The Gifted Star

The heat of midday scorched Estella’s face and jolted her awake. Slowly, she propped herself up on her elbows, letting out a groan as every part of her body ached and protested against any further movement. It took a minute for Estella to realize that she was still outside. The events from the night before danced around in her mind, and she distinctly remembered the sound of people coming towards her and the blaze of torches in the distance. If memory served right, then she would have been tucked away in bed while her mother circled around her by now; something was wrong. The farmland was silent as well, causing the hairs on the back of Estella’s neck to rise. Usually, around this time of day, she could not go anywhere that was not surrounded by constant noise. With workers out in the field laboring and talking, birds singing, and the livestock creating a varied amount of sounds, the farmyard was never silent.

Estella stood up from the ground and began to move sluggishly towards the closest building, the barn. Her journey towards the structure came to an abrupt end, as, suddenly as she had begun, she had arrived at the barn. Estella looked back at the hilltop, where only seconds before she had stood. She didn't even remember going two steps before she was at her destination. She had thought of the place and she instantly arrived there. Something was definitely wrong.

The uncut hay of the pasture moved in a wind that Estella could not feel or hear, as she gazed upon the empty space. Either than her, there was no sign of any living creatures as far as the eye could see. Her nerves were frayed to the point of almost breaking. A sixth sense told her that someone, or something, was watching her. She searched the landscape once more but again with no luck.

“This cannot be real. I must be dreaming,” she told herself. It was either that or somehow all other life in the area had disappeared.

“That took you a while to figure out,” a voice called out from the left of her. Estella let out a small scream at the sudden noise, and spun to look at the intruder of her dream. A young man stood leaning against the barn door, with his arms crossed against his chest. He looked to be in his early twenties, though his light green eyes held the wisdom and hurt of someone three times his age. The soundless wind blew his bleach blond hair into frenzy, along with the billowy white canvas shirt he wore. His whole appearance screamed foreigner, and even his way of speaking was shorter and did not flow as Estella’s did.

“Who are you?” she asked, while cautiously backing away from the stranger. The young man straightened from his previous position, and with a single step appeared magically beside Estella. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped at his sudden appearance, causing him to laugh at her amazement.

“That never gets old,” he responded, half to himself and half to Estella. He held out his hand towards the bewildered girl. “My name is Daniel."

Estella gingerly shook Daniels hand. “My name is Es-,” she began to introduce herself but was rudely interrupted.

“Yes, yes, your name is Estella Mendoza from Greenwater. I already know who you are, Estella.” He paused for dramatic effect. “In fact, I know everything about you”. Estella jerked away from the handshake and again started backing away from Daniel.

“Excuse me?” she asked in disbelief. In most of her dreams she didn't have conversations like these with others, especially with her most previous dreams. The young man laughed again and put up his hands in a calming gesture.

“I’m just joking! I only really know your name and hometown, nothing else.” Daniel turned away, but after a pause continued, “Also I know that you are one of the Gifted."

Estella’s mouth worked in silent protest until she was finally able to get her words out, “Excuse me? I have no idea what you are talking about."

“Sure you do,” He responded with a scoff. Clasping his hands behind his back, Daniel started to pace back and forth, with his head held high as if in deep thought. “Let me think; you have constant nightmares about people dying in fire or by soldiers, but these aren’t just any regular dreams. Nope, these dreams feel so real that you wake up screaming and thinking that you have just been burned alive or stabbed. Does this sound familiar to you?” He cocked his head slightly towards Estella, with his eyebrows raised.

She could not help the sneer cross her face; her imagination was playing a very cruel joke on her. She shrugged it off and put on the best careless face she could muster, “Everyone has dreams like that. There is nothing uncommon or ‘special’ about it."

“Sure, but what about the fact that these insignificant dreams sound a lot like that history book you just read on the Gifted. There’s nothing special about that, eh?”

“No, there is-“ Estella was interrupted once again by Daniel as he went on with his sarcastic rant.

“Or the fact that a serafine, one of the most dangerous monsters out there, suddenly combusted when you said two little words,” he retorted, and in a blink of an eye, he was by her side, his old energetic self completely gone, “There’s nothing special about that either, is there?”

Estella held his gaze for a few seconds, but broke away to look down at the ground. “Who are you?”

“I have already answered that question, my name is Daniel,” he responded cheerfully. The serious tone and expression suddenly vanishing as he moved back to his previous position.

“I mean, how do you know all of these things about me? I realize that this is just a dream, but I have never had this type before."

“Well, just like you are different from others, so am I. Some call my people Dreamwalkers; as we can travel throughout the realm of dreams and a person’s mind, which includes memories. However, they have to be in a very deep sleep at the moment when we talk to them. Does this make sense to you?”

