3 Chapter 3

Jason stepped outside of the office building quickly. He still didn't understand why he felt so good right now, and that was making him feel insane. He picked up his feet and started running the first direction he could think to run. The rock solid ground beneath his feet let up a cloud of dirt every time he stepped. Jason ran and ran, letting the rush of his first run in years take over his mind, and he began to smile. He felt 100 pounds lighter, and ten years younger. This made no sense at all, but he didn't care. He just wanted to run. So he did, until his legs tired too much for him to continue. Off in the distance about a hundred meters, he saw a small cottage. He knew the place, he'd met a friend here almost every day after his appointments for the past month or so. Mustering up a little more strength and energy, he ran the rest of the way to get there. Inside, it was decorated with only an old boombox radio, a small end table to hold the radio, and a sleeping bag. Jason immediately lay in the bag, turning on the radio to play a hard rock song. He closed his eyes the second he hit the ground, and he waited.

Hesitant to open his eyes for fear of what reality was waiting, Jason lay there until he smelled something that wasn't dry, dusty air. The first thing he felt was the cooler air hitting him. No, cold air. That didn't feel right. Jason opened his eyes and was greeted by a dark scenery. Where the hell am I, Jason thought to himself as he looked at the all dirt walls, floor and ceiling around him. A single torch lit the room just enough for him to see what was around. There was a small table made modestly of healthy looking wood, freshly chopped and constructed. On top of this table was a cup made of a sturdy green leaf filled with the clearest water Jason had ever seen. His instinct told him to reject it, but something else told him to drink it. He obliged and took a sip, savoring the best taste of water he'd ever had.

To his left, a doorway made as a tunnel through the dirt camp he was in led to a brighter lit dirt room. He couldn't see much of what was there though. Jason started to get up, removing the blanket made of pleasantly soft foliage. It was cold down here, he assumed he was underground. He didn't care where he was, he felt that peace again. He felt comfortable to breathe in his own body again. The voice came again from the next room, calling his name. As he started toward the voice, it got further away, as if he were being led somewhere. He followed blindly, until he reached a point where the ground began elevating to a winding ramp of dirt. The voice called him to go further, until he reached the opening of the dirt cave and was greeted by the warm sun shining through the beautiful leaves on the trees around. A forest like this just simply couldn't exist in real life, unless this was real life.

The voice was almost right on top of Jason, he noticed as he heard it speak his name once more. He looked for the source of the voice, finding the beautiful woman made of nature once again. He didn't know how else to describe her. Her face was that of a young woman, rosy red lips, bright blue eyes, brown eyebrows, long eyelashes that looked to be done up with the perfect amount of mascara, but hair made of foliage. Her shoulders were skin, but lower, her arms were covered with vines, showing very little skin. Her torso left little to the imagination, she was wrapped in vines and leaves, but much of her skin showed, just enough to add to her beauty without giving up too much modesty. Her legs were also leafy, but they resembled the roots of a tree the lower they got. She was stunning, in a way Jason couldn't explain.

"Who are you?" Jason asked.

The question 'What are you' seemed too rude for Jason to ask.

The woman looked at Jason and smiled, "I am Daphis."

Jason was captivated by her beauty in an awe-inspiring way. "How do you know who I am?"

"Everything and everyone in this forest knows who you are, Jason." She smiled again, revealing pearly, white teeth that reflected the light of the sun almost blindingly.

Jason wondered why. "What is this place?"

"This is what you humans would either call paradise or a delusion. To us, this is the last place untouched by the evils that destroyed so many other places like this one." She almost displayed sorrow with the last half of her response. Jason felt a heavy weight in his heart upon hearing it.

"What evils?" Jason asked.

The woman seemed to glide away as she sang. He felt something take over him and he began walking towards her, involuntarily but with no protest. She kept going for a few minutes, stopping in a cleaning in the forest.

"If you wish to help us, stay here for a while, and do not go to sleep." She said, dancing away as she resumed her song.

Jason listened and stayed out, feeling far too awake to even think about sleeping. He felt surprisingly normal given the circumstances. Jason waited for a few minutes, glancing down at his hands and studying the outfit he was wearing. The leather wraps on his hands left his fingers exposed, but nothing else. He saw a dagger tucked into his waist band, curious, he drew it and slashed at his wrist. The leather kept the blade from touching his skin, and bore no mark after a number of slashes.

Behind him, a deep voice asked, "Who are you?"

Jason turned to see an old man in a dark robe with a long gray beard. He studied the man for a second. He was short, 5' 6" or so, he was clearly in his seventies, his hands were tucked into the sleeves of his robe, and he wore leather sandals.

"Jason McNair." Jason responded.

The man shook his head. "I know your name."

Jason looked puzzled.

"I ask again, who are you?" The man spoke again.

Jason paused, thinking. "I don't know what to say, I'm not from here."

"I know where you're from. So, you don't know who you are?" The man asked.

Jason raised his eyebrows, "I know who I am."

"Then who are you?"

Jason was starting to get slightly annoyed. The man could obviously tell as he grinned and looked Jason right into the eyes and asked the same question again.

