Caylian stayed in his bed, staring at the ceiling, recalling the violet eyes and pointed ears that had been haunting his dreams for the last few months. He wouldn’t call them nightmares as such, but something about the visions drew him into the mystery.
The vision never widened enough for him to see whom they belonged to, and he had only caught glimpses of the pointed ears. His brain told him it was a woman. Maybe that was wishful thinking, but her features remained shrouded in shadows.
He shook his head and chuckled at the absurdity. No one on Earth had sparkling violet eyes and pointed ears, so his imagination had to be running rampant from watching sci-fi movies before bed. Like always, he waved it off as another strange dream that meant nothing.
He stretched his arms above his head, groaning as he felt his bones crack. A yawn escaped his lips. He threw off the covers and padded to the window, running a hand through his messy brown hair as he enjoyed the feel of the wooden floor on his bare feet. As he inhaled the crisp air, the scent of sweet honeysuckle filled his senses, luring him outdoors. He slipped on a pair of worn sneakers and headed outside. His parents had taken his younger brothers away for the weekend, but Caylian had stayed behind to celebrate his high school graduation with his friends. They’d been out late the night before.
The world was awakening as Caylian strolled along the wet pavement, birdsong filling the air. He took a deep breath, and the scent of dirt and damp leaves washed over him.
He wandered across the backyard and looked at the giant, gnarled oak tree that stood in the corner. Its branches stretched like ancient arms, reaching toward the sky. He climbed it until he reached his favorite perch, a sturdy branch hidden from view, a place he had been going to since he had learned how to climb trees. It was his safe haven where no one could see him. Even his younger brothers let him be when he was there.
He settled down with his back against the thick trunk. Man, I could spend all my days just sitting here.
It wasn’t to be.
A sudden snap, followed by a loud crack, sent him tumbling.
“Help!” he shouted, his limbs flailing. He tried to grab branches as they flew past. The rough bark scraped his hands and arms, but he couldn’t find any purchase. He braced himself for impact, for the sudden pain to shoot through his spine.
When he slammed into the ground, though, the pain wasn’t as piercing as he’d thought. He remained on his back, staring through the branches at the blue sky as his chest heaved, trying to catch his breath.
When he shifted, intending to sit up, he expected his bones to scream at the movement, thinking he probably had a broken rib or two, but nothing seemed broken. His hands and arms stung where the branches had scraped them, and he seethed at the sudden fall. His eyes flashed toward the tree.
“Owww!” he yelled angrily, his voice reverberating off the thick trunk. The sight of the pulsating air coming out of his mouth surprised him, but when the sonic boom struck the tree and ripped a hole right through it, his heart nearly stopped.
Caylian blinked as he focused on the hole in the tree trunk, which was big enough for a baseball to fit through, wondering if he was seeing things. That perfectly round hole in the tree was there because of him.
But that was impossible, wasn’t it? How could his voice smash through a hundred-year-old oak tree? Fear snaked up his spine.
“This is just a dream,” he whispered as he backed away from the tree.
His feet moved before his brain could catch up, and he ran toward the house, trying not to look back at the old tree.
When he reached his bedroom, he flung himself onto his bed. His chest was heaving and his forehead covered with sweat.
“What did I do?” he asked.
The room was spinning, so he closed his eyes, trying to will the dizziness away.
In his mind’s eye, he saw blurry shapes and fleeting glimpses of unfamiliar faces. He tried to calm himself by using the breathing technique his mom had taught him: inhale for six seconds, hold for six seconds, and exhale for six seconds. It helped, but his heart was racing, and his head felt like a balloon, ready to pop. The visions and images flew at him from every angle, causing him to flinch, even though he knew they were mere phantoms in his head.
“This is just a bad dream. A nightmare. Wake up. Wake up!” He groaned, clutching his head in his trembling hands.
The visions continued, and he wasn’t sure how long they lasted before he slipped into unconsciousness.
* * *
Caylian’s eyes fluttered open.
He had no idea how long it had been since he had lost consciousness, but the visions and the dizzying headache were gone.
He lifted his head from the pillow, moaning as he felt the heaviness from a restless sleep. The morning’s events popped back into his mind, revealing each detail in crisp clarity.
“That had to be a dream, right?”
He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He held out his hands and turned his arms, expecting to see the bloody scrapes from trying to catch himself during the fall. His skin was unmarked. A sigh of relief escaped him. The absence of wounds confirmed it was just a dream.
He got up and grabbed a book from his desk, then headed to the kitchen for some food.
As he ate, he was engrossed in his book, savoring the silence without his little brother’s constant nagging. After finishing, he stood up to rinse his plate at the sink. As he glanced out the window, he looked toward the oak tree, and a chill ran down his spine.
