A New Beginning

Chapter 1

Trisha stood in the entrance of the Light. She pushed back a few strands of hair off her face and turned to look at the dreamers that had gathered. All of them had lost someone or something that was precious to them only a few dreams before during an attack. They were working together now, probably for the first time, putting their entire differences aside.

She turned back to her friend, Aliza, who was still talking to her.

“So, I thought it might work. What do you think?”

“Umm…yea, it might.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“It’s hard to stop all these creatures, especially the ones with Dreamstrike.” Aliza nodded. “But it’s worth a try.”

Aliza smiled, happy that they might be using her idea. “It may need a few adjustments. Let’s go talk with the rest of the elders.”

Aliza walked inside, while Trisha stayed behind a moment longer, lost in her own thoughts.

Chapter 2

Tracey stood just outside the Sanctuary along with some of his friends. He was tired, bored and just couldn’t understand why he was placed in guard duty. For as bad as the attacks might have been, and he knew they had been bad enough, a Sanctuary was a Sanctuary. Besides, he didn’t… Couldn’t believe that the Mares had gotten their paws on Dreamstrike… And he hadn’t.

“Anything new on the horizon?” he yelled to one of his buddies that were on a higher terrain. “Nah. And ah don’t think there will bee anytime soon.”

McCoy had an interesting accent. People usually teased him because of it and Tracey would do it now, if he wasn’t so dang tired.

“Hey, Trassie, weren’t yoo s’pposed to meet Trisha at the hearing thingy?” McCoy asked.

Tracey looked up from his blade and stiffened. That’s right! Trisha! How could I’ve forgotten?

“Dang! You’re right.” Tracey said, getting up. “I’ll catch you later guys.”

And, before anyone could say anything, Tracey was already gone.

Chapter 3

“Some of them liked the idea,” Aliza said. “Now I have to present it to everyone else…” She turned to look at Trisha. “You’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”

Trisha stopped pacing and looked up. “Oh, sorry. Any sign of Tracey yet?”

“No, but he’ll be here. He said he would be.”

Where is he? Almost everyone is here; Trisha thought to herself and started pacing again.

“I’ve got to go in. Are you coming?”

“Yea.” She followed Aliza into the meeting room and found a spot in the corner.

Deedro stepped into the center of the room and began to speak, “Thank you all for coming this dream. We have all seen these new Mares that have reeked havoc. None of us want this in our city. We need to fight. Aliza?” He turned to her and left the center.

Tracey ran through the plane. He stopped when he heard a scratching sound, and turned to look. “Hello?” No one’s here, this place is dead.

A slight breeze came out of nowhere, and he almost thought he heard a whisper. You’re imagining things; he thought and shook his head. With his blade ready in case something was there, he continued on his way.

A dark figure watched from the shadows…

Chapter 4

“As you all know, the Dream has suffered deep changes.” Aliza started, after taking a deep breath. “This is more than a normal Eclipse, bigger than any of us.”

Mumbles were heard in the audience. Dreamers raised eyebrows, shot weird glances at each other and at Aliza. She looked at Trisha and at Deedro. They urged her to continue. She took another deep breath and nodded to them, turning again to the Dreamers.

“After much discussion we have come to the conclusion that this may be… A test of faith from the Powers That Be.” She stopped to create the desired impact. It worked. “What do you suggest we do, then?” someone asked.

Aliza looked at her notes and then at Deedro, who was gesturing to Aliza for her to step down and let Trisha handle this. Aliza did so, tapping on Trisha’s shoulder and motioning her to the small podium. Trisha got the cue and stepped up.

Tracey arrived at the antechamber rather safe. However, the small trip he did were enough to keep his adrenaline running. Upon not finding Trisha he cursed under his breath. He walked around in small circles trying to calm down and think about what he would say to Trisha. After some time he gave up.

No point in making her waits any longer. He thought to himself.

He sighed and entered the portal.

The dark figure grinned.

Incompetent fools! He thought, chuckling slightly. Let us leave a little present for Mr. Tracey, shall we?

He stepped out of the shadows but only slightly, very slightly. Right after that he was again in the shadows and gone.

Chapter 5

Tracey slipped in quietly. He looked to the center of the room and saw Trisha, looking right at him. I’m in for it now.

“We gather as many elemens and chaks as we can. When anyone goes anywhere,” Trisha said and looked at Tracey, “they should be with someone. I would suggest staying near a sanctuary. If you run into any of these new Mares, do not fight them.”

