Wizard Dream

By J. L. Cooley

A small group of settlers successfully colonized Asalux, a planet far from Earth. More than 50 year later, nothing is as it may seem. It has been over a year since his father’s disappearance into the dark forest, and 15-year-old Josh Green continues to be haunted by dreams. Not convinced by the stories of his father’s death, he sets out on an adventure to the forest to find him. With his loyal friend Sam at his side, nothing can stop Josh from discovering the truth. He learns ancient secrets of this wondrous place and discovers much more than he could imagine, an underground world, magical creatures and even an evil wizard. To his amazement and wonder he learns of a prophecy for him and his people. Will he fulfill his destiny, or will destruction reign over his home and all those he loves?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. L. Cooley
• Release date: Jun 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311592934

J. L. Cooley

J. L. Cooley is a freelance writer of fiction. She has a BA in English, with a minor in Psychology. She is originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Her imagination is as big as the open fields she played in as a child. This, combined with her love of the unknown, contributed to her love for writing fantasy.

Book preview

Chapter One: The Dream

1

Darkness was everywhere. Such blackness that Josh could not see anything, not even his hand against his nose. He felt himself moving, walking through what felt like nothingness. But it really wasn't nothingness. There was something to this emptiness, a feeling of a familiar place. The feeling was of warmth and comfort, like being in a warm, cozy bed with a favorite blanket. No sounds could be heard. No aromas could be smelled. There was just the warmth that surrounded and engulfed his entire being. He tried to look around, maybe get a glimpse at something, anything at all. But there was nothing, not close, nor far off in some unimaginable distance. Blind and deaf!? Could it be? No. It couldn't be. I'm just in a place without sight and sound, he thought, but how could that be?

Just then he noticed a tiny sparkle of light in the distance. How far off, he