His hands trembled, losing their grip on the plate. The loud bang as it fell into the sink was lost on Caylian as he sprinted outside.
When he reached the site, he screeched to a stop, and his heart dropped into his stomach.
“Oh no,” he murmured, “no, no, no.”
It hadn’t been a dream.
He spun around, trying to find an explanation for what he was seeing. Then the visions started again, fast enough to put him on his knees, and he grabbed his head with both hands. As the images flashed, he caught a glimpse of those beautiful violet eyes. Time stopped as he locked his gaze on those perfect orbs, and a single word emerged through the madness.
“Breathe.”
It was the most melodic sound he had ever heard. Latching onto that word, he closed his eyes. He did breathe, once again using the technique his mother had taught him. In for a six count, hold for a six count, out for a six count. Repeat until calm.
The visions slowed then and danced at the edge of his mind. The slower pace allowed him to make out five unique figures hidden in the shadows, but their features remained obscure. They filled him with a sense of calm, and he felt he knew them. The only feature that he could see with clarity was the piercing violet eyes.
As one, all five shapes whipped their heads away from him and to the right, and Caylian felt a hard pull in that direction. When he tried to return his focus to the shapes in his mind, they were gone.
The fog lifted from Caylian’s head, and the world around came back into view. His headache was gone, and he felt strong, better than he had felt his whole life.
That puzzled him because he had always been in good shape with all the ranch work and sports. He got to his feet, brushing the dust from his shirt and pants, only to realize he had a remarkable . . . what should he call it? Talent? Power? He wasn’t sure, but it was certainly something, and the visions suggested that something magical was going on, something that went against the grain of his everyday existence. His curiosity was tinged with a dose of excitement and even bigger doses of confusion and trepidation.
He turned his head to the right, toward the steady pull he felt. Something was in that direction. Something that might answer his questions and help him understand what was happening to him. He made his way into the house, grabbed the keys to his truck, and headed to the driveway.
* * *
Caylian kept driving until the sun started to dip behind the horizon. He must have slept longer than he had thought after he fell unconscious.
With each roll of his wheels, the pull became stronger. He turned down a road he had never been on. As he continued, he saw it led to a creepy old house. He rounded the final corner, then rolled to a stop. The house, abandoned and overrun with vines, beckoned him on, promising answers or perhaps even more questions.
Caylian kept telling himself that what lay ahead was fraught with danger and uncertainty, but after what he had experienced that day, the strange visions, those violet eyes, and the lingering unease, he couldn’t ignore the call. He had to see it through to understand what was happening to him. He didn’t stop to think how stupid it was to be doing this by himself, but he did wonder who would believe him anyway.
He grabbed a flashlight from his glove box. Then he took a deep breath, staring at the looming structure before him. The thrill of fear and anticipation of what he might find thrummed through him.
The road leading to the house was cracked and broken, showing years of neglect. The deep-seated silence was broken only by the rustle of falling leaves and the pounding of his own heart.
When he reached the building, he noted how its windows stood like vacant eyes, staring back at him. He hesitated as he felt the air thicken with a strange energy and the hairs on his arms stood on end.
As Caylian opened the groaning door, a gust of musty air enveloped him. Long, unsettling shadows stretched across the debris-strewn floor, created by the moonlight that seeped through the broken windows.
He clicked on his flashlight and crossed the threshold. As he rounded the corner into the living room, his light fell on a figure sitting in a chair that had no business being in this abandoned house.
His heart fell into his stomach, and his breath caught in his chest, but the man just sat there. Without warning, the room lit up as if the man had flipped a switch, but Caylian knew that was impossible, as the figure hadn’t moved. Caylian turned off his flashlight.
He took the man to be middle-aged, with a neatly trimmed beard and wavy locks of brown hair that surrounded his face. Apart from the location and the energy that crackled around him, Caylian could have easily believed he was a normal person he’d see walking down the street.
As the man’s gray eyes remained fixed on Caylian, his fear transformed into curiosity. “Who are you?” he asked, his voice wobbling.
Instead of answering, the man gestured to another chair before him, which Caylian was sure wasn’t there when he walked in. It was far enough from the man’s chair for Caylian to sprint to the door or jump through one of the glassless windows should the need arise. As he sat in the surprisingly comfortable seat, he didn’t take his eyes off the man.
“My name is Nathyn, and I have been searching for you for a long time, Caylian Merlin Avenor,” the man said. He spoke in a strong but pleasant voice, but when the man’s words registered, Caylian nearly jumped out the window.
Instead, he leaned forward in his chair. “How, uh, how do you know my name?”
Nathyn chuckled. “I know many things, Caylian. Tell me how you feel at this moment. What is the first word that comes to mind?”