“What if we want to?”

“I can’t stop anyone from fighting. It’s your choice,” Trisha turned to Aliza.

“When we have all the elemens and chaks we can hold, we will attack when they least expect it.”

A young dreamer was walking by the Lake of Tears, when a mist and a foul smell began to come from it. The dreamer looked to the sky where dark clouds loomed. He shivered and decided to keep on going. Before he got out, something covered him in darkness.

A shrill cry was heard throughout the city walls.

Chapter 6

“We do fear, however, that chaks might not be enough to completely eliminate the threat.” Aliza said, stepping up. “We believe that this is a Test of Faith.”

Mumbles escalated into yells, as everybody wanted to get his or her question answered at the same time. Deedro stepped up and start to ask for people to calm down. Nobody heard him. Tracey frowned, stood up and climbed on top of his seat.

“Listen!” Tracey yelled. “Calm down!”

Seeing as that didn’t serve its purpose, Tracey took a deep breath.

“ Shut up! “ He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everybody stopped to look at him, aghast. Tracey jumped off his seat, sat back down and motioned Deedro to continue. Deedro stood there; looking at Tracey then shook his head and looked back at the audience.

“Please, one at a time…” Deedro said, swallowing hard.

Suddenly, someone burst into the room. It was a man, no, probably a teenager. He was pale, breathing hard and was sweating. Tracey immediately stood up, followed by everybody else.

“Mr. Tracey? I’m looking for Mr. Tracey! Is Mr. Tracey here?” the teenager said, almost without breathing. “I’m Tracey.” Tracey replied. “Mr. Tracey, you better come.” The boy said. “Why? What’s wrong?” Tracey said. “Whitney, my friend…” the boy suddenly froze, the sweat on his cheeks giving way to tears. “Whitney is dead. She was… Dreamstruck.”

The dark figure grinned a cold grin. It sat in its throne in the magnificent dark room with Dark Mares being the only ones, beside it, populating the room.

“Very good, my beauties.” The figure said to them. “Very good.”

And, in the dark room the only thing that was seen his shiny, cold, evil grin.

Chapter 7

“Whitney? What are you talking about?”

Murmurs swept through the room, and Tracey held up his hand for everyone to quiet down again.

“Now, young man, tell me what happened.”

“She…She was runnin…and…and…I saw her. Just as they…” The tears started falling again, and he spoke as best he could, “It was awful…A nightmare. She’s gone…”

Trisha stood next to the boy, her arms wrapped around him, trying to comfort him the best she could.

“Can you, will you, show me where this happened?” The boy nodded, and wiped away his tears. He walked out quietly, followed by Tracey and another dreamer.

McCoy stood outside of the sanctuary as bored as he could be. Where’s all the fun? He thought. I have to sit here and miss the big meetin’. Sit here and do nothin’.

A slight movement on the other side of the room caught his eye and he turned to look, his blade drawn.

“That yoo, Trassie?” No answer. “Humph! Must bee anoder ‘Sender. Thoose rascals don’ know when to stop playin’ around.”

Chapter 8

“Here… It was here…” Whitney said.

They were all standing in the foot of Mt. Ilapse. Most Houses had considered this section off-limits to anyone lower than a 5th sphere and Guardians, although they couldn’t stop the FreeSpirits from going in. Not after what happened two years before, what is now known as the “Maximums Incident”. That is why the Council of Dreamers, which was formed not long after the incident and included the oldest, wisest Dreamers, to send only FreeSpirit investigators into the scene, had agreed it. They weren’t biased, and they would try to keep their own out of the place. Unfortunately, the younger ones tended to neglect the orders of the elders.

“What happened?” asked Trisha as Tracey looked around for clues and the third Dreamer stood guard. “She… She…” Whitney paused, dried off his tears. “She and I were just strolling through the scene, you know, it was a calm place and all… Then… Then… Out of nowhere, it appeared.” “What appeared?” Trisha asked. Tracey raised his head and looked at Whitney. The third Dreamer seemed unaffected by what was going on around him. “The monster. It was… It was a Dark Mare, only not… A Dreamer, only not… It was horrible!” Whitney burst out into tears again.

As Tracey was looking around, he found a small bracelet on the floor. It was still somewhat warm, which indicated that it should have been used recently. Just as Tracey picked it up and was about to ask Whitney about it, he heard a scream and turned to see Whitney collapsed, with Trisha trying as hard as she could to restore his coherence while the third Dreamer, now laughing, was starting to evoke an art unknown to Tracey. Tracey quickly summoned a blade and threw it, hitting the Dreamer in his left hand, stopping the casting just in time. The hand, however, was not a hand anymore. It was a paw, a Nightmare’s paw.

