THOMAS HEARD the rush of wings and felt himself falling from his dream. Tumbling, tumbling into real light, breathing real air, smelling something that reminded him of gardenias. He opened his eyes.
Michal was just pulling his wings in, not ten feet away. They were back in the colored forest. He’d been sleeping against a tall amber tree, dreaming as if he lived in the histories of Earth again. This time he’d returned with a challenge from Kara. Something about—
“It’s been a full day for you, I can see,” Michal said, waddling over. Another rush of wings to Thomas’s left announced Gabil, who incorporated a roll into his landing.
Thomas stood up, fully awake. The grass was green; the forest glowed in blues and yellows behind him; the village waited in all its brilliance. He stepped forward, suddenly eager to descend the hill and reconnect with his past.
“Are we going?”
“Absolutely going,” Gabil said.
“Yes,” Michal said. “Although I’m afraid you’ve missed the Gathering.” He looked over his shoulder, and Thomas saw the last of a huge group disappearing down a path that led into the trees several miles away. As far as he could see, the village had emptied.
“I’m terribly sorry, but it will take us too long to catch up. You’d best just wait in the village until they return.”
“What took you so long?”
“Perhaps I should have taken you to the village first, but I wanted to make sure. This is quite unusual, I’m sure you must realize. You didn’t drink the water in the black forest, but the Shataiki clearly had some effect on you. Your memory at least. I had to be sure I did the right thing.”
They headed down the hill in the afternoon’s waning light, Michal first, followed by Thomas, and Gabil hopping along to bring up the rear.
The histories. He’d dreamed that Kara had insisted this colored forest was a dream and Denver was real. She’d sent him on a mission.
The winner of the Kentucky Derby.
Would the histories record something so insignificant as the winner of a horse race? If so, only someone with a perfect memory could possibly recall it. Someone like Michal.
But asking Michal to check something he’d dreamed of had a ring of insanity to it. Then again, it was no more absurd than insisting to Kara that she was a dream. So then, which was it?
Here in the colored forest, Michal had offered a perfectly reasonable explanation for his dreams of Denver: Thomas had hit his head and was dreaming of ancient Earth. Logical.
There in Denver, however, he had no explanation for how he could be dreaming about the Raison Strain, especially since the related events hadn’t happened yet. He was getting the information from Michal, from the histories. But that would only prove that this world in which he’d found the histories was real. If this was real, then the other had to be a dream. Unless they were both real.
“How many people live in this village?” Thomas asked.
“Here? This is the smallest village. There are three tribes on the planet, each with many villages. But this is the first. Tanis is the firstborn.”
“Over one thousand in this village,” Gabil piped up.
“Fifteen hundred and twenty-two,” Michal said. “There are seven villages in this tribe, and they all come to the same Gathering. The other two tribes, one of which is yours, are very far away and much larger. We have over a million living now.”
“Huh. How long do we live? I mean how long has—”
Michal had stopped, and Thomas nearly tripped over him.
Gabil bumped into him from behind. “Sorry. Sorry.”
Michal was staring at Thomas as if he’d lost his mind.
Thomas stepped back. “What’s wrong?”
“There is no death here. Only in the black forest. You’re confusing reality with ancient Earth. Losing your memory I can understand, but surely you can separate what is real from your dreams.”
“Sure,” Thomas said, but he wasn’t sure. Not at all. He would have to think through his questions more carefully.
Michal sighed. “In the event you’re not so sure as you say, let me give you a quick refresher on your history. Tanis, the leader of this village, whom we’ve discussed, was the firstborn. He was united with Mirium, his wife, and they had eighteen sons and twenty-three daughters over the course of the first two hundred years. His first two sons left, one to the east and one to the west, a month’s journey each, to form the three tribes. Each tribe is completely self-contained. There is no commerce or trading, but visitors are quite common and interunions aren’t unusual. Three times a year the other two tribes make a journey here for a very, very large celebration, known as the Great Gathering, not to be confused with the Gathering each tribe experiences every night.”
Michal looked longingly toward the path the villagers had taken. “You’ll find a preoccupation with the Gathering. It’s the focus of each day. By midday most of the people are preparing for it in one way or another. It’s a very simple yet very extravagant life I would gladly exchange a year of torment for. You are exceedingly fortunate, Thomas Hunter.”
The evening stood still.
“That makes me a descendant of Tanis?” Thomas finally asked.
“Many generations removed, but yes.”
“And my immediate family will be coming here for a celebration. When?”
“In . . . what, Gabil? Sixty days?”
“Fifty-three!” the smaller Roush said. “Only fifty-three.”
“Gabil is the master of games at the celebrations. He knows them intimately. At any rate, there you have it.”
Michal continued his duck-walk down the hill.
“I had another dream,” Thomas said.
“Yes?” Michal said. “Well, dreams are quite common, or have you forgotten that as well?”
“It picked up where the one before left off. I was wondering if you could help me with something. Did the histories record sporting events?”
“The histories recorded everything.”
“Really! Could I get, say . . . the winning horse from the Kentucky Derby for a particular year?”
“The histories are oral, as I mentioned. They were written . . . are written . . . in the Books of Histories, but these Books are”—he paused here— “no longer available. They are very powerful, these Books. At any rate, the oral traditions were given to Tanis and passed on.”
“No one would know who won the Kentucky Derby?”
“Who would care about such trivia? Do you know what kind of mind it would require to hold such an insignificant detail?”
“So then no one knows it.”
Michal hesitated. “I didn’t say that. What Tanis knows of the histories is more than any other human. It’s more than enough. Too much knowledge of some things can be worrisome. Tanis has tried many times to pry more information out of me. His thirst for knowledge is insatiable.”
