Shifted

Keon took another bite of his slice of pizza, as around him the whole family ate, talking and having a few laughs whilst they did so. Melissa was trying to watch something on television, but her baby brother Jayson was playing with Christina's phone, specifically the app that allowed him to change the television channel. It seemed great fun to the three year old, changing the channel on his sister every couple of minutes. She would look at him, trying to seem annoyed, but the smile on her face as he laughed gave her away. She found it rather hard to be truly mad at the little guy.

Keon watched his Aunt and Melissa however, because that always proved to be interesting. From what Keon could tell it was the same issue he'd had with his father. Two equally stubborn people, with different ideas of how things should be, living in the same household. Very similar concept to the unstoppable force meets an immovable object principle. Keon had suffered a similar relationship with his father for the last two years before he'd gone to college. He realized now that many times, probably close to seventy percent of them, he had been in the wrong. But his dad had seemed to forget the past and move on, so Keon had let it go, despite having felt he had owed his father a massive apology.

He shook himself from his self reflection as his aunt asked him a question. "So Keon, I saw that you did good on your midterms. That's good, you still finding yourself completely swamped, or is it finally gearing down a bit?"

Keon chuckled, "Well, its geared down a little bit, thankfully, but at the same time there still is a lot of hours of work coming. Many large lab projects, all coming in the second half of the semester. So I'm still going to be rather busy. Thankfully, my work cut me down to about twenty or so hours a week, because I needed it cut, but I really didn't want to ask them. I also needed this bloody week off, it's going to help me so much."

Aunt Christina smiled and nodded, "I bet it will. Some rest and relaxation will do you good, even now you look like you've been run ragged the last couple months."

Keon laughed, "It's that noticeable is it? I kind of figured it would be. Yeah I spent most of September running off four hours of sleep a week, no word of a lie. It was a bloody mess, let me tell you. But I survived it, and that's the main thing."

His aunt looked at him with a little bit of shock, and Keon felt the eyes of his cousin Melissa turn to him. He turned to see her expression, a bit of shock and amazement. "Did you say only four hours a week?" she asked him. Keon nodded smiling, and she just shook her head. "I would die," she said, chuckling. "Like literally die. How'd you manage that?"

Keon shook his head. "Let's just go with I spent more on energy drinks in that month then I ever will for the rest of my life." He looked at her and smiled. "But what about you Melissa, how's your schooling going?"

Melissa looked up and had an excited look in her eye. "Well I'm getting all perfects on everything so far in my child psychology class, and I've yet to come close to failing anything, assignment, test or otherwise." She thought for a moment, and then got up. "Hold on, I want to show you something." She moved to her room, and came back with a scrapbook. "This is my big assignment for one of my classes. It's a scrapbook of hypothetical events for the virtual baby I have to take care of!" She opened it and slowly leafed through the pages, showing him all the pictures and stuff she'd done so far, the cute pictures of the 'baby' at different ages, along with the written answers to the questions associated with that age.

It really was quite interesting, and impressive. After she finished she looked at him, and he smiled. "Looks amazing cousin, absolutely amazing." he said. "You're going to do awesome on that part of your grade!"

She looked a little embarrassed, and laughed. "I'm sure I'll do well, and thanks Keon." she moved off to put away the scrapbook. Keon looked at the rest of the table, and seeing that they weren't interested, grabbed the last slice of pizza. It was his sixth.

As he started eating it, his aunt looked at him. "Where do you put it all, Keon!?" she asked him.

Keon smiled, and patted his stomach. "There's more room in here then you'd ever believe Aunt Christina." he replied, as he took another huge bite of the pizza. He smiled as she just shook her head, and started clearing off the table. Kyle moved to the couch and somehow got control of the television remote from is big sister. Jayson moved to the computer and started playing some little kids games. Keon finished eating, and moved to the chair, sitting down. Melissa looked up as he did, and he smiled. She smiled back and went back to her phone.

