Chapter Five

The tents were arranged in a circle, around a fire long since put out. Only a few wisps of smoke floated off of the now dampened logs. They were in a clearing, devoid of the many tall trees currently surrounding them and concealing them from sight. It was a peaceful night, with little noise to be heard coming from within the forest. Of course, that description does not include the hoards of grasshoppers concealing themselves in the tall, wild grass.

Six sat away from these tents, attracted in her sleeplessness to the twinkling stars now peaking in the dark sky. She crossed her legs on a heavy log she had found on the edge of the clearing, perfect for sitting to avoid the countless worms and cicadas burrowing underneath the ground. She did not know how or why she was unable to sleep, but her mind nonetheless felt as if it had just absorbed an obscene amount of sugar.

Stirring noises were coming from one or two of the tents, probably caused by a restless dream or ghoulish nightmare. It would not be uncommon in a group such as this to have have troubled dreams, even though the movements could also very likely be the product of those agitated by the cramped living space inside the tents.

A few days ago, the group had stumbled across three tarp canvasses abandoned on the edge of the forest – one which they had also only discovered by a bizarre stroke of luck. But as pleased as they were to have found both, it was still something of a struggle to share a space with at least two other magical beings. Sarah had quite often woken up in her tent with a handful of Lumen in her face.

They had to get a move on, Six thought. For five days, the group had sat in the clearing and lived off stolen goods, unwilling to compromise their newfound safety for uncertainty. With Malcolm's tablet, they were now able for the first time to have a solid grasp on what to do next, but some insisted on being just as ignorant as before.

"What's the purpose of it all!" Sarah had said. "Even if you find one of these Loric ships or this Number Five person, what good is that against Setrakus Ra!"

"She's right," John said, wrapping his arm around her. "We should be conserving our strength for the next time we really need it. Not wasting it on some wild goose chase."

That was when Six had started yelling – loudly.

"Conserving our strength! For what, we can't kill him by ourselves, we need help, and it isn't called bravery to deny that." She stormed away, stomping out into the forest. It was not until darkness fell that she returned,and by then everyone had passed out from exhaustion.

At that moment, in which Six's tired mind was almost swimming in a world of dreams, Four sprinted from his tent, breathing heavily, sweat covering his muscular body.

"Great," Six muttered, "Wonderboy's at it again."

"Six!" John yelled urgently. "Five! I saw her!"

Lina still hung on Setrakus Ra's scarlet wall, still felt her toes burning above the fireplace, and was still being forced to watch cat litter commercials on an eighty-four inch television, but no longer did she feel so hopeless. The boy in her dreams was coming – he would save her, she was sure.

"Hmm, you seem different," Ra said to her, snarling. "Was the nap refreshing?" His eyes sparkled gleefully, like a kid about to finally bully his parents into buying him a new computer.

"Well, it definitely made great entertainment for me," he hissed. "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"

Lina went cold as the television screen flickered to a familiar scene. It was a clearing with three tents, and, running as fast as he could toward a girl Lina had never seen, was the boy from her dream.

"Ha, they sure thought they were really lucky coming across this forest!"

"No!"

"Oh yesss, we've been watching them for quite some time my Lina." Setrakus Ra reached behind the TV, locating a bright red button with his fingers, and pressed it. A click resonated throughout the room, and fire spread across the screen.

"No! Nooo!" Lina cried, watching her would-be rescuers incinerated on the television before her.

In that furious instant, time stopped. The screen froze. Setrakus Ra's smile stuck in place on his abnormal face, and his body fell to the ground – still.

Time went backwards.

A flurry of images – flailing limbs, burning fires, hot chocolate – raced across Lina's vision.

"Hi, I'm Bobby."

Lina looked down at her plate. There was a half-eaten hamburger sitting in front of her.

"No...you're really not." She ran as fast as she could from the cafe, jumping into the sky for all to see, heading for a clearing in the woods...