He had no doubt that no single event of his life was as terrifying as what had occurred in his dream. The sinking sensation that this event was closer than he — or the world as a whole — was prepared for froze the sweat still dripping from his face. It was frightening how the bits and pieces he could remember played out in his mind like a movie or book, completely unbelievable that such a thing could actually occur. Most nights, he would remember the dreams in such vivid detail as to write them in his journal — the only way he finally confirmed he was dreaming events before they came to fruition — but this night, all of his dreams had been broken.
Never had he been able to find anyone to confide in of his talent without being ridiculed for his imagination. He often received polite responses telling him to channel the energy into stories for others to enjoy, as those same people hid behind their smiles and childish giggles, turning away to gossip more about him. But he also faced people who were more violent in their responses. Seeing Ayden as different, they used his oddities as a reason to pummel him, or so went their explanation when confronted by the proper authorities.
We were just having a little fun.
We didn’t mean anything by it.
In reality, they were most likely the ones who believed the truth in Ayden’s words more than anyone else, threatened by his power and incapable of knowing how to deal with something as incomprehensible as this.
A true hermit, or as true as a sixteen-year-old boy could be while living at home with his mother, Ayden faced his fears alone. When sleep caught hold on that particular stormy night, Ayden was able to discern more of what was occurring. Piece by piece, he unraveled the net that seemingly held him back, as if someone were trying to hide from him what was to be
Why do I have this power if I wasn’t meant to know?
The mystery of this night would not unravel completely, no matter how hard he tried.
His tortoise-shell kitten pounced onto the bed and curled up next to him, purring deeply as she nuzzled her way under his fingers to be petted. The comfort of Kiara’s adoration was the only thing that allowed him to close his eyes. Her actions told him she could protect him from anything that presented a physical danger while he slept. No matter how crazy it was, Kiara was the only one who listened to his ranting and curled up in his lap as he journaled, almost as if she understood the torture he endured.
Chapter 1
“Ayden, dear. It’s time to get up. You need to have a good breakfast before your finals today.”
Ayden’s mother, Maria, was the typical stay-at-home mom. Caring for her home and raising children had been her plan from youth, which had been executed flawlessly until she lost Ayden’s twin sister in delivery. Abigail had been born first, but with her initial cry, her heart stopped and another breath would never pass through her lips. Moments later, Ayden had been born, strong and determined to avoid the same fate as his sister; his wails permeated the entire floor of the hospital. Abigail’s heart tried to start in that moment, but two beats later, it stopped once again.
Ayden rubbed at his heavy lids. The little sleep he had been able to grab had been far from restful. He quickly threw on some clothes and headed toward the kitchen. He could smell the aroma of his favorites as he opened the only barrier he was allowed from the world and stepped out of his room. Once in the kitchen, he quietly stopped behind his mother and wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting on the top of her head.
She turned to smack his chest with a pot holder. “I’ve told you not to do that, young man. You about startled another five years off my life.”
Despite her frustration, a smile filled his mother’s face as he planted a kiss in her hair. “Mom, I’ve told you before — you are going to live a long and healthy life.” Uncertainty ran through his veins, and a bout of lightheadedness hit him as the words slipped past his lips. He had never doubted his dreams before, but after the events of the previous night, he wasn’t sure of anything.
His mother immediately placed the back of her hand against his forehead. “Are you feeling all right? You can’t miss your finals today, and when you get home I thought we could go pick out a tree. You look pale, but you don’t feel warm at all. Maybe you’ll feel better once you eat.”
He sat down, and Maria slid a plate of food in front of him. His mother had always been a diehard celebrant of the holidays, but he only went along because he knew where the true roots of those traditions were planted. He had tried to explain them to her on multiple occasions, but she scolded him repeatedly. Finally, he decided that upsetting his mother wasn’t worth the trouble. She was entitled to her beliefs the same as he was.
The bacon was crisp, but not too crunchy, exactly how he liked it. With the first few bites, he lost himself in thought, trying to perceive the secrets hidden in his fitful night of terror. The dreams weren’t always blatantly obvious. However, on most occasions he was able to discern the meaning with little effort. This time, answers eluded him.
Before he knew what was happening, his mother handed him his backpack, took his empty plate away, and shooed him out the door so he wouldn’t be late to school.
Walking into school was a chore every day. The idle chatter of cliques assaulted him as friends reunited from only a few hours apart made it seem as though they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. No one ever greeted him. Not politely, anyway. The jocks shoved him through the hall, their girlfriends sneering at him for looking in their direction, and even the nerds made fun of him. He knew things were bad when they stopped turning away from him and joined in on the ridicule.
Ben, captain of the basketball team, was headed in Ayden’s direction. He tried to pick up his pace to get to class before Ben could catch up. Thankfully, English was the only class they had together, but it was unfortunately the first class of the day. Ayden made it to the doorway the same instant as Ben, and the basketball goon shoved him through. Ayden fell across the desk nearest the door, startling the desk’s occupant, Bethany.