Keon touched his two pockets again, just to insure that their contents were still there and that they were real. He relaxed and got to waiting. It was only about seven pm, he still had about four hours to wait, relax, and enjoy the presence and interactions of family. He smiled his half lazy smile, eyes half closed. Today had proven to be a wonderful day thus far.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keon smiled as his Aunt and Jarvis finally moved up the stairs, saying goodnight to everyone. He rose and gave them both a hug, and then went to sit with his cousin Melissa. Kyle was absorbed in his computer game, which Keon knew he would be on for much longer then the half an hour Aunt Christina had told him he was allowed. Everything was working out very well. He smiled at Melissa, and sat quiet for a few moments. After he was sure his aunt and Jarvis were actually gone to bed, he rose, and spoke. "I'm going out back for a little bit, I could use some air."

Melissa looked at him oddly, her facial expression obviously wondering what Keon had wanted to tell her. Keon merely winked, as he moved to his backpack, and stealthily slipped his orange handled hunting knife and his black handled flick knife into his pockets. He moved out to the back, closing the door. As he stepped outside, he put his right headphone into his ear, and quickly switched to a song called 'Highland Hills' by Suidakra. As the warrior tune began, Keon smiled, stepping off the deck, down the stairs, and onto the grass of the yard. He calmly pulled the flick knife out of his pocket, flicking it open. He looked at the man who seemed to stroll from nowhere to face him.

The man was an old friend, a brother, dead many summers ago. But as vivid as day he was here, knife in hand. He was a little over six feet tall, with light blue eyes, short dark brown hair, and a full dark brown goatee. He was probably close to a hundred and eighty pounds of muscle. Keon smiled at him, falling into the moment. "Scott, my brother, it's good to see you."

The ghostly figure smiled, and looked around. "This place is new to me, dear brother," he said, "But I can tell you feel quite welcome here. Family I would assume?"

Keon nodded, but anxious to get on with the sparring, he quickly bent his knees, getting into his comfortable starting stance, both legs ready to power him in any direction, his open hand loose and ready to catch or deflect any attack, and his knife hand pulled back, ready to strike. As the vocals started coming from his headphones, he got a sharp look in his eyes. "Shall we get started, brother." he whispered.

Scott smiled, and without any further warning, his knife hand flicked out, as he rushed Keon. The two were soon dancing, uninhibited by the fear of harming one and other. Scott, after all, wasn't actually fully there, and was invulnerable to Keon's knife. Scott's knife, wasn't fully real, and couldn't cut Keon anyway. Keon ducked a high cut, but was forced to fall back, as Scott's leg moved to try and trip him. But Keon was aggressive and viciously fast when he wanted to be, so he hopped back, but used the landing like a spring, to power himself forward behind Scott's swing and attempted trip, launching a vicious counter attack. Scott was more than prepared, however, and his empty hand swept across, catching Keon's knife hand before Keon could quite reach Scott.

Undeterred, Keon pulled back, and lunged in, looking for the straight line route. Scott again was fast, and go his arm there. At the same time, he lunged forward with his knife. But Keon was quick and danced out of 'harm's' way. He smiled, winking at his 'older brother' "You got to be faster than that Scott." he taunted.

Scott chuckled. "You're quick and good, very good Keon."

Keon smiled and with a light in his eyes, a light of joy and happiness, he replied, "I had the best teacher, dear brother. But I think it's time for the student to beat the teacher!" with that Keon lunged forward, and soon they were back at it, striking, deflecting, and dodging, both trying to land a solid hit.

Scott blushed a little, but shrugged it off as they started in on each other again. "Yes I bet you did. But somehow I don't think today is the day for the student to surpass the teacher!" He met Keon's charge with speed and finesse to match, and they were soon locked in even combat. They moved fast, almost catching each other many times. Keon was having a wonderful time, and because of this, he actually lost track of time. They went back and forth for many a minute, before Keon finally got caught.