"Look, I was brought here by a woman, Daphis. If you don't want me here, just say so now." Jason said.

The man looked at Jason with seeming disappointment, "You have a lot to learn, and not a lot of time to learn, Jason."

"Learn what?" Jason asked.

The man turned around and waved for Jason to follow him without speaking a word. Jason reluctantly followed, muttering to himself about in confused irritation. They walked for what seemed to be hours without a word. Jason was no stranger to long walks, he was just thankful he didn't have a ruck to carry this time.

"What do you know of this place?" The man asked, stopping.

Jason looked around momentarily, viewing the scene around him. There were too many trees in this area for him to get a good look at some identifiable land mark, it looked the same as it had for almost the entire trip.

"I don't know much." Jason confessed.

The man looked back at Jason and smiled, "How far do you think we've gone?"

Jason was good at measuring distance on foot. He simply thought of the pace he was going and the time it took.

"Not more than fifteen miles." Jason said.

The man laughed, "You are not wrong, but I have something to show you that will surely surprise you."

The man raised his hand and extended it toward Jason, and waited. Jason looked at the man, then reluctantly took his hand. The man led Jason toward a bush, and with a raise of the other hand, Jason saw the bush part as though someone had moved it, but nobody touched it. On the other side of the bush, the same clearing the two originally met in was there. Jason blinked, looking to either confirm or deny what he saw.

"We walked for hours." Jason said in disbelief.

The man looked at Jason and smiled, "This place is not like the one you are used to. Things happen here that can only happen in your world of dreams."

Jason looked at the man, unsure of what to say.

"Daphis explained to you in some manner of our situation, I presume?" The man asked.

Jason, still somewhat stunned, replied, "She mentioned that there was an evil here."

"She is right. You met them this morning, if rumor is correct. They poisoned you."

Jason thought about the injury he received and reached back to feel it. Nothing but a scar remained. "That was this morning?" Jason asked.

"For someone like you, time appears very different in both worlds." The man explained.

"Someone like me?" Jason was sure he had to be dreaming, but he couldn't think of a time when he'd been aware of his state of dreaming.

"Explanation will take some time. For now, you should know that this place is not safe, someone is threatening this forest and all who dwell in it. That is the evil Daphis spoke of."

Jason felt both concern and confusion, "Who am I to you? Why did Daphis bring me here?"

The man laughed, "If only you knew."

"Knew what?" Jason asked.

The man smiled at Jason in such a way that Jason felt uncomfortable. He began to walk toward the clearing again, raising his hand, which started the bush moving instead of parting.

"Knew what?" Jason asked again.

The man stopped, but didn't turn around. "You are the most powerful being in this forest. You just don't know or believe it yet."

Jason at this point was sure this was not reality. He had hopes before, but this was absurd. He shook his head and walked toward the man. Stepping into the clearing, Jason witnessed the man rolling up the sleeves to his robe so they went up to his elbows. The man raised both arms high above his head towards the sky, and the air stood still. No more rustling leaves or breeze in the air. Everything was still. Jason heard a faint buzzing noise that began to grow louder. The mans hands started to emit electrical charges and before Jason knew it, he was staring at a ball of lightning in the mans hands. He held the lightning ball for just a few seconds before sending it into the sky and watching it explode overhead to reveal a completely different scene. Jason was thrown from the world he was in into the cottage again.

Jason sat up, confused, but he held something in his hand that wasn't there before. It was a book, leather bound with unbleached, parchment pages. There was no title, no contents, no nothing. Just an empty book filled with paper. Where did he get it? He didn't know, but he didn't think too much of it. He knew the dream world he hoped for was not real, and this disappointed him greatly. Still, though, he felt more at ease than ever before. Physically as well as mentally. He felt compelled to keep the book. At the very least, he could write about his experiences.

Grabbing a pen from on the table, he opened the book to the first page and started to write. He wrote one question at the top of the page, "Why was I in the forest?"

He got ready to close the book, but the words started to disappear before his eyes. Seconds later, new text appeared stating, "Because we need your help."

Jason stared at the words, stunned in disbelief at the manifested words. Just as quickly as they came, they disappeared.

Jason wrote again, "Why me?"

The book seemed to digest the words, and immediately, it rewrote, "Because you are the only one that can save this forest."

Jason thought for a second about his next reply.

"How can I help?"

"Sleep as often as you can, learn everything we will teach you, and you will have all the tools you need to save us."

Jason almost laughed at the absurdity of this situation. He couldn't believe he was talking to a book about saving a dream forest.

"I'm just a normal man." Jason wrote.

The book kept the words there this time, writing immediately after Jason's pen left the paper, "No."

All of a sudden, the book flipped to one of the middle pages where Jason was certain he didn't see any writing, and in a language he wasn't familiar with, the pages were full. Jason looked at the pages, trying to decipher it, but he couldn't. A short time later, a car pulled up out front. A tall man with a suitcase walked out of the car and toward the cottage. Opening the door, the man stepped inside to greet Jason. Inside the suitcase, there were needles filled with a clear substance. He and Jason held brief conversation before Jason handed him a wad of 20 dollar bills and took one of the syringes, shooting the clear substance through a vein in his left arm.