This time Hero fell asleep by the mysterious Tree, which appa Grake showed him several times in the last few months so he remembered the way. There were always many sweet berry bushes nearby, so it was a good place to collect them for trading.
He took a break after his fourth basket and went to sit by the Tree, where he always felt strangely peaceful and strong. The sunlight shone softly from above, and the air was pleasant and warm. Lulled by the comfortable feeling, he fell asleep in the roots of it, laying his cheek on his folded hands.
He woke up in strange ruins. He sat on the edge of a cliff, below which everything fell away into white mist. In that mist, large islands floated at a great distance, making their enormous shapes seem to sink and disappear, all details vague except for the numerous trees crowding upon their surface with long roots and leafy green vines falling down along the sides. Some even had small streams falling off into space below, somewhere towards the other islands far below.
"Hero?" A familiar voice spoke with surprise.
Turning around, Hero saw the familiar villager, who last time told him that he was his atta Beor, looking at him with slight disbelief.
The villager suddenly smiled. "Asleep again?"
Hero thought about it for a moment and remembered sitting down by the tree, where he began to feel drowsy. He uncertainly nodded.
"It's all right. I am sure glad to see you." The tall villager said with gladness. His face gained a hopeful expression. "Did you tell anyone about what happened to me?"
Little Hero blinked and then his mouth opened in a little "oh", before he gave his uncle a guilty look and shook his head.
"I... I forgot." He admitted, frowning as he wondered how he could have forgotten so important as this dream. "Is this a dream?"
"It is. But it is also real. This..." The villager gestured to the rocky place around them. "Is really happening to me. I am lost... I just wish... You remember enough when you wake up to tell my brother... and Margol and Tnul and Grandpa Grake that I am still alive..."
Hero frowned even more and sighed, sitting down on the edge of the cliff next to the villager, as he cautiously glanced to the mist below.
"I will this time, atta Beor." He told the villager and Beor sadly nodded.
For a moment they just sat on the edge of the cliff together, and then Beor smiled lightly as he ruffled up Hero's hair.
"Come on. I'll show you around this place." He offered and extended his hand, helping the little boy to get up.
Together, they walked away from the edge of the cliff with its floating islands in the mist to what seemed like a strange village. Now, in the light of the day, Hero could see it much better. He saw the small camping site where he and Beor had been last time. A thin number of trees surrounded it. Beyond, lay the tall houses made of stone, their smooth roofs painted red and bright beneath the noon sun. Hero wonderingly looked at them all.
"I picked this one to live in. It has a bed and everything ready within it." Beor smiled and pointed at the smaller house on the edge of the strange village. The emptiness inside it worried the eye somehow and Hero felt a coldness run through him.
Atta Beor must have been so lonely living here all by himself. He thought and gave the tall villager a sympathetic look. He couldn't imagine living somewhere alone like this...
Hero followed Beor into the house and looked around. It was roomy and he could almost smell the freshness of fields and trees, coming in through the wide-open window. It even had curtains on it. Beor gave it all a wistful look.
"I even planted a garden outside. I had seeds and seedlings stored away. Came in handy. As did Kin magic." He led the way to the back of the house, where another door led into a backyard, separated from the other house yards by a wall made of closely placed together rocks. Hero timidly looked around at the fresh dirt scattered around and the growing vegetables and even little trees, where first fruits had begun to appear, even though they were still low to the ground.
"How long... were you here, atta Beor?" He curiously asked and the tall villager sighed.
"Almost a month and a half now... How are things back home?"
Hero uncertainly shrugged. "Normal. Only Margol and Tnul are already learning their trades, but I cannot. Everyone says I'm still too little. I help though! I now go to the woods alone and collect berries and mushrooms. Appa Grake made me a good basket."
Hero produced his basket and proudly showed it to Beor. It was half filled with berries. Looking at it, Beor gladly smiled and nodded.
"That's a wonderful present. That means you already went on your first Trading Day?"
Little Hero perked up. *Yeah! I did that weeks ago!" He smiled, but then frowned a little. "Right before the first time I dreamed... about you... Atta Beor, have you found the Humans, yet?" He couldn't help asking curiously as he suddenly remembered what they talked about last time.
The villager slowly shook his head and looked with a slight loss at his garden, chewing his lip with worry. "I'm starting to think that this settlement is completely abandoned... I found something else, though! Come on, I'll show you!"
