The Dream Keeper

Chapter 13: The Crystal Table

Chapter 13: The Crystal Table

Gladamyr was leery about being on the island. It just felt wrong. As if they stayed too long they, like so many dreamlings before them, would fade away. It also felt strange carrying Dr. Gates, or Gregory, as he knew him as a child. He remembered that Fyren had arranged for the boy to be brought nightly to the same part of Mares so that Gladamyr could practice on the child. He had tried to perceive Gregory’s thoughts and shift into what the boy feared most. Gladamyr, however, wasn’t as talented as Fyren and was never able to accomplish mind reading. He ended up just shifting into various shapes, feeding off the terror they inflicted. Oh, how wrong he had been.

“There’s not much to this place, is there?” Zelda called out.

Gladamyr agreed. The island was very odd. There was no shore line; the Dreamer had smashed into a line of rocks that flung the ship atop the vacant beach. There were no plants, trees, buildings or dreamlings anywhere. It was just a vast wasteland of nothing but fog and dark volcanic rock.

“I somehow expected to see more,” Dr. Gates agreed.

“Where did you say we were going?” Zelda asked.

“There is supposed to be a keep of some sort at the center of the island,” Gladamyr answered. “When dreamlings come here to fade, their memories are supposed to be written down and placed there. Cerulean thinks this is the only place to find out what Fyren is trying to do.”

“By reading someone else’s memories?” Zelda asked sarcastically. “That could take forever! I mean, you don’t even know what you’re looking for and she wants to read a bunch of autobiographies?”

“Zelda’s right,” Dr. Gates called out through the wind. “Isn’t there someone we can ask? Someone who might know more than we do?”

“I’m sorry, but I do not believe there is.”

Gladamyr didn’t know what else to say. The adults had even more questions than the children and he felt he was proving to be horrible at giving answers. He simply knew too little. Then Cerulean shouted from behind that she spotted something up ahead, and Gladamyr shifted his eyes to focus on what might be.

It was a looming tower that protruded from the volcanic rock like a nail. The sight of it was foreboding. It did not look welcoming at all. The inner tower was as black as ebony with slate grey archways that piled high, one upon another in a circular pattern. It was finished off with five sharp turrets that jutted out at the top. Gladamyr heard Parker make a joke about the dark tower and something called a hobbit, but the Dream Keeper didn’t understand.

“Looks like a five star hotel,” Zelda jeered.

“More like a three,” Dr. Gates corrected.

Gladamyr put the couple down and shifted back to his regular form before landing. Cerulean alighted with Parker and Kaelyn seconds after, and the group looked up at the massive thing that was hopefully the answer to everything.

“So do we knock or just go in?” Parker asked with a small chuckle.

“I’m glad someone finds this inviting,” Zelda replied.

“It’s not that bad,” said Kaelyn. “I mean, imagine it standing by a waterfall and a rainbow, and it’s quite nice.”

“Anything looks nice next to a rainbow,” Zelda argued.

Gladamyr took the lead by boldly walking up to the door and knocking.

“You really think anyone lives there?” Dr. Gates asked.

“It states in the retirement book that the keep does have a keeper,” Cerulean answered.

“Poor guy lives in the middle of nowhere with no one to talk to. Oh great, he’ll be loads of fun,” Parker said. Kaelyn gave him a small shove, and Gladamyr had to smile. The way the two mortal children acted was very entertaining. He wondered if all boys and girls acted this way to each other, or if Parker and Kaelyn were an exception.