The night flowed around the woman as if a gown of dark silk rippled in the breeze. She was the first of the Dreamers, come into existence at the moment of creation. She was the Night Dreamer. But the Universe was silent and empty and not yet touched by mortal or immortal hands, so she gave birth to the Titans, and in the night she watched as the Titans carried the suns, and the planets, and the moons to all the places of the Universe. But still the Universe was silent save for the endless stars in the dark. And so she gave birth to the Lord of Chaos and the Lord of Death. She took the brothers into her arms and carried them to the shadows of the Crystal Universe, and there the brothers lived together in peace for countless eons. The Lord of Chaos was saddened by the endless empty gray worlds and caused a magical box of crayons to come into existence, and with those crayons he began to add color to all the worlds of the Universe. The Lord of Death joined his brother in the game and created the Well of Souls, and from the Well of Souls he sent immortal souls to populate the mortal realm, but The Lord of Death grew jealous of his own creations and argued that life without end had no meaning, and though he could not destroy an immortal soul, he cursed all life to become mortal and have end. The Lord of Chaos grew angry that his brother had stolen his immortality and attacked his brother and stole from him the power of death, and exiled him to a dark realm of hopelessness. The Night Dreamer grieved for her exiled son and tried to take the power of death from the Lord of Chaos to give back to his brother, but the Lord of Chaos had discovered a power she could not understand and was sent out of the Crystal Universe. The Lord of Chaos then fragmented himself into the twelve Dreamers of Creation, and to them he gave each a crayon, and thus had become the undisputed ruler of the universe. But his brother’s curse could not be broken, and so the Lord of Chaos and the Dreamers of Creation were immortal in power, but mortal in body. She had heard the cry for help from the Orange Dreamer; a petty squabble among children. The new batch of Dreamers were nearly in place, with only two left to be found. Cael probably already knew where they were, but he was playing his game where he tested them first before giving them a crayon. The night gathered around her and she slipped into the Crystal Universe. *** Cael sat on the water barrel kicking his legs just enough to tap his heels against the side of the barrel. He was barefoot as usual, and dressed in a black pin-stripe suit with white suspenders, a black button-up shirt, white tie, and a black fedora perched on his head. The always present sun with a smiley face manifested itself today as a tie-tack. Beside Cael stood Jon Black with his hand resting lightly on his sidearm while Jack Warrior stood with his arms crossed and facing Jon Black. Cael was silent while the two men argued over what was to be done about the situation with Alani and Valiant. Alani’s cry for help had been answered by the rolling of thunder as Cael and Jon Black arrived. Every Dreamer had also answered the distress call and now stood in a wide circle around the nursery, or what would be the nursery once it was built. And behind the perimeter of Dreamers stood every Jack and Tiger on the island. Alani was being comforted by the twin Dreamers dressed in their togas, one trimmed in gold, and the other in silver – the twins wore a wreath of olive leaves on their heads as if they were still the Prince and Princess of the planet they had originally come from. Ember, the Red Dreamer stood talking quietly with Jax, the Lone Dreamer of deserts and beaches and all the lonely places of creation, while Atok, the World Dreamer of stone and crystal stood nearby glaring at Jax for receiving Ember’s attention instead of him. The two exceptions to the somber setting was Bran, the Green Dreamer of Nature, and Ronin, the Dreamer of the Wind. Bran was on his hands and knees with the tiger cub and held the wet towel in his hand he had been using to massage the infant tiger’s belly. The cub now stood on shaky legs scrunching his little face up until his bowels finally exploded, giving him much needed relief. Bran sat back on his heels and clapped. “You did it! You made a stinky, yes you did, yes you did!” Ronin squinted her eyes and stepped back. Ember grabbed her nose and turned away. Atok visibly stiffened but forced himself not to react. The twins ran behind a palm tree to hide, and Warrior put a hand on the bridge of his nose. “Respect to Bran for being able to perform that chore,” said Warrior. Jon Black pulled his neckerchief up over his nose. “He is Father Nature for so long as he holds the Green Crayon, and I doubt he smells it the same as we do. When you have a chance to meet the older Bran fragments that have been here as long as you have, you will find they are superior woodsman and very experienced at caring for the forest creatures.” “Wouldn’t it make more sense for Nature and the Animal Kingdom to be paired instead of Ocean and the Animal Kingdom?” said Warrior. “Bran and Alani should be together instead of Jack and Alani.” Jon Black nodded. “In the past, yes, Ocean and Wind were paired, but this time Cael has insisted that Ocean must be with the Animal Kingdom.” Warrior spread his hands in a gesture of peace. “Look, I’m willing to accept a compromise, and