Americans and the like.’
‘So it’s to do with time zones then?’
‘That’s right. There are fewer people falling asleep at this moment, while dusk makes its way across the Atlantic. You get the odd one or two showing up here and there; those who have gone to bed late, or early, or those who have been working unsociable shifts elsewhere in the world. What’s your excuse?’
‘Late night,’ said Ryan simply. ‘What’s yours?’
‘Ah, I’m a bit of a special case. I don’t really have a role here. Not right now anyway. I’ve only recently come back to the fold, so to speak. You get me?’
‘Not really,’ said Ryan bluntly.
‘Well, I used to be a Disruptor; an offensive Dreamweaver. One of the best, in fact. My job was to travel to the Nightmare Realm and wreak havoc on Rasputin’s plans. Unfortunately I had some bad experiences and had to go away for a while to sort my head out.’
‘What do you mean ‘Go away’?’ asked Ryan. ‘I didn’t think Dreamweavers had a choice about coming here.’
‘Oh there are ways lad, trust me,’ said the dog cryptically. ‘Sadly they have a rather negative effect on your life in the real world, so it’s a road that few choose to go down, if they can help it. I, for one, do not wish to go back to that way of life. I’m here and I’m ready to start afresh. In fact, I’m just off to see the chancellor to discuss my position.’
‘Who? Rockwell?’
The dog gave a distasteful grunt.
‘Him? God no. I’m off to see the real head of this place, not the jumped-up second best. Elena Grimstone. You won’t have met her yet, but she’s really quite something, believe you me.’
‘Never heard of her,’ said Ryan dismissively.
‘Of course you haven’t,’ said the dog, scratching at an exposed area of metal with his hind leg and making a sound that rather grated on Ryan’s nerves. ‘She’s the boss, see? She doesn’t really bother with the minor affairs of those below her, especially the training of newcomers. She’s got far more important matters to attend to.’
‘What, like talking to you?’ Ryan was growing impatient.
‘I’m not sure I like your tone,’ growled the dog. ‘I’ll have you know that the two of us happen to be very close friends. Anyway, my point is that there’s a lot for you still to discover about this place. They only let you know what you need to know and nothing more. If you ever need the low-down on what really goes on here, you know who to ask.’
He reached out with his right paw.
‘Rex Bailey. Yeah, I know, a dog called Rex; how original. It’s just a coincidence, right?’ he smiled, baring his metal teeth.
‘Ryan Butler,’ said Ryan, shaking the proffered paw.
‘Hmm, same initials,’ said the dog thoughtfully. ‘Well, I’m sure it must mean something. Anyway, I’m guessing you’ve got a class to go to?’
Ryan looked at the main doors to the Spire.
‘Yeah, and I’m dead late,’ he said.
‘I wouldn’t worry about that. Just get there before the Yanks arrive and take over the place.’
Ryan nodded.
‘Cheers,’ he said. ‘I guess I’ll see you around.’
‘Right-o,’ said Rex, wagging his tail. ‘See you later.’
Ryan trudged up the terraces, past the ghostly man, who didn’t appear to notice him in the slightest, and passed through the enormous glass doors. He turned to take one last look at Rex, but the dog had disappeared. Ryan shook his head. Once again questions were being posed far quicker than they were being answered.
Ryan found the others pretty much where he had left them the previous night. Having used the colours on the walls of the corridors to locate their training room, he found Katya and Moira sitting together on the benches, chatting.
‘Hi guys,’ he said, clumping over and sitting down next to them.
‘Heya,’ replied Moira, ruffling her feathers. ‘Where’ve you been? Tristram’s been wondering when you’d get here.’
‘Oh, late night out with the boys. You know how it is,’ he replied nonchalantly.
The girls looked at him with blank expressions.
‘All right, so my mum was drunk and I was helping her out,’ he said irately, getting up and heading over to the pool. The rest of the group were back on the hilltop looking like they were still working with their sticks. Ryan gave a quick glance over at the girls and then somersaulted in.
‘Hi Ryan, what kept you?’ asked Tristram as the boy popped into existence right next to him.
‘Just stuff,’ said Ryan. He suddenly realised that Isabella was close by and sucked his gut in as best he could. ‘What are we doing anyway?’
‘Same as yesterday,’ Tristram replied. ‘Some people haven’t successfully managed a morph yet.’
