The Dream Keeper

Chapter 3: Dreams

Parker wore the cloak of an assassin-scout, the mottle-green color blending in nicely with the lush vegetation around him. Under the cloak was the armor of the Mightercore army. But where was he? This scene didn’t look familiar; he was in a jungle of sorts. Parker didn’t remember a jungle in Medieval Assassin. He looked around, trying to find something familiar, but there was nothing. Just the trunks of large trees, leaves, and vines everywhere. Wait, was that a stone wall?

Parker moved slowly through the vegetation. The armor was heavy and it weighted him down to the point of exhaustion. Finally, after great effort, he reached the stone wall. It stretched high into the air, so high that Parker couldn’t see the top of it. He looked to his left then his right, and couldn’t see where the wall ended. It just went on forever. He turned his back and was shocked to find himself still looking at the stone wall. Panic took hold and he spun in circles, finding himself in a stone prison that reached up into the sky and disappeared.

“What a loser!” The voice echoed off the rocky walls, amplifying into a million taunting voices. “Loser, loser, Parker Bennett is a loser, loser—”

“Stop it! Stop!” Parker crumpled dizzy to the ground, the Mightercore armor clanking as it struck the stone floor. He put his hands to his ears, trying to stop the continuous chanting. Please make it stop, make it stop, he pleaded, over and over in his head, but the voices only grew louder. This had to be a dream. He was stuck in a nightmare and couldn’t make it stop. He scrabbled at the ground, trying to claw his way to freedom. He needed to escape. The fear of being enclosed was overpowering. The voices kept changing pitch and he could hear Jason, Tyler, Zach, and Nick, shouting that hateful word over and over. Then it was Connor’s voice. “Parker Bennett, you’re such a loser . . . loser . . . loser —”

“Parker . . . Parker . . . Parker . . . .”

The chanting was gone, but he still heard his name. The voice was different, soft and high pitched—a girl’s voice. Parker slowly opened his eyes. He was no longer in the stone prison, instead he was in a strange land. The ground was black and cracked, with large misshaped rocks jutting out from all angles. A suffocating grey mist circled here and there like ghosts riding on the wind. The most peculiar things, however, were the trees overhead. Suspended high in the air, their roots dangled down like twisting snakes. He turned and saw the girl who had called his name. Kaelyn . . . Kaelyn Clark, the new girl—whoa! Why was he dreaming about Kaelyn Clark?

“Parker . . . Parker . . . where did you go?” Kaelyn was looking around as if she didn’t see him.

“Kaelyn, I’m right here.” There was no response, she just kept turning and turning. Then a look of panic came over her face.

“Daddy, watch out,” she screamed. “Daddy . . . Daddy!”

“Kaelyn?”

Parker watched as a car materialized around Kaelyn. A man was sitting in the seat beside her. Suddenly, the car crumpled, and Kaelyn lurched from side to side. The car turned upside down and her body collapsed to the roof. The man beside her was strapped to his chair, and he hung motionless. Parker ran to help, but then he noticed another man standing next to the car. He was tall, broad shouldered and his skin was purple. The strange man nodded to Parker as if saying hello. Parker gave a nod back, and then turned back to Kaelyn.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“She’s dreaming,” the purple man said. “Don’t worry, she’s not hurt.”

“Of course she’s hurt! We need to help her.”

“It was her choice to give you the dreamstone,” the man said, pointing at Parker’s hand. Parker looked in his hand and saw an opaque round rock the size of a silver dollar. “She insisted you take it so you could escape.”