The Child Dreamer – A Chance

The Child Dreamer:
A Dead Dreamer Prequel 
A Chance

Unlike those from the village, the people here were kind. They fed me, gave me clothes, and allowed me to play with their children. They were not afraid of me as the blacksmith’s children had been. It was strange.

I slept in a different bed each night, never choosing to belong to one family. But the night the medicine man spotted me wandering in the woods was when my life when the natives began to change. He knew what I was. He wasn’t afraid, but elated by his discovery.

That morning, he pulled me into his home, “You are a spirit walker.”

Being that his English was better than the rest of the tribe, it was easy to understand his meaning. But fearing discovery, I merely stared at him, “What?”

He grabbed my arm to sit me down in front of him, “You walk with the spirits at night. You visit them freely with the creatures of the dark.”

My body stiffened, “I don’t know what you mean.”

His hand reached for my cheek, “No fear, child. It is not shamed here. Catori is the same.”

As he said her name, the same woman who had helped me clean up the first night I was here walk in, smiling. She sat next to me, but continued to watch the medicine man. He continued, “She will teach you what it means to be a spirit walker. To understand the balance.”

She glanced down at me, giving me another warm smile, “Tonight. We walk in the Land of the Dead together.”

My eyebrows furrowed. She had only said one word of English the night we met. I assumed she couldn’t speak English like the rest. When the medicine man saw the confusion in my features, he nodded, “She has been learning English from me for a while. She will be a good teacher for you.”

That night, I fell asleep in his home. He instructed me to wait for Catori to find me before wandering on my own. But I didn’t listen. Instead, I chose to run. I ran through the woods under the full moon, searching for my prey.

I hadn’t run far before I found the source of them. In the corner of my eyes, I caught a glimpse of something moving from the trees. Carefully walking towards the movement, there was what looked to be a small opened door within a large white oak tree. Demons surrounded the door, some dancing, while other flew off in different directions to places unknown.

Enraged at their behavior, I allowed my power free. All I could hear were their screams. The ball of fire erupted, causing every dancing demon to burst into flames. Some screeched as they fled back into the open door, while others flew off, leaving only their cries.

“No!” a voice yelled from behind.

Catori appeared next to me, waving her arms into the air. As she did, the air suddenly began to liquefy, creating a wall of water she aimed at the demons. The ones that had stayed were cleansed of my fire, and fled into the door before it slammed shut behind them.

I turn towards her, “What have you done?”

She turned to face me, “The spirits are not to be harmed. Why?”

My brows furrowed as my lips began to pout, “They’re evil. They were killing people in my village. I saw it!”

Bending down to my level, she held my face, “Spirits do not cause death. They mark those who are about to die. To free their spirits.”

“What?” I asked in disgust.

Her grip tightened as she moved to hold my shoulders, “The spirits are things we do not understand. But they are not the reason people die. They are not evil. Good. Come, I teach you.”

She took my hand to pull me away from the door as she began to lecture me of the spirits within the Land of the Dead. I listened. She listened to my questions. The question of their appearance, of the marks, everything. Her answers were vague. But I foolishly listened.

That morning, she took me to the medicine man to report on the night before. When he learned what I had done, his eyes watched me with pity, “The ways of your people have misguided you. You did not have a teacher when you were blessed with your gift. But now, Catori will help you understand the truth.”

Every night, she would take me to different doorways throughout the forest. We even found a doorway that was far more beautiful than the demon door. She pointed to it, “Do not go near those. They are false. Although not evil, they are tricksters. Their marks will mean a violent death. Beware of the beautiful spirits.”

The night of the new moon was the first time I witnessed their beauty. I waited by their doorway without Catori one evening, wanting to witness these new spirits. When the silver door began to creek open, spirits shot from the door so quickly, I couldn’t get a good look at them.

Holding my fist up, I lit my hand on fire as a torch as I inched closer to get a better look. The door itself was of a silver metal with leaves etched all around. When I held my fist closer towards the door, a spirit stuck it’s head out. It was a small, thin creature with a white body and wings of different varieties. They eyes were catlike, but white as well.

It glared at me before it became memorized by my fire. As it reached to touch it, I jerked my hand away. With unbelievable speed, it moved to grab my hand and hold it up again. Once it was back up, the spirit moved to stand on my fist. Causing me to flinch, it made a screeching sound as it burned. But it wasn’t disappearing. It was dancing.

A presence behind me caused the spirit to stop dancing, and wail a cry that was painful to hear. As if the fire was it’s own, it grabbed a ball of it, hurling at whoever was standing behind me.

Catori’s cries caused me to drop my fist, releasing the flames. The spirit angrily scratched my arm before flying away. Behind me, Catori was holding her face, “Are you all right?”

Hunched onto the ground, she began to sit up, slowly releasing her face. Where her left eye had been was now black, and burned. Her voice was shaking when she answered, “Do not go near them.”

Because were were both spirits, I assumed once we woke up, everything would be fine. Her eye returned, and my hand no longer scratched. I was wrong. I awoke to the sound of Catori screaming across the field. Quickly getting dressed, I ran and made my way to where she slept. The medicine man was hovering over her.

I squeezed through her family, to stand at her feet. When he saw me, he quickly demanded an answer, “What happened?”

At a loss for words, I only shrugged. I wasn’t sure what was going on. Noticing my quizzical stares, he removed the clothes from Catori’s face. The left side of her face was a deep red and had been badly burned. When she opened her eyes, the left eye was only white. She was blind in the left eye.

Suddenly, I felt a cold sting at my hand. Lifting it, I saw the same scratch marks the spirit had left on my hand while in the Land of the Dead.

He repeated his question, “What happened?”

“My flames,” were the only words that escaped my lips.

To be continued…

Catch up on other Chapters of The Child Dreamer:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three