to apologize to Doctor Alani for the incident, but I will not reprimand Valiant. You didn’t hire us to be nice, you hired us to fight the most brutal and dangerous primordial beasts ever to walk creation.” “We need you to be Traders as well as Warriors,” replied Jon Black. “Excuse me,” said Atok Dreamer as he stepped forward. Jon Black glanced at Atok, then at Ember, the Red Dreamer, waving her arms and trying to signal Atok to stay out of the discussion, but Atok was pointedly ignoring her. Atok was normally reserved and deferred to Ember’s judgement… ah, of course, Ember was standing with Jax, the Lone Dreamer, and that was making Atok feel abandoned and threatened. Atok needed to show off to re-acquire her attention. “What is it, Atok?” asked Jon Black. Atok spoke, but his words became a dull sound as day turned to the deepest night and everything became an endless darkness. Another voice spoke in the darkness, a voice older than time, older than the universe and all of creation. “You grow weak, Cael. Soon you will know death and I will take what the Lord of Chaos has stolen and return balance to the universe.” “You cannot hurt me, another will soon be here,” replied Cael. “I hear the fear in your voice, Cael, you are afraid of the dark. Give me what the Lord of Chaos stole and I will give you what was stolen from you.” “Hey you, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not afraid of you,” said the voice of Bran in the darkness. A cold wind swept towards the sound of Bran’s voice. “Silence, child, before I teach you true fear.” Bran giggled. “Is that all you got?” The ground began to glow, and the outline of Bran appeared in the dark. He spread his arms out and the glow spread as bioluminescent plants sprouted from the ground. The plants grew rapidly and glowed green and yellow and blue and red. The outline of the Night Dreamer appeared, and then the other Dreamers around the perimeter, and then Cael, still sitting on the water barrel. The Night Dreamer caused a frozen night wind to wrap around Bran, but he only smiled as new plants grew around him — plants the color of snow, and glowing with a deep blue as if a light was shining through a glacier. “I am in all places,” said Bran. “More even than the night. I am in the frozen lands, and the burning deserts, and the deepest jungles. I float on the wind, and in the darkest depths of the earth, and even at the bottom of the deepest ocean. I am the incarnation of nature, and you have no power over me. Take your fear and leave.” Formations of crystals pushed up out of the ground and glowed with a purple light as Atok the Crystal Dreamer went to stand next to Bran. Heat returned to the clearing next as Jax, the Lone Dreamer of the Desert, and Ember of the living flame, brought warmth on the wind that Ronin, the Dreamer of the Wind, swept across the island. Alani, the Dreamer of the Animal Kingdom, came to stand also with Bran, and with her she brought a kaleidoscope of butterflies that glowed with every color, and the night was pushed even further away. The Gold and Silver Dreamers, the twin Dreamers of Hope and Inspiration, came to stand next with Bran, and from them emanated the courage to stand against the darkness. The Ocean Dreamer came last, and with him brought rivulets running across the island, and where the life-giving water flowed, tall grass of glowing blue sprouted. The island in only a few minutes had been transformed into an alien landscape of indescribable beauty and light. The Night Dreamer wrapped her gowns of darkness around her and fled, but in her departure she shouted a last warning. “Your time is almost done, old man, then you’ll know true fear as I take back what my son, the Lord of Chaos, stole.” And then the Night Dreamer was gone. The group of young Dreamers turned to Cael still sitting on the water barrel. Cael pushed himself off the barrel, but when his feet touched the ground, the little boy was gone, and in his place stood an old man with long silver hair. Jon Black took the old man by the arm and slowly led him to stand in front of the Dreamers. “What did she mean by that?” asked Jack Dreamer.” “You do not need concern yourself,” replied the old man. “Is this what you really look like?” asked Ronin. The old man ignored Ronin’s question. “Together you defeated the oldest creature in the universe. You did well. Remember what you learned here today, let there be no more bickering among yourselves, and make peace with the tigers, you will need them.” Jon Black opened a portal, and with the old man leaning on his arm, led him through to the House at the End of the Universe beyond. Jack Dreamer waited until the portal closed before turning to face the others. “The Night Dreamer referred to him as two different people, any idea what she meant by that?” “Maybe he’s like a caterpillar about to become a butterfly,” replied Doctor Alani. “I mean… how’s he going to rule the Crystal Universe when he can barely walk in his true form?” “I’m certain we will find out in the proper time,” said Atok. “What now?” asked Ronin. “Now I need to have a long talk with Valiant, and apologize,” said Alani. Alani heard a low growl and spun around. Valiant was standing behind her. “Walk with me, we will talk this out, like civilized people.” Alani followed the tiger. “Don’t eat her,” Jack called out as Alani and Valiant walked towards the beach. Alani looked back at Jack. “Wait… what?”