Ember laughed with delight as she ran alongside the path kicking at the thick blanket of orange and yellow leaves covering the ground. Akot remained on the path walking in a more dignified manner and attempted to ignore the armfuls of leaves Ember kept throwing at him. “Lighten up,” said Amber with a laugh. “Autumn is the best time of year. I love all the color on the trees; it’s like someone colored all the trees with a crayon.” “Isn’t that exactly what happened,” said Akot.” Ember dumped another armful of leaves on Akot’s head. “I was wondering, is Jon Black the Dreamer of Time, or the God of Time?” Akot brushed away the leaves piled on his head. He wasn’t annoyed with Ember’s antics — he loved her ability to be so completely uninhibited and free. “I don’t know, perhaps somewhere in-between. His father is the Ocean God of Carina, but his mother was a mortal.” “That makes him a demi-god,” said Ember. “Anyway, I was just wondering if he has ever gone back in time to meet the original Lord of Chaos.” Akot shook his head and smiled, Ember’s thoughts bounced around so randomly it was sometimes difficult to keep up with her. “I suppose it is possible.” Ember fell into step beside Akot and mimicked his purposeful steps. “There’s so many things we don’t know.” Akot picked a few stray leaves from his robes. “I had hoped the Night Dreamer was going to teach us.” Ember got bored mimicking Akot and turned around to walk backwards. “Oh yeah, like she’s ever going to tell us anything. That woman is evil.” “Is she?” “What do you mean?” “She is the Immortal Dreamer of Night and Fear, but does that make her evil? From what I saw, she was only trying to restore the Universe to the way it was originally intended.” “Are you on her side?” asked Ember. “I’m only saying what I think she wants, not what I think should happen.” The conversation drifted from metaphysics, to modern philosophy, to the best recipe’s for cupcakes. It was an idyllic afternoon as they drifted from one world to the next in search of the thief that had stolen the peaches can from Cael’s yard. As they approached an intersection in the trail, three men jumped out from behind trees with bows drawn. The men were filthy, with long stringy hair, and the glint of cruelty in their eyes. “STICK ‘EM UP,” screamed one of the men as he pointed his bow at the two travelers. Ember was walking backwards again, and Atok grabbed and pulled her behind him. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” shouted Ember with indignation. Atok turned away from the robbers and tipped his head to the side. “I am protecting you.” “Do I look helpless?” “I’m the man,” replied Atok. “It is my job to protect my woman.” Ember frowned and narrowed her eyes. “I’m sure that’s sweet on some chivalrous medieval level, but I’m quite capable of protecting myself.” “Did you hear me?” shouted the man waving his bow back and forth. “This is a robbery.” Ember turned her head to the man. “Do you mind, we’re talking, don’t be rude.” Ember flicked a hand at the man and the would-be robbers’ bows and arrows turned to ash and fell away. Atok glanced at the surprised man, then also flicked a hand. Walls of purple crystal rose up out of the ground and enclosed the men in a crystal prison. Atok looked back to Ember. “I meant no offense, I only wish to keep you safe.” “And did you call me ‘your woman’, as if I’m a prize to possess?” asked Ember. “But you are a prize, of which I am not worthy to hold, yet like a star in the heavens you shine your warmth and love upon me.” Ember placed her hands on his chest. “Are you going to club me over the head and drag me away by my hair?” Atok’s eyes widened in horror. “I would rip the beating heart from my chest and lay it at your feet before I’d do any such thing.” Ember hooked her arm through his. “Come on, my big strong barbarian, you’re just too cute to stay mad at.” The two Dreamers walked past the crystal prison with the men inside beating their fists against the unbreakable crystal walls. “Should we do something about them?” asked Atok. “How many before us have they hurt, or worse,” replied Ember, not even glancing at the men. “They can stay there until their souls flee their bodies and return to the Well of Souls to be purged of their evil.” “And I’m the barbarian?” asked Atok. Ember giggled. “Now you give me jewelry to show you’re sorry.” Atok had no idea what he’d done wrong, but he held a closed fist out, and when he opened his hand, a necklace of purple stones sparkled in the sunlight. Ember squealed as she fastened the necklace around her neck. The stones hung from the necklace like so many falling stars in the night sky. “Oh it’s lovely, I hope we run across some more bandits, I need matching earrings to go with it.” “Sometimes I do not understand you,” said Atok. Ember sighed — Atok was born to a