Dream Catcher

Chapter Two - Hills and a Kingdom

My eyes flew open. I gasped. I couldn't see. My vision was gone. A metallic scent entered my nose, the taste of sweat and iron on my lips. I felt heavy, my limbs weighed down with something constricting. I could see only blackness.

My breath flew back into my face the moment I let it out. I wasn't blind, I had something over my face. I lifted my hand to my face, the heaviness accompanying the motion. I felt cool metal as my fingertips brushed against what lay over my face.

It was a mask. Divots and impressions coated its surface in smooth arcs, some hundreds of valley's and peaks coating the surface. Whatever it was had been masterfully crafted.

My fingers slid across the mask, hitching on every nook and cranny, trying to find a way to pull it off. I began to panic, unable to take it off. I reached to where the era of the mask should have been, hoping to at least see what had occurred, where the wolf and circle of skills now lay. As my fingers danced their way around I felt a rough spot. Unsure I moved my finger over the spot once more. It was infinitesimal, but after a few moments I cut my finger on it. I pushed on it and was momentarily stunned.

Light flooded my eyes. I blinked rapidly, trying to disperse the bright spots in my vision. When they vanished I started in surprise. Gone was the forest lit by the moon. Gone were the crackling green flames. Gone was the circle. And gone was my grandmother.

In their place were rolling hills of lush verdant grass, clusters of trees here and there. I sat on a massive hulking horse, walking steadily up a gentle sloped trail.

I gripped the shoe horn of the saddle, steadying myself in shock. I noticed my blindness but not the moving horse beneath me? I mused, bemused and surprised at my inability to notice my immediate surroundings.

Holding onto the shoehorn I noticed the glimmering metal adorning my arms. I was sheathed in armor. A soft cloth covered my arms chest and legs, barely visible but at the ends of my limbs. I saw chain mail peeking through the few gaps in the intricate flexible plated armor which covered almost every surface of my body. The metal folded back on itself at my joints; adjusting itself with the slightest movements.

The intricacy itself was an art in its own right, but with every piece of metal was inlaid design upon design. A story on each arm. A legend written on my thighs. Hunters slipping past sleeping creatures. Warriors dueling men and beast alike. On my chest I could make out only swirls and confusing designs. Though I was certain by now it would be a sight to behold.

I placed my gaze on my surroundings; where in the name of Mother Earth was I? Where was grandmother? What happened? I tugged on the reins of my horse, trying to turn it around. My horse merely snorted and jerked his head towards the trail. Irritated, never having dealt with an unresponsive steed, I swore.

"Ketal!" My horse seemed to give a sigh, shook his massive head and picked up his pace, rapidly climbing the hill which appeared in front of us. Hoping I would see something I urged my horse on, exclaiming in my tongue.

"Faster! Faster, Tewka!" I raised up in my saddle, egging my horse on. As we reached the peak of the slope, my worry and uncertainty peaked. Off in the distance was a city unseen in my time. It was a city made of wood and stone, crude tools crafting it over generations. Smoke rising from chimney's on thatched rooftops; carts tugged by horses along dirt paths through the town. People moving from place to place on foot, no cars, no brick buildings, nothing familiar to me but what I'd seen in books. I'd been raised in a modern era of cars, computers, electronical music; but I'd been taught the ways of my ancestors. I've long been told I had my feet planted in my past; something I considered a good thing, but this was something else entirely.

I looked behind me, expecting naught but an empty trail, but in the distance wagons and people followed. I turned back to face the city. My mind churned like the salty ocean once held by the Water clan, surging back and forth, trying to find a solution and reason for my predicament. I flashed back the ceremony. A wolf had charged at me; leapt through the flames without fear, something unheard of, even by our standards and legends. And the emotions I felt traversing the circle, they had to mean something. But what? And why was I in this place? And how could I leave?