Chapter 12
Practice Makes Perfect
Aspen whipped around with fists clenched, ready for trouble.
The two sisters studied a stand of trees behind them and smiled at the sound of horses trampling through the undergrowth. Their hooves struck small rocks and stones while their bodies broke twigs and branches, and they whinnied in excitement as they got closer. A moment later three snow-white geldings trotted proudly into view.
Dylan sat upright on the first horse, and leaned over to speak to Aspen. "Hey there, did we miss anything?"
She held her breath. He looked so good on horseback. Dark wool trousers, a white shirt, and a black leather vest fit his body snugly, and his leather bracelet looked so cool on his tanned arm. His dream catcher charm glinted from around his neck.
"Hey," she said softly.
The second horse nudged against his and a strikingly beautiful girl peered down at her. Aspen gasped. This was the pretty redhead from her birthday party. The one who'd wrapped herself around Dylan.
The girl's hair tumbled past her waist in the brightest flame-red waves. It was thick and luxurious, and nestled on the saddle like spun silk. Her small athletic body was wrapped in tight emerald-green cotton, and a white sheepskin coat hugged her shoulders. Knee-high white leather boots covered her calves. She hugged the horse as though molded to it, and glared at Aspen through clover-green eyes.
"Is this the Halfling?" she asked haughtily.
Dylan straightened up and spoke to her. "Ruby, this is my friend Aspen. Aspen, this is Ruby from the Fire clan, and this is her brother,"-he swiveled around and pointed to the third rider behind him-"Ray."
Ray was the complete opposite of his sister. He smiled broadly at Aspen and slid from his horse in a fluid move. While he held the reins in one hand, he clasped Aspen's hand with the other. His grip was warm and comfortable, but not half as thrilling as Dylan's.
"Well, hello there, darlin'," he said with a broad smile.
Ruby's brother was about five foot nine inches tall and extremely handsome, with dark auburn hair that curled slightly over the collar of his black shirt. When he focused his emerald-green eyes on her that practically twinkled with delight, she had the feeling that they would become good friends.
"Welcome to Lanta, little lady. It's real nice to meet ya."
She smiled shyly. Movement behind him caused her to step back warily. A crowd of boys walked into the clearing, and Ginny and Sandy shouted greetings to them. Ray held her hand in his and tugged her almost protectively toward him.
Ray bent toward her. "It's okay, little darlin'. They're with us," he whispered reassuringly into her ear.
Dylan slid off his horse and wrapped the reins around a nearby branch. He walked over to Aspen and took her other hand. With a small tug, he drew her away from Ray and slipped his arm over her shoulder. Warmth spread from the area where Dylan's skin touched hers, and she closed her eyes for a second to enjoy the feeling. Ray stepped back and his mouth tightened, the atmosphere suddenly very tense.
Ginny jumped to her feet and began to speak. "Aspen, let me introduce you to this motley gang. There are way too many of them and they're not important enough, so I'm going to be quick." She grinned and the group of teenage boys laughed and whooped around her.
"This is Caden, Troy, Ryder, Ethan, Ashley, and Cole." Each boy bobbed his head in greeting as Ginny pointed them out. Two of the boys had shoulder-length blond hair and turquoise eyes; the rest had auburn hair and green eyes.
"Caden and Troy are from the Water clan, and the rest are from the Fire clan," Sandy said from behind them.
Caden moved forward and lifted his fingers to his forehead in a mocking salute. His gaze roamed from her head to her toes and he smiled widely, flashing deep dimples. He really looked good with his thick blond hair and pale blue T-shirt.
The rest of the boys were dressed in T-shirts and jeans, and Aspen could feel their speculative stares.
"Don't mind their rudeness. Honestly, haven't you ever seen a Dream Walker from the Power clan before, boys?" Ginny scolded.
"She's only half a Dream Walker. Maybe that's their fascination." Ruby slipped delicately from her horse with eyes glittering at Caden. She stalked around Aspen in a circle. "We don't get many Halflings around these parts."
Aspen clenched her hands and the fine hairs on her arms rose. Was this girl trying to insult her? She felt Dylan's grip tighten on her shoulder and she glared at Ruby openly. The Fire Walker tossed her tresses over her shoulder and turned away from her as though she were nothing.
Sandy stepped forward. "I'll have you know that Aspen's father was Roman Walker. She's a princess in our clan, and her powers are greater than the best Walker around."
Ruby ignored her and leaped upon her horse. With a flick of the reins, she urged the horse forward. Her hair tumbled in waves of red behind her back as the animal cantered away.