Something unlike anything Ayden had ever felt stirred inside him. It rolled through him like a wave.
Ben’s hand tightened on the back of his neck and pulled him off the desk. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing, man? You better get away from my woman before I teach you some respect.” Ben winked at Bethany before turning his attention back to Ayden. “What, you didn’t know we were a thing? How about this, why don’t you stay away from all the girls in this school? Ain’t none of them want you anyway.”
The class erupted into laughter as Ayden moped to his chair.
Chapter 2
The rest of the day was rather uneventful, or at least when compared to most. The majority of his thoughts focused on the dreams, while the rest of his day seemed to go by on autopilot. Test-taking took up most of his classes, which left less time for him to be assaulted verbally and physically. He would have a couple new bruises before the end of the night, but at least it was cold out, so they would be covered by his clothing. He never enjoyed lying to his mother, but she had threatened to go to the school on more than one occasion when her baby had been hurt. No amount of explaining could convince her she would only make things worse.
True to her word, shortly after dinner, they were on their way out the door to find a tree to decorate. His father had started a tradition a few years prior to go looking for a live tree for the house. They always ended up at one of the stands in town, looking at a hopeless twig and the pile of needles on the ground below it.
Since his father had passed recently, Maria looked to Ayden as they buckled themselves in the car. “Where would you like to go? I drove by a place earlier this week that had some pretty trees.”
He turned in his seat to look at his mother and knew the next words out of his mouth were going to be a waste. Something was pulling at him, an unnatural feeling that wanted to go away from town. “Mom, do you mind if I drive? The roads aren’t that bad, and the snow isn’t supposed to get heavy for a few more hours.”
/> Maria bit her lower lip with the decision placed upon her.
Ayden waited patiently. His mom had been telling him for months that he was now the man of the house, but they had both lost so much. He knew she was worried something would happen to him; they were all each other had left in the world.
“If you’re careful, then I guess it would do you some good to get some practice in this weather with me here. No music though. I want you to be able to listen to me.”
Ayden couldn’t believe she’d agreed as she put the car back in park and opened the door to switch seats with him. He got out of the car and ran inside, ignoring his mother’s call of, “What are you doing?”
He came back with some twine and a bow saw, neither of which they would need at a tree stand.
“What in the world are we going to need those for?” Maria asked. “They’ll take care of everything for us.”
Ayden smiled brightly at his mother. A strange energy pulled him in a direction away from town. “I’m not sure, Mom, but I want to try something different tonight.”
*
Several miles and a few white-knuckled moments later, Ayden pulled over on the side of the road. His overbearing mother had driven him crazy frantically worrying about every move he did or didn’t make. At one point, he was sure she could see his frustration building as he drove, and she had made an attempt to back off on her guidance, but a mother worried. That was what they did.
Ayden swung the door open and walked out into a dusting of snow.
Maria gaped at him. “Ayden, what are you doing? Get back in the car. I’ll try to stay quiet. I only want you to be careful. You aren’t used to driving in this type of weather yet.”
He took a deep breath, leaning down into the car as he did. “We’re here. Can’t you smell it? We need to get over that hill.” He pulled the saw from the back seat and headed in that direction before his mother could even get out of the car.
The roads had been kept up well over the past couple weeks, but as soon as he stepped away from the asphalt, the drifts were much deeper. He glanced over his shoulder to see Maria trying to stay in his footprints, trudging through snow up to her knees. Her legs were not near as long as Ayden’s. He checked over his shoulder occasionally as he walked to make sure she was coming, but each time, he picked up his pace, pulled by an unseen force.
Ayden followed the energies that were pulling him, barely aware of the wind picking up around him. He wasn’t sure what was going on, only that it felt right. A voice whispered to him, but the words weren’t quite making sense. He walked up to a small but full spruce, and the smell filled his lungs with the same scent that had hung heavily outside the car. Tearing his gaze from the tree, he glanced down with disgust at the saw in his hand. There was no way he could damage this tree; it was of the earth, just as he was.
He dropped the saw to the ground and touched the tree, feeling the power that had been running through him run through the tree, as if it were completing a circuit. Ayden dropped to his knees and pulled away the weeds choking the base of the tree before he realized there was no snow. Finally noticing the blizzard swirling about him, he startled to his feet. Ayden backed away, searching for his mother.
Suddenly, his heart began to race as it had that morning. His breathing increased as he felt a rush of adrenaline course through his veins. He felt the warmth of a tear at the corner of his eye, but before it could drop, a voice spoke in his mind, as clear as if they were sitting beside him. The voice resonated deep within his soul, as if it had always been there, but the sound was muffled, as if they were speaking through a barrier.
“Ayden, please do not be frightened. I have done my best to prepare you throughout your life for this moment. The force blocking our communication is weakening so that I am able to communicate with you.”