Scott seemed to leave himself wide open to a counter attack, and Keon couldn't resist. He thought it might have been just a ruse, but the opening was too large and good to pass up. So he lunged forward without pause, trying to catch Scott off guard. He instantly realized his mistake, however, as Scott caught his knife hand. Keon quickly did the only thing he could to keep the fight going. He caught Scott's knife hand, and tried to overpower his bigger opponent. To his credit, he held for almost six minutes, just pushing back and forth, but Scott was bigger, and stronger, and he eventually got under Keon's arms, and powered him back, almost tossing him against the fence. Keon hit it with quite a thud. He knew right away that his back was going to be sore for a while after that hit, but he didn't let it distract him or slow him down. He managed to land on his feet, and keep himself standing. He bent low and powered back into the fray with a growl, meeting Scott's charge with a new level of ferocity. So absorbed were the pair that neither of them noticed as someone slipped out of the house onto the deck, eyes wide, and began watching.

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Melissa looked at her phone again, wondering what Keon could be doing. He'd been outside for almost a quarter of an hour. It was almost eleven thirty, and she had to get up and work in the morning. She sighed, and rose to go to bed. But as she took the first step towards her bedroom, she heard a loud thud from out back. She stopped, frozen. She looked at Kyle, but her brother was so absorbed in his Runescape on the computer, he'd obviously not heard anything. She took a deep breath, and without thinking she moved out through the kitchen onto the patio. What she saw made her stop. Keon was there, knife out, seemingly locked in combat with an invisible foe. He was moving like there was someone he could see fighting with him. Her eyes widened, for she could hear the contact, as Keon hammered his fist out, into something, although there seemed to be nothing there. His knife flashed out, but something stopped his arm dead in its tracks, and she heard him groan, "Fuck not again." And all of a sudden, he was lifted off his feet, and thrown towards the deck! She gasped, but realizing the noise, she dropped to her knees, hiding behind the guardrail, watching through the gaps. Keon hadn't seemed to hear her, and she watched as he hit the ground feet first. His legs seemed to act as a spring, and he launched himself almost instantly at whatever he was fighting.

"I'll beat you yet, brother" he said, almost growling, but smiling, to Melissa's complete surpise. His knife hand moved and weaved, and whatever he was fighting seemed to be falling back. The movements got faster and more fierce. She watched in awe and a little bit of fear, for she couldn't really understand what she was witnessing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keon nor Scott noticed the arrival of, nor did they hear Melissa's gasp. As Keon lunged forward from the throw, Scott quickly started falling back. The pair traded blows, Keon actually finally landing a hit on Scott's left arm, a solid score to what would be his bicep. Scott smiled, and responded in kind, hammering Keon's left arm. Keon grunted, and smiled, knowing there would be a nice bruise there in the morning. But he kept pushing forward, seeming to have Scott backed up, he came to be against a tree. But as Keon lunged, he realized the ruse and cursed. "Fuck!"

Scott smiled, glad the young man had caught on that quick. He decided to go a bit easier on Keon, since the lad had realized his fatal error. Instead of hammering Keon's face into the tree, he simply sidestepped, tripped him, and caught him with his left shoulder, touching his knife to Keon's heart. "That my dear brother is game, set and match. You put up a good fight, you are definitely ready for an adventure, but you aren't quite good enough to beat your teacher yet."

Keon rose, sweating, and moved to hug Scott. But as Scott's words sunk in, he stopped, and his face went a little pale. "What did you say?" he asked.

Scott smiled, and winked. "The note is real, brother, embrace it, stop doubting it. It's what you always dreamed of after all. So give in and let your dream become real!"

Keon looked at his cousin, no his older brother, and despite knowing that he could just be vividly hallucinating, understanding that there was a chance that these sparring sessions were naught but a dream, a creation of his imagination, he felt all doubt drain away. He smiled, and embraced his mentor, his friend, his brother. "Thank-you, for everything!" he said, smiling. Scott nodded, and as he faded away, pointed to the deck.

As he faded into the darkness, Keon heard his voice say one last thing. "You had an audience, dear brother, and you will not get a better chance to convince her to sign on."

