Jasmine:
There was a horrible sound - a sort of wailing - almost as though an animal was dying, but multiplied, as if there were millions of dying animals, all over the city. Everything was hazy but I had a strong feeling that the sound was human - human grief. A ghostly figure sat at a window sill, another lay in bed: weak; fragile; dying. More lined the streets, as if they were waiting for something to pass between them. The world was colourless, as though the life had been sucked from it, leaving only monotone and gloom.
The crying continued, but the picture around me grew less hazy. I realised that I was standing in a garden. The people grew clearer too: Caleb, Grace, and Zephyrus, all in black robes, tears flowing freely down their faces as they huddled around a stone block. I looked more closely and noticed that the block was ablaze. Flames caressed their way around the stone, encasing it in their grasp. They were the sole source of colour in the scene, full of deep oranges, reds and shimmering gold.
Imogen, Cameron, Devon and even Brody were there too, yet it felt like something - or maybe someone - was missing from the scene. Someone important. But the haziness from the view before me had been replaced by haziness in my head and I couldn't focus my mind enough to work out who it was. The more I struggled to clear my mind, the clearer the picture before me became instead. The flames on the stone retreated, so that I could make out the words etched into it, but only one stood out. A name:
Brae
Then the fire was all around me.
I woke with a start for a second night, drenched in sweat from the heat of my dream and tangled in my covers as though I'd been struggling. The dream was still clear and sharp in my mind, the image of Brae's tombstone burned into my eyes. Like the first dream, it had felt far too real, like much more than a dream. This time, however, I was certain that I had to do something. The dreams weren't natural - they were a warning and I had to pass it on to Brae. But the only way of doing that, would be to go to the Helian Realm.
It only took me a few minutes to pack everything I was going to need: some spare clothes, what little money I had hidden in my wardrobe, my prayer stone and my ring, which I thrust onto my figure for comfort and luck. It was still early, so I threw on plenty of layers to keep out the cold - not that I'd need them once I'd made it to the Helian Realm. The purple in my hair was well hidden, but I pulled a hat down over it to be safe.
But packing was the easy side of leaving - excusing my absence would be a lot harder. I took out a piece of paper and stared at it blankly for a few minutes before picking up my pen.
Dear Caleb and Noni, The past few days I have been feeling increasingly unsettled about Brae and the others, so have decided to spend some time at the monastery in Bayamo in order to pray for their safe return. I was due another visit there next month, but feel that it would be more beneficial to time my pilgrimage now. I'm sorry not to tell you this in person, but a dream I had last night made me feel like I shouldn't lose a day in going and I need to leave now if I want to reach Bayamo by nightfall on foot. I shall return in a few days - maybe a week maximum - and wish you both good health while I am gone. May the God be with you. Jasmine.
Letter written, I folded it and crept out of the house without making a sound, pausing to leave the note on the kitchen table. My message wouldn't seem too out of the ordinary. As high priest, Caleb encouraged all acts of piety and would probably be proud of me for leaving so promptly. And it wasn't all falsehood either. I really was leaving in a hurry because of a dream. My next challenge was to find a boat, though I already had a good idea of where to start; I just had to hope that Brody's dad was taking advantage of the temporarily opened waters around Halia.
It took me less than ten minutes to reach the quay and only a few minutes more to work out which was Brody's house, as there was a little wooden boat on the wall next to the door with 'the Holmes" written on it in large, loopy writing. Despite the earliness of the hour, the curtains were all open wide and I could smell freshly baked rolls from an open window on the left. I knocked on the door tentatively and a moment later it was opened by a smiling middle-aged woman I assumed must be Brody's mother.
"Hello, how can I help you?" She looked completely unsurprised at being disturbed so early in the morning, but perhaps it was entirely normal in the harbour district. I realised that I'd never really bothered to find out much about Brody's home life. I knew that he attended our church, rather than his local one here, because his grandfather had worked in the palace and families tended only to switch churches in marriage - no one moved around that much in the Arcan Realm. But I didn't know whether he went to school, or worked, or what he did on any other day of the week really. So the smile I returned to Brody's mother was somewhat apologetic. "Could I speak to Brody please? If he's awake, that is."
