The Forgotten Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 6)

Chapter 14.2

Sabrina woke with a gasp, then shook Ford's shoulder. He woke with a small snort, murmuring, "What is it?"

"Did you have that dream too?" she asked.

"What?" He sounded confused.

"The dream about Miah. I had a dream about Miah and her son."

"Oh. Yes, I...yes." He paused. "That was strange. We must have had contact with the Crystal while I was asleep. Did you say you dreamed? You were supposed to be standing watch!"

"Sorry. I thought I was doing okay, but then I was dreaming. Maybe it really was sleeping gas."

"Hm." He considered for a while. "Perhaps. They could want to test something while we're not able to actively oppose them."

Sabrina rubbed her eyes free of sand. "Why do we keep dreaming about Miah and the Trsai?"

"It does seem a bit much to be a coincidence," Ford said. "And a bit too detailed to be a recollection from my school days. Earlier, you said you thought Miah was trying to show you something. Maybe you were right. Maybe this is a message that the Crystal is trying to convey to us."

"That's what she said in the dream—that she would always live on in it. Assuming the Heart of the Trees did become the Great Crystal."

"I think that's a reasonable assumption," Ford said. "But why the Trsai? Do they have something to do with the Kyan?"

"Maybe. That would explain why we're getting these messages instead of Mara. Because we're the ones dealing with the Kyan."

"We don't know that Mother isn't getting these messages too," Ford said. "But it would explain why we're getting them, when nothing like this has ever happened before, at least that I know of."

"What did happen to the Trsai? I know Miah ran them off Praxatillus, but that's about it."

"Eventually Corweign and his troops ran them out of the galaxy, system by system. That's how the Realm was formed—they would go in, contact the resistance movement if there was one and start one if there wasn't. Then after the planet was liberated, they'd make a mutual assistance pact."

"Ah. So the Realm does have a geospatial component—they were the systems liberated from the Trsai."

"Yes, in the beginning. About half joined later, over the millennia. It sort of evolved into a power bloc to balance Homeworld's influence. So it's not contiguous if you're looking at it on a map."

"Did Homeworld ever have anything to do with the Trsai?"

"I don't think so. Even then, they were powerful enough to resist invasion. Why?"

"I was wondering," Sabrina said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Khediva saved her biological samples from the Kyan who boarded her. I wonder if there are any Trsai samples or data to compare them to."

"After twelve thousand years, I doubt it," Ford said. "Interesting theory, though."

"It's just that Homeworld thinks so long-term. If a child could ask the obvious question—what if they come back?—surely they did too?"

"Something to ask Father when we get out of here."

After a while, Sabrina said, "Um, Ford?"

"Yes?"

"Are you...glowing in the dark, or am I hallucinating?"

Ford held up a hand. There was a very faint glow, almost like a halo. "Hm. Never noticed that before."

"I'm pretty sure you weren't doing that before I fell asleep."

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't, too."

"Do you think they experimented on us while we were asleep?"