Keon looked back at the deck, and saw Melissa rise, her eyes wide. Keon shook out his sweaty hair and smiled, quickly stretching his sore back. He put the knife away, and pulled out the note and tokens. "Hey cousin, I have something I want to show you." He nodded towards the table and chairs on the deck, beside the barbeque. "You may want to sit down, this is a bit of a doozy."

She nodded, and took a seat. Keon moved up the stairs, and took a deep breath, preparing to explain everything to her. As he sat down, she finally found her tongue. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

Keon smiled, and as he did, he realized his bottom lip was bleeding. "Damn it!" he said, as he wiped it off. It wasn't bad, but he'd must have bitten it when he'd hit the fence. He shook his head at his luck, and then started explaining everything. "Alright, so for this to make total sense, it's best if we start at the beginning. As you may recall I am a former drug addict, and as I told you, a friend of the family, whom I called my older brother, basically saved me from myself. Scott Wiseman. He taught me how to fight, he introduced me to druidic faith, and to the music that helped, and still does help me, stay strong and true to myself and what I believe in. Without any question of a doubt, he saved my life, probably more than once."

Melissa nodded. Keon smiled, leaned back and continued. "Well what you just witnessed is another part of the story. He taught me to fight, both hand to hand, and with a knife. Even a little over five years after his death, he still teaches me. I was sparring with him."

Melissa looked at him, and Keon gave her a moment. "Wait, so you are telling me you were sparring with a dead man?"

Keon smiled, and nodded. "Dead is kind of a relative term. He's dead on this world, yes, but Druidic belief tells me that don't mean as much as you'd think. The whole idea of this is that there is more than one world, one reality. Avalon is our heaven, and it is eventually where all 'good' druids will go. But most if not all wouldn't want to go there after one life, or even two or three. We are adventurers at heart, but also risk takers. Avalon would be full of adventurous opportunity, but its risk free. You can't die there, you simply wake up the next day on the shores of the Isle and get to start again. That sounds boring to most young souls."

Melissa looked at him. "Alright, as delusional as this sounds, I'll play along. What if the person is like eighty when they die?"

Keon smiled. "Well eighty is again relative. Its old for a human, yes, but for a soul? For the very essence of a person, the core of a being in general. Well those are as close to immortal as anything gets, so eighty years isn't very long in that perception. So naturally they want to live again, but a different life, to carve out a new life story somewhere else. So you get to pick another world, another reality, and your born again there, and you get to live, and then die again, and so on and so forth the cycle continues until you've finally had your fill."

Melissa looked at him. "Okay, so what does this have to do with what you wanted to show me?" She asked him cautiously.

He smiled and leaned in. "What if I told you that we can go on such an adventure as the great fantasies are written about. The likes of R.A. Salvatore, and Ed Greenwood, and Terry Goodkind. What if I said, there was a way we could have an adventure, with magic and treasure, glory and mystery, in a night, and still wake up back here for breakfast the next morning? Would you accept, would you want to go?"

She leaned back, blown away by the question. She didn't really know any of the authors Keon had mentioned, but she understood the general gist of what he was implying. To buy herself time, she called him out a bit. "Well what's the point in such a question?" she scoffed. "It's not possible, is it?"

Keon smiled and told her what his trip to Toronto had actually entailed, every detail. It took him almost twenty minutes. Then he handed her the note, and nodded. "Read it, and tell me what you think. I'll be right back."

He moved inside, and quickly got the ink and quill from his backpack, and then moved back outside and sat down across from Melissa, smiling confidently.

She read the note, and after listening to her cousin's full explanation, found herself skeptically curious. It implied not having Lee, but from what he'd told her, this was only going to take a single night, so she'd not lose any time with him. But she had to ask. "So you are implying we get to live a full life on this other world, Tariek, and yet be back the same day? Within twenty-four hours?"

Keon nodded smiling. "That's what it says, does it not?"

Melissa nodded, as Keon slid the ink and quill towards her. She thought long and hard about it all. Keon could see she was still skeptical, so he pulled out the baggie of tokens, and found hers. He passed it to her, tree side up. "Look at the other side and tell me that's not you."

