¤ Vehya's story ¤

part 2: Journey of the mind

by Neishai

"It all started with a dream. I was floating, spinning, almost in a fetal position…"

It was like a vortex, swirled with liquid-blue, the white of a sun, and velvet-black. There were lightning-bolt streaks of electric-purple. Maybe it was a black hole, or a wormhole, maybe even a drain.

As she spun ever closer to the center with each successive rotation, she waved her arms and legs helplessly. She had no wings…Where are my wings? she cried.

Or had she spoken? The words echoed in her mind but she could not hear, she realized. Or rather, she could hear all of nothing, or none of everything. Like the landscape around her, it was utterly confusing. It was as if she were a spider in a toilet bowl, but there were no walls. There was no pipe leading out; she was not on the surface of water, yet she was not inside anything. The motion was nauseating, but she had no urge to throw-up. She was dizzy, but her surroundings were already spinning.

If only I had my wings…If I had wings I'd… She'd what? Fly? Fly where? Up? Down? Was there anywhere to go?

"Then there was…a spark. I am not sure how to describe it, but… It was like…a flash that went through my eyes and my brain when I saw it. The feeling shot down my neck and my heart leapt within my chest. It was as if I knew him. Her. It."

There was a white spark, shaped like lightning and fire. It was bright, brighter then the white swirling about the vortex, but easier to look upon. It was a warm light, a friendly light…an affectionate light.

Stopping near the edge of the vortex, if there had been one, the wisp regarded her. All around it the vortex rippled and flashed in white, purple, and the palest of yellows. She was not sure if the vortex was resisting, or if there was some sort of static charge between them, or if the wisp was like a stone in a pond. But it was all happening so very quickly, she could not really consider it, only watch.

Vehya had the impression of the wisp smiling, or laughing, but she saw no face and heard no voice. Immediately it seemed to dance in place, then shot straight for her, seemingly unaffected by the pull. It hopped around near her head. For an instant it looked like a pair of angel wings…and then it took a hold of her hands and they were spinning about on an axis between the two of them. Ring around the rosie… The wisp was laughing and giggling and it was all a game. She didn't know why, but she was laughing too, with pure and joyous abandon. The laughter was so infectious!

Then, before she knew it, they were free of the spinning death that was the vortex. Colors still swirled about them, but there was no danger of being swept away. Vehya looked around in wonder. The vortex was far in the distance and had no hold on her any longer.

She looked at the wisp she somehow knew and realized that it had saved her. It was hovering, still holding fast to her hands, which wasn't physical at all. It was more like a warm blanket had wrapped itself around her hands and was working its way up her arm. It "smiled" again and bounced from side to side and seemed to be singing in that non-voice. It was fluent, a long string of dialogue in a voice that was beautiful yet unlike any she had heard.

I don't understand.

There was the voice, more forceful but only with insistence. Blinking, frowning, Vehya watched it go. It backed up, beckoning, but somehow she knew that she was not to follow right away, but soon.

Soon…

Follow me…

Vehya's body jolted awake with a start. She had fallen asleep meditating; sitting with her legs folded underneath her, they had gone numb and she had almost fallen over on the floor. She looked around the room with intensity fueled by adrenaline. Seeing that she was alone in her room, she relaxed and worked the circulation back into her legs.

¤ ¤ ¤

"In the days to come, there are three words I heard it say over and over: Cy…home…Terra. Maybe they are the names of people, I don't know, but as time has passed, this … presence … has become more insistent. It beckons me all the time, and seems to be pulling from one direction in particular.

"And I've come to understand that the vortex in my "dream" was actually something occurring on the astral plane. It was something that if I had not been rescued, I may never have found my way back to my body. I feel like I need to find out where it is. I'm not sure if it needs my help or what, but I almost feel…like I want to go."

She watched first the horror in Omajinai and Vera's eyes, followed by two separate expressions all together. Omaji looked like he had seen this coming. Had he seen the wisp too? She had no recollection of him ever mentioning something like this. Vera seemed suspicious, not of Vehya certainly. In fact, she was suspicious of this creature, whatever it was, that it might try to take advantage of their daughter. Omajinai squeezed her shoulder with reassurance. Somehow he did not think that this creature had malicious intentions, but they still needed to exercise caution.

"So what do you think I should do?"

"Well," Vera said after much thought, "I think we definitely need to look into this." She broke free of Omajinai's grasp and began to slowly pace the floor. "It seems to me I remember hearing something about Cy Dragonstake over on Dracania. They were tied somehow to Earth, which is another name for the planet Terra."

"Isn't that where you're originally from?"

"Yup. That I am. And your father has roots there too. His mother is an Asian dragon," she nodded, speaking matter-of-factly.

Omaji nodded too. "I think that we should make a trip out to Cy. If nothing else, we can see what links the two together. Then, if warranted, perhaps we can take a little tour of our home…" The emphasis on this last word was very subtle, but noticeable on a subconscious level.

Vehya held her breath for a few heartbeats. Cy. Terra. Home. This context sounded about right. She looked at her mother, who looked rather excited, then nodded. "That is the way I feel pulled."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get packed!"

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