"Did she just try and insult me?" Aspen asked Sandy.
Sandy frowned. "Ignore her. Ruby doesn't like competition."
The group of boys chuckled nervously amongst themselves and walked in the direction that Ruby had taken.
Ray's green eyes trained on her. "Don't mind my sister. She doesn't know you yet."
"It's okay," she said and smiled sweetly at him. "I'm not worried about it."
Ray hesitated for a second before mounting his horse and following his sister.
The air was still warm and the light was pale yellow. Aspen took a deep breath to calm herself. Her muscles fluttered beneath Dylan's grip, and she didn't want to move.
"Come on, girls," Ginny said, interrupting Aspen's thoughts. "We might as well follow and have some fun. They're on the hunt and it's good to go out in numbers."
"Aspen, you can ride with me." Dylan turned her to face the huge white horse that he'd arrived on.
She jerked in his arms. "No way. I haven't been on one of those before."
He pushed her forward gently. "Don't worry, I'll show you what to do. Show no fear and Milky will love you."
"Milky? Is that the beast's name?"
"She's not a beast, she's the most beautiful horse in the world, aren't you, Milky?"
The horse flapped long, sooty eyelashes at him, seeming to understand his words as she snorted loudly. Her muscles twitched and she struck the ground with her hoof.
Dylan climbed into the saddle and reached down for Aspen. She hesitated before raising her arms, holding her breath as he swung her up as easily, then shifted and tucked her into place right in front of him.
He wrapped his forearm around her waist and drew her back against his chest. The heat of his body warmed her back as he kept her from wobbling out of the seat. It felt good to touch him, and her body trembled with pleasure. A current seemed to be flowing between their bodies, and she loved being held by him. As the horse trotted along, she grabbed hold of Dylan's thigh to steady herself. His low laugh tickled the sensitive skin of her ear, and she relaxed in his arms.
Aspen saw Ruby and her clan up ahead, and turned to make sure that Ginny and Sandy had kept up with them. The two girls had bright cheeks but didn't complain as they moved at a brisk pace on foot. Ruby had slowed her horse down to a walk, and she eyed Aspen openly as she leaned against Dylan's chest.
"Where are we off to?" Aspen asked Dylan.
"We're out hunting nightmares."
"Really? Where do you find them?"
"Chancellors make nightmares that we can actually see. We'll see lions, bugs, monsters, and witches, for example. The Chancellors gather around an area during Lavendula and chant for the nightmares to appear."
"What do they chant?"
"It's a call to their maker. They get their energy from the lavender pigments in the sky that their maker channels through to them. They also get energy if the nightmare succeeds in making a child scared or from our powers when we die. That's why they attack us."
Aspen cringed. "That sounds gross."
Dylan paused before changing
the subject. "There are castles in different areas of our world. Each castle has a lord and a certain amount of Chancellors."
"Where is the nearest castle to us?" she asked.
"We have one only fourteen waypoints away."
"Waypoint? What's a waypoint?"
Dylan chuckled and answered patiently. "Chancellors use waypoints as entry and exit points in order to travel. They are openings in the ground that allow them to reach their destination quicker. The openings are always guarded, so if they reach their next waypoint, they are generally safe from us. We can't go after them, and we have to journey to the next waypoint in order to get to them."
Aspen swayed back and forth in the saddle as the horse's hooves clopped over the stony ground. She kept silent for a moment and then asked another question. "Why don't they just stay underground and travel that way instead of above ground?"
"Their waypoints don't meet up," Dylan explained. "They can go down one but when they come out, they need to travel above ground to get to the next one."
"That's kinda stupid." She shook her head, distracted by the way her body hummed with electricity wherever it touched him. His vest was made from leather and was smooth against her skin, but the current between them was the most wonderful feeling ever, and she wiggled closer in his grip.
"Yes, it's stupid," he continued. "We try to monitor the waypoints to stop them from reaching them, but there are far too many waypoints for us to know them all. They can also go a lot farther than we do using the tunnels. They use magic to propel themselves forward once they get inside."
"Awesome!"
"You wouldn't say that if you were chasing them. It's so frustrating trying to follow them."
Aspen frowned. "What do we do if we find Chancellors and nightmares?"
"They will deflect your blows by means of a force field. They'll do whatever it takes to save the nightmare. We normally split in two. One half will attack the Chancellors, and the other half tries to attack the nightmare. Our dream catchers help us to deflect the worst hits from them and they help us to heal, so don't lose yours," he warned.
