The Dreamfarer

16

"Please stay out here," Mae implored.

Folco glowered at her. "Fine," he snapped. He folded his arms over his chest and turned his back to the entrance of the tent. She would have asked him to move farther away, so that he could not hear what she and Caleb would discuss, but his feet were firmly planted on the ground. She knew he would refuse.

"Thank you," she said, her voice nothing more than a whisper. She thought she saw Folco's stiff posture relax slightly, but she could not be sure before she swept into the tent.

Caleb must have heard them. He was standing in the center of the room, staring at her impassively. She held her breath; would he smile? Or would he try to avoid her? She wasn't sure how well she would take it if Caleb just ignored her.

"So... you're with the warlocks now," her friend finally stated after a heavy silence. His emotions were hard for her to read, even after hearing his voice. He had never kept them so well-hidden from her before.

"I'm so sorry, Caleb," she said sincerely. "From the moment I had that first weird dream, my life has been going up in smoke. I've just... I've been doing what I felt like I needed to do to prevent the smoke from turning into flames."

"And having a bunch of warlocks catch me and bring me here, then just leaving me to sit alone in the dark? That was what you felt like you needed to do?" he asked, and now she could tell that he was angry. She had expected as much, but it still made her chest constrict with grief.

"I didn't send them to capture you, Caleb. My father cursed you, and he kept me from going after you, and you're lucky those warlocks found you or else you would be dead right now--"

Caleb blinked. "What?" he cut in, obviously surprised by her words. 

"My father. He cursed you as you left somehow. If Folco and the others hadn't found you, you would have been 'a pile of ashes by the time the sun rose,' or something like that. They saved you."

Caleb hesitated, multiple emotions warring in his expression. Before long, his face settled on a frown.

"Folco? That dolphin from that dream?" he asked. Mae almost laughed.

"Turns out he's actually a Dreamfarer, just like me, Caleb!" she exclaimed, excitement pouring out of her voice as she approached her friend. "He can travel through dreams, too, and he's going to teach me more about my powers!"

Just as she was about to reach out to him, Caleb jerked away from her. "How long have you been planning to join the warlocks, Mae?" he demanded. There was hurt in his voice, and Mae took a reluctant step back.

"Since the day I told you everything," she answered. She refused to lie to him again. "After Dael ran out of the house with me and I got struck by a spell."

"Because of this Folco," Caleb spat. 

Mae frowned. "This Folco is the reason you're still alive, and the reason that I'm not my father's prisoner, Caleb!"

"You're abandoning Swynborough - your family, your friends, your home - for a warlock," Caleb continued, disgust evident in every crease, every wrinkle of his angry face. Mae stepped back again; this was not how she had hoped this meeting would go.

"Not for one particular warlock, Caleb," she defended herself, her voice sharp. However, she could not stop a slight blush from creeping up into her cheeks at the thought of Folco, of staying with him, for him...

Caleb did not miss it, and his eyes bugged out of his head. "Oh, my God. Mae, snap out of it. They're evil! You're falling for a demon!" he near-shouted. Mae cringed, knowing that Folco was still just outside.