“But you have a perfect memory. You don’t know who won the Kentucky Derby this year?”
“And if I do?”
“Can you tell me?”
“I could. Should I?”
“Yes! My sister wants to know.”
Again Michal stopped. “You remember your sister? You’re beginning to remember?”
“No, the sister in my dreams,” Thomas said, feeling foolish.
“Now that’s something, don’t you say, Gabil?” Michal said. “His sister, in his dreams about the histories, wants to know something about the histories. Sounds quite circular.”
“Round and round and round, for sure.”
Thomas diverted his eyes. “Yes, I guess you could say that.”
“I’m not sure I should tell you,” Michal said.
“Then is there anyone else who could tell me?”
“Teeleh,” Gabil hissed. “He was a wise one.”
Thomas knew without having to ask who Teeleh must be.
“The leader of the Shataiki,” Thomas said.
“Yes,” Michal said. Nothing more.
Thomas directed the discussion back to the horse race. “Please, I just need to know if what you’re saying ties directly into what I’m dreaming. It might help me put the dreams aside.”
“Perhaps. I’m not in the business of digging up the histories. We are making our own here, and it’s enough. You already have enough of the histories running through your mind to distract you and confuse even me. I will tell you on one condition.”
“I won’t ask again. Agreed.”
Michal frowned. “Exactly. You will not ask about the histories again.”
“And as I said, I agree. Which horse?”
“The winner of the Kentucky Derby was Joy Flyer.”
“Joy Flyer!” Gabil cried. “A perfect name!” He ran ahead and took flight. He gained altitude quickly, executed one loop, and winged in the direction of the Gathering.
Joy Flyer.
The village looked familiar to Thomas, but not so much that his heart didn’t begin to increase its pace as they approached.
They walked under a great blue-and-gold arch at the entrance and then down a wide brown path between rows of colored huts. Thomas stopped at the first house, taken by the ruby glow of the wood. A lawn wrapped around the dwelling in a thick, uniform carpet of green, highlighted by flowers growing in symmetrical clusters. What appeared to be carvings of brightly colored sapphire and golden wood accented the lawn, giving it a surreal beauty.
“Do you remember?” Michal asked.
“Sort of. But not really.”
“It could take a while, I understand. You will stay with Rachelle’s family.”
“Rachelle! The woman who chose me?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t stay in her house! I don’t have a clue about this Great Romance.”
“Follow your instincts, Thomas. And if your instincts don’t offer enough guidance, then pretend. Surely you can pretend to be in love.”
“What if I don’t want to be in love?”
“Stop that nonsense!” Michal ordered. “Of course you want to be in love. You’re human.” He turned up the path. “You’re frightening me, young man.”
Thomas walked down the path, lost in thought at first, but then quickly distracted by the beauty around him. Both sides of the road were lined with beautifully landscaped lawns that bordered each colored cottage. The homes shone more like pearl than wood. Flowers like the daisies on the valley floor grew in wide swaths across the bright green lawns. Large cats and parrots meandered and fluttered about the village in harmony as though they, too, owned a part of this marvelous work of art.
The refined nature of the village kept Thomas in awe as they made their way toward the large central structure. Although not necessarily symmetrical, every object, every carving, every flower, and every path was in exactly the right location, like a perfectly executed symphony. Move one path and the vision would crumble. Move one flower and chaos would ensue.
The Thrall, as Michal had called it, was huge compared to the other structures, and if the village was a work of refined art, then this was its crowning glory. Thomas paused at the bottom of wide steps that ascended to the circular building. The jade-colored dome looked as though it had been made out of some flawless crystalline material that allowed light to pass through it.
He gingerly placed his foot on the first step and began the ascent. Ahead, Michal struggled up the steps one by one, ignoring him for the moment. Thomas followed him and then turned at the top to view the village from this elevated vantage.
The village looked as if massive jewels—ruby and topaz and emeralds and opals and mother-of-pearl—had been transported here and then carved into solid structures over hundreds of years. What kind of technology could have possibly created this? So simple and elegant, yet so advanced.
“Who did this?”
Michal looked up at him. “You did this. Come.”
Thomas followed him into the Thrall.
The scope of the large auditorium was at once intimidating and spectacular. Four glowing pillars—ruby, emerald, jasper, and a golden yellow— rose from the floor to the iridescent domed ceiling. There was no furniture in the room. All of this Thomas saw at the first glance.
But it was on the great circular floor, centered under the dome, that he rested his gaze.
He stepped past Michal and walked lightly to the floor’s edge. The floor seemed to draw him into itself. He slowly knelt and reached out his hand. He couldn’t see a single blemish on its hard, clear surface, like a pool of resin poured over a massive unflawed emerald. He stroked the floor, breathing steadily. A sudden, slight vibration shot up his arm and he quickly withdrew his hand.
“It’s quite all right, my friend,” Michal said behind him. “It’s a sight that I never get used to myself. It was made from a thousand green trees. Not a blemish to be found. The creativity you humans display never ceases to amaze me.”
Thomas stood. “This is like the water?”
“No. The water is special. But Elyon is the Maker of both. I will leave you here,” he said, turning for the door. “Duty calls. Johan and Rachelle will come and collect you here as soon as they return from the Gathering. And remember, if in doubt, please play along.” He waddled out of the building, and Thomas thought he heard the Roush say, “Dear, dear. I hope Rachelle hasn’t bitten off more than she can chew.”
Thomas started to protest. Waiting alone in this magnificent room struck him as a little terrifying. But he couldn’t think of a reason why he should be terrified—beyond his memory loss, this was all very familiar to him. As Michal said, he had to play along.