Attempting to gather his senses, Ayden surveyed the scene before him. He feared this was another dream, but he found no comfort in knowing the dream would come true at some point. “What are you talking about? Prepare me…?”
The being seemed to understand his confusion, as he was interrupted politely. “We don’t have much time. Please, listen to me carefully. The visions you had in your youth were to validate the truth in your own eyes. The end is near, and your vision from last night is only the beginning.”
“I don’t even remember last night. Only flashes of things. What do you want me to do with what I know? I can’t stand up to that, that… whatever it was.”
Comfort flowed through the bond he felt with the voice. “I was not strong enough to stay in this world, but I have been by your side each day of your life. You are powerful in ways you can’t even imagine, but with that power, you must remember your true spirit. All will be clear to you soon.
“Beware the four. The white, the red, the black, and the ashen. They will try to stop you at whatever cost. Do not let their actions stop you from what is in your heart.”
The voice was fading, but Ayden needed more. He was more confused now than he had been in the beginning.
The wind slowed, the snow falling back to the ground, as he begged for more. “I don’t understand. What do you want from me? How will I know?”
The world went black as Ayden slipped into unconsciousness. As he drifted away, he heard the voice one last time. “Brother, remember — I am with you always.”
Chapter 3
Ayden woke in his bed, unsure of how he had returned home, but with a vigor he had never felt. Power flowed through him in a way he had only imagined possible in movies, but the knowledge he had gained through the night was near to overwhelming him. He could now remember every element of every dream he’d ever experienced, including the several from two nights before. Elves and dwarves, orcs and goblins… They were creatures from legends, but they were coming. How, and better yet why?
His fear stayed with him as he prepared for school, yet somehow it seemed to be held in check. He walked down the stairs to greet his mother and could see the relief in her eyes as she spotted him.
“Good grief, what are you doing out of bed? I don’t know what happened last night, but you should still be resting. I found you in the middle of that blizzard mumbling about Abigail, and you scared me half to death.”
Abigail… That would be why I felt so comfortable. “What?”
“The last I saw of you was your beanie disappearing over the hill. The wind picked up, and when I came over the hill, all I saw was a solid wall of white. And I was standing in a spring field surrounding a dome of blizzard! You were gone. So, since you’re up, would you care to explain to me what happened? Let me get you something to eat, but then you’re going right back to bed. No school for you today. You can start Christmas Break a day early.”
“Mom, I don’t really have time. Maybe after school, but I need to get going. I’ll try to explain later once I make a little more sense of it myself.” He leaned over and gave her a side hug with a kiss on the cheek before taking the piece of toast from her hand and rushing out the door before she could stop him.
The true snow storm had come through at some point in the night, but the cold didn’t bother him. Warmth flooded through his hands; his feet seemed to float on top of the snow and grip the icy walkways. Ayden replayed visions in his mind and realized a common theme. Almost every dream of late was of people at their worst: acts that destroyed the Earth or others around them, all repeating in various ways. Someone guided him through the visions, showing him what they wanted him to see. The nightmarish visions grew as he started to understand the connection. Man was destroying the world and mankind. The legendary races of elves and other such creatures were returning to save the Earth.
What am I supposed to do? I’m just a kid that no one pays attention to.
Passing a tree with some diseased growths on it, he reached out without thinking. Pain flared into him. The warmth that had been in his hands flowed into the tree, letting Ayden briefly feel the icy bite of the wind. The tree straightened from a
slight lean that wasn’t quite noticeable before. The tree offered a rush of compassion and thanks before he let go.
In disbelief over what had occurred, Ayden proceeded to touch every tree he passed. When nothing else happened, he thought he had been imagining things, but there was still a connection. He could feel the tree growing in strength even now, sharing the strength with Ayden as he walked through the doors to the school.
Ben waited for him, reaching out to shove him into the lockers.
The scene had become a daily routine, so the entire hall erupted into laughter before anything could happen. But no matter how much Ben pushed and shoved, Ayden stayed rooted in place as strongly as the old tree. Everyone present fell silent, confused and almost terrified that Ayden was literally standing up to Ben instead of being knocked down.
Ayden was no less confused than the others, unsure of what was happening. He wasn’t even upset. There had always been a fire burning inside of him where Ben was involved, a desire to fight back. After reflecting on the actions of man on his walk to school, he saw the pain and destruction actions like that caused.
“Ben, give it up, man. Don’t you think we should start acting like the adults we are supposed to be becoming?” Ayden patted Ben on the shoulder and had a vision of the jock at home. He had no love or hope, only an abusive, alcoholic father destroying everything they had. Ben was the warrior who stood up and protected the family by placing himself in the line of fire repeatedly.
Ayden didn’t know what happened on Ben’s end of the exchange, but he watched as Ben turned and tripped as he tried to run. Things were definitely changing in the world, and he felt no relief in knowing the changes were much larger than what he was experiencing.