

And suddenly Keefe was standing in front of two large golden doors , one with a large crack in it,, and Sophie was next to him.

"Sorry to disturb your dream." Sophie's voice broke the awkward silence.
"But after I managed to get the ability restrictor off, I went searching through what I could find of Tam's mind and thought you should see this."

While true, Keefe wished he hadn't been dreaming, that Tam was really okay and healthy and sitting next to him in a lush pasture underneath a weeping willow tree. He knew it had to be too good to be true- at least at the moment.

  "Where are we?" Keefe asked, though he had a feeling he knew based off of what Sophie said.

"Tam's mind." Sophie said, confirming Keefe's suspicions.
She didn't say anything else, and merely waved Keefe forward, pointing to the crack in the doors.

Confused, Keefe walked over and peered through it.

Beyond the doors, through the crack, Tam was sitting in what looked like a ballroom, his legs crossed underneath him as he looked half asleep.