The Tales of Tarya, Books 1-3

Chapter 7 - Initiation-3

Another thought came into her head, and she knew that behind her the mass of the gelatinous ocean was taking on new form. Reluctant to turn, Mina wished she could close her eyes, but the rules of the body didn’t apply here, and suddenly she was facing that which she’d conjured.

Uncle Tonio stood there, his eyes as sad and mad as they’d ever been. One cheek was upturned slightly in the smile Mina remembered. Her heart throbbed with great leaping beats at the sight of her beloved uncle, and she ran to him and would have hugged him, but there was no substance to anything, to herself, to her uncle. As she watched, his face dissolved, and Aldo stood there, as he’d been mere nights ago, laughing, with a great goblet of mead in one hand and breast of fowl in the other.

‘Mina,’ came a voice across the silence of the plain.

At first she thought the power of her conjuring was greater than she’d realised. Then she saw stars fading into being ahead of her, and Uberto was there, a shadowy, starred Uberto, like herself, insubstantial as she in this shifting place. Inside the starry outline, she faintly saw the echo of Uberto’s features.

‘I saw you pass so swiftly beyond us,’ he said. ‘You are truly gifted. I ventured to Tarya for many years before I found this place. I knew the Place of Dreams, the Horizon, and the River of Light. Then quite by mistake I passed beyond the River once and found myself here. But it has never been easy. There has always been a cost for someone to pay. And I have never heard of another who came this far. Yet here you are, as though the other places were mere antechambers.’

‘I didn’t choose this place,’ Mina said, and realised they communicated with thoughts alone. ‘I didn’t even know it was here.’

‘Do not tell the others,’ Uberto said, and his starry outline grew brighter and larger. ‘This place is too powerful. It must be our secret. But time to return to the Place of Dreams, quickly now.’

‘I don’t know how!’

‘Reach out for a dream and you will go there. But do not think in pictures. Each person’s dream images are their own, and you may never find the specific combination they have created. No, the secret is to search for the emotions, the hopes, the fears. We all share these, though how we shape them is unique. Try, Mina. Find a dream.’

Mina found herself moving again, back to the shifting pastel plain. The other players were all there, brilliant glowing shapes against the dreamscape. This Place of Dreams extended as far as sight, and further, though its pale colours grew hazy in the distance.

‘Come,’ Uberto said, beside her again. ‘Let us try a dream of greatness, boldness, longing …’

Mina felt a tugging in her stomach, then an image caught her eye, a great ship under sail in the distance. Everything rushed past her in a breath until the boat was almost upon her, sails billowing, proud and great, with a prow carved like a most beautiful maiden. Then Mina stood on its deck, and saw the crew, all children, but tall and strong like adults.

The image of the captain wavered, shifting between being a young girl about ten, and a grown woman with dangerous eyes and flowing hair. Then the sails of the boat caught a wind and wafted away like clouds, and the boat became a grand room, carved of the same dark rose-coloured wood as the boat.

Suddenly Roberto was at Mina’s shoulder, his voice whispering in her thoughts.

‘A rare dream, this one,’ he said. ‘Probably a poor tradesman’s daughter, but her dreams could make the stage sing. A girl ship’s captain! Take the thread. The players will be pleased with such an addition to our repertoire. Quickly, the scene is changing.’

With Roberto’s promptings, Mina stepped forward and reached out to grasp the pirate girl’s thread. As she touched it, she realised the thread was gold. A jolt of energy swept through her, and in her real body she would have been knocked off her feet. An image flashed through her head, of a girl lying asleep on a straw-filled mattress, yet gasping in fright. Mina thought of Katriela, Rico’s wife, her eyes shadowed and hopeless, her face white, and the old man with the same skeletal face in another village. She saw herself, calmly taking the oath, unknowing what she was about to discover, promising to do no harm, and knew, with absolute clarity, she was about to do harm. And she felt … power. Or something beyond power. Something infinite.

She pulled her hand back instantly, expecting to see it scorched from the energy blast. She barely had time to see, with desperate relief, the dream girl’s thread was intact, before the girl dissolved in front of her, along with the grand room, her face contorting in pain.

Mina turned back to Roberto, anger flaring, to discover that in reaching for the girl she’d somehow moved far from him. Despite the distance she could see a cruel grin slashing his face. A shadow hovered behind him. He grew larger, then fled with a swiftness she couldn’t follow, the shadow chasing him. She caught a brief flash of ragged blackness, like leathery wings, before he was gone.

Then Isabella was there. ‘Why did you go near that girl?’ she asked. Her dream self was larger and brighter than her real self, the edges painted too brightly.

‘Roberto said it would be a good story,’ Mina said.

‘But she was a child. You just took the oath! I’ll have to tell Uberto.’

It dawned upon Mina then what she’d nearly done. She saw again the gasping child on the mattress, and the pain on the dissolving face of the dream girl. A thought snagged at her memory.

‘Only the silver threads,’ Isabella’s voice broke in, ‘and never children. I’ll show you.’