‘Oh right,’ said Ryan, scrunching up his nose. ‘So you want me to start throwing my stick again?’
‘I’d rather you tried something new,’ replied his tutor. ‘Daisy’s over there trying to vacuum up some dead leaves.’
He pointed to where Daisy Rose was holding a large stick in both hands and flourishing one end gracefully across the ground. As they watched, it suddenly changed into a length of plastic hose, and she started clearing the ground of leaves with great delight. A few moments later, she disappeared.
‘She’s progressing well,’ observed Tristram. ‘The only one who’s anywhere near her is Teemu.’
‘What? Has he been setting fire to stuff again?’ asked Ryan, looking round for the anaemic Finn.
‘A bit. But he’s been doing other stuff too. He created a machete to hack down one of the trees. And a hatchet, too, for similar purposes. I think the boy has aggression issues.’
‘Really? He seems so quiet.’
‘They’re the ones you want to watch out for,’ replied Tristram. ‘Perhaps he’s got issues at school, or at home, that make him want to blend in. Hence his avatar.’
‘Well, he’s taken all my ideas,’ said Ryan. ‘I don’t have a clue what else to do with a stick.’
‘There’s no harm in doing them too. Trust me, he’s hardly the first person to try cutting down trees in a training exercise. But that would probably require the same emotion as throwing your javelin. You’d be better off broadening your horizons with something that doesn’t require anger or aggression.’
‘I’ll give it a go,’ said Ryan, suddenly noticing Sophie a short way off. He nodded goodbye to Tristram and headed over to her, pretending to be searching for a stick.
Sophie saw him approaching and smiled.
‘Hey Ryan. I imagine you were wondering where I was today.’
‘Actually, I think I already know,’ he replied, returning her smile.
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. You were feeling a little peckish, right?’
‘More than a little. How did you know that?’
‘It happened to me as well. I thought I was going to die.’
‘Me too! I managed to call out to my mum and she could see I wasn’t well. She phoned the school and told them I wouldn’t be coming in. Billy was the same, so I just assumed it was a stomach bug or something.’
‘Nah, it’s definitely something to do with this place. Dizz was like it too.’
‘Was she?’ asked Sophie, raising an eyebrow.
‘Err, yeah… I saw her on the way in,’ said Ryan, thinking quickly. ‘Actually, I meant to ask Tristram about it.’
‘Well, he’s only over there,’ said Sophie.
The two of them headed over to where Tristram was now having an animated conversation with Isabella. Suddenly the Italian girl cast her stick into the air with open palms and it turned into a pure white dove, which fluttered around the clearing before flying away into the distance.
‘Wow,’ said Sophie, watching it go.
‘Not an easy one that,’ called Tristram, turning away as Isabella disappeared and wandering over to them. ‘Morphing something dead into something living is not straightforward.’
‘Daisy did it yesterday,’ said Ryan, and then kicked himself for bringing up her name again in Sophie’s presence.
‘You’re right, she did,’ said Tristram. ‘But how are you two getting on?’
‘All right,’ said Ryan, conscious that Sophie was holding a stick and he wasn’t. ‘We’ve got a question for you actually.’
‘Fire away,’ smiled Tristram.
‘Okay, so we all woke up this morning feeling hungry,’ said Sophie. ‘What’s that about?’
‘Really hungry,’ added Ryan for emphasis.
Tristram’s face fell.
‘Oh, bugger me, I totally forgot to tell you about that. It’s pretty much the first thing I should have covered. You see, Dreamweaving is one of the best workouts your mind can have and as with any exercise it consumes energy. It’s not like any other type of brain function; it really is a tough workout and without proper sustenance it’s almost impossible to do. In fact, that’s probably why you woke up when you did Ryan; after several successful morphs there was probably nothing left in the tank. For my part, I always sleep with a couple of chocolate bars and a bag of jelly babies next to my bed, just in case.’
‘I could have done with those yesterday,’ said Ryan. ‘It took me about half an hour to reach the kitchen.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Tristram, hanging his head. ‘I really should have told you; it just totally slipped my mind. You’ll have lessons on nutrition before long, but it is important that you are at least made aware of it up front as it’s the main side effect you’ll experience. I’d best go and let the others know.’
And with that, he headed over to Frédéric, who still did not seem to be having much luck with