Quickly, Beor led the way out of the house and toward the center of the village. His steps came so wide that Hero had to run to stay afoot with him, but he didn't mind. The excitement on Beor's face made him run faster with him, curious about what he might see.
"There." Beor said with wonder on his face and slowed down, right when they reached the center of the village. There, in the middle of a stone platform, stood a rectangular structure. Beor looked at Hero expectantly, but Hero only blinked at it in confusion.
"Do you recognize what it is?"
Hero quietly shook his head and frowned, as he felt an inkling of familiarity about the structure. It was like he had seen it before but couldn't quite remember where.
"It's a portal, Hero. A real portal. Just like in stories."
"About the Brave Merchant!" Hero said with excitement and immediately stepped close to it, his hand trying to touch the polished surface of the strange stone. As he did so, a sigil suddenly burst to life under his palm, and Hero immediately jerked his hand away. The sigil slowly died, fainting until it blended together with the rest of the stone, becoming invisible.
"Hold on. Do it again." Beor said with rising curiosity and encouragingly nodded to Hero when he gave the villager an uncertain look, not sure what just happened.
Gingerly reaching to the surface, Hero placed his hand upon it again and held it, even when symbols began to light up all around the rectangular edge. As soon as they did, the space within the frame itself suddenly lit up with a soft blue sheen, which rippled like water.
Both Hero and Beor looked at it with fascination. Hero again let go, but this time the portal remained lit. Beor wonderingly looked at it and suddenly grinned.
"I am going to see where it goes!" He declared and stepped closer. Hero's eyes opened wider and he caught his uncle's sleeve, shaking his head. Turning back to look at him, Beor's excitement slightly lessened and he gave the child an encouraging smile.
"It has to be better than living here all alone, waiting for the Humans to come. I think it's the right thing to do, Hero. I should go after them and see, where they went. I think they all left through this portal for some reason, leaving their things behind. It must lead somewhere where I can find help. I just cannot wait here anymore."
Hero hesitated, but then decided that his uncle should know better, and let go of his sleeve.
"Besides, we'll probably meet again." Beor smiled brightly, as he looked at Hero cheerfully. "You'll dream about it again, and I will tell you about my next adventure. How is that?"
This time, Hero smiled back and then eagerly nodded. Beor took a big breath and turned back to face the gate. Despite his readiness, his body rung with nervous excitement.
"Wish me luck, Hero." He told the strange little child with him, wondering how Hero managed to activate the sleeping portal's magic simply by touching it while within a dream. He also wondered whether all of this was even real, or if he was simply dreaming it as well. He might wake up back by that tree on the edge of a cliff, where he probably also fell into a drowse.
Everything felt so real, though.
"Good luck, atta." Small voice spoke readily by his side and Beor gave the child another encouraging smile.
"Stay good, Hero. Help to take care of your appa and your uncle, Rangil. Tell Margol and Tnul to do the same."
The child hesitated, but nodded. Beor gently ruffled up his hair, making the child smile just as he did when he was little.
Turning back to the portal, he stepped right through and vanished in a flash of light.
For a long moment, Hero waited as if expecting his uncle to reappear and tell him what he saw on the other side. Instead, however, the gate remained lit, as if welcoming him to follow. Suddenly nervous, Hero stepped closer to it and stuck his hand right into it. He felt a sort of coolness wrapping between his fingers and nothing else.
This was just a dream, right? If it was a dream, then he could do all kinds of things, even fly! He could also follow atta Beor and see where he went.
With that thought, Hero eagerly stepped forward completely into the shimmering surface...
A sharp sting pierced his head, stealing his breath away. His small body curling up, shaking as he moaned with suddenly fierce headache building up across his temples and back of the head, pounding in his eyes, Hero tightly squeezed his eyes shut and stubbornly waited.
He remembered the dream!
After the pain dissipated, he shakily got up from the roots of the tree where he had fallen asleep and ran to his house, stumbling. He was completely out of breath and buzzing with excitement within him as he wanted to tell everyone at home wonderful news.
Atta Beor was alive!
Already next to the edge of the woods, Hero was forced to start walking, since he was completely out of breath. He saw a crowd of villagers by his house though and slowed down even more, a little intimidated this time.