civilization in the Bronze Age, it was going to take years to pull Atok into the modern world. “I would have been fine, I have survived many battles at the Mall.” “What is a Mall?” asked Atok. Ember glanced at him and grinned mischievously. “The Mall is a place young warrior’s gather to do battle for prizes offered by wealthy merchants.” “And people come to watch these battles?” asked Atok. “Oh, yes, but spectators usually remain in the safety of the Food Court, or just outside the battle arenas and purchase trinkets from kiosks. But, it’s not all battle. Sometimes you go watch actors performing at the theater, but the actors aren’t really there, they are thousands of miles away and their images are cast on a wall with a magical light.” “I should like to see this magic theater,” said Atok. “When you go to the theater, you have to buy food seven times its actual cost, and then once you’re inside the theater, you throw most of the food on the ground. The more food that’s thrown on the ground in tribute means the better the show was.” Akot turned his head and squinted an eye at Ember. “Are you teasing me?” “A little, but those are things that really exist on my world,” replied Ember with a sad smile. “You do not want to visit my world. People don’t even talk with each other anymore, they send lies in messages that don’t matter on boxes they hold in their hands and stare at all day.” “If your world is as you say, why do you want to change me to ways that have no truth in speech or action?” asked Atok. “When I pushed you out of the way, you had your back to the bandits, and they had already drawn their arrows. I assessed the immediate danger and reacted, it was not a reflection on your abilities as a warrior. I would have shoved a male out of the way of the danger he did not see, just as I did you. Ember leaned into him as they walked; he was angry. She had fallen in love with a Bronze Age man for the very thing she was trying to change in him. Atok was brave, independent, and had a strong sense of his role in their relationship, and he always said exactly what he was thinking. Perhaps she shouldn’t be trying to change him into a modern man. He was a man from an age when language wasn’t as complex or held duplicity and double-meanings. “I’m sorry,” said Ember. “You have never met a Thesothian woman, or you would not accuse me of thinking I owned you. Our women are powerful, courageous, and hold all the history and culture of our people. They are responsible for seeking out alliances, and exchange of new ideas. Our world is mostly peaceful, but there are always those that seek to do harm. If our city is attacked, the men will defend on the walls of the city, and if we fall, the women will already have gathered the children and elderly inside the Temple. The women will then fight at the gates of the Temple to their last breath. And if the women fall too, the older children will fight from within the Temple to their last breath, and if it becomes obvious the older children will also fall, the elder women will put the younger children to the sword, and fight to their last breath to revenge our children. In two-thousand years since the founding of our city, not a single Thesothian has ever been taken captive. Imagine the strength of our women to ensure that no Thesothian child ever knows the bitter taste of slavery.” Tears flowed down Ember’s face as Atok took her into his arms and held her tight. “Perhaps I used the wrong word when I said, prize. My language does not have the same grace as yours. I should have said that you are a great treasure, not a prize. I apologize that I do not understand the subtleties of your language. When a Thesothian man calls you his woman, and a Thesothian woman calls you her man, it is an oath to each other to raise strong sons and daughters to defend her household. I will be your man, and you my woman, and together we will stand side-by-side for all the days of our lives. I fell in love with you because you are very much like a Thesothian woman. You have an inner strength that cannot be broken. In Thesia, I would have been proud to join your household.” Ember looked up. “Wait… what? That isn’t how it works. The bride joins the man’s household. Even in the marriage ceremony the bride’s father gives her away to the groom.” Atok raised a brow. “What a ridiculous custom. No, the father of the groom must raise a son strong and worthy to be taken into the woman’s household. Women are the continuity of our people, and it is up to them to ensure only men worthy of providing sons and daughters are chosen. The son that cannot give his father grandchildren shames his father.” “I don’t have a house,” Ember said softly. “Then I will build you one, with thick walls, and many rooms, and a strong roof, and I will till the earth and plant a great garden