Cool bubbling water flowed over and around Jack as he lay submerged in the creek while Mara lie on the bank watching carefully. His fever had been worsening all day, until he had finally left the road to throw himself in a creek to cool off. Mara was concerned, Jack’s head had been under the water for twenty-minutes now. She was fairly certain as long as he held the blue crayon, he couldn’t drown, but that was only one of her concerns, the other was that Jack never got sick. Mara got up and walked into the creek to Jack, it had been too long since he’d moved. The skin around where he’d been stabbed in the fight was bright red; Jack had an infection, and that shouldn’t be possible. Jack was a genetically created super-soldier, his bio-mechanical augments should have healed him by now. She nudged him with a paw, but got no response. She tried poking him with a claw next, but there was still no reaction. Mara lowered her head and stared at Jack’s face just below the water. Jack needed help. She left the creek and glanced around for the oldest tree she could find; the older the tree, the stronger the magic. She found what she was looking for in an old gnarled oak tree, and standing up on her hind legs, pressed her claws into the tree. “Father Nature, I need help,” she whispered as she raked her claws downward, leaving deep grooves in the tree. Mara had no magic, or at least no Dreamer magic she could use to open a portal, but there was a deeper and more ancient magic that she did have. She was sentient, but also technically an animal, though she would rip the eyes out of anyone that called her so. As an animal, there were two Dreamers she could call using that ancient magic all animals had; Dr. Alani, the Dreamer of the Animal Kingdom, and Bran, the Dreamer of Nature. But, Alani was an animal doctor, Jack needed human medicine. There was no guarantee that either Father Nature, or the Dreamer of the Animal Kingdom would answer. Nature could be brutal, and every animal’s last breath in the cruel circle of life was always to whisper the name of Father Nature, but usually to no avail; it was rare for nature to reprieve the fallen. She watched and waited, but no portals opened. She looked back at Jack under the water and felt a stab of fear so great, tears began to well up in her eyes. She lifted her paws and again dug into the tree and raked her claws downward. “Father Nature, please, I love him with all my heart, take me instead,” she whispered. A portal opened and Bran emerged with an expression of deep concern. “Mara? What’s wrong?” Mara dropped down on all four legs and looked up at the young man. “Jack’s sick, he has a terrible fever and he’s unconscious, I think he’s dying.” Bran’s head whipped back and forth looking for Jack. “Where is he?” “He was so hot he went into the creek to cool down, but now he won’t wake up,” cried Mara. Bran’s eyes fell on Jack’s body in the creek. He turned back to his portal and shouted, “Red alert, Dreamer down, Dreamer down.” If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Mara might have laughed at the young man. Bran had been born four-hundred years before phrases like Officer down and Red Alert had been coined, but, despite being Father Nature, Bran was still a 17 year old teenager and tended to turn everything into high drama; Bran had spent many nights through his teen years listening to the stories of those Dreamers that had been born in later time periods, and taken many of their phrases for his own. In this, Bran was the perfect Father Nature, and just like nature, he tended to copy things he saw and heard. The effect of Bran’s call for help was instant. Twelve portals opened and every Dreamer rushed out into the clearing around the tree, to include Lady Cael, with Warrior and Dr. Kay on her heels. Warrior scanned for danger, his sword drawn and at the ready. “What’s wrong,” shouted Warrior. Warrior’s age was beginning to show; he was nearing seventy now, but other than the deep lines on his face, he still moved with confidence and strength, though, he would have to reset in the next few years by traveling to the Plains of the Dead. He would be sixteen again when he returned, the cost of immortality, even their temporary immortality, was high; it would be years before Warrior would again be the powerful man he was now. Jax, the Lone Dreamer of the deserts, saw Jack first in the creek and rushed to him. He knelt and lifted the big man easily from the water. Like Jack, Jax had also grown to be a strong man, but not with the bulky muscle like Jack, but instead was wrapped with muscles like steel bands. “What happened to him?” Ember was next into the water. “Turn him over.” Jax did as Ember commanded and saw the infected wound on Jack’s side. “What the heck??” “He was stabbed in that tavern fight a few days ago,” replied Ember. “I pulled the dagger out and cauterized the wound, but that should have been the end of it. Jack never gets sick.” “Even through the cool water I can feel the heat coming from him, this is bad” said Jax. Lady Cael waded into the water without any concern for the fine hoop dress she wore. The dress caught on a rock and she pulled angrily at it. The dress tore, ruining the expensive garment. Lady Cael continued to pull at the dress until it ripped away, then