The Wishing Tree - Book Two [Completed]

Connections - Part 25

I dig my teeth into the leg of scorflee, a bird-like creature that Riven killed and cooked for dinner. The meat is chewy, but I'm so hungry that I feel like I could eat the whole bird myself. Judging by how silent we all are, I'm guessing everyone's feeling extra hungry.

I finish chewing a bit and then say, "Do we need to be drugged again?"

Clara laughs. "You used the hookieberry root?"

Mason grins. "You bet."

"Poor girl." She tsks and shakes her head.

"There are other ways?"

Mason finishes chewing before answering. "Truthfully, I wasn't one hundred percent sure the root would work. We think the ribbons might have re-set you somehow. Ryan can't see you to check in, like he can with me and other people, but we're pretty sure we can do other forms of communication without the drugs this time. Maizie's world within a world at that bar was a dumb location, but a great idea to get around the rules keeping you two apart." Mason takes another bite. "Tonight, we'll visit him while we sleep. I'll be the conduit, so, no privacy, sorry. But, you'll be able to talk for a while."

"I can't be my own conduit?"

Mason looks uncomfortable. "Maybe."

"But?"

"Would either of you ever stop dreaming if you knew you could see each other whenever you wanted?"

It's a fair question and I'm not sure I know the answer. I give him a helpless look.

"I'm not sure what to say. I want to get back to him; the real him, not the dream him. But, if all I can have is him in a dream? I'd take it in a heartbeat."

"So, do you want me to teach you or am I along for the ride?"

I let my heart lead. "Teach me."

"As you wish."

####

"Deep breaths."

"I'm taking deep breaths; I'm relaxed; I'm ready."

"You're not ready. If you were ready, you'd be sleeping and you'd have pulled Ryan into your dream or you'd have invaded his."

"Have you ever taught anyone how to do this before? Maybe you're teaching it wrong." I think about how quickly Maizie seemed able to manipulate and navigate dreams. I pop open an eye to see Mason gritting his teeth. He's definitely not relaxed.

"No, I've never taught anyone before. But, as you proved with healing the tree earlier and all sorts of other things, you're a fast learner when you try."

"I am trying." I resent the implication that I'm not fully invested. The other things he is talking about, I could see them happening, but this process doesn't make sense to me. "Can I watch you go into someone's dream? Not Ryan, someone else."

He sighs and shifts on the ground. He uncrosses his legs and raises one eyebrow at me. "And, who would you suggest?" He looks around the fire where Rocco, Riven and Clara are sleeping. They grew bored of watching Mason try to teach me something I couldn't seem to master and slowly fell asleep, one after another.

"Would it be wrong to invade one of their dreams?" I frown, a thought suddenly occurring to me. "Why don't we just invade Violet's dream and ask where she is? Why aren't we doing that?"

Mason scratches his neck and then leans back on his forearms. "Can't. The walker's dreams are always protected. You can't get in; she can only bring you in or invade your thoughts."

"Was Violet always the walker?"

"Don't know. I know it's what put her on Grayson's radar. He thought her skills might give him an advantage on the Third Realm. One day, she just disappeared from here."

"Population control act?" I ask, wondering how he navigated around that little rule to pluck her up to the Third Realm. I wish the keepers hadn't locked down the realms so much when Grayson started pulling the strings between realities a little too hard.

"He probably just banished someone randomly so he could bring her up."

"How do you know that?"

"When he left here, he dropped into my dreams from time to time – once he was old enough to remember where he came from. He liked having someone to talk to about his victories and his defeats; not that he ever called them that." His grin is wry. "I think he thought going to the Third Realm would automatically make him a better person. But, you gotta earn those stripes."

"You liked him?" I find this hard to believe, that there's a realm where Mason and Grayson could exist and be friends. The warmth from the fire fades for a moment and I shiver.

Mason stares into the fire, not answering and then he finally says, "It's much more complicated than that. I think, when he grew up there, on the Third Realm this last time, he wanted to be good, but he'd forgotten how." He turns to look at me. "You've met the keepers?"

"Yeah; they're an odd bunch."

"And with just a hint of corruption."

"What?" Startled, I turn from the fire to face him. "Corrupt?"

"It doesn't seem odd to you that out of all the souls in all the realms, his was the best one? They never saw any of this coming?"

"I – I just figured it was a mistake."

His eyes pierce mine. "We all have crossroads in our lives – places where we take one path or another and, as far as the keepers are concerned, either choice is worthwhile for our souls. But, the keepers don't make mistakes, not one that big at least."

"What about me? They said I was a mistake."

"Yeah, that's starting to make a bit more sense to me as well. The longer you're here, the more I see." He picks up a stick from the ground and puts the tip in the fire, watching it catch and slowly burn. "Violet should be able to confirm my suspicions about you; she'll know whether what I heard about Grayson is true, too. I don't want to get your hopes up, Queenie. So, I'll keep my thoughts to myself for now." He tosses what's left of his stick into the fire and brushes off his hands. "You still want to learn to dream walk or are you okay to tag along with me tonight?"

"I guess you can teach me how to dream walk on my own another time." I pull my dark blonde hair back into a loose ponytail using a piece of spongy vine I found on the ground earlier. I don't dwell on whether it came off one of the dead bodies we moved earlier.

"For this to work, we need to stay physically connected."

I raise my eyebrows at him. "And how would you suggest we do that?"

His grin is cocky. "I know lots of ways we could do that, Queenie. But, I'm pretty sure the only one that Ryan would approve of involves us holding hands. Pretty PG." He lays down on the ground and pats the space beside him that is closest to the fire.

My cheeks inflame at what he implies, but I lay down beside him. When he holds out his hand, I lace my fingers between his. He tests our hands, wiggling them back and forth and repositioning our fingers a few times until we're a snug fit.

He turns his face towards me. "Like a glove. You ready, Queenie?" He leans over with his other hand and places it on my forehead. "Might as well speed up this process." He presses down, lightly and darkness envelops me.

Author's Note:

Were you surprised about Mason's assessment of the Fourth Realm? What do you think of Mason's past relationship with Grayson?

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