The Heart and the River

 
The Dome of Dreams
I turn, and leap into the darkness.

Night whispers to me, and challenges me to stay awake.
I run into the meadow, and fly in a spiral, five hundred feet high.
The meadow below me extends for miles, and sleeping Bizra fill the meadow.
There are thousands, or millions of Bizra.

My eyes see clearly in the darkness.
The sleeping Bizra have a gentle glow, and a cloud of moving images, ten feet high, hovers over each one.
To my energy eyes, each cloud is a cluster of energy, floating on the great web.
Sparkling … Read more

Endless Change

 
One Solution
The Bizra move away from us in a great synchronized wave, like a wind moving a field of flowers.
They leave the sand behind, going deep into the meadow.

“How do we heal their nightmares?” asks Shazira.

“We can’t,” says Ehraval, behind us.
“The Bizra hearts and minds are sealed tightly within energy shields.”

We turn to see him visible again, in the form of the boy with dark eyes.

“They have powerful, sensitive hearts, full of compassion, and find find violence unthinkable.”
“They can’t imagine life among us, without their shields.”
“They’ve worn those shields since … Read more

Hidden Dreams

 
Hidden
The Kishla are strange creatures, caught between the physical and energy worlds.
Their eyes see well in day or night, and their vision is always half-focused on the energy web.

Time feels different to us while we wear this form.
The waves seem endless on the ocean beneath us, as we fly.
Hours pass, but none of us grow tired, not even Tzina.

The muscles and wings move, again, and again, without thought.
An energy limb within us, takes hold of the great web, and pulls us along.

Balshown takes the lead, and guides us where to fly.… Read more

Day into Night

 
A Gen Day
I love dawn in the Watchtower.
I stand outside, on the deck, just before dawn, Shazira by my side.
She is too quiet, caught inside herself, thinking of Tzina.

When dawn arrives, the sky darkens.
The sun’s light at dawn is dim, compared to the Watchtower’s brilliant light which stops with first sun.

Berek’s parents arrive.
After we greet the sun, we go inside together, and complete the formal turnover of the Watchtower.
His parents are confused, afraid to speak of this trip.
“Berek will be safe,” I tell them.

“How can you be sure, Yagrin?” … Read more

Message

 
A Call for Help
The tower is quiet without Shazira.
She sits most of the day at her parent’s house, holding Tzina’s hand, and wonders where hope has gone.
Tzina slips toward death, already empty, her spirit gone.

Shazira’s parents are silent around me.
They disliked the old Yagrin, and they like me even less.
No time now to change that.

Many healers have already come, but I call for more.
“Why, Yagrin?” asks Shazira.
“What can any healer do?”
“They can prolong Tzina’s life,” I tell her.

“Her spirit is already dead!” shouts Shazira.
“Who cares about the … Read more

Thunder Voice

 
Stone
The world feels broken today, as I wake, but what does it mean?
Usually, I love greeting the sun, but now I have to push my way through it.
I eat almost nothing for breakfast.

“Are you sick, Yagrin?” asks Shazira.
“You barely eat, and your smile is gone.”

I scan my body with the listener, searching for sickness or injury, but my life energy burns strong.
The answer is somewhere outside of me.
“I’m not sick,” I tell her, “but I have to find out what’s wrong.”

I sit in the healing room, and spread my listener … Read more

Healing the Watchtower

 
The Curse of Moonwatch
The full moon comes every six weeks, too soon for the guardians of the Watchtower.

The tower shines every night and drives away the Krale.
The full moon saps the strength of the tower, leaves the sky unprotected, and gives birth to the night we call moonwatch.
Two guardians, a bonded couple, live in the tower, flow master and weaver.
It’s a great honor to be chosen to be guardians.
The flow master prepares an ancient crystal, and the weaver absorbs it.
Then the weaver releases a wave of energy that fuels the tower … Read more

Exile

 
Isolated
Awake again, still surrounded by darkness.
My physical eyes are sealed and useless.
Was the last awakening real, or only a dream?

I turn my inner eyes to the energy world.
I see myself, a body of fire, on a platform, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by a crystal sphere, with no land in sight.

My energy body is strange.
Too small, and the patterns are all wrong.
The eyes of an energy body always burn bright, but these eyes are like suns.

My room looks exactly like my dream, with walls, floor, and ceiling of … Read more

A Quiet Storm

 
Silence
Tzina and I approach the Blue Room, the room of art, music, and story.
She stops and turns to me.
“Ina, your tests are in a few hours.”
“Shouldn’t you be practicing?”

“I’m done with practice, Tzina.”
“Tell me about your friend Berek.”

“Ina,” she says, “I shouldn’t have mentioned him to you.”
“Oodah will be furious if I bring you to him.”
“She doesn’t want you to meet him before the tests.”

“I’ve been curious about Berek since you told me that he loves the storms.”
“Then I met his parents, who acted strange and angry around … Read more