Tracey quickly stuffed the bracelet into his right trousers’ pocket and started to dash towards the Dreamers. The Dreamer, grabbing his left hand in his right laughed and stepped through the portal leading further up the Mt. Tracey broke off in pursuit, jumping over the fallen boulders and thrusting himself through the portal.

The other side was silent. There was nobody there. Tracey, with another blade in his hand, looked around for any presence, any presence at all but, upon finding nothing, returned to Trisha who had finally restored Whitney’s coherence. Whitney himself was in a state of shock.

“I’m going to take care of him.” Trisha said, while she pale and sweating. “See if you can find something here…”

Tracey nodded and, as Trisha and Whitney exited, he looked around the place where he had bruised the Dreamer or whatever it was. On the floor was some fallen Dreamsoul, but it looked odd. Tracey picked some of it up.

Since there were no real Houses to talk about, he would have to take it to the Research Combine, formed by former members of both the Order of the Sable Moon and the Alliance of the Eclipse. That’s how the beliefs where divided. There were the researchers, the warriors, the peacekeepers, the builders and, above all of them, the Council. Tracey was part of the Warrior Collective, the group that focused on discipline and honor above all. But they wouldn’t be much help here…

As Tracey exited the Mt., the ‘Dreamer’ stepped out of one of the many shadows and laughed.

Chapter 9

“You all are fools. You can’t destroy us, it’s impossible.” The strange dreamer held up his hand and stretched his claws. “Your tiny blade did nothing.”

“But…but that…It hit you, the Dreamsoul…”

“Yes, you hit me, but it did nothing.” His red eyes gleamed. “Now you will be my next victim since you distracted me from that petty little dreamer.” The strange dreamer stepped closer until he stood right in front of Tracey. “You will pay.”

A small scream escaped his lips, and Tracey stumbled backwards, looking at the dreamer. He shook his head, and then all was quiet and black.

“Come on, we’re almost there. Only a few more rooms, then we’ll be safe.” Trisha looked behind her a moment then up ahead. “You can make it.” Whitney walked beside her, a blank look on his face.

When they reached the meeting room, most of the dreamers had gone, but Aliza and Deedro were there.

“Where’s Tracey?” Deedro asked Trisha, while a couple dreamers took Whitney.

“I…I don’t know…He was right behind us. Oh no…” The tears fell down her cheeks and she looked at Aliza. “I’ve got to go back.”

“No you don’t, I’m right here.”

Trisha turned around and through her arms around him. “I thought…You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine, just a small scratch.” He smiled. “Now, where’s Whitney?”

“Just in the other room, I’ll take you to him.” Trisha looked at him again then walked out of the room. Tracey followed her, a red glow in his eyes.

Chapter 10

As he woke up, he looked around, confused. Everything was a blur and he couldn’t quite remember where he was. As he tried to get up, he felt a short pang on the back of his head. He touched it and looked at his hands. Dreamsoul. He was bleeding.

He stumbled to his feet, grasping the back of his head and examining his surroundings. He was still in Mt. Ilapse. The thing had hit him. He put his hand into his right trousers pocket. Empty. The thing stole the bracelet… But, why would he do such a thing?

He was much too weak to summon a blade, so he limped his way into the Sanctuary, leaning against the wall and slowly sitting on the carpeted floor. He touched the back of his head again. He’d stopped bleeding.

But he couldn’t stay awake for long and stumbled onto the floor, tired.

McCoy had been going around in circles, trying to find the rascal that was playing tricks on him. After searching the entrance for the fifth time, he gave up and assumed his position on higher ground.

But someone was waiting for him there, and knocked him unconscious, drinking a few drops of his precious Dreamsoul that was now leaking from the back of his somewhat crushed skull. The figure dropped McCoy and checked his pulse. He was still alive.

McCoy made an effort and opened his eyes, looking at a somewhat blurred Nightmare in front of him, looking at him… But, a few seconds later, it wasn’t a Nightmare anymore. It was a Dreamer. And it had a striking resemblance to him.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Tracey?” Trisha asked for the ninth time. “You look somewhat pale.” Tracey smiled. It was an odd, sharp smile, one Trisha had never seen before. “Yes, honey, I’m great. Never felt better.” “Well, did you get the Dreamer?” Trisha asked. “No… He slipped. But I have a fairly good idea of where to find him.” Tracey replied, chuckling silently.

