For how long I have had dreams, I never took them more seriously than the empty thoughts in my head. I rarely mentioned it to anyone, but the way they lingered on my fingertips became the melancholy warmth in my eyes.
I couldn't shake off the sorcerers in my dreams. Some of them were of the greatest, and some of them had the ability to stop time. They glanced at the horizon, and they told me something important, but when I woke up, all I could remember was their long, lonesome shadows on the blurry foreign landscapes. I could still feel the air on my skin.
Sometimes, I dreamed of an underwater world as well, in which Vielle and I had tails. My brother was in most of my dreams. We were always together, but on rare occasions, it was just me, standing alone at the edge of the world. For some reason, in those dreams that I was alone, I always went back to the same place and had the same conversation with the same sorcerer. The memories seemed to come alive in dreamland.
They used to trouble me deeply because if we had lived lives before the one we were in, then we must have lived in all those places, and then when I looked at the stars, I became confused and lost more than ever.
Lama once came to me and tapped me on the shoulder, "don't dwell on dreams."
She was the wisest person in our tribe, who had the ability to foresee danger before it happened, and she have lived more than one hundred and fifty years. I nodded and remembered her words, but those distant and familiar dreams left a forever mark under my skin.
It came to me the night before Vielle's seventh birthday. My brother was so excited that all he could do was jump up and down on his bed and not close his eyes.
"What if I wake up in the morning and turn into a pool of goo? That would ruin everything."
That was his exact word.
We both knew it wasn't going to happen, and he was going to turn seven and live forever.
Mother and father couldn't sleep either. They were busy packing and preparing for a long trip to Mount Dawn.
The festive feeling was already spreading among our tribe. Everyone had a smile on their face, knowing that the snow would stop and the sun would come up for a brief breeze, even just for one day.
"I'm going to ask the Phoenix to make me fly," he laughed, "that would be so cool!"
I was lying on my bed, counting the stars in the clear sky. The moody clouds were already clearing the way for the birth of another great sorcerer.
"I think you're going to be a mighty sorcerer, Vielle. I could feel it," I was really proud that I lived long enough to witness the day Vielle received his gift, and for that reason, I didn't plan on sleeping either, but the world of dreams still caught up with me.
"What do you think my gift will be?"
"I don't know, but I know it's going to be very special."
"Come on, Rio, take a guess," Vielle was begging me.
"Ok, what if you could travel back in time and see what happened in the past?" I really wanted to have a gift like that since I was four.
"That's boring…"
"And flying isn't?"
I was a little mad at him for calling it boring.
"Of course not! If I have wings, I could go wherever I want and even fly among the stars," he proudly defended his choice.
I shrugged. It did sound better than mine.
"Well…no one in our tribe can fly, so maybe you could be the first one," I smiled at Vielle while picturing him in the sky, spreading berries from one end to another. That would be both disastrous and fun.
"Lama's brother could fly, but he died a long time ago."
"I thought we'd live forever once we become a sorcerer."
"That's true, but we could still be killed."
"Was he killed?"
"I don't know. He didn't live very long, though."
"That's sad…."
I drifted to look at the stars, thinking about flying among them and the world on the other side.
"Did he ever go to the other side?" I asked
"What other side?"
"The other side of the storm."
"I don't think so. Lama said no one has ever traveled past the Graveyard," he looked at the horizon, "I want to go there one day."
"I'll go with you."
"We could be like the brave pioneers who explore the land of the beyond."
"We'll probably die in the storm," I thought about the shadow that came to me in the wind.
"I don't think it's that dangerous. You're just scared," Vielle smiled at me, "it's ok to pass out," and he was teasing me again.
I turned my face the other way. I knew Vielle would never believe me that there was something else in the storm, but it was what happened. I didn't pass out in the storm. Something knocked me out.
A brief while of silence followed, and then I heard Vielle's voice again.
"I'm getting my gift tomorrow!"
He was so excited that I knew for the fact that we were to talk all night.
He turned towards me again, eyes reflecting the stars.
In that brief moment, gazing at the sparkling reflections, I suddenly saw Vielle in adult form, waving a sword, eyes filled with blood, and behind him was a giant shadow, dropping a rake towards his shoulder.
I shook my head.
"What's wrong?"
The excitement on Vielle's face froze. He looked concerned and leaned forward. He could tell something was going on with me.
"Nothing," avoided my eyes and yawned.
I was too tired to think straight and too scared to tell him the truth. I didn't want him to know that I saw him dying in war. After all, only Lama, the wisdom keeper, could foresee the future.
I shook my head again.
"Are you scared?" Vielle asked.
I nodded. I forgot how he always saw through my thoughts.
"I'm a little scared too," he looked at the stars again.
"You are?"
He nodded and held my hand,
"What if I don't like my gift?"
Hearing him say it, I felt a little relieved. It was probably nothing but a hallucination.
"Do you know anyone who doesn't?"
He shook his head, and then he smiled, "You should get some sleep, Rio. Don't worry, I'll watch you so that you won't turn into goo," and then Vielle started to sing, and by the fourth time, he sang mother's lullaby, I was snoring already.
I had a weird dream that night. A terrifying one. One that I wished I never closed my eyes.
In it, I saw a tear dropped onto the ground from the Phoenix's eyes, and the stone bird turned into ashes. Before it died, it looked at me as if it was telling me something, but I heard nothing. The flame dimmed, and the sky was blocked by snowstorms again. I saw the shocking and terrifying look on Lama's face. The veins on her left arm turned dark. I saw Vielle being torn by the thoughts in his head, and I saw swords and arrows. There was something coming to us in the storm.