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The Dream Fighter Chronicles, Book Two: Sarlak's Revenge
Haley stood on the edge of a high cliff. The wind blew through her blonde hair. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs. She’d been to this spot before; it was where Danny had taught her to fly. Back then he told her he had to trust herself, and what better way to learn than by launching herself off a mountain? She was scared then, but now she had become comfortable with the place, coming here whenever she had some time away from training.
She stepped to the edge, looking down at the valley below. There was nothing there but tan dirt and a tree or two. She turned her back to the valley, looked up at the clear blue sky, and fell backward. The same sensation she always felt when she did this came to her. First, it was a feeling of fear, of not being sure, and then the rush of excitement. She felt the air rush past her, and then she took control.
Out of the backward dive, she turned, and with the force of wind stronger than what was rushing toward her, she shot through the air, flying free. It was a feeling she had never felt before she learned to fly. It was better than she ever thought. It was perfect.
Haley floated for a little while, taking the time to enjoy the feeling of cutting through the air. It had taken a lot of time for Danny to help her perfect her ability to fly. He wasn’t an easy teacher but she learned how to appreciate his methods and learn the way she needed to. She had complained to herself a few times about her training, but it all seemed worth it when she floated in the air the way she was.
She soared over the valley, noticing the birds flying below her, realizing she was doing something that everyone wished they could. She knew Danny and Uncle Johnny had told her not to brag about her powers, but it was hard not to enjoy them for what they were; special.
It was right when she thought about how special her powers were that she felt it. The feeling was both cold and angry at the same time. The anger was stronger, and she felt it overcome her. Something was terribly wrong, and she rotated to check if something was going on in the valley.
Far away, she saw her cousins locked in a battle, a battle very similar one to the one they fought against the Gorgons, back when Danny had saved them. She searched for him but couldn’t sense him past the anger and fear. All she saw were the flashing lights of energy blasts.
With the sound of crackling thunder, she launched herself through the air toward the battle. She couldn’t imagine why her cousins would fight without her, especially after they had been taught the importance of the group. She tried not to be upset. Something must have been really wrong for them to get involved without her.
As she rushed toward the battle, felt the heat of it, she noticed it moved further away from her. With an even louder cracking sound, she moved faster through the air, feeling the cold of it on her face.
The battle moved just as fast. The more she tried to get close to it, the more it stayed away from her. She was moving so fast at this point that her blonde hair was pulled straight back, and it felt like someone was pulling it out of her head.
That didn’t matter to her. What mattered was why, if she was the leader of the group, the oldest, her cousins chose to fight a battle without her. Also, though she couldn’t be sure, it looked like they were losing it, and badly. They needed her.
She had learned a little about moving faster, of teleporting, but she wasn’t that good at it because Kal didn’t have the time to teach her. She wanted to learn, but most of the time, she worked with Danny on flying.
She tried to reach out to Danny in her mind. She also tried Uncle Johnny. She could sense one of them in the middle of the battle but she just couldn’t tell which one it was.
Blasts of energy and light shot from the battlefield, and she got the sense that Braden was leading her cousins. She noticed his purple energy blasts attacking the enemy Gorgons, but it looked like the attacks weren’t working. For every Gorgon he and her cousins fought off, three more appeared. And Haley could sense another presence. Actually, she sensed two.
One of the presences felt familiar. The other, she recognized immediately. Before she had the chance to say something, she felt a power pulling at her.
Haley woke up, sweating. She thought she had been training but something didn’t feel right. To be honest, she thought, something was very wrong.
Braden had been through this training before. He and Uncle Johnny had worked on it for weeks; he tried to concentrate his energy blasts, and Uncle Johnny clouded his mind his uncertain thoughts. The only difference was, this time the doubt was stronger than it ever had been.
Before him stood three Gorgons, the same way they appeared in the Simulation Room. Braden raised his right arm, balled it into a fist, and created a ball of purple energy in front of him. Then, as Danny taught him, he launched it toward the middle of where the three Gorgons stood.
Once there, he did what he was trained to do, he shot another burst of energy at the ball, causing it to explode and wipe out the Gorgons in its path.
The plan worked, like it always did, and the Gorgons disappeared in a flash of purple light. Even though he was successful, something just didn’t feel right. The whole time, Braden doubted it would work. He never felt that before.
Braden ran his hand through his brown hair and felt that it was wet. He was sweating, but why? He also felt scared, something he had been taught to control. If this was the Dream World, the one where he and his cousins had special powers, he shouldn’t be sweating. He was only eight, but in the Dream World, he felt older, almost as old as he thought Haley felt, his cousin who was four years older. Something was very wrong.