The room was somewhat small, but it served its purposes well. In the center, there was an observation bed, surrounded by round tables where various potions had been laid. Whitney was given a small dose of tranquilizer and laid to rest while they waited to see if he would develop any post-traumatic symptoms.

Trisha was mixing a few potions to create one of her own that would not only calm down Whitney when he woke up, but also help to clear his mind, to make his sentences more coherent than they had been thus far. It wasn’t hard to make such a potion in itself, but it wasn’t a stroll in the park either. Suddenly, she felt Tracey’s hand on her face. She turned to see a badly bruised hand.

“Oh my… Tracey, we need to take care of that.” Trisha said, trying as hard as she could not to scream. “Don’t worry about it, my dear.” Tracey said, his red glowing eyes hypnotizing Trisha into a trance. That should keep her out of his way.

He added the last ingredient to the potion and mixed it well. After he had done that, he added an extra ingredient he had in his pocket. He picked up the glass where the potion had been mixed and forced the liquid inside it down Whitney’s throat. After that he laughed and walked through the portal. Minutes later, Whitney was nothing more than a body.

Chapter 11

“McCoy, what are you doing over there?” Deedro yelled. “We need you back at the house. Tracey’s taken off.”

McCoy looked up from a corner and over at Deedro. “I…uh, I was on me way up there. Just havin’ a beet of trouble.” He sheathed his blade and walked over to the older Dreamer. “Let’s geet goin.”

They turned around and walked side by side back up Ilapse. Deedro tried to explain what had happened, but McCoy seemed to ignore every word that was said. When they reached the Light, Aliza stood waiting for them.

“Some left to go gen, others to find Tracey.”

“Any sign of him?” She shook her head. “How’s Trish?”

“She just came out of that strange trance. I asked her what happened, and she has no clue. Can’t remember a thing.” Aliza said and led them inside.

Trisha was staring at the place where Whitney had been. He was gone now; his avatar had faded from the Dream. “I should have known, I should have asked him if something was wrong. He was acting so strange…”

Aliza and Deedro watched her as she stood there talking to herself. McCoy stood off to the side, his hand on his blade.

He shook his head and looked around. It took him awhile to remember what had happened. Then it all came back; he had been hit in the head and somehow had managed to find his way here.

Slowly pulling himself to his feet, he stumbled out of the Sanctuary and started making his way up the trail.

Chapter 12

He was feeling cold, but he knew he had to go on. The wind gushed all around him, as if begging for him not to continue, but he must. He looked back at the foot of the Mt, where all the rubble was and shook his head, looking back to the top of the Mt.

It wasn’t long before he got there and a surprise was waiting for him on the very top. It was a friend, he knew. The friend was in the shadows, but he could see his eyes glowing red.

“Why, hello there.” The friend greeted him. “Hello, friend.” He said, simply.

The friend stepped out of the shadows and into the light. He noticed his friend was somewhat paler than usual. The friend sat just on the ledge of the Mt., and he proceeded to do that same thing. The view before them was incredible. The city glittered with the rays of the sun being reflected on the buildings.

“Do you remember this?” the friend asked. “Yes. Although I’ve tried to forget.” He said. “What a pity to forget something like this.” The friend replied, somewhat amused. “Don’t tell me you can’t remember me.” “Should I?” Confused.

The friend stood up and shook his head, chuckling slightly. He then summoned a blade and used the tip of it to poke him.

“Come on, jump.” The friend said. “I cannot. I must not.” He replied, closing his eyes. “But you can, and you must.”

McCoy turned his head to the portal suddenly. Everybody followed his stare, with the exception of Trisha, who was still looking at the bed where Whitney had laid just moments before. However, they saw nothing. Only McCoy seemed to have found it of interest because he stepped through it. Aliza motioned her head to Deedro, urging him to follow McCoy. He did so.

Moments later, a cry was heard from beyond the portal and both Aliza and Trisha turned to see what had happened. They passed through the portal and were in awe with the scene that had greeted them.

Before them were two Tracey’s and two McCoy’s that were exactly alike, with the only exception that one of the Traceys had a wounded hand. Trisha frowned when she saw this and summoned a blade. Deedro had backed up to a wall and Aliza hurried to him. The wounded Tracey, upon surveying the scene grinned and tapped one of the McCoy’s in the shoulder, who also proceeded to grin. They started to mumble something incomprehensible and seconds later were gone.

