“And my job is finally finished.” Tommy’s voice commented from behind me.
I turned to see him smiling at me. “No, you are the guardian of the mountain still. I just supersede you.”
Tommy shook his head. “With you and your bother in place I am no longer needed, Diana.”
“But what is my place?” Hunter asked from beside me. He looked back to the dais with in confusion. “This is all about Diana. Not about me, why am I even involved?”
I smiled at him. “For the same reasons that I gave you earlier, Twin. I can’t do this without you.” I paused and listened. Something inside me was feeding me answers, knowledge that I had not had before. I knew that it came from Dream Mountain and carried through me on the wings of the song. Somehow, when I claimed my place as the Mistress of Dream Mountain I had become permanently connected to it. Now, I followed its leading. “Listen to the song, Hunter. It is waiting for you to command it.”
Hunter frowned, but closed his eyes and focused. I gasped when I saw new words written in gemstone appeared on the bottom of the dais. A smile grew on Hunter’s face and without opening his eyes, reached out a hand in front of him and called out the words written there, “Theron, Master of Dream Mountain!”
From the dais a new rock grew, pushing the words up so that they moved to under my own name and title. Just as quickly as the rock grew, it melted away to reveal a new set of clothing. They disappeared in a blinding white light. I shielded my eyes and when I lowered my hands a gentle glow surrounded Hunter. I couldn’t see through it, but I could hear Hunter’s laughter.
“Now this is more like it!” His voice came from within the glow. A second later, a gleaming sword sliced the glow in two and Hunter stood there with the sword in hand. His clothing had also changed. He had on what looked like dark forest green breeches and a tanned leather shirt. Both molded to his body and looked like they would be perfect for in a fight, which I had no doubt he would be in several. Especially with the way he was expertly and happily swinging his sword around. “I could get use to this.”
I laughed. “You and me both, Theron.”
He stopped swinging the sword and looked at me, “Theron, huh?”
I shrugged.
“Well, I can handle it. Why give me a second name though?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, the song says hunter and goddess. That’s my old name and your new one,” he pointed out.
“Theron is Greek and means Hunter,” Nightmare supplied.
“Really? Cool. My name really stayed the same then. It just got older!” Hunter grinned
I laughed. “I have this feeling that we are going to have many names from now on and just as many identities. Remember the Cloud Portals?”
“Hey! That’s right! I have some unfinished business back there,” he cast Nightmare a dark look, but Nightmare seemed completely undisturbed.
I turned to Daydream. “So, now what?”
Daydream laughed. “Do I look like the Mistress of Dream Mountain? You tell us what is next, not the other way around.”
I looked around at my friends all of whom were gazing back at me. This was not something I would have predicted. Tell them what to do? I didn’t have the first clue!
“Diana, are you still trying to figure this out?” Daydream chided me gently.
I looked at her with raised eyebrows. “I’m missing something yet again.”
“Are you?” She asked.
I really had to break her of that habit. “Look, I’m the Mistress now. Isn’t this what I was supposed to discover? Can’t you give straight answers now?”
Daydream simply looked at me. It was Tommy who eventually answered. “Look around, Diana. Finish the song.”
Finish the song? I sang quietly. And as if it was waiting the answering line came “Our forest and meadow will once again gleam.” I looked around with new eyes. The dais and peak shown like purple gems, but the area around still held its dark disturbing hue. And below us, the clouds were so thick that I could not see anything below them.
“The Mountain. It hasn’t been reborn,” I murmured.
“But why?” Hunter asked. I still thought of him as that, even though I had accepted the change in my name so easily, when it was time I knew I would call him by his second name.
“I’m not sure,” I walked to the edge of the summit and looked down at the cloud blanket. What was I missing? It should have transformed. It should be beautiful, stunning even, yet it wasn’t. Had I gotten something wrong or was I just not seeing what was there?
I knelt down and felt the cold stone beneath me. What is it? What is wrong? Why are you still guarding yourself? Wait, that was it. You are guarding yourself, but that is my job. Isn’t it?
Come on, I silently urged the mountain. The world needs the dreams you protect. You created the song, didn’t you? Or did God do that? I don’t really know, but whether you or God, you know this is what He wants. I mean, He gave you the job and got the first verse in the song! It was placed into the hearts and minds of the animals and it guided Hunter and I here. I know you know what it says, the beauty it tells of. Why are you still harboring that inside yourself? You need to reunite hearts with dreams or imagination fails, I pleaded. Laughter, light, hope, joy, love, beauty… Why did it not want to release the dreams?
It could only be the mountain was still unsure. It thought it still needed to be a sentinel to protect itself. And then, suddenly, I knew. I had to choose, I had to promise. It wasn’t enough to claim to be the Mistress I had to believe in Dream Mountain’s mission as my own.
I stood and walked over to the dais, placing my hand on top of it. I motioned to my friends with the other. And they joined my in a circle. I felt the song humming, and for the first time ever, questioning what I intended to do.
“Shh,” I soothed it. Then spoke to my friends and Dream Mountain. “I am the Mistress of Dream Mountain, not because my grandfather would want it or say it was God’s will, and not even because it is destiny, but because it is right. To protect dreams, fantasies, imagination and the life they bring is the greatest task I could ever accomplish. It is an honor to know I was chosen for this task. But though I readily accept this charge, I can’t do it alone. I will need each of you to help me.
“I won’t force you to accept my challenge. I know it is going to be dangerous. We must not only protect Dream Mountain, but also the worlds that its dreams have created. We will be battling the enemies of those worlds as well as those in our own. Each world holds a different challenge and adventure and Dream Mountain is the control base for everything. There is power in dreams and these worlds that many will seek out. And I don’t mean in a good way. I don’t know exactly what we will come up against, but I promise never to back down.”