With the impossibly swift movements of this dream place they were suddenly near a young dream woman who was surrounded by suitors, each falling over themselves to gain her favour.

‘This type of dream is perfect for the Inamorata,’ Isabella said, and reached out a star shadowed arm, catching a cluster of silver threads. At her touch, the dream image melted away completely. Isabella now held a handful of threads. Slowly they twisted together into the shape of a ball, its silver surface shifting like oil on water. Mina saw within the sphere the dream image that had just disappeared. She reached out a hand to touch it, and when she made contact with the swirling silver she saw, in her head, another girl, lying asleep. As Mina watched, the girl’s skin faded swiftly to a terrible pallor, and she woke and looked around herself with eyes deadened by shadows.

Mina felt a desperate urge to leave this place, before she did damage. She had an unshakeable sense that something was dreadfully wrong, and until she could discover what, she mustn’t return. She thought of herself as a good person, but she had nearly done a great wrong, without thought. It would have been so simple.

Like a bird caught in a wild wind, Mina was swept away. She whirled at impossible speeds across the plain of stars and cobwebs, then stood once more in her own body. Yet something was different. She felt everything. The world around her breathed. She sensed the threads of life and destiny and energy that connected her to everyone and everything else. She felt if she just stayed like this, she would understand. She felt certain anything she did right now would be wonderful, whether it were to sing a song or draw a picture or even take on a character like the other players.

Swept up in these wondrous sensations, she was shocked when she slipped back into her own being completely, with a sudden movement that was no movement at all. The weight of her limbs overpowered her, and she struggled for a second to remain standing. Then Mama Tina was there, supporting her, and removing her mask.

‘It’s always hard, early on,’ Mama Tina said. ‘You’re not used to such travel.’

Mina still stood within the circle of players. No one else had returned yet—she could tell by their eyes. Jal, Isabella, and Ciro had their eyes open, but they were blank behind the false, pliable half-warmth of their leather masks. Eerily, the masks had merged into the faces underneath.

Uberto shook himself and removed his mask. His eyes flecked and moved in the starlight, a kaleidoscope. They reminded Mina of the strange lights and colours of the land she’d just fled.

‘I nearly broke the oath,’ Mina said.

Uberto nodded. ‘But you didn’t.’

‘No. I nearly touched a gold thread too.’

‘But again, you didn’t. Mina, you have done nothing wrong. There is no danger in Tarya, you could have done no great harm.’

But his eyes were masked.

‘Cristina, my darling,’ Uberto continued, ‘I must tell you quickly before the others return. Mina created illusions out of the Sea.’

Mama Tina clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp. Then she came forward and took both Mina’s hands in her own.

‘This will open doorways for playing none of us can begin to imagine. Oh, Uberto! Teach her well. Think what the two of you may discover! Mina, because of you, playing will be held in higher regard than storytelling.’

‘Calm down, dear heart,’ Uberto said. ‘I too see great potential here, but we must be cautious. All we have worked for … But look, the others return. We will keep this secret for now. You must not speak of anything beyond the River, Mina!’

All around, the players’ masks were transforming, melting from faraway faces back to the familiar, bold carvings of the characters. One by one, they removed their masks, looking out of distant eyes at first, before returning to self again. All turned to Mina.

Dario looked at her and smiled his ready smile, his dark eyes glinting with laughter. Mina found herself caught up in the strong, straight lines of his face and the smile playing around his full lips. Heat washed over her face.

‘I am sure she did well,’ Ciro said, looking at her sadly, the usual hunger gone. ‘I did not see her, but I was seeking the nether lands of Tarya, as I often do.’

Roberto sneered. ‘Drawn to the dark dreams, as always.’

Ciro looked down, and Mina caught a flicker of a cruel smile on Roberto’s face.

‘Mina’s gifts will bring glory to us all. Ah, do not be jealous, my dear Isabella,’ Uberto smiled, holding his hand up in a motion to stop Isabella’s pouting. ‘Your gifts and hers are very different. You will complement each other like the day and the night. Neither can be without the other, for the gifts and beauty of one make the other shine all the brighter.’

A great rumbling noise began, and Uberto looked around, at first disturbed. Then a grin swept across from cheek to cheek, and he bowed one of his low bows.

‘It seems Master Jal has a most important point to add!’

As he beckoned again at the young man, the rumble came again, and all realised at the same time that it was Jal’s stomach. Laughter broke the solemnity of the night.

‘No more thoughts of Tarya tonight,’ Uberto concluded. ‘Let us return to our magnificent, interrupted feast. Time to eat, and remember our dear friend Aldo.’

~

After the night’s adventures, the players didn’t awaken until early afternoon the next day, stumbling downstairs into the tavern. Pregnant Alina patiently served trays of dense, dark bread, with honey like liquid sunshine to be drizzled over it, and milk, warm and frothy. As each finished this simple meal, Mama gave them a task. It was a day for repairs and restoration. Uberto was nowhere to be seen.