for your children to run and play in, and I will fashion windows of purple crystal, and a tall gate that all who pass will say, that is the house the Lord of Crystal built for the Living Flame. She chose wisely and is loved above all women, and her house and children are strong.” Ember clung to Atok. “I want that,” whispered Ember. “I want to live in the Bronze Age, it sounds so much better than where I came from. Just one thing… I want indoor plumbing.” “I do not know what that is,” said Atok. “Umm… an aqueduct to carry water into the house,” Ember explained. “Ah, of course. I will build an aqueduct and place a pool at the center of the house so that you may bathe without ever being touched by the chill of the night air.” Ember smiled and closed her eyes. She could feel his warmth against her as she laid her head against his chest. She had had to die to find the boy of her dreams, but Prom was probably out of the question. She lifted her head, and he lowered his. She was only an inch from her first kiss — Bobby Miller at summer camp when she was thirteen didn’t count. “Gross, are you going to kiss?” Ember and Atok both jumped and separated from each other. A young boy of perhaps eight with a mop of brown hair was watching them from the edge of the path. Ember’s eyes went from the boy to the forest behind him. Children were appearing from between the trees. At first there were a dozen, and then several dozen, and then a hundred, and then a thousand. Ember looked back to Atok. “Children?” Atok was watching the children approach. “They shouldn’t be here. All children under ten are supposed to be held in Limbo until the Yellow Dreamer arrives.” “That must be where Cael’s been, the new Yellow Dreamer is here,” said Ember. Atok went to kneel in front of the boy, and held a hand out. “You are safe now, we will take care of you.” Atok looked up at Ember. “The old Yellow Dreamer left two years ago, that’s going to be a lot of children arriving.” “We’re going to need wagons to transport them to the Yellow Dreamers world,” replied Ember. “Children are kept there until they are ready to return to the Land of the Living.” Atok flicked a hand and a window of purple crystal rose from the ground. Atok the Wise appeared on the other side of the window as if through a thick glass. “The children are arriving, I need wagons,” said Atok Dreamer. Atok the Wise faced the window. “I know, and by the millions. They are being dumped all over the Crystal Universe,” replied Atok the Wise. “I have no more wagons, they’ve all been sent out to find children.” “Can we borrow wagons from the other Trader groups?” asked Atok Dreamer. “Everyone is out searching for kids, there are no more wagons available,” replied Atok the Wise. “Keep a special lookout for infants and toddlers, most of them are arriving directly at the Gates of the Living, but there are a few lost ones arriving in the oddest places. The Jack Army is at the Gates defending while the Yellow Dreamer and his brothers carry the infants through the Gates to be reborn. Take any older children you find out to the old road, the Titans are helping and carrying children to the Yellow Dreamers world.” “How did we enlist the aid of the Titans?” asked Atok Dreamer. “Bran asked them to help.” Atok the Wise waved a hand at the chaos behind him, the Atok-Traders were trying to herd thousands of children into groups. “I must take care of this, do what you can with the Titan’s help.” Atok the Wise turned away and was gone. Atok Dreamer turned back to Ember. “The Yellow Dreamer is at the Gates of the Living with the Jack’s taking care of the arriving infants. Let’s gather the children we find and get them out to the old road.” A cold wind blew over Ember. She turned to Atok. “Do you feel that?” “It’s almost winter,” said Atok. He was still kneeling in front of the brown-haired boy. The boy must never have seen skin the color of Atok’s. The boy was touching a finger to Atok’s arm. Atok couldn’t blame him, it was natural to be curious. Atok had always wanted to touch an Atan’s skin to see what it felt like, but it wasn’t proper to go up to a stranger and say, can I touch you? “No, I’ve felt that before… there, in the trees!” shouted Ember. The Night Dreamer flowed from the shadows of the forest. Ember raised her arms and burst into the Living Flame she was. “Oh, stop that,” ordered the Night Dreamer, her gowns of darkness streaming behind her, and in her arms was an infant. “I told Cael many times that he needed to assign a Dreamer to Limbo, but he didn’t heed my advice, and now we have this mess.” The Night Dreamer held the infant out to Ember. “Infants that die in the darkness, come to the darkness. There are many scattered in all the hidden places. I can find them faster than you. I will bring them. Can you work with me on at least this much?” Atok