The Dreamer: The Book of Godspells

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Piper, welcome to the Reverie," Colik spoke, and I snapped back to reality. I opened my eyes to find myself standing in the less shadowed parts of what Colik called the Outward. The landscape stretched out before me, vast and open, with small rolling hills and expansive plains. The sky above was painted with hues of white, gold, and black flakes that could have been mistaken for low stars. The beauty of the unknown captivated every one of my senses, filling me with wonder and curiosity about what lay beyond.

As I gazed out, my imagination ran wild, pondering the secrets and adventures that awaited me in this dreamworld. A sense of awe and anticipation enveloped me, making the possibilities seem limitless. Then, the vision of what I had just seen flashed before my eyes again. I looked at Colik, wondering if he had experienced the same vision or knew what I had seen.

Was I in his mind, or how did I see that?

I looked over and saw Colik twitch, his hand pressing on his right rib. When he caught my eye, he quickly moved his hand away and stood up straighter. I wondered what that was about.

"Excess dust," he whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Let's go," he said quickly and turned his face away from me.

"How much farther do we have?" I asked, feeling like a child on a long road trip. It seemed we had been walking all day, or rather a lot of whatever time equaled to here.

"Maybe one more blood moon's passing. Depends on how slowly you walk," he answered. I rolled my eyes at his last comment, choosing to ignore it.

"No time frame? Hours? Days?"

"Time is not real."

"It is in my world."

"It is not the same as in your world. We watch the blood moons passing and the movement of dust in the constellation sky. We have moments and passings, and that is all."

"I am here, so it can't be entirely different," I snapped, and he stopped to face me again. I didn't like when he did this, but there he was, his eyes staring into mine like I was being seen for the first time.

"You are here, but we still don't know why. There are a lot of questions still needing answers. About you, about the darkness, the chaos..." There was that word again, chaos.

"I am not causing the darkness or chaos. You have to know that."

"Do I?" he asked.

"I..."

"And do you honestly know that you aren't?" he asked seriously and started walking away from me.

"I am sure you have threats in your world for your humanity. This is the only world I know, and I will do whatever I can to protect against the threats to my own." He said behind him, his tone dry and direct.

"I get it."

"How do we know we shouldn't be afraid of you? Why shouldn't I be taking you to the Citadel?" he kept on. I hadn't thought of it that way, but then it dawned on me.

"Wait, does that mean..." Anger and betrayal now filled me. How quickly emotions flipped in this world... it scared me.

"Colik, are you taking me as a prisoner?"

"No," he said a little too quickly.

"Are you sure?" he lowered his eyes.

"Liar! So, you don't actually care what happens to me when I am at the Citadel, just that you look good for doing what you were told?" I blurted out. Colik scoffed. I could see he was confused with my words around being told... I wasn't about to tell him what I saw in his mind.