The Venerate Order

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Strafe

No matter how hard I tried to stop it, my hand wouldn't stop shaking. After about fifteen minutes I regained control of it. Taleri had done something to me that I couldn't explain. She had full control of my body and it felt like I was her puppet. After hearing that she was Sentium's greatest assassin, I was surprised to still be alive. Why didn't she kill me in my sleep? Brutus must've helped keep her in check.

"Please follow me this way. We had to call over a bigger Mag to accommodate your wolf over there," Ghennon showed me.

"I appreciate that Captain," Brutus responded.

Captain Ghennon didn't see where the voice came from and turned to me, "Did you say something?"

"No! Must have been the wind," I reassured.

Brutus needed to be more mindful of his special ability; a lot of people would probably take unwanted interest in a talking wolf, let alone one with Guardian power. I would talk to him later about it.

Some things looked pretty much the same in this world as they did on Earth, such as the modes of transportation. I boarded the Mag-van Captain Ghennon had provided and we took the Air-tram to the International Intelligence Agency or IIA. I sat next to Brutus and stroked his head to keep him calm. No matter how smart he had become, he always appreciated it when I petted him. It helped me to release my stress too.

Captain Ghennon and a few men accompanied us. As we headed toward the middle of the city, we passed the market and business districts as well as the Freedom Garden. It was beautiful; they said the trees and flowers there had been introduced from all over their world. Sculptures of peace lined the garden and in the center was Hope's Fountain, a beautiful bronze fountain that had been commissioned by one of their past presidents. It reminded me of Washington D.C. and Millennium Park in Chicago.

We stopped at a station next to the garden. After stepping off the Air-tram, the Mag-van drove away on the air current. To my surprise, Brutus jumped off the platform and ran towards the fountain; he must've been thirsty. I couldn't believe my eyes; the drop was at least thirty feet. The Aeroman looked back and asked, "Is this the first time you've seen a Whitecloud before? You look mesmerized."

"Whitecloud? He's a wolf from my planet! That's not normal for him," I objected.

"Well, in this world wolves like that have always been able to glide on the wind. They got their names because they can ride through the air like clouds," he answered.

"Just as long as he doesn't take a shit in the fountain, I don't care what the wolf does," Captain Ghennon interjected.

We had a good laugh. After lapping up some water, Brutus jumped back and forth up some buildings to get back to us. We then walked into what seemed to be a hotel building. This place is crazy!

We walked through the lobby and took an elevator up to one of the top floors. When we exited, we walked down a hall and entered what had to be the most breathtaking room I'd ever beheld. There were no walls, only windows showcasing the entire city. The bright blue sky mixed with the vibrant metropolitan scene was a feast for the eyes. It felt like we were standing on top of the world.

"You will be talking with Dr. Swan. She is a psychologist and war professor. She will record what you saw and assist you with your needs here in Dhenfen'Ce until our investigation is over," Captain Ghennon instructed. He then swiftly departed.

As I turned around, I heard a woman say, "I felt the same way the first time I saw this view. You should see the sunset."

"Hmm, you must be the best at what you do to land an office like this," I observed.

"My name is Dr. Claire Swan. It's nice to meet you Strafe," she said as she shook my hand, "I try to work hard every day, but unfortunately this isn't my office. The SkyGuard Commander requested we take you here, for protection."

Dr. Swan sat down on a couch, motioning me to do so as well.

"Well, are you here to hear my story? Learn about where I'm from? Let me vent?" I guessed as I ran my fingers through my hair.

She was wearing a bright white office blouse and skirt with a blue lining running down the left side of her outfit. She was young, in her mid-twenties, and wore glasses that accented her green hair. Everyone has crazy colored eyes or hair here.

With a smile on her face, she blinked once, and then looked into my eyes and said, "I guess our outfits don't disguise us do they."

"If you would've worn something more macabre, that would've had me guessing," I replied, snapping my fingers.

"Captain Ghennon wanted to make sure that you were in a secure location so we could gather first-hand intelligence from you into what happened during this recent attack. Your name has also popped up on enemy communications as a person of interest, so we're taking all the security precautions we can," Dr. Swan assured me as she touched my shoulder.

"Well, why isn't your military being deployed over there? You all seem to think they just had an electrical outage?" I remarked.

She shook her head, "Strafe, we have no detailed accounts of what happened there, only a distress signal that the town had lost power. We need your help to identify who was behind this."

I told her about my experience of what had happened, which she recorded digitally. After I finished we decided to take a break. She left the room to discuss the findings and told me to stay put. I felt exhausted, so I laid down on the couch with Brutus next to me. I fell fast asleep in the safety of my dreams.

The funny thing about dreams is how they are manifestations of our minds. In a dream, our mind is resting and yet working at the same time, creating events we vividly experience but then tend to forget almost immediately. To me, it always feels like the mind is clearing out the junk like a computer defragmenting itself.

There is never a clear-cut distinction between what is real and what is not in a dream. Most importantly, nothing is forbidden and sometimes dreams aren't just figments of our imagination. They can be a vessel for others to enter.