The Dream Keeper's Dragon

2.25 The Keeper

Aurelie appeared in front of an old hut in the center of a muddy field. The thatch roof was sodden and reeked of rot. Crickets chirped near a thin, bare tree which leaned to the side, roots emerging. There was nothing else around it for miles.

The windows were darkened and covered with dust both on the inside and outside. The Keeper had once said that it was her that decided on the travels, but that had never completely convinced her. She didn't even know this place existed before now.

Perhaps she needed the solitude after what happened with Lukas. She didn't think the experience had affected her quite as deeply but ever since he grabbed her, her stomach had not released the thick knot that formed inside it.

Aurelie felt foreign to the Realm again. Just like she had the first time she made it up the path toward the castle and met the Keeper. The air was thicker and clouds unusually low.

"Is anyone in there?" she asked, approaching the hut. "Hello."

Her last encounter with The Keeper was not in the least bit pleasant. Avoiding him would be the goal of her visit. This did not seem like the kind of place where he would dwell. Relief filled her when her call received no answer.

She walked up to the door. There was a hole where the handle had been. Aurelie pushed the door open with her hand. Warm, homely light greeted her. On a round table stood a steaming pot of what smelled like chamomile tea. Aurelie started to close the door, realizing that someone had lived there and was most likely home and that she had just waltzed into their home uninvited.

"Come in, and close the door," a man said, stepping into the hallway. "Wouldn't want anyone eavesdropping on our visit, would we?"

"I'm not quite sure yet," Aurelie replied but came inside and closed the door behind her. The table stood on a dark red carpet surrounded by four wooden chairs. Further in, there were white wooden kitchen cupboards and a closed door right beside the oven. The inside of the hut wasn't anything like she imagined. She looked up to see whether the thatch was rotting inside too and found a polished wooden ceiling instead.

"Sit, sit!" A tall man with a thick head of white and dark grey hair walked into the room and pulled out a chair for Aurelie.

She put her hand on the rim of the chair and stared at the man. "Who are you?"

"Ah!" He waved his hands above his head, walked over to another chair, and sat. "You've been in my life for so long that I forget you don't actually know me!"

Aurelie took a seat and looked around at all the walls. There was a painting next to the door she came through of the sea in front of the castle. Though it only existed in The Dream Realm, in reality, the closest sea was to the far north.

"You're the original Keeper," she said, with all the surety in the world. "I thought you were gone."

The Keeper turned to look at the painting. "Smart girl!" He turned back and pulled a cup closer. "Gone is not quite the word, I suppose displaced is a little more fitting."

"How so?" Aurelie watched as he poured a cup and passed it to her.

"Sugar?"

"Please."

The Keeper passed her a bowl stacked with small sugar blocks and a spoon to stir. "I'm in hiding."

"From whom?"

He smiled. "You've met him."

Aurelie frowned. "My grandfather? But why would you hide from him?" She had suspected him of something sinister after her injury, so this came as hardly a surprise, but she didn't want him to know just yet. The man had lost his wits and felt more like a danger to her than assistance.