Caylian started to say “confused,” but then he slowed his racing mind and gave it some thought as he stared at the floor. The man did not seem threatening. Caylian let himself relax a little, though he kept the door and the closest window in mind in case he needed a quick exit. Then he met the man’s eyes. “Curious.”
The man smiled, his eyes sparkling. “Do you want to know?”
Caylian wanted to know what was happening to him. He needed to understand why he was feeling the way he was. How had the pulse come from within him and created a hole in the oak tree? Why did those five people in his visions feel so familiar yet so far away? Why had he been drawn to this place? What kind of force could he have felt all the way from his house in the Guadalupe Mountains in New Mexico?
Nathyn sat back and waited.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
“Yes, and I want to know if I healed somehow after that fall,” Caylian said. “I know I had scrapes all over my hands and arms, but they were completely gone when I woke up.”
Nathyn’s mouth opened, then he closed it, then it fell open again.
“I honestly have no idea,” he said at last, and Caylian could tell the man was being sincere. Caylian looked at him and then shrugged, so Nathyn rubbed his hands together and leaned forward in his seat, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
“What I’m about to tell you,” Nathyn began, gluing his gaze to Caylian’s apprehensive face, “will be hard to swallow. You will find these words difficult to believe, and you will, no doubt, think I have lost my sanity.” He smiled. “Well, that last part is probably true.”
Despite the remaining tension in his body, Caylian smiled at the man’s words. Meanwhile, the man’s smile vanished. “There is an evil force that threatens your existence, the existence of the entire Arclian Universe, and all other universes for that matter.”
As the man spoke, something like a movie played in Caylian’s mind, showing him the dangers lurking in the darkness beyond Earth, and even to Earth, and how it all started. Caylian saw tall shadows that crept through space, devouring entire planets. He imagined the horrors the people of those worlds faced.
Then the picture in his mind became peaceful. He was floating high above green fields and passing through villages and towns. Now and then his sight blurred into a tunnel surrounded by swirling lights. It lasted only a second, then he would be moving high above another scene and then another.
He flew over six different worlds. Each time he emerged from the swirling lights, he saw a planet from space before sweeping down toward its surface. He recognized the planets from his astronomy lessons, but no one on Earth had confirmed that any of the others supported life. Now he was seeing it for himself. He caught glimpses of the different peoples, their cities and their defenses, but he could barely keep track of one world before the next appeared. As each world faded from view, the knowledge stayed with him, settling somewhere deeper in his mind. For a moment, he pictured a book being slipped onto a shelf in his mind. Then another world appeared, and the impression was gone.
I won’t put you through the pain I went through when the knowledge was crammed into my head, a soft voice in his mind said. I’m only letting you see a tiny glimpse into each world. There is ample time to learn without the pain. The library will always be there.
Caylian smiled as he soared over his hometown in his mind, seeing people he knew. He waved, but no one reacted to him or even looked in his direction. After that, he headed to the house he was in at that moment, and the visions finally stopped. Caylian opened his eyes and found himself in the same spot in front of Nathyn.
“That is what is at stake, Caylian. This is what I fight for. Only the Chosen can hope to save the universes by defeating the Dreadlord Daemorian once and for all.”
“The Chosen?” Caylian asked, trying to wrap his head around all the sudden revelations. He felt pressure around his eyes and at his temples, but those feelings eased quickly.
“Long ago, the Elder celestials created a prophecy, for they foresaw this darkness,” Nathyn began.
“Then why can’t these Elder celestials just defeat the darkness on their own?”
“They are unable to interfere in the lives of those they watch. The one true God, their Father, has forbidden them to get directly involved. They can walk among their people and offer advice, but their help must remain limited.”
“That makes no sense,” Caylian said. “They have infinite power.”
“I did not say infinite power; I said they were celestials. And they did interfere once, in the first age that came before these universes were born from the Creator’s imagination. The last attempt was pure chaos, and all the people were destroyed because the balance was tipped too far to one side. Their Father forbade them from interfering again beyond the limited help I described.”
Caylian didn’t try to counter Nathyn’s words. What did he know about celestials and the universe? He was one young man in one of the small worlds that made up the expansive sea of space and time.
“You mentioned a prophecy,” Caylian said, urging Nathyn to continue.
“Yes, the prophecy is why I have been searching Earth for the last few years.” Nathyn’s eyes gleamed with an inner light. “The prophecy speaks of a young wizard, a leader who will unite five others from the different worlds.” He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.
“Have you found him? This wizard?” Caylian asked, not getting it at first. Then he stared into Nathyn’s eyes, and as the silence became uncomfortable, it dawned on him, sending Caylian rocketing to his feet. “No way! There’s no way!”