Samuel landed on a small patch of grass and he realized that it very much felt like he had landed on actual grass, even if it was just supposed to be a dream.
But dreams were different here, sometimes when one dreamed - studies showed that ones soul could leave the body and travel to an astral body. An astral realm, some said that people lived in this astral realm.
Others meant that it was just a place of vivid dreams, but what they all agreed upon was the fact that it was a place of mystery and weird tranquility.
Samuel continued seeing the visages of people walking about even after he landed, but never once did they become clear. They remained blurry visages that all seemed to ignore him, or look right at him.
Yet nothing happened! Except for the wolf waiting patiently for him there seemed to be nothing extreme happening. He looked at the wolf that simply stared back expectantly.
He couldn't help but sigh as he slowly walked forward and wondered, 'Am I dreamwalking right now?'
"Not quite!"
The sudden voice made Samuel jolt as he heard the voice closeby and looked around, finding no one except the visages still walking back and forth.
So he looked down at the wolf that seemed to shrug. "What?" It asked and continued walking.
"Wait... WHAT?" Samuel blurted out as he suddenly matched the pace of the wolf.
"You can talk? I thought you were a part of me?" Some visages stopped and turned in his direction when he asked his questions, but they seemed to quickly turn back to their own business.
"Please do not disturb the wandering spirits with your loud language!" The wolf sighed.
As they were passing through grass and single trees it suddenly jumped forward and sat down while looking deep into Samuels eyes. He felt as if the wolf was staring deep into his soul.
"I can... and I am! But I am also my own."
"Perhaps you have heard about the white moon and its curse?"
The question left Samuel stumped for answers before he remembered.
"Luna'Celesia the white moon has a dark side, Aiselec'Anul... her name backwards but in reality it is another reflection of her soul... or so the story goes?"
The wolf nodded, "Yes the white moon goddess of beauty and grace, the defender of mortals... has a terrible dark side that you never want to awaken."
"I was born as a reflection of your... our soul - when you were given the blessings of the moonlight."
"Perhaps an unintentional side effect. But one that I welcome!" The wolf finally stepped out of the way and continued its march.
"I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, but I do not wish you any harm... I only wish to understand!" Samuel replied with an exasperated sigh.
The wolf did not reply.
"So I guess I should call you Leumas?" Samuels question was met with silence for a long time - but the wolf did stop in its tracks once more.
After a while Samuel heard a low growl, he thought he had angered the wolf but after a while he realized it was chuckling.
Before blowing up the low growls into loud laughter. "Thank you!" It said after calming the laughter.
"So where are you taking me? Also what is this place?" Samuel finally asked now that he seemed to have gotten the wolf talking.
But his questions were met with silence until he realized they had reached a small alcove with a pond. "Why you are in the Garden of Eternity young man!"
Samuel instantly turned to the voice and saw a figure near the pond in a meditative state.
Before he could even ask the figure responded to the questions forming in Samuels mind.
"I am Rhiva, Yes you heard me correctly, no I am not psychic..." The woman turned around.
It was hard to mistake the woman for anything else, long pointed ears, completely deep purple skin and two black eyes with yellow irises.
"You're a..." Samuel began but Rhiva finished it, "Astral Elf? Why yes I suppose that is what we are called! But more than anything I am a caretaker!"
The elven woman slowly stood up and looked at Samuel with great interest, "I have been waiting for the return of your family for thousands of generations!"
The woman opened her eyes fully finally and looked at Samuel, both her eyes grew in size as shock was plastered all over her face.
"Oh... you look almost exactly like him... Even after thousands of years..." Rhiva let out a big sigh and followed it with a deep breath before turning back to Samuel with a smile.
"The Garden of Eternity is a creation made by a special being, many lifetimes ago. The Mother of Mana they call her."
"You are the children of mana, her children. I take it you noticed the visages on the way in?" Rhiva smiled already knowing the answer and Samuel nodded.
"The souls of ancient children of mana, still roaming endlessly. This garden takes care of them - for eternity. Why don't you try taking a breath?"
Samuel realized what she meant and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath of mana. His eyes shot open as he realized his entire being was filled to the brim with high density mana of the purest nature.
It was like being high on the most amazing feeling.
"I imagine you call magic by their relative power in todays society of mages. The different level of spells, or circles of spells. 1st circle, 2nd circle and so on...." Rhiva sighed.
"But to children of mana that can wield pure mana it should be more appropriately be called Origin Magic, 1st Origin all the way through 14th Origin."
Samuel grew confused and shook off the feeling of power, "They call it the Ten Levels of magic... or ten circles in a more ancient format... But you say there is Origin magic above that?"