With some concern, his white eyes studied the villagers gathered around his uncle and both siblings. Margol and Tnul seemed to be crying as the villagers patted their heads and shoulders, saying something.
Hero's heart suddenly fell a little. Forgetting about his tiredness, he ran.
He slipped past the villagers standing next to uncle Rangil's house and ran inside, running from room to room, searching.
"Appa Grake?" He called.
"Hero..." His uncle appeared inside, his tone quiet and sad, and stepped toward him. Hero ignored him and ran past him outside the house to the edge of the field, searching the fields of ripening wheat with alarm. He was not seeing the stooped figure of the old villager anywhere.
"Appa Grake?" He called again, his voice raised higher, even as he saw the villagers next to the house turning and looking at him with sadness as they shook their heads. He refused to believe it.
"Appa Grake!" He called out again, starting to sniffle, and felt strong hands enclose him in a hug.
"Hush, kari. Hush... He is gone."
Uncle Rangil's voice came sad and Hero shook his head, denying the words spoken to him.
Even though he knew what was going to happen, because appa Grake often spoke of this and warned that one day he might simply disappear as he became reborn as a little villager somewhere, Hero hoped that it was going to be a long time, yet.
He was going to tell appa Grake first the news about atta Beor!
He tried to say something to uncle Rangil, but instead only a sob came. And then another. And then he was crying and unable to stop.
"I'm sorry, kari. It was his time." Uncle Rangil said with difficulty, his voice quiet and laden with emotion. His hands hugged Hero and pressed him close to him.
Again, Hero tried to say something, to protest, but only kept crying instead. Giving up, he buried his face into the young villager's shirt, grasping on to him with his hands, and continued to cry, his heart breaking within him.
He felt so alone. Only grandpa Grake understood and loved him most.
"Shhh." Uncle Rangil tried to comfort the sobbing child but could not find the words to speak to him, so he just held him. Margol and Tnul approached them both, too, and the villager included all three children into the hug, confusion and sadness roiling through him.
He felt so alone, left with so much responsibility.
"It will be all right, kari." Elders Dar and Haren stood nearby, looking at the small group with compassion. Even elder Jan looked at them with silent regret, before he turned and walked away back to the village.
"We will all help you raise your children now." Elder Dar spoke with sincerity and Rangil looked up and tried to gratefully, shakily smile. The elders and some of the villagers present smiled back in return...
...
This same evening, almost the entire village gathered at the West side of the village by the field, full of white stone markers to pay their respect to their family's loss. Rangil stood with his three children gathered under his arms, as one by one all the villagers lay white moon lilies next to the new marker that had the name Grake on it.
"He will be much missed." Elder Haren said, placing a flower next to many others as well.
Last of all, not willing to say goodbye and still unable to believe it all, little Hero reluctantly came forward and place his white lily there, too. His eyes were watery and red, but this time no one scolded him, since he had a reason for his sadness. The eyes of the villagers dwelled on him with compassion as they began to leave back to the village one by one, giving uncle Rangil and his family a few more encouraging words.
Finally, it was uncle Rangil who put a hand on the small child's shoulder.
"Lets go home..." He drew the child softly with him to waiting Margol and Tnul and Hero obediently went with them.
He still slept in his little house alone, crying until he succumbed to sleep once more. And he dreamed of the empty village where his atta Beor had stayed. Only now, it was completely empty. The portal in the middle of it stood silent and dark in the quickly setting sun.
Here, too, Hero was completely alone except for the moving skeletal shapes that appeared on the rocks nearby, watching him silently with their empty pits for eyes.
Hugging himself tightly with his hands, Hero fervently wished to see his appa, instead. And the dream shifted.
He found himself on a sunny lawn in the woods by the magical sprawling oak tree where appa Grake always liked to visit with him.
"Appa Grake?" Hero whispered, seeing the familiar form standing by the Tree. The old villager turned and gently smiled at him, sunny laughter in his wrinkles around his caring eyes.
With a sob, Hero ran to him and fell into a hug.
"Don't leave me, appa Grake!" He pleaded desperately.
"Shhhh. I won't, child. I won't. I'll be right here." The old villager's warm voice promised him gently and Hero believed him with all of his heart. "I'll be right here."
Hero fell asleep held by the old villager's hands, rocking him as he used to do when Hero was very little.
"Shhhh. It will be all right."