Dawn of Dreams

Chapter 1

Jaden realized he'd spent his entire life waiting to hear the sound: eerie, ancient, an otherworldly screech clawing through time and drilling agony into his skull. He stumbled, clutching his ears as he looked to his friends. But they hiked on, oblivious, even when the hoarse squealing became a more nerve-wracking shrieking. Unrelenting, the racket continued, overwhelming his senses, melting his bones.

Just when Jaden thought he'd explode, the screaming ceased. He drooped, his hands falling from his ears. Legs weak from the assault, he wanted to collapse onto the snow. But that would've alerted the others to his distress. Despite the absurdity, Jaden sensed the cacophony was for him alone.

His battered ears sought more soothing sounds. Snow crunching softly as their snowshoes crushed its crystalline surface. His friends' fatigued panting. The reverberating crack as a branch broke under the burden of bulky spring snow. Each sound was accentuated by the abnormal absence of the drone of air traffic. 2073 it might be, but some places still barred the passage of overhead traffic. And the Shadow Mountains were one.

Shivering against the chill, Jaden studied his friends through his locks of dark blonde hair, badly in need of a trim, that had fallen over his tilted cobalt eyes. Why hadn't they heard it?

The six of them had hiked these mountains with their families since they were kids. But today was the first time they were hiking without parental oversight, and they reveled in exploring the heights alone.

Although the mountain's lofty peaks doomed their community to extended afternoon shadows and isolated them from the rest of the Meridian complex, the raw beauty surrounding them more than compensated. Today was no exception. Majestically tall, spectacularly decked with emerald forests below, and capped by a mantle of blazing white, the Shadow Mountains commanded attention.

But Jaden's attention was elsewhere: the screaming had started anew, worse than before. The torture was back. What was it? Why couldn't his friends hear it? Peering into the trees up ahead, he tried pinpointing the source. But the shadows were deep and the sun obnoxiously bright. Raising his hand to shade his eyes, he scanned the gloomy depths.

Without warning, a gigantic shape lifted off a tree up ahead.

Jaden fell backward into Tarise with a strangled yelp. The others stopped and turned inquiring gazes on him.

Tarise frowned. "You okay?"

The solemn, studious type and the youngest of their group, Tarise was quiet but eerily observant. Those who didn't know her could be forgiven for wondering whether she ever laughed or if she simply stared at the world with her huge, soulful, blue eyes.

Jaden stared into those eyes as he shook his head and struggled up. He pointed at the monstrous silhouette, its disproportionately long neck covered in scaly armor, sticking out at odd angles. And the tail... the tail was not the tail of a bird, but the hard-shelled stinger of a scorpion! It had to be a trick of the light. His eyes were deceiving him!

His friends peered in the direction marked by his shaky index finger. Then, without exception, they turned bland faces his way.

"What?" Markov wheezed, his handsome face red with cold.

It would've surprised Jaden that Markov was struggling for air, considering he was a rising star on the gridpost team, if he wasn't so engrossed in the monster.

"You don't see that?" Jaden croaked. The gargantuan outline shrank as the creature flailed awkward wings and streaked away.

For the second time, his friends turned and studied the designated area.