Flamerider by Taylor Hunter

Author:Taylor Hunter [Taylor Hunter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prepare For Rain Press
Published: 2023-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter nine

Ultimatum

“But…just wait a second,” stammered Gator, “you saw…you dreamed a memory that wasn’t yours?”

I groaned, rubbing my temples. The three of us sat around a table, eating breakfast in a nearly deserted dining hall. I was ninety percent sure that it was a Thursday, but for whatever reason, most of the students weren’t compelled to get up before 11 o’clock. Falcon might as well have stayed in bed. He stared with glazed eyes at his untouched plate, reliving the night’s events.

“Yeah. Well, maybe,” I finally sighed. “I don’t know how else to explain it. I mean, I know I was dreaming, but at the same time, everything was so vivid. Like I was really standing there in the field and the garden, in the glass room, in the temple…” I trailed off, staring out the window at the golden sunlight.

“You can still see them now?” Gator ventured, searching my face.

I nodded, poking at the food on my plate with a fork.

“The thing that was so strange, though, was that the longer I was there—I mean, dreaming—it felt more tangible. All of it. The flowers in the garden, the meadow.” I paused, realizing the contradiction of what I was about to say. “Even the temple. But that didn’t seem right. It’s the only place I know I’ve been to for sure, and I could still smell the wood and stale air, but it-it’s gone. I know it’s gone, and yet it hadn’t changed. Like it was…sort of—”

“Suspended,” murmured Falcon. He blinked slowly, stirring from his bleariness. “You sensed you were present in that place, just as you remembered it, but only as you remembered it. Nothing more, nothing less.” His reddened eyes pierced mine through his glasses.

“Yes, exactly,” I replied, stifling a yawn. “Falcon, did you have one of these too?” He gazed blankly at the table. A flicker of something crossed his eyes.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled, brow furrowing. He tapped his fingers on the table absentmindedly, then finally picked up his knife and began buttering his cold toast.

After a few minutes of solemn, automatic munching, Gator stirred from a deep thought. “Hey, so, random question,” he posed, pointing both hands at me. “Whatever happened to the staff you made?”

I blinked. “Staff?”

“You know, the one you made from that stick you threw, which broke in half—down the length, no less—and then put back together?”

Falcon snorted, “I’m pretty sure she knew which staff you were talking about, man. As I recall, she only made one.”

“Well, see, I’m getting there,” Gator countered. “I’m just having trouble remembering what happened to it.”

I shut my eyes, trying to remember. “Um, last I recall, Raven had it. Right? Didn’t I give it to Raven when we were escaping the tunnels?” I opened my eyes and saw Falcon had shut his. He nodded slowly.

“Yeah, that sounds right. I think, yeah, you gave it to him when we were in the elevator.” He met my gaze. “Actually, you shrank it first. It was pretty cool, watching you do that.

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