“I’ll be at your side the whole way,” Hunter promised, placing his hand over mine.
“You know I will never leave you,” Tommy avowed from my side, placing his hand over Hunter’s. I caught the look in his eyes, his words had a double meaning. It would be interesting to find out what that was, but I knew we had time.
Daydream placed her horn on my shoulder. “I was created for you, Diana Grace. I’m proud you are ready to do this and I will be there and protect you as you do. I am your partner.”
Nightmare and Rougefire each placed his horn on his own partner’s shoulder. Both vowed to protect and stay by them.
“Then, I, the Mistress of Dream Mountain, along with my friends, vow to always protect Dream Mountain and to take his mission as our own. Together, we are the guardians.” I smiled at them. “Let the adventures begin.”
Purple flares suddenly shot out from the dais. They flared out and soared like shooting stars across the sky. Their tails twinkled with purple stardust that fell down onto the cloud blanket. They sprinkled the blanket and then fell through. The six of us rushed to the edge of the summit and watched in stunned amazement.
It hit the mountain first and each place the dust hit became smooth.
As the mountain’s true violet hue began to shine forth the ragged edges melted into purple liquid that flowed everywhere the dust had missed. The entire effect caused the mountain’s rocks to become gem smooth and glow softly.
As the purple dust continued its magical fall it sprinkled down on the heavy fog that had been the sentinel mountain’s constant companion and dissipated it gently. Below sparkling green waves of grass peaked through on the left of the mountain’s side. On the right side of the mountain the forest spread out in a haven of deep green leaves. A river, I never remembered crossing, now flowed gently around the entire mountain and neatly separated the forest and meadow into halves. The purple dust caused the whole scene to sparkle as if fairies were giving it their blessing.
And then from the woods and meadow the animals appeared. They poked through the grass and gathered at the edge of the forest. Birds of hundreds of colors took to the sky. Though they were all far below our place on the mountain I could see each with crystal clarity and knew my new sight came from Dream Mountain. The animals called out joyfully joining each other in a welcoming song for Dream Mountain’s rebirth.
I pulled out an arrow and shot it out over the scene. It flew straight and then arched down to land perfectly in the meadow below. Out from the animals a single squirrel raced to the arrow and picked it up waving it high. I laughed and pointed him out to Daydream. She nodded and smiled. I knew it was the same squirrel that had greeted me when I had first arrived in this magical land.
“Look!” Hunter exclaimed, pointing above us.
We all looked up to see a star shining brightly directly overhead, despite the fact it was daytime. I glanced to the right and saw the sun still shining. Tommy put his hand on my shoulder and pointed to the right, there the moon too was visible. The sight was amazing.
“Impossible,” Hunter muttered, but he was grinning.
I shook my head. “Not in Dream Mountain. I have this feeling there are many more surprises for us to discover here.”
“And in the worlds of the portals. You will discover powers you cannot imagine yet,” Daydream added.
Hunter nodded. “Sweet. I can’t wait to explore them all.”
“You’ll get your chance. And then you’ll go back many, many times as you make friends in each,” Nightmare promised.
“Yeah, you’ll want to go back for fun and when your friends call you,” Rougefire spoke up.
“Call us?” I asked.
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, we can monitor all the worlds from the Control Center. It’s the only room in the cave you didn’t see. If there is a problem in any of them you’ll know.”
“And you know how to do that?” I asked to make sure. When Tommy nodded an affirmative, I added, “And you’ll stay to monitor them? You can call us back whenever we are needed and if we need you in one of the worlds we are in, I can send a portal so you can join us.”
Tommy grinned. “Sounds like a good plan.”
I smiled at him. “We all have a mission as guardians now. We’re the best team around.”
Hunter laughed at that. “I think we are going to have to be. Maybe that’s why Dream Mountain chose us, Sis, and made you the Mistress of Dream Mountain.”
I liked both those titles. I agreed with him, but I thought there was something more. “Yes, I also think it is because even when we didn’t have a real reason to believe we’ve always had a child-like faith and never stopped believing in Dream Mountain or what it stands for.” I grinned and looked around at my friends. “And we never will.”
And at that odd moment it struck me again how Dream Mountain stood as a metaphor for God in some way. I couldn’t say I had child-like faith in Him. But just that quickly I decided that on my adventures as the Mistress of Dream Mountain I would also take on the adventure of discovering the very real reality of God.
My friends nodded at my comment and I smiled at them. They would join me on my journey and no matter what happened I knew without a doubt that life would never be the same again. And I was perfectly okay with that. This was where I was meant to be and the people I was meant to be with. I was chosen to live out something I could only dream of and I was so happy. I looked up at the sun, moon, and the single shining star. I had dreamed my whole life, now I was living it. And suddenly I understood. The sun and moon were visible because dreams take place at all times. And the star? The star shone brightly because dreams are destinies and fantasies direct from the stars and beyond. I smiled. They are from Dream Mountain.
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Epilogue
So, you wanted to know where dreams come from? Well, now you do. It is your turn to choose to believe.
Sweet Dreams!!
Memoirs of
The Mistress of Dream Mountain
Diana Grace Dreamwalker
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About the Author
Charissa Lees is the executive director of the Solid Rock Youth Center. She served nine years in the Army National Guard, where she met her husband, Shawn. They recently had their first child, Kensie Grace. Charissa has lived in her dream worlds for as long as she can remember. Now, she loves to share those dreams and her love for her Abba through the fantastic portal of books.
More Books by Charissa
Youth Books
Lil’ Sherwood – a Robin Hood tale with a surprising LEGO twist
Taldek’s Heroic Tales – three tales of heroism with dragons through generations