Immediately, the Simulation Room changed, and he was in the middle of a deep valley, one that looked like a desert. He felt a chill, and a strong fear, something he wasn’t used to feeling.
When he looked to his left, he saw a huge battle going on, and he immediately felt the presence of his cousins. He didn’t feel each one of them on their own, but he knew they all were there.
A strong blast of sound shocked him, and he wondered where it came from. None of them had learned a power like that, and the Gorgons only shot concentrated air as a weapon, so there must be someone new in the battle.
Braden was a little mad for not being told about the battle, but he tried to control his anger. Uncle Johnny had taught him to control his anger, even when he had to use his anger power.
When he was sure of which side his cousins were on, Braden created another ball of energy and launched it at the enemy. The ball rushed through the air but bounced off the target and came back toward him. It took all he had to avoid being hit by his own weapon.
Though he couldn’t fly like Haley, Braden had learned how to raise himself off the ground. He did so, trying to get a better view of the battle. When he did, everything became blurry, like someone didn’t want him to see it. He felt a great big fear, and he felt the need to run away.
He was taught to fight fear, but this one was harder than any other he ever felt before. He tried to get control of his mind back, but the more he tried, the more he lost it.
Before he had a chance to launch another energy ball, he found himself in his bed, and he was breathing heavy.
Braden didn’t know if he was training that night, or just having a nightmare. All he knew was that he didn’t want to feel that way again.
Gabby woke up from a bad dream. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew there was danger all around her. Only two years old, her idea of what was good and what was bad was clear. This was bad.
Even though she was only three, Gabby had learned how to get out of her bed easily. She did so, and walked quietly to her brother’s room. She would go there some nights just to look at him sleep. She couldn't wait for him to talk, so she could hear his voice.
This time, she wasn't going to watch him sleep. Once she got there, she found her little his crib. Timothy was sleeping. She reached her hand into his crib and touched him on the forehead.<
br />
“Timothy ok,” she said, “No one taking him.”
Gabby went back to her room to sleep, hoping the nightmare she had was nothing. She wanted to call her parents, but she had been told not to do that anymore. She wished Haley or Jillian were there.
Jillian faced four Gorgons in the Simulation Room. Normally, she fought two Gorgons during training, but Danny was a tough teacher. She guessed he wanted to teach her something new. It wasn’t the first time he did something like that.
The training didn't change much from one class to the next, and this one, other than the extra Gorgons, Jillian knew well. She rose herself off the ground, gathered her anger, and shot herself at the Gorgon in the middle. He was tall, over seven feet, and hairy, but she had learned a long time ago not to pay attention to that.
Before she reached the Gorgon, Jillian raised her fist, and then swung it right at her target. She had incredible strength, and she knocked the Gorgon out of the air. It disappeared. The other Gorgons didn’t react to the attack. Instead, they came at her. Jillian used the first power she ever learned and created a wall between her and them. Anything she thought about she could create.
"You need to see something,” a woman’s voice said in her head. “Your cousins are in danger.”
All of a sudden, Jillian was taken to another place, this one a valley that looked like a desert. As soon as she got there, a cold feeling of fear took over her.
Jillian looked to the right, and saw a huge battle going on. She knew right away it was her cousins against the Gorgons. She wondered why they fought without her, but she realized they had no choice. She also felt they weren’t all together. Someone was missing other than her.
She tried to move toward the battle, but she felt something stopping her.
“This isn’t your battle to fight,” the woman said in her head. She didn’t know the voice, but she felt comfortable listening to it. She thought she should know who it was, but couldn’t figure it out.
“I am supposed to watch,” Jillian answered.
“Yes. And learn.”
Jillian tried to watch the battle, but all she saw was energy blasts and huge bolts of electricity. The whole valley lit up in a huge display of light that looked brighter than a fireworks show on the Fourth of July.
Then, a huge explosion happened, and Jillian saw her cousins move away from the battle. She sensed who it was. It was Uncle Johnny and Danny coming to save them. She watched as the two of them fought off a huge Gorgon attack.
What happened next shocked her. A swirl of air, like a tornado, appeared, and a gigantic blast of energy came out of it. It looked like Uncle Johnny and Danny tried to defend themselves from it.
A dust cloud blocked her vision, and when it cleared, Jillian saw her cousins, and she saw Danny get up from the ground and dust himself off.
Jillian all of a sudden felt sad. She knew something she never, ever, wanted to know. The woman was trying to say something in her head but Jillian didn’t listen. Nothing else mattered but what she felt. Unable to hear the woman or to speak, she felt herself being brought back to her bed. She couldn't let go of the eerie feeling she had:
Uncle Johnny was gone forever.
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