She looked at him, and flipped the token, thinking she had an easy way out. She started to say no it wasn't her, but choked on the words, for she could not. The likeness was just to perfect. It was her down to every little detail. It was actually a little creepy. She stared at this token, in shock for many moments. She shook her head, and whispered to herself. "Enough thinking, this is crazy but I may as well." Without a second thought, she signed the paper under Keon's name. As she finished, she gasped as her name appeared at a point of the pentagram on the top of the page, with a water drop under it.

Keon saw it, and smiled. "Man, I'm good." he whispered to himself.

Melissa looked up at him, after noticing his name was there too with a tree over top of it. "What's this mean?" she asked him, pointing to the pentagram.

He smiled. "In Tariek, adventuring parties are generally a group of people who fit certain traits, and in the end, no matter how many of them, be it three, five or even ten or twelve, their personalities and skills end up balancing this pentagram and finding a balance between spirit, or what you call light, and shadow, or what you call dark. The five points represent Nature, Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Nature is the survivalist, the guide, the one who is best outside urban areas where adventurers often have to travel. That's me in a nutshell, because of Scott. He taught me the basics of wilderness survival, hunting and tracking, and I've dedicated many hours and days to honing those skills myself. Fire is the emotional, passionate, action oriented person of the group. They bring the biggest risk taking. That would probably be my next most dominant trait, but surprisingly I'm pretty sure that will be where Katie is going to be, simply because of how she's grown up these last three years."

Keon smiled seeing Melissa was a little lost. "Okay, I'll back up. Tariek, while having many, many religions, has one hard driven concept that is accepted by every faith. A balance of seven parts in everything. Meanma, Scath, Dóiteáin, Uisce, Aeir, Dongan, and Dulra. Spirit, Shadow, Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Nature. Each of these have certain dominate....traits if you will. Nature is somewhat withdrawn, paranoid of people to a point, and honestly prefers the wilderness to populated areas. That is me in a nutshell. Fire is passionate, emotional, hot-headed and stubborn. That is Katie in a nutshell. Spirit is simply everything good and light, whilst Shadow is everything evil and dark. I have an excess of Shadow within me, but I keep it under tight control. Katie balances me, because she has an excess of Spirit, which she keeps under tight control."

Melissa nodded. "I think I kind of understand, its a balance thing, almost like a balance of ingredients."

Keon chuckled. "Exactly, thats a perfect way to look at it!" he said. "Alright so to finish up. You're apparently Water, because you are helpful, caring and very much have the mentality of a healer. I mean look what you want to do for a living. Because of that, obviously you have an excess of Spirit, but you too, from what I've seen, keep that in check."

Melissa smiled, and had a small laugh. "Alright, I guess that's fair enough." she said, as she looked at her token again. She pulled her eyes away after a few moments, and pointed to the pentagram again. "Okay so all that's left is Earth and Air. Who are they?"

Keon smiled. "Earth is probably, if I had to guess, my friend Ted. He's solid as they come, both physically and mentally, and he's always there if you need him. He's dependable, gives great advice, and is brutally honest. One of those, 'if the medicine don't taste bad, it don't do any good' types. Over all definitely a balanced person, equal in Spirit and Shadow, in my opinion. Finally Air would be my friend Ben. He's out of his own mind, always jumping around his thoughts, and can be very forgetful. But if it comes down to pinch, there is no one I'd rather depend on. He's quick thinking, very smart, and fast, both mentally and physically. He, like me, has what I'd call an excess of Shadow, but he keeps it in check rather well."

Melissa smiled, and took a deep breath. She pocketed her token. "Well this is a lot to absorb, cousin, and I'm tired. I signed the paper, and I'll remember to sleep with the token in hand on Tuesday. I still am skeptical, but I'm willing to give it a shot and see what happens."

Keon smiled and nodded, as he folded up the paper and put it away, along with the tokens. "That's all I can ask." he said, as he picked up the ink and quill.

She nodded. "But I've to work in the morning, so now I'm off to bed." She gave Keon a hug, and he kissed her on the cheek. "Good night." she said.

