Was It Just A Dream

Chapter 26

The morning sun streamed through the tops of the trees of the forest and illuminated the ancient ruins in a golden glow. I yawned, stretching my arms out in the air. I hadn't slept well, not at all, but I was ready to get up and move on from everything that had happened during the last few days. That was behind us now. We had to keep going and get home.

Everyone else was already awake, sitting back where we had our picnic the day before. There was still some food left over, and we sat down to have a delightful breakfast in the morning sun. I could see the details of the ruins much better now. They were beautiful, with dark green vines growing everywhere. I wondered what these ruins were from. Who built them? The question lingered in the back of my mind. No one said anything about what had happened last night, and for that, I was thankful. I was scared of what I had dreamt, and what it might mean. But I wasn't ready to tell them, not yet...

"So," Lincoln said, yawning. "We need a plan, am I right?"

"You, sir, are correct," Jimmy said, pointing a bread stick at him. "We need to get to the Warrior's castle, as Deavk said. The only problem is, we have no idea where that is or where we are." Both Cali and Lincoln looked surprised to see Jimmy talking again. Thanks to the food and the night's sleep, he was already looking a little less sickly. But he was still painfully skinny, with dark bags under his eyes to match. His originally tan skin was paler, giving him a pasty appearance.

"I don't think we should trust Deavk," Cali stated, shaking her head. "He's strange. Why should we do what he says?"

"Because" Jimmy's voice had now taken an incredibly serious tone. "He saved us. He saved me from the Monster of the Masks. I know he's not normal, Cali. But we can trust him." Lincoln nodded his head, and Cali shrugged.

I, on the other hand, felt increasingly uneasy. My dream kept creeping into my mind, and how Deavk's face had turned into Mr. Roads'. The whole dream confused me, and I didn't understand what it meant.

"Mira," I blinked to find Cali waving a hand in front of my face. "I was trying to tell you, we found a map in one of the baskets of bread." She picked up a piece of cloth from her lap, which was brown and matted. I took it, wiping off some of the dirt that covered it and lifting it towards my face to examine it. There was a red X on our location, and another red X in the far east, on the Warrior's Castle in the desert. We were in the far west, in the Upper Clandestine. I shivered, hating knowing that we were still in the forest know as the Clandestine. Yes, it was not as dark and spooky as the Lower, but the forest still seemed daunting. The ruins we were at was labeled as the Temple of Aylas. There was a wide expanse between the two X's. I also say the heart of Ebony, where Cotton, Om, and Fawn were trapped. I smiled, remembering them. Thinking of them was bittersweet; they were so kind to us, but they were trapped in Ebony forever. If we didn't hurry, we were risking the same fate.

"Who do you think the Aylas were?" I asked, still looking down at the map.

"No idea," Lincoln said, sitting down behind me and throwing an arm around my shoulder. "Whoever made this place probably doesn't exist anymore from the looks of it."

"We really should leave soon," Jimmy grunted. "I want to leave Ebony as soon as possible."

"We all do," Cali said, watching Jimmy. "But we just can't charge ahead. We have to rest after everything that happened yesterday."

"Whoa, someone's gotten positive." Jimmy shot her a glance. "What happened to the Cali who just wanted to go home?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk." Cali got up. I could tell she was mad now. She stared pointedly at Jimmy, daring him to challenge her. It was time for another one of Cali's truth drops. "You're nothing like you used to be. You used to be happy, funny Jimmy the Banana Boy. Now all you do is moan and groan. And I know, what you went through was terrible. But you won't even talk about what happened with me, let alone talk about anything. You act like we weren't scared to death for you." Tears were dancing in Cali's eyes, but she didn't let them fall. Instead, she turned and walked off, disappearing behind a crumbling ruin wall. This seemed very familiar. Jimmy just knew how to bother Cali perfectly, didn't he?

The three of us sat there for a second, taking in what Cali had said. Jimmy looked shocked and angry. I sat there, not sure what to think. But I couldn't help but let jealousy creep into my heart. I wish I could just shout out my feelings like Cali. But instead, I sat next to this boy named Lincoln, with feelings like all the colors in the world swirling inside of me. The outside world was gray, and I would do anything to let the colors out and expose my feelings. But something was blocking me, stopping me from letting go. I couldn't open up my heart.

"Mira," I jumped at Jimmy's voice, bringing me back to reality. "What's up with her?" His face was stiff, with a deep frown etched on it. Jimmy looked like an old man with a frown- it didn't suit his face. When would this boy really smile again?

"Oh," I sighed. "Wasn't she clear enough? She's sick of your attitude. I know, I know, you went through something unimaginably terrible, and you're obviously not ever going to be the same again. But you've only talked to me about what happened. She can't understand why you're like this if you don't tell her the truth."

Jimmy nodded his head, still frowning. But now Lincoln was looking at me with a frown too.

"Wait," He asked, looking back and forth between Jimmy and I., "He told you what happened when he was in the Shadowed Clan's fortress?" We both nodded. I was confused. Why did it matter? Jimmy had to tell someone, or he was going to fall apart with it eating at him from the inside.

"I'm going to try and talk to Cali." Jimmy sighed, breaking the silence. Lincoln was watching him, a hard look on his face. Jimmy got up, heading in the same direction that Cali had gone.

"I think I'm going to go on a walk," Lincoln grunted, not meeting my eyes. I almost got up to go with him, but I could tell he wanted to be alone. In a matter of minutes, I was all alone, sitting on our picnic blanket.

"When did we all get so dramatic?" I asked the sky. I sat there for a second, staring up at the clouds swirling in the sunlight. Then, in utter frustration, I shouted at the sky.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"