"Wow." Aspen shivered. "This is making me nervous."
The sky darkened as they spoke and Dylan tensed behind her. The trees around them seemed to look more ominous as the air cooled down.
"Don't worry, I'm right here for you," he whispered.
The horses reacted first. The three white steeds lifted their forelegs and whinnied in surprise. Aspen shrieked and held on to the saddle horn for dear life.
Something rustled in the bushes up ahead, and suddenly a huge beast hurled itself at the group.
The horses danced backward and Dylan struggled to control Milky. Aspen looked over his shoulder and cried out again as a one-eyed monster snarled in front of them. The creature's head was connected to its muscled chest with no sign of a neck, and its single yellow eye glared balefully at them over gaping jaws dripping with an unpleasant ooze. It was at least twice the size and height of any of them, and Aspen shrank back at the sight of it.
The creature loomed over them, striking out at the clan members with sharp claws. Ray clenched his fists and shot balls of fire at it. The fireballs were small and bright, but they struck the beast with deadly accuracy. The monster retreated and rolled its massive body on the ground to put out the flames, roaring in pain as the smell of singed flesh filled the air.
Without warning, Chancellors streamed into the clearing. Wearing their black outfits, they scuttled into view in great numbers and raced toward the Dream Walkers.
Sandy and Ginny threw bolts of electricity at them, and the Fire Walkers aimed balls of fire in their direction. Caden and Troy soaked the Chancellors with water, which was the perfect conductor for the electric blasts Sandy and Ginny had created, and gave them more power.
Nothing worked. The Chancellors must have been protected by a spell or an invisible force field, for they seemed unaffected by whatever was hurled at them.
Cole was thrown off his feet by two Chancellors, and Troy was restrained by three of them. A large Chancellor with inky eyes slammed a fist against Troy's face, causing his nose to bleed. All around, Chancellors restrained Dream Walkers and savagely beat them.
"Stay on the horse and call the elders if we lose," Dylan shouted to Aspen as he slid off the back of the stallion. She looked around in horror.
Smoke roiled above them, and screams and shouts filled the air as the battle waged on. The beast roared in fury.
"Kill the monster!" Dylan cried, and the Dream Walkers renewed their efforts to attack it.
A few Chancellors circled the great beast, facing outward, and pointed their hands toward the ground. Aspen gasped as a strong current flowed up from the earth, surrounding the Chancellors and the beast in a large transparent dome. Shocking pink and purple electric streaks arced around the inside of the dome.
At home, Miriam owned a Tesla coil lamp with violet streaks that arced around an invisible shell. Aspen had been fascinated by the lamp, but couldn't come near it as the electricity would arc toward her even though she didn't touch the glass.
The dome acted in the exact same manner. Violet and neon pink bolts of electricity inside its shell strained toward her, and a warm current surged through her body. Aspen stared at her hands. Electricity sparked from her fingers, and the tiny hairs on her forearms rose up from her skin.
"Kill the monster and the Chancellors will disappear," Dylan shouted again.
The Dream Walkers focused their energy on the monster, but all their flames and energy blasts were deflected by the dome.
Ginny cried out as she was struck in the stomach by a vicious Chancellor, and this galvanized Aspen into action. Her eyes blazed and she dug her feet into the stirrups so she stood tall in the saddle.
"Don't you dare touch my friends!" she shouted, and aimed her palms at the Chancellor who'd just hit Ginny.
A bolt of lightning flared from her hands. Hot, raw power shot from her fingertips and raced toward him. He disappeared in a boom of light and smoke, and a chasm opened up in the ground where he'd stood. The noise from the blast was deafening, and everyone stopped fighting for a moment, stunned and gaping at Aspen.
Dylan reacted first. "The monster, kill the monster!" he shouted.
Aspen turned in the saddle to face the monster and hurled as much energy as she could at the beast. The dome creaked and groaned, and tiny cracks appeared along its surface. Arcs of violet electricity surged through the cracks and shattered the shell as it tried to fuse with the bolts flung from her hands.
The entire dome erupted and the explosion was so powerful that everyone was thrown back against the surrounding trees. The monster and Chancellors disintegrated into a pile of ash, and within seconds, only Dream Walkers remained.
Aspen was drained. She sagged into the saddle and stared dumbly at the crater that was revealed as the smoke slowly cleared. The feeling of weakness was overwhelming.
Suddenly the horse seemed very tall.
Oh darn, she thought as her eyes closed and her body went limp. I should've done this on the ground, not on the back of a horse. This is going to hurt.