154 Volume 8 Brief and Prologue

Cover Image:

https://imgur.com/Y4ZH9U5

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The Eight

We began on the same night. For some reason, the Green Men are after us… all eight of us.

As far as I know, the relationships between us are...

https://imgur.com/N8fBd5m

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Colin's Comrade Summary

https://imgur.com/HGWpa03

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Prologue

In the darkness, a chord was struck.

Lights flooded a stage and cheers rang out as the song of the electric guitar filled the night. A spray of fireworks shot up, bursting spectacularly as drums and bass joined in.

They stood on a small plain platform, four girls with their instruments facing a crowd of jumping, screaming fans. A lit backdrop pulsed with soaring hearts, interchanged with the name of the band; Starlight Hearts.

Verse ran into chorus – the girls' costumes changed, instantly, effortlessly, testament to the abilities that being in a telepathic network afforded them. The backdrop changed to display a single word, four letters that held so many meanings.

LIVE.

To the average fan, that word meant this performance was taking place right now. It was a live performance, sure enough.

But to the desperate, to the crying, to those who had no hope, no heart left, that word meant something else. {Don't give up. Live on!}

It was for those people that they sang there now. It was for those who knew terror from the depths of their own minds. Those who had fallen far below the Middle Plane, past the Ancient Ways, and deep into the Lower Plane. Those who found their darkest fears take shape and form to haunt them. Those who found themselves face to face with true Nightmares.

They had no chance. They had been all but dragged under the layers between Planes, the very mountain they stood on had been sunk. They were playing in a kids' Dreamworld, and were never told, much less prepared for the horrors of the Lower Plane.

For the Dreamworlds Network was a telepathic joining of many minds and many lives. Billions of people shared their dreams, most of them into organized, tidy themed Dreamworlds as they so desired. A controlled dream where they shared fun and leisure. Those who worked in tight, cramped spaces in the day could roam endless beaches in their Dreams. Those who were choked by smog-filled cities could breathe fresh, clean air on green highlands above thriving forests. Even children found freedom and responsibilities in a Dreamworld made just for them to play.

But that Dreamworld had been invaded, and the invaders had sunk hundreds of them into the Lower Plane, a level of the network where rules themselves didn't work properly. A level of the telepathic network that was forbidden to the majority of Dreamers for their own safety. They had sunk- no, they had been sunk- into that level without any warning of what they were going to face there.

They were terrified. Horrified. Or worse.

And the Lower Plane had fed on them. Their Nightmares had taken solid form and then all but devoured the fallen Dreamers. Fear fed on fear and Resonated. Nightmares multiplied exponentially. A lot of it leaked into the layer between the Middle Plane and Lower Plane, and the Ancient Ways (as it was called) was quickly becoming a very dangerous place.

These four girls were fighting a war. It was a war beyond blades, beyond bombs. A war over hearts and minds and dreams themselves. It was a war for the very hopes of the next generation, the hundreds of traumatized children who would most assuredly lose what brightness their futures might have held if something were not done, and fast.

As the song ended, hot tears streaked down the face of the lead vocalist. {This… this is all I can do. This small thing… a concert. My songs… my voice… please, let it reach them!}

She measured her exhaustion as the crowd erupted in applause. They'd been going around doing this quite a bit now, with a lot more to go. On top of that, they were going to have to add Nakama World to their tour. She made a quick decision, turned to the bassist, and gave a side nod and twist to the side. {We'll skip my next song. We're going straight to yours.}

The bassist replied with a short nod, though strain was on her face. She stepped forward to switch places and take the center spot. Her bass sounded once, twice, and then began to pick up the pace as applause turned into rhythmic clapping.

"Forest Night." The previous lead vocalist spoke the name of the song, and the bassist lifted her face.

The bassist, now the lead vocalist, stepped forward. Her blue eyes were clear, her resolve unshakeable. This was in every way, her song. She was the lead vocalist now.

The previous vocalist handed her the mic.

"Take it, Lynn."

***

{I'm not giving up that easily…}

Katrin sat in the middle of a huge hollow where Skycrown Mountain fell, fuming at the tip of the pyramid that used to be the highest point in Nakama World. That was all that was left of Skycrown Mountain in this Dreamworld; a new entrance to the Ancient Ways, and one that held special meaning for her.

{At least I found it again. The Blue Phoenix is right where it was last night. I can find my way back any time… but she just threw me out of the Ancient Ways. Again.}

Why? That was the question most on Katrin's mind. The Blue Phoenix was a legend of the far south, most people weren't even sure she existed. But Katrin did. She found the Blue Phoenix in the Ancient Ways last night.

Their encounter went well, Katrin thought, up to a certain point. It was at that point that Katrin was more or less kicked out of the area and left sitting in this hollow staring at that glass pyramid-tip.

It wasn't that the Blue Phoenix hated her. No… there was something between them. Katrin wasn't sure what, but she felt some sort of kinship with the Blue Phoenix, odd as it might sound. There was a strange kind of understanding between them, and Katrin believed that the Blue Phoenix, in some way, {cared} for her.

{Then why won't she bond with me? Why won't she become my Comrade?}

There were obvious reasons, in Nakama World, why a Wild would not bond with a Traveler like herself. First and foremost, the Traveler simply wasn't powerful enough. Many stronger Wilds wouldn't bond even a Traveler they liked until that Traveler reached a certain rank as denoted by their badge color. Katrin, after having giving up all her old Comrades and keeping just the one new one, had been demoted all the way back down to Yellow. Again.

But the fact that she only had one Comrade left seemed to be important here. The Blue Phoenix would not bond with Katrin if Katrin had had an army of lesser Comrades running around like many kids in Nakama World did. Of that, Katrin had absolutely no doubt. The Blue Phoenix was… picky. Extremely picky.

{Then how? I can't give up the one Comrade I have now. That would demote me even further to White Badge. There's no way the Blue Phoenix would bond a White Badge. But I can't go around bonding lots of Comrades and rise in rank the normal way either. That simply isn't going to work with the Blue Phoenix.}

Maybe there was something she was missing. Some sort of quest she had to do, or a different kind of power, like achieving a rank in a Guild, or even accomplishing a certain number of quests in the Blue Phoenix's home territory, make a name for herself in the far south.

Katrin reached out towards the glass pyramid, wishing she could try again tonight, go in there and ask, or just look around and search the Blue Phoenix's place for clues. But the glass pyramid shimmered behind an unseen barrier, and Katrin found herself pushing against a barrier of thin air.

"Maybe there are clues somewhere else around here." Katrin figured. "There is at least one town and two villages on the Continent of Eternal Winter. Or maybe my Guildmates might know something."

She should check on them, she supposed. After last night, the J-Knights would probably be in uproar. They'd be extremely busy tonight and she should be too, she guessed. And while she checked on them, there were other things she wanted to check on too. Other people.

{Phillip and Colin. Those two better be all right.}