A myth that had been told to her when she was very young mentioned the name Dreamwalker, but just like the Gifted, it was said that their race was destroyed since their powers went against the gods. Estellla shook her head slightly, rejecting the ridiculous notion that the tales were actually true.

“And how exactly do I know this is not just a normal dream? I have had very vivid dreams before,” she asked, as her gaze wandered off into the distance as she remembered the plague of nightmares she had been having.

“Here, give me your hand,” Daniel responded and held out a hand, and Estella cautiously gave the stranger her hand. With a snap of his fingers, a quill appeared in his hand and he started to gently write on the palm of her hand. The quill disappeared as quickly as it had appeared., “Now when you wake up, you can look at this and know what I say is true."

Estella looked skeptically at the writing on her hand; it was just a single word: ‘Believe’. She let out a frustrated sigh and gestured for him to continue.

“When the Gifted were massacred that night in their village, some were able to escape and survive. Most wondered into small towns and disappeared, never using their true abilities again. Others were not able to control what they had and revealed themselves; they were hunted down like animals and slaughtered. Still, there were those who found others of their kind and started a community, Aldborough, in secret. The Power lives on through these people, but they are always seeking those who might be like them, which is why I’m here. I was sent to give you instructions on how to get there and to give you a quick background on what is happening. Don’t need you going crazy on us quite yet”.

Estella raised an eyebrow.“Yes, because this whole experience hasn't showed me that I am completely mad at all."

Daniel grinned at the sarcastic remark and continued, “Aldborough lies in the far northern peak of Oisian, so it will be quite a journey for you. Do you know where the Great Forest is?”

“Everyone knows where that is."

“I was just testing your geography, congratulations, you passed!” he countered and patted Estella on the head like she was puppy who had just learnt a new trick. “Anyway, go to the south-west path of the forest at dawn tomorrow, after that your way will be shown to you."

“Well that’s helpful. Can you be more cryptic?” Estella scoffed, crossing her arms. She knew that she should be nicer, but after being attacked by a deadly creature, and then being told that she was part of an ancient race that would be hunted if anyone knew they existed, all she wanted do was make everyone as miserable as she was.

“Yep, but I’m choosing to be nice right now,” Daniel replied cheerfully.

“How do you know that I will even go to Aldborough? Maybe I’ll just stay here and live my life out in the peaceful Greenwater,” she retorted. Dread filled her at the very thought of the mundane existence she would have if she stayed. Daniel let out a laugh in response. “I could do it, you know. I could live a nice life and when I needed to, use my powers.”

“From the look on your face, you would rather tear out your eyes than stay in Greenwater all of your life,” he said. “And using the Power whenever you wanted to? Well, that’s never going to happen. You need training to access that again. You can certainly try, but nobody, except for Allura and Cyrus, has ever been able to use it again without help. And I know that you want to use it again.”

“How do you know that? I’ve only done it once, so I can live without it,” Estella protested.

“Can you, though? I may not be able to use the Power, but I have been told about it and what it does to people. You feel as if anything you can imagine is within your reach. It’s an addictive feeling, one that you will want to have every second of every day. However, you can also feel that there is a more dangerous side to it that is just out of your reach. That just makes you want it more, though.” Each word dug into Estella like a knife. She knew what he was saying was true; she could still taste the savoury sweet taste of using the Power. It was sensational. Daniels voice brought her away from her thoughts and back to reality. “Did you want me to continue? Or have you made up your mind yet?”

Before she could respond, the once vivid and clear scenery of the farmland started to fade and noise reached Estella’s ears for the first time in what seemed forever. Daniel looked around for a moment and then looked back at her, “Well I guess it is time to say good-bye. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be visiting again soon”. He ended the last comment with another wink.

She plastered on the biggest fake grin she could and said, “Great, I’ll count down the seconds until our next meeting.”

Estella turned to face the bright light that shone behind her. She knew the moment her feet crossed the threshold the peculiar dream would be over and life would go on as it always had. Maybe she had just imagined the mysterious force as a way to cope with the events that happened? Whatever had actually taken place, she knew it was time for reality to take over and her powerful imagination to go away.

The once vivid and clear scenery of the farmland started to fade and noise reached Estella’s ears for the first time in what seemed forever. Daniel looked around for a moment and then looked back at her.

“Well I guess it is time to say good-bye. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be visiting again soon." He ended the last comment with another wink.

She plastered on the biggest fake grin she could and said, “Great, I’ll count down the seconds until our next meeting."

Estella turned to face the bright light that shone behind her. She knew the moment her feet crossed the threshold the peculiar dream would be over and life would go on as it always had. Maybe she had just imagined the mysterious force as a way to cope with the events that happened? Whatever had actually taken place, she knew it was time for reality to take over and her powerful imagination to go away.

“And Estella,” Daniels voice called from behind her. She looked slightly at the young man, as he spoke his final words to her, “You won’t be going alone."