"Of course, I think he's out back. I'll go and fetch him for you." She opened the door a little wider so that I could come in and wait in the hall while she vanished through a door off to the right. I heard her call out Brody's name, saying something about a visitor and then she reemerged. "I'm not sure I've seen you here before. How do you know Brody?"
"I'm a friend of his from church." I kept my tone friendly, but my answer as brief as possible - it would be easier for my disappearing act if she didn't know who I was.
But her smile increased at my answer. "You wouldn't happen to be Devon would you?" I was saved from having to reply by Brody's sudden appearance in the hall. His mother, seeming to take my silence as a positive response, made herself scarce after a quick, "Well, I'll leave you two to it then."
"Jazz? Why are you here? Is Dev- is everything alright?"
I paused before answering, unsure of how much I should tell Brody. "Devon's fine," I said carefully. She was for now, but I needed his help to keep her that way.
At that moment, two heads peeped out from the doorway Brody had just emerged from, belonging to two young boys who couldn't have been more than seven or eight. Brody probably wouldn't have noticed their presence if one of them hadn't giggled and asked me "Are you Devon? Brody thinks you are really pretty."
"He wants to kiss you!" added the other, red in the face from laughter.
"Both of you shut up!" Brody replied angrily, though I noticed that he had also turned a bright shade of red. "Do you fancy going for a walk?" he asked. "It's a bit crowded in here."
"Sorry about them," he added when we were outside. "They don't know what they're talking about - I never said those things about Devon - they heard me mention her name once before and they were trying to embarrass me."
"Don't worry about it, Brody. I won't say anything to Dev."
"Thanks." He looked more than a little relieved. "So what did you come to talk to me about anyway?"
I took a deep breath before beginning - I wasn't sure how easy enlisting Brody's aid would be. "I need you to help me with something. Is your father sending boats to the Helian Realm at the moment?"
"Yes, with the waters open he's been sending boats over there to fish. There are more tropical species because of the warmth of the water. The boats need to go into the harbour in Halia first though to get permits. Why? Do you need something sent across to Brae?"
"No," I lied smoothly - although in a way I was trying to send something across to Brae: myself. "I've been giving a lot of thought to the open borders. I'm doing a project on the Helian Realm at the moment and I thought maybe I could take a ride over on the boat, to see what the island looked like up close, maybe have a walk around the port while the men are ashore."
He didn't really look like he was buying it. "Why didn't you go across with Brae and the others?"
"Because they were going for way too long and on official business, not sightseeing. Besides, Caleb would never let me go."
"Why has that changed now?"
"It hasn't - I haven't told him. The boats will only be gone for a few days. I said that I needed to go and spend some time in the monastery, he doesn't mind me doing that. And he'll never have to know where I really went. Please Brody, the borders might close again as soon as the delegates leave. This could be the only chance I ever get to see the Helian Realm."
He thought about it from a moment. I could tell from the expression on his face that he didn't really believe me, but couldn't work out what kind of danger I was trying to get myself into.
"Come on, Jasmine. Tell me the truth. Why do you need to get over there so badly? I won't help you put yourself into danger, especially not when you're lying to me."
I took a deep breath. I looked as though I was going to have to be at least partially honest if I was going to get him to help me. "I think that the others might be in trouble. The Helians are planning something and I need to warn them."
Brody looked stunned for a moment, it was clear that whatever he had been expecting me to say, this definitely wasn't it.
"But how do you know?"
"I can't really explain it. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I need you to trust me. For Devon's sake."
He was quiet for a moment, no doubt trying to judge how crazy I was. "Well, if Devon's in trouble then I'm coming with you."
"Oh, Brody, I couldn't ask you to do that!"
