Kingdom Of Dreams

Prologue

          In the clearing of a forest stood a huge red and gold structure. There was a large altar, with bronze and red veins running through the metallic stone. Two sets of pillars stood on either side, branching up and intertwining with each other, as if protecting the stone alter. Upon the alter a bright red stone pulsed with red light. The stone was shaped like a wisp of fire, and had an eerie sense of magic about it.

          Leading up to the alter were stone steps, formed in the same fashion as the table. At the bottom of the steps stood a group of six guards. But these were no ordinary guards. They had pure black armor, with only a small swirl of ash gray in the plates. The guards had black helmets covering their faces, except for their eyes. Their eyes were startling; pure red with no pupils. What could be seen of their skin was black, easily matching the color of the armor. They wore no insignia, but none was needed. Everyone in the land knew who they were and their master. They were the Shadows, neither human nor beast, made only to serve the King.

          The guards stood slumped in their posts, with no reason to be alert. Why should they? There had been no attempt on the artifact of Fire, why would that change tonight? One of the Shadows let out a low yawn and briefly closed his eyes.

          "You know, sleeping on the job ain't gonna earn you a promotion,"

          The guard stiffened as a small dagger was thrust through the gap in his armor. He fell, dissolving into ash upon impact with the forest floor.

          The remaining Shadows whipped around to see a boy of medium-sized height clutching the dagger. He had russet hair and brown eyes with a mischievous glint. The boy wore a simple silver tunic and a black cloak with a green dragon emblazoned on his chest. The mark of the rebellion.

          The Shadows growled a low, guttural sound as they advanced on the boy. The boy made a soft tsk tsk sound as they came closer, not at all fazed by their presence. "Now, now. Five against one? That's a tad unfair, don't you think?" He smiled mysteriously. "Luckily I brought friends."

          Suddenly a flash of blue light enveloped the boy, blinding the Shadows. As the light faded, the Shadows noticed the boy again, this time farther from the alter. But he was not alone.

          On his left stood a short girl; with short, messy, chestnut brown hair and unusual violet eyes. But her eyes were not the only strange things about her. The girl had two chestnut brown cat ears poking out of her head, and a brown tail swishing out behind her. She wore a simple dark brown shirt with a ruffle around her neck, and long, baggy sleeves. As with the boy, upon one sleeve was the mark of the rebellion. She had a long skirt with a white ruffle and light brown leggings. Upon her feet were short brown boots. The girl carried no visible weapons, but she stood in a battle position, hands cocked and ready to strike.

          On his right stood another boy, this one taller than the others by about a foot. He had shoulder length blue hair and deep blue eyes. His outfit was more elaborate than his comrades, consisting of a long light blue tunic with silver swirls that was tied off by a silver belt, and dark blue pants in a similar fashion. He wore a pulsing gray pendant around his neck, and blue energy flashed around him.

          With a inhuman howl the Shadows lunged at the trio, withdrawing maces, and swords, and axes. As the rebels engaged in combat, the taller boy shouted, "Faiye, go!"

          Quick as a flash, a shape bounded out of the forest, running toward the alter. It was a girl! She had long light brown hair, and olive green eyes. She wore a bronze shirt with sea-green vines crawling up the side, and baggy brown pants. She wore knee-high brown boots, and a dark brown cape with green markings, the green dragon flashing brightly upon it as her cape tossed in the wind. Around her neck was a silver chain with small stones; one blue, green, and white, each pulsing as she sprinted toward the alter.

          As the Shadows noticed the girl running toward the alter, they turned towards her. But the tall boy waved his hand hurriedly, creating a circle of blue fire that cut the Shadows off from the girl, forcing them to contend with the other three.

          As her friends kept the Shadows at bay, the girl soon reached the alter. Breathing heavily she bounded up the steps two at a time, until finally she reached the place where the Stone of Fire floated steadily in the air. She stared at it, the stone casting a red light onto her face. Then she reached out slowly and closed her fingers around the stone, drawing it close to her. As the stone came in contact with the girl's necklace, a bright flash of red light lit up the sky.

          The Shadows yelped in fear and bounded off towards the woods, leaving the four rebels in the clearing. The girl; Faiye, stood at the alter, her eyes glowing red and her hair living flame. Then the affect vanished, and she smiled at her friends, the cat-girl whooping in joy, the small boy smiling lightly, and the taller one with a grin so wide it seemed to stretch across his face.

          Faiye stepped down lightly from the alter, her friends joining her. "Nice job, Faiye!" the taller boy said. She smiled brightly at him.

          "Well it was your plan Jaren!" she said.

          The smaller boy scoffed. "We did something too!" he said grumpily.

          "Hmm, I guess I have to thank you for something, huh Dan? Though it definitely wont be for your charming personality," Faiye prodded jokingly.

          The cat-girl let out a light laugh and Dan rolled his eyes, muttering, "Shut it Bree!"

          "Anyway, good job all of you. Soon the rebellion will be so powerful, not even all of Lord Daleson's Shadows will be able to stop us!" Faiye said proudly.

          "Let's head back to headquarters then, we don't want to be here when the Shadows tell Daleson we got the artifact." Dan said.

          The four nodded, and Faiye raised her hand to the sky, a flashing green light obstructing the group from view. Then, they were gone, and only the empty clearing remained.

                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          "Sleep well everyone, and dream of our victory!" Faiye yelled as she finished her speech, the supporting voices and the clapping of her peers escorting her from the stage. She walked to the rebel's common room, where Bree, Dan, and Jaren, sat.

          "Awesome speech Faiye!" Bree said excitedly.

          "Thanks, Bree," Faiye said as she smiled tiredly.

          Jaren stood and looked at her worriedly. "It's that time of day again isn't it?" he asked.

          Faiye nodded, swaying unsteadily. Jaren caught her and held her upright, exchanging worried glances with Bree and Dan. None of them knew what happened to Faiye when she went into her trance, it definitely wasn't like normal sleep. It was like... she had somewhere else she needed to be. Faiye always fell asleep at the same time everyday, and once she entered trance, nothing could jolt her out of it until she woke up on her own. Once she had fallen unconscious in the middle of a battle mission, and they had to escape without finishing the mission in order to get Faiye out of there. 

          "I'll help Faiye  get to her room. I'll meet up with you guys later." Jaren said as he started toward Faiye's room with Faiye limp beside him. Bree and Dan nodded, watching silently.

          As Jaren opened the door to Faiye's room she collapsed onto her cot with a sigh. She caught Jaren's worried glance and smiled reassuringly.

          "Don't worry. I'm sure I go somewhere important when I dream," Faiye said blearily.

          Jaren nodded, not entirely convinced. He leaned down and kissed Faiye on the cheek, smiling weakly at her.

          "Love you," he said. "Love you too," Faiye replied as she closed her eyes and fell into blackness.