Rhiva let out a small chuckle that she tried to cover with her hand.
"Back in the glory days, things used to be so much more complex - but also beautiful. I am not here to teach you anything about magic however, not more so than the basic truth behind it."
She walked away from the pond and looked toward what seemed like a small house at the end of the alcove.
"I have something to show you however... You have awoken the Xaxiaz bloodline, after thousands of years of it laying hidden. You are the first in a long time - but there are others whom would dispute it, claiming that they are the true heirs of the bloodline!"
"But assure yourself that you are the true heir."
"The Xaxiaz bloodline is the only one that can stand to match the Royal Lineage of the Children of Mana. You are the counterbalance to their power."
Rhiva motioned for Samuel to follow and so he did.
"Not only are you a holder of one bloodline. But you also carry the blood of Chronos, the time heralds. It will be your duty to help nurture the Royal Bloodline!"
Samuels confusion of course grew as she spoke. He was aware of the bloodlines and some of their history, but from what he had been told the Royal Bloodline was long gone.
Rhiva reached the small house and dragged her hand against the flat slate that was both stone and wood. A magical doorway revealed itself through magical lines and Rhiva opened the door.
The wolf had been silent the entire time and kept by Samuels side and the two looked at eachother before exchanging a silent nod.
They followed Rhiva inside the small house that proved to be no small hut, the inside was for sure a hundred times bigger than the outside. Everything was built out of some weird white material.
There were glass windows looking into empty rooms, each room was unique and filled with different things. But one reocurring thing were the paintings that seemed to have been made by children.
There were even traces of childrens toys. Once more Samuel could see the former visages of people, but now they were children. Rhiva continued walking until she reached one smaller room.
It was a small square box with nothing in it, except for some weird metallic construction in the center.
It looked like some weird tube that was attatched to the machine. Rhiva led him inside the room and walked all the way over to the tube that Samuel realized to be glass.
As he got closer he saw something that shocked him. "Why is there a child in there?" He asked aloud.
Rhiva looked at him and smiled, "The last person to carry the Royal Bloodline, I have been taking care and protecting her for thousands of years... Keeping her alive but asleep!"
"Not that I could wake her even if I wanted too!" Rhiva sighed.
"But a few months back something happened, she started waking up on her own." Rhiva looked intently at Samuel.
"Almost as if her blood felt something that it has been waiting for, for a long long time." Samuel had to sit down and he sat down while putting one hand on the glass of the tube.
If a spark could trigger anything then the sudden tiny microsparks flashed in the water and the girl that looked to be in her 14th or 15th year slowly opened her eyes for a few seconds.
But before long she closed them again.
Rhiva had opened her mouth as if trying to speak but no words came out. "Hey you woman!" The wolf suddenly snarled at Rhiva which made her take a step back.
"When and how will she wake?" The wolf snarled.
"I do not know when, but I think it will be soon! I intend to send her to the world tree before she fully wakes."
"The world tree?" Both Samuel and Leumas asked in unison.
"There is a secret school there... something that stands above any other in your world! One day I hope you will travel there to mentor her!"
"You still have a lot to explain to me!" Samuel held out his hands in annoyance.
Rhiva nodded. "I know! But we are out of time." She pointed at his body that had started fading out. The same went for Leumas.
"I do not know the plan that The Mother of Mana had, but I know she loves her children, and like many mothers she made mistakes thinking she did things that were for her childrens best."
"All the original houses have finally awakened once more, which means this child will wake up and the royal lineage will be restored..."
"You need to keep it a secret, until she is strong enough to defend herself. Do not tell any of the other original houses... in fact do not tell anyone!" Rhiva started speaking faster and faster and Samuel realized her voice was getting more and more distorted.
"Protect her, protect your world, uncover the secrets... Live and do not forget the gods are also watching... Gro--"
Samuel found himself being pulled away by some otherwordly force, everything he had walked through and seen he found himself pulled through in a matter of seconds.
Before being thrown back into his own mindscape again and as if a doorway had been shut in his face.
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes back in his tent.
He was drenched in sweat and he was panting as if completely exhausted. Just how long had he spent in the mindscape?
He looked around and noticed that it had become brighter outside the tent which meant that it was soon daytime. The way the mindscape worked meant that he had been in there for hours, which had never happened before.
Because time flows slower in there. It must have been an entire days worth of time in there. Which was why he was exhausted. He scrambled to get dressed properly before exiting his tent.
"Well that was certainly something!" He heard Leumas voice in his mind which made him jolt again. "For fucks...saa... eugh! Stop that!" Samuel groaned as the first sun started peeking its first shine over the landscape.