pushed the hoop down and stepped out of it until she was only wearing her bloomers and undershirt. “I told you these dresses were stupid,” said Lady Cael, glancing at Dr. Kay. Dr. Kay ignored the girl’s complaint. It was a constant challenge to keep the thirteen year old girl in proper dresses. Lady Cael preferred to wear a pair of breeches and a pull-over work shirt, much as anyone else working in the orchards on the plantation did. Dr. Kay reached Jack and placed her hands on the wound. “I’ve never felt an infection this hot before,” said Dr. Kay. Lady Cael came up beside Dr. Kay and mimicked the woman by placing her hands over the wound. Her eyes became vacant, as if searching somewhere distant for something lost. She twisted her head to the side, wrinkled her nose, and then looked at Ember. “You said he was stabbed with a dagger, do you still have it?” Ember shook her head. “No, I threw it on the ground before I burned the town.” “I need you to find it, I think it was a magical weapon,” said Lady Cael. “Take Akot and Ronin with you.” “Warrior, send a platoon with them,” added Dr. Kay. “If there’s magical weapons out there powerful enough to drop our physically strongest Dreamer, I want every Dreamer that leaves the farm to have a security detail until further notice. Bran, make a stretcher so we can get Jack Dreamer to the hospital.” Lady Cael nodded her agreement, though it wasn’t necessary. Dr. Kay was the Regent until Lady Cael reached her 18th birthday. “I think you should send Talon with them,” said Jon, appearing in the creek as if stepping out from behind a curtain. Jon, now thirteen, had only recently learned the trick of stepping between moments in time, and enjoyed doing it at every possible opportunity. “He’s the Dark Dreamer of War, if anyone might be immune to a magical weapon, it would be him.” Dr. Kay scowled at Jon. “I’ve told you about sneaking up on us like that.” Jon’s eyes flicked to Warrior, then back to Dr. Kay. “Sorry.” Warrior cleared his throat, the warning was clear and Jon corrected his reply. “Sorry, Dr. Kay.” Warrior had taken Jon under his wing, and over the last four years, whether because Jon was starting to mature, or was just tired of standing midnight watch as punishment, his attitude was slowly correcting itself. “Hey, I want to go too,” said Cole. Talon and Cole were standing together on the bank of the creek, they had become nearly inseparable and had arrived by the same portal. Bran was finished making the stretcher, and with Jax’s help lifted Jack onto the makeshift litter. Dr. Kay checked Jack’s pulse and breathing, then gave them the go-ahead to take Jack to the hospital. Dr. Kay glanced at Cole. “Very well, you might be useful moving debris to find the dagger,” agreed Dr. Kay. “And while you’re there, destroy the road leading to the town, I don’t want it easy for anyone to rebuild that filthy place.” Cole and Talon elbowed each other in excitement. Dr. Kay, as Regent, was also the House Parent in-charge of the Dreamers under 18. The major change made four years ago on the day Lady Cael had become the new Lord of Chaos was that all the underage Dreamers had to live at the plantation, and Dr. Kay rarely let them leave, other than to attend schooling provided by the various Dreamer Worlds. Bran took advantage of that loop-hole the most by attending the Animal Care studies provided by Dr. Alani. It always seemed to take Bran a very long time to make it back to the plantation after a class. Warrior threw a stern glance at the boys. “You two obviously have an abundance of energy to burn, get over there and help with the litter.” The two boys ran to each side of the litter to help carry the very heavy Jack. The group followed and entered the portals they had arrived from, and were gone. The clearing was again quiet and still, save for the bubbling of the creek and rustle of the wind in the trees. A fox emerged with two small Kits and approached the tree Mara had marked. A family of porcupines followed next, and then a cougar, a badger, a buck and two deer, two bears, and then a pack of wolves. Predator and prey sat side by side looking up at the marks Mara had made. “Mama, why did Father Nature save the man?” asked one of the Kits. “That was no man,” replied a gray whiskered wolf. “That was the King of Tigers, though I do not know why he hides inside a man’s body.” The young Kit stood and went to the tree. He rose up on his hind legs and tried to touch the marks Mara made. One of the bears lowered her head and let the Kit climb up onto her shoulders, then stood so the little fox could touch the marks. “This place is sacred now,” said the bear. “This is the place that the Queen of Tigers love was so strong she summoned Father Nature. Let this sacred place be where all can come without fear to drink from the creek, heal, and rest beneath this tree.” “Agreed,” said the Wolf. “Agreed,” said the Cougar. One by one each creature of the forest agreed, and there, deep in the forest, the most sacred of magic was sealed to the marks Mara had made. The echo of what was occurring in the Crystal Universe spread out across real space, and places next to creeks, rivers, lakes, and water holes came into creation that predator and prey would gather in peace to share the lifesaving waters.