"You're not asking, I'm telling you. You'll never get to the Helian Realm without my help and my one condition is that I come along too. Besides, I couldn't possibly send you over there alone. I know I don't look strong or impressive in comparison to the Protectors like Brae, but I'm pretty good in a fist fight and I know a lot more about travelling by boat than you do. If this is going to work, you need me with you."
He may have had a point. Having him along definitely would make getting to the Helian Realm a lot easier, but he shouldn't put himself into danger on account of my crazy dreams.
"You don't really have an option here, Jasmine. Not if you truly think they're in trouble."
"Ok then. You can come. But I think you're being reckless."
"Then we're both being reckless together." He smiled. "There's a sailor who works for my dad and owes me a favour. he should be able to get us across on the next boat."
"What about your parents?"
"They're used to me going out on the boats. My dad actually suggested I take a ride over to the Helian Realm while I could. I don't think they envisioned me going ashore though." He grinned cheekily; he seemed more relaxed about the idea than I was. "I'll tell them now, while I go back to grab some stuff. They won't worry." He rushed back into the house without another word. I stared after him, slightly in shock. What was I doing? I wasn't only putting myself in danger now, but Brody as well. Was I really that sure that my dreams were warnings? The image of Brae's tombstone came back into my mind and I shivered violently. Doubting wasn't an option. I needed to go over there.
Brody emerged from the house ten minutes later and we continued our walk down to the quay, where he led me over to a tall ship called the Tielle-Marie. It was full of sailors with bright blue eyes and pale skin. My mind brought me unwilling back to Brae's remark about my parentage. Although Brody's dad owned the boat and was in charge of all the voyages it made, he employed Brizans to actually do all of the sailing, while he stuck to paper work and economics. "Morning," Brody called out cheerfully, leading me up the gangway. "Is Elliot around?" he asked one of the nearest sailors.
"Yes, I'll go and grab him for you." The Brizan disappeared below deck but came back less than a minute later accompanied by another sailor. They were unbelievably graceful, all of them, almost as fluid as water. It made me feel that even the way I stood was ungainly by comparison.
His bluer-than-blue eyes scanned me curiously up and down, puzzled by my own cerulean eyes, yet strikingly dark and un-Brizan-like hair. "Who's your friend?" he asked Brody. I subtly checked my reflection in the water by the boat to make sure that no purple strands had escaped. I looked weird enough already and I really, really didn't want to scare away my only hope of getting to the Helian Realm.
"This is Jasmine. We need you to take us across to the Helian Realm," Brody replied, sounding far more confident than I felt.
"Feeling suicidal are we?" Elliot asked me. I got the feeling from the way he was looking at me that he was only half joking.
"Just curious is all. Figured we'd take advantage of what could be the only chance we're going to get to see it." I smiled as brightly as I could, trying to prove that I wasn't crazy.
"Look, Brody, we don't want to be taking passengers, not on this trip, it's too dangerous. What would happen if you didn't come back alive? Your father would kill us!"
"El, we're aware of the risks and we still want to do this. And you owe me - big time - for not telling my Dad what happened when you went out a few months ago." He shot Elliot a meaningful glance, causing the sailor to glare back.
"Well if you really want to come, it's your funeral. But what do I tell the others?"
"That my father said that we were coming - they won't question his orders."
Elliot shook his head then began to walk back in the direction of the cabin. "Follow me if you're coming, Arcans. But I warn you now - you're making a huge mistake. Don't expect any fancy treatment either," he added, giving me a strange look. "You'll be with all of the other female sailors and you'll be expect to pull your weight on board - this isn't a pleasure cruiser."
He paused and turned to look at Brody. "We're even now - do you hear - no matter what happens on this trip." Brody nodded in way of response and I enveloped him in a huge hug.
"Thank you so much for doing this, Brody. You have no idea what it means."
I breathed a deep sigh of relief as the Tielle-Marie was readied for setting sail.