Chapter FIFTY-FOUR: Lost Child-TALIA

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Arriving at the Tear Shrine, Aydan lay Talia carefully on the stone floor of the temple. He found cushions and made sure she was comfortable. He waited for her anxiously to wake up. He could hear nightmarish beasts shrieking outside the shrine. Unable to stay tranquilly inside the temple from the incessant cacophony that lurked beyond the front door, he cursed at the new dreaded horrors outside. He knew well the nightmares were overflowing from the recent chaos in the world, many more than ever before.

The Sun Druid finally got up and stepped outside the shrine, overwhelmed by the sight. He quickly extinguished some of the nightmares creeping closest to the shrine, but they were uncontainable. He knew there was much worse unleashed on the Dreamlands, and only Talia's magic was best suited for the task of ending them.

Giving up for now, he went back to Talia, and held her waiting for her to safely wake. Aydan waited anxiously for her to move. He noticed her robes were washed with sea water and grass was stuck to her boots. He wondered what she had been doing in the world if she did not run into the pathetic oaf king or dead queen before he did. Making it a point to ask her later, he just needed for her to wake up so he could go find Dameon immediately after—now missing him more than ever—after all the suffering he had seen in the world. As soon as he saw signs that she would was no longer in danger of her Sleeper waking up, he would go to their son.

After a short while, Talia yawned and began to open her eyes.

"My love, I must go find our son. I cannot wait any longer to see him," he said eagerly, desperation in his voice. "I cannot go another moment without knowing he is safe."

Talia tried to keep her eyes open. She could see the Sun Priest and tried to speak, though her sleep paralysis made her motionless and unable to speak.

"I will be back soon with our son, my love. I'm sure Armaiti cannot wait to get him off his hands. He cannot be away from us after what we have seen," he said as he got up ready to leave. He brushed her hair gently with his hand and moved her staff closer to her. "Do not go outside until I return. I will help you."

"Wait..." Talia gasped, desperately trying to say: 'We need to talk...You must find her there too...'

The Sun Druid apparated again.

..

Not long after, the Dreamer sprang up from her slumber, sweating profusely. She could feel the nightmares outside of her shrine. She peered out into the Dreamworld. Nightmares overrunning the Dreamlands, more than she ever imagined possible. The Dream's sky was dark with hardly any starlight. A large nightmare flew overheard blocking the over-sized moonscape. There were countless nightmares loose, crowding the Dream with terrors, pushing its very boundaries outward, on the verge of collapse.

As she prepared and readied herself for battle, she felt as though she was being watched again.

The Oracle stood in the middle of the Shrine. An unreadable expression on her face.

"I do not normally watch over you to make sure you are here performing your duties, Guardian of Dreams," the Oracle began. "There is a mess in this realm...Not all of it could be helped, but the overflow is due to your absence...You were to stay in your Shrine just as the other druids. Explain yourself, child."

From the tone in the old woman's voice, Talia could tell she was displeased.

"Please, I beg you...Oracle, it was not for a bad cause. I found the Child...She is with a friend of the King and Queen—a General...I must return to her, at once," Talia said in a panic, but trailed off. The Oracle seemed unfazed by her words.

The old woman sighed deeply. Her old hand poked at Talia's side.

"'Beware lest the dreamer wakes.' You are the dreamer and you nearly woke," the Oracle recited sternly. Talia suddenly felt deeply ashamed; she was bound to her duties and she had forsaken them.

"Please, Oracle, I need to go back. I MUST go back to them. I cannot live with myself if I leave the Child down there," Talia lowered herself, begging now with her head so low her red hair dragged on the Tear Shrine's floor.

"Dreamer, she is safe...You have made your choice when you returned without her. It was a good choice given the state of things with the Dreamworld. And we cannot forget your plight with the Sun Priest," the Oracle continued firmly.

"Please, Your Holiness...I needed to look for King Devin...I had to leave the Chosen One behind...It was not safe in Thais...I could not take her with me...I could not even hold her..I promised to return for her," Talia implored, tears flowing from her face. She did not want to come across as defiant, but this was not the same as when she left behind the love of her life all those years—she had left an innocent child behind—a child she needed to protect at all cost.

"You will not be able to return. It is not an option. I am sorry, my child," the Oracle stated with finality.

"If I cannot leave, then send Sun Priest Aydan...He can find her!...I can tell him where to find them...The General remembers him," Talia said, hopeful to find middle ground with the old woman. She lost so much already, there would be no more loss today.

The Oracle's eyes turned a bright white, her voice grew forceful, her voice was layered as she was overtaken by entities much stronger than her: "You must swear to secrecy that you must never reveal you saw the Child to anyone...Promise that you will not tell anyone, so long as she is safe."

Talia gazed at the Oracle, unable to speak. She knew this was more than a simple command from just the Oracle. It was part of the prophecy. Talia covered her face with her hands, shaking, weeping knowing she had lost another dear one all in one day.

"I...I...I cannot...I would never be able to live with the burden of leaving her behind!" Talia cried with her voice raising, quivering, waiting on an answer on how she was expected to live with herself.

The Oracle sighed heavily again.

"Child, you must never tell anyone that she lives...Not even the Sun Druid must know," the Oracle said as her eyes returned to her normal ancient blue.

"You are mad!" Talia shouted suddenly, no longer avoiding defiance. "The Sun Priest does not know she's alive...It may break him to not know there's hope...But I cannot ever li—"

"—You cannot lie, because of what you are—Child of Faiara. I know you cannot, but you must conceal the truth. This is the only way she will truly be safe."

"Please Oracle, we can prepare her for what is to come! She will have parents...She will have a brother...She will have magic," Talia declared out loud her intentions.

"You would not ever conceal the truth from her...It is burden much too immense for any child to bear...She will run from the prophecy if she knows the truth...Promise now that you shall not speak of her existence to anyone, so long as the prophecy is imminent," the Oracle said, unwavering in spite of learning the Dreamer's earnest intentions.

The Dreamer fell to the temple floor, sobbing uncontrollably, defeated again in a battle she could not win. Still thinking the Oracle mad, the truth was that she would have no choice but to agree. This was greater than her—this was now destiny. As the Oracle said, she had made her choice when she chose to go alone without Aydan, and then when she chose to look for Devin instead of fleeing.

Talia reluctantly nodded. She wondered how she would ever withhold the Child's existence. Her secret would haunt her until it was a secret no more, and it would only bring a greater divide in her relationship with the Sun Druid, and perhaps even her own son.

She knew she would need to find Tailor in his dreams and tell him that she would not be able to return.

Talia turned to go into the Dreamlands, but the Oracle beckoned her to come with her to the High Realm.

"I am not through yet," the old woman said sternly.