stepped forward and took the baby. “Of course, and thank you, Ancient One.” Atok bowed his head. The Night Dreamer paused for a moment. “At least one of you mortals have manners,” she said before melting into a shadow and flowing away across the forest floor. Atok looked at Ember. “See, I told you she isn’t evil. Open a portal, this child is to be sent back to the Land of the Living.” Ember let her flame die away as she looked down on the infant. “Check for horns, it might be a trick.” “There are no such things as demons,” said Atok. “They are only myths.” Ember frowned and waved a hand. A doorway outlined in flames appeared, and beyond were the Gates of the Living… and… demons. Hundreds and hundreds of demons, with horns, and a barbed tail, and they were all carrying infants. One of the demons saw the door open and approached. The demon held its arms out. Atok and Ember’s mouths fell open as they froze in fear. The creature before them was the very description of demons from the ancient stories. Ember tried to ignite her flame, but fear gripped her and she was unable to move. Atok only managed a step backward. The demon sighed and stepped through the doorway. It raised its arms and brushed a hand across Ember and Atok’s forehead. “Calm, children, we will not harm you.” Ember felt a wave of such serenity pass over her that she began to cry. All the suffering and fear she had known since arriving in the Crystal Universe flowed up and out through the creatures touch. Her knees buckled and she began to fall. The demon caught and held her, and she wept. The demon held her close and the last of her fear dissolved. “What are you?” whispered Ember. “We are Tarlock,” said the demon. “Are you the Yellow Dreamer?” asked Atok. “We are.” “We? There’s only one Dreamer among each group,” said Atok. “Do you hold the Yellow Crayon?” “We are Tarlock, we have no need of the Yellow Crayon. None of you need your crayon, it is only a crutch you use to focus your un-trained minds.” “But, which Tarlock has the Yellow Crayon?” asked Atok. “We gave the crayon back to the Lord of Chaos, we do not need it to know who we are.” The demon released Ember and held his arms out for the infant. “Give me the child, her birth approaches, I must deliver her now.” Jack Dreamer poked his head around the corner of the doorway. “Oh, hi guys, I wondered who this door belonged to. I see you met Tarlock… and the Brown Dreamer, awesome. Okay, gotta go, the monsters are making another push against our defensive line.” Tarlock took the infant from Atok and returned through the door. Ember closed the doorway and turned back to Atok. “The Brown Dreamer, what did he mean by that?” “Uh, duh! I’m right here,” said the little boy with the mop of brown hair. Ember and Atok stared at the boy. “What are you, seven… eight?” The boy gave them a disgusted grin. “I’m nine,” said the boy waving his arm at all the approaching children. “Come on, everyone, this way.” Ember put a hand to her mouth. “Oh my gosh! That’s why all this is happening! The old Yellow Dreamer left two years ago, but… What’s your name?” asked Ember. “I’m Cole Nathanial Robinson the Fourth.” The boy held up a brown crayon, then knelt and touched the ground with it. A dirt road flowed out of the crayon, across the path, and off into the forest mist beyond. He twisted around and shouted. “Yep, the road is this way, hurry up, before that bad man with the guns catches us and takes us back.” Ember’s eyes flicked to Atok. “The Yellow Dreamer left two years ago, and froze all the under 10 children in Limbo until the new Yellow Dreamer arrived. Cole got stuck in Limbo.” Cole stood and stepped onto the road he’d just created. “That place is sooooo boring. The nice night lady helped us escape.” Ember frowned at Atok. “See, I told you. She’s trying to drive a wedge between us. She’s already convinced him Jon Black is a bad guy.” Atok was looking at all the other children flowing past. “These are all boys, and they all look like him. They didn’t age while they were in Limbo. This is going to be a problem.” “Time might work different in Limbo, two years our time was 2,000 years their time, but they were in Limbo, so they’re all still nine years old… ohhhh, Cael is so smart!” said Ember. “What do you mean?” asked Atok. “Cael knew where the Brown Dreamer was, and let them stay there. Don’t you see, Cael had an ace up his sleeve. The Night Dreamer didn’t know Cael was going to bring those… I don’t know what they are… to be the Yellow Dreamer. And, they’re so strong they don’t even need the yellow crayon. Children are the domain of the Yellow Dreamer. The Night Dreamer won’t get past them to do anymore damage. That Tarlock guy will fix any brainwashing she’s already done.” “All the Dreamers are here now,” said Atok. Ember shook her head. "I think there's one more."