The remaining Tracey turned to Trisha. “Are you all right?” Trisha withdrew her blade and went running to Tracey. “Whitney is gone, but I’m glad you’re ok.” “Well, what happened?” Aliza asked from the corner.

Tracey looked at his feet and everybody noticed he had a bad bruise in the back of his head. McCoy also had one. He was the first to talk.

“We were ambushed, aye.” “Ambushed? By who?” Trisha asked. “By the Mares themselves, lassie.” McCoy said, holding up the prophet finger pointing at the sky. “What? How can this be possible?” It was Aliza’s turn to ask. “It’s a very long story.” Tracey said, finally. “But we’ve been at the top of the Mt. and we suspect that whatever happened there two years ago has something to do with it.” Aliza was now in the middle of the group, her head high. “See? I told you!” “So what do we do now?” Deedro finally managed. “Now,” Tracey said. “We investigate.”

Chapter 13

The dark figures stood in Umbric, waiting and watching from the shadows.

“Mr. Tracey, everyone’s been looking for you.”

“They have?” The young dreamer nodded. “Oh, I didn’t mean to worry anyone.”

“What are you doing all the way out here, anyway?”

“I was just looking around.” Tracey looked at the young one, his eyes glowing red.

“Well, we should head back to the house. Ms. Trisha will be glad to see you’re alright.”

“Yes, yes. Let’s, umm, take a shortcut…”

One of the figured jumped out as soon as Tracey and the young dreamer entered. Tracey stood back, chuckling as the dreamer struggles with the attack.

Blocking a blow from his side, he yelled, “Stop! Stop! I give up…” All the figured cackled and whispered amongst themselves.

“Take a message to your friends,” Tracey said.

Chapter 14

Three dark figures entered Umbric and bowed before their master.

“Thy request has been accomplished, our Lord.” One of the figures said.

“Yes,” Added the second one. “The message has been sent.”

“Almost all is ready for the next Eclipse.” Finished the third one.

“Excellent.” The master said, grinning. He paced around a while and then touched the portal, feeling the power that came from it. A power he would soon have. “You must finish the preparations.” He said finally. “Go get yourselves new disguises.”

The three figures bowed and exited the plane. The master stayed behind and laughed.

“Take a deep breath.”

Trisha was helping a young Dreamer that had just burst into the Threshold; pale as anything Trisha had ever seen. She patted him in the back, trying to get some air into his lungs. “Now what did they say?”

“They said…” The Dreamer sighed. “They said to give up all efforts of the investigation. That which once was now will become.”

“And who said that?” Tracey said, stepping out of the shadows where he had been hiding, hearing the whole conversation. The young Dreamer suddenly froze, as if he had seen a ghost, any color left in him being sucked away.

“You… It was you, Mr. Tracey!” The young Dreamer said, trying to run away, but Deedro blocked his passage. “Please! Let me go!”

“Dreamer.” Tracey said, laying a hand on the Dreamers shoulder. “Was my hand bruised when you spoke to me earlier?”

The Dreamer looked at the hand Tracey was holding up and then back at his face, finally looking at everyone else in the room. He finally spoke. “Yes, yes it was.”

Suddenly, the Dreamer turned solid as stone, finally dissolving in front of everybody’s eyes. Tracey crouched and touched the mound of dust that was now on the ground, where the Dreamer once stood. He then looked up the rest of the people in the room.

That which once was now will become. The words went unspoken through everybody’s mind. They suddenly felt very, very cold and frightened.

Chapter 15

“That which was will now become. What’s that supposed to mean?” Aliza asked.

“Something that has happened before, shall happen again,” whispered Deedro. He looked at the pile of dust on the floor, and sighed heavily. The look in his eyes showed a deep sorrow. He looked back up, trying to avoid everyone’s gaze. “We cannot stop what is coming, if it is what I think. We must prepare for the worst.”

“Those poor souls. They shall be ours soon. Their screams of pain will be music to our ears.” He chuckled and scraped his claws against the stone.

A few other figures loomed in the shadows not far from him. They nodded in agreement, and he looked at them. He saw hunger in their eyes.

“Soon, my friends. Soon…” he whispered.

Trisha turned to Deedro and said, “We’ve gathered as many as we could find. They’re waiting for you.” He nodded slowly and walked out.

“My friends, thank you for coming on such short notice…”