Keon moved into the house, and after putting the ink and quill back in his backpack, he flopped onto the couch. As Melissa walked past him to her bedroom, he replied, "Good night, and sleep well cousin. Love you, see you tomorrow."

Melissa nodded back smiling. "Love you too, see you tomorrow." She moved, but stopped, and turned to him, and added. "By the way, I can't actually come to Shelburne with you. I have school all the next week, including three tests."

Keon looked up at her, from the tone of her voice he could tell she was actually rather disappointed. "That sucks, a lot." he replied, "I know my mom and dad were looking forward to seeing you again, and my friends were all eager to meet this mythical best friend from my childhood. I guess they'll all just have to wait until the christmas break then."

Melissa smiled as she spoke. "It does suck, I really was looking forward to seeing Aunt Jackie and Uncle Austin again, and getting out of the city for a bit." As she continued, however, she held up the token. "But, if you're right, by Wednsday morning some of your friends should know me quite well, and I should get my time away from the city, further away then I'd ever imagined."

Keon chuckled at that response. "Fair enough, you make an excellent point." he agreed, and with that she moved into her room, closing the door. Keon flopped onto the couch, and put both earbuds back in. He put on some soothing music, to him anyway. A band called Eluveitie. He drifted off, and was soon fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Melissa laid down in her bed, surprised by how tired she was, and how easily she seemed to be drifting off. Normally without Lee there with her, she wouldn't get to sleep without difficulty. Tonight was an oddity however. She was exhausted, abnormally so, and it took all of ten minutes between turning out her light, and laying her head on the pillow. Ten minutes later, she was fast asleep, in a very deep sleep. Her hand was under her pillow, and clenched in it was the token Keon had given to her. She'd decided that she may as well start sleeping with it now, so she'd remember on Tuesday. As she fell deep into sleep, however, she heard the whisper of a female voice in her head, a melodic, perfect voice much like the one Keon had described. "I see you have doubts, my daughter. Allow me to erase them. Tonight you 'dream' as your cousin dreams."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young elven woman opened her eyes, smiling as she heard the birds singing to greet the dawn. She heard the breakfast bell of the small sanctuary being sounded. She left her room, and quickly moved through the hallway. She did stop to admire the beauty of the carvings and paintings however. They were symbols, trees with winding vines, animals all under the sun. A wolf was pictured chasing a deer, a bear was fishing in a river. It depicted the peace and serenity of nature itself. In the center of it all was the symbol of Talia, a large oak tree, one half alive, the other half dead, representing the balance of the seasons, the balance of nature, the balance of life and death. The artwork was truly beautiful, the dappled and perfect colors making the images seem alive. The young elven woman sighed happily, at peace. Then she quickly moved on.

She wore the clothing of a servant of the temple, because such she was. A simple pair of doeskin moccasins adorned her feet. Her pants were simple light grey fabric, woven from plant fibers. Her shirt was a dappled pale green, also woven from plant fibers, Over her shoulders was a simple brown cloak. It was a thin travelling cloak, made of cloth. Dyed on the back was the symbol of Talia, the tree of life and death.

She was an attractive young lady. She was only in her seventh decade of life. By elven standards she wasn't even an adult yet. Physically, however, she had grown as much as she would. She stood just over five feet six inches, and was probably close to a hundred and thirty pounds. She seemed slight of frame, as all of her kind, but she was strong and hardy. Long days of chopping firewood, scrubbing horse tack for the last forty or so years of her life had seen to that. It was hard work, but good and clean and pure, so she didn't mind it. She was also naturally quick in both body and mind, as elves were prone to be, and as such, she was often sent out to gather herbs and plants.

She was also a budding herbalist, often helping the head priest with those who came here that were in need of medical aid. She enjoyed helping people, but also found comfort in the idea that Talia's balance included her being a healer, being one to help people. It offered her comfort to help those she could now, some small relief against the one part of her life that haunted her. Her skin was surprisingly dark for an elf, almost a light tan color. Her shoulder length blond hair was thick and full. Her eyes were a soft green, like the new leaves of an oak in late spring. As the first rays of the early summer sun touched her skin, she smiled and started singing to herself, an old elvish forest song. Her melodic voice entrancing those she walked past. She loved this place, her home. She paused to take it all in for a moment.

This small sanctuary, a temple of Talia, was a place of rest for weary travellers. The sanctuary was placed literally only a couple hundred meters from Talios Way, the main road that went east to Longreach, making the sanctuary a oft visited place, especially during the busy summer trade season. Even today, the trade season but a week old, they had three merchant caravans, almost eighteen people, whom had stayed the night here.

The sanctuary itself consisted of three buildings, a building of bunk rooms, ten total, a large meeting hall where meals were cooked and served, and a smaller church. The meeting hall had also had a small stable attached to the back. The church was build around a large oak tree, and the bell tower was literally a set of rope ladders to a platform that bridged two forked branches, about forty feet up the tree. The bell hung about five feet above it, off another sturdy branch. The chapel itself could seat about thirty people. The larger meeting hall was built of solid silver pine, a solid construction. It had large windows, almost five feet wide. The hall itself could seat close to a seventy guests if necessary. The food was mostly prepared outside, beside the stable. There were four large fire pits, although only two of them were ever needed on most occasions. The stable itself had eight stalls, only one of which was occupied by a horse that the sanctuary owned, a brown and black dappled mare of about four years named Fiona.

Finally the young woman turned her eyes to the bunk building. Built of redwood, it was a small simple construction. Each room had two beds, with two small oak cabinets, and each room had a small one foot by one foot window. The building could house up to twenty occupants, and more if necessary, but some would have to sleep on the floor.

She turned, smiling as she thought about that. This whole place, when empty but for those who lived here, only housed eight people. Joakim, the head priest, a man in his early seventies, along with his wife Lexi, and their youngest daughter Sara. There three other children had left years ago to start lives and families. Besides that, there was her bunkmate Erik, the stable hand, who was about twenty-seven. There was Liora, the halfling woman whom was a wonderful cook, and a priest of Talia. Finally there were the companions Redorak and Skylar. Both were hunters, rangers, and worshippers of Talia. Redorak was a dwarf in about his second century of life, whilst Skylar was a half elf of about ninety years of age. None knew the story of how they'd met, or why they'd decided to make their life here, but they had shown up about forty years ago, and had been here ever since.

The young elven woman moved to open the door into the meeting hall, but as she did, she heard loud knocking, and a voice all too familiar, a voice pulling her from this place, back to her reality. "Melissa, wake up cousin, It's seven o'clock, you've got to get up for work."

Melissa didn't want to let go, for she wanted to see what this was about, but she didn't have a choice. It all started to fade, and she was jolted back to reality. But as the last vision of her dream faded, a female voice rang in her head. "It's not just a dream, it's where your true adventure will begin, a glimpse of what will be. A taste, to help you believe, and understand." Then it was gone, and she was back in Toronto, Ontario, in her own bed. She woke up, having to smile at Keon's voice. He'd have no idea what he'd just pulled her out of. She shook her head, "Alright cousin," she called, "I'm up, I'm up, thank you!"

She quickly got dressed, and stepped out of her room. Keon was already back on the couch, both earbuds in. He smiled at her, as she moved to go about her business. She quickly had a bit of breakfast, two slices of toast with butter, and then went upstairs, brushing her teeth and using the washroom. After she finished all of that, it was about seven-thirty. She saw that Keon was still awake, although he obviously intended to grab a bit more sleep once she'd left. As she moved to the door, he called out, "Have a good day cousin, love you, see you at dinner."

She smiled, and replied. "Thanks, you too. Bye for now." and with that she moved out the door, and got in the car. She started it and pulled out of the driveway, and started driving to work. As she left, she made note to herself to talk to Keon about her dream later that night. She caught herself humming the tune to what she'd been singing in the dream, and chuckled. This whole thing still seemed too strange to be true, yet the evidence was rather convincing. She decided to stop thinking about it so much. "Whatever happens will happen, may as well wait and see." she whispered to herself.