The Dreamfarer

30

 ╣Folco╟

He jerked himself out of his orchard, waking himself up with an enormous effort. That was the second time he had tried to sense any evidence of Mae since she had been taken, and it was the second time he had failed to feel any indication of her dream. When he had tried to go to her Hallway of Dreams, it was completely blocked from him, and her subconscious simply was not present - not in his orchard, anyway.

When he had traveled to Galatea, it of course seemed emptier and more dismal than normal, considering he had always shared the place with her; but upon landing there, there was the slightest hint of their link, a tiny illumination of thought in his mind that told him she was still alive. Her subconscious might have been forcibly shut down through some interference of Dael's, or she might have just not been asleep, but her consciousness was alive and well. Mae was not dead - in that, he took faith. Faith, because it was a statement that he had no way to truly confirm the truth of. Faith, because it was something that he desperately needed to believe.

Leaving his dream state without finding any trace of Mae felt like cutting a hole in his heart, one that he would not be able to patch up until he had her back at his side again. He could not shake the feeling that there was something he should be doing to help her, some course of action that would give her a better chance of getting out of whatever horrible situation she was in. However, until he discovered where she was, or what condition she was in, he could not think of anything he could do... and that knowledge was destroying him.

"Sir? They're here," Hune announced. 

Folco sat up and threw his legs off of his bed, getting to his feet. The whiteness of his tent no longer seemed proper; he did not feel pure - he felt guilty, and without his fellow Dreamfarer in safe hands, he felt as if his heart was darkening. Perhaps he should not have ordered Kroma's tent to be burned down after all; perhaps the ex-leader's color scheme would have corresponded with Folco's current essence better than his own.

He gave himself ten more seconds to grieve over his helplessness, then he steeled himself and set his feelings aside. Walking over to the white marble circular table that he had had his sofa replaced with for this meeting, he made sure that he had the correct number of chairs and that his plans were laid open, clear enough for everyone to see and understand. Then he turned his head to call out the entrance:

"Let them in."

Morning light shone through from outside as the entrance flap was lifted, six warlocks that Folco had hand-picked for this meeting walking inside. A few of them looked nervous, as if expecting to hear bad news, but the others strode with their heads held high and their black gazes like iron. He could only hope that he had chosen well.

"Please, sit," he invited, gesturing towards the chairs. There was a small hesitation, then Hune sat in the chair to the right of Folco, and all of the others followed suit, glancing at each other as if hoping to find an explanation for the sudden break-of-dawn meeting in another's face. Folco smiled at each of them in turn.

"I'm sure you are all curious as to why you've been called here," he stated, and was answered with five individual nods; Hune did not move, and Folco appreciated the implicit trust that the older warlock had seemed to place in him already. Hune did not care why he was there; he trusted Folco's judgment and he would follow through on any orders that the new leader gave him.

Folco knew how rare it was to find someone like Hune, and he figured that part of the reason they had such a strong alliance was because they had known each other before Folco took over Kroma's station. The conversation he had had with Hune after Mae had run from him had given the new commander more insight over Folco's emotions, thoughts, and abilities than Folco had ever given anybody besides Mae, and it was probably most of the reason why he and Hune had become... well, Folco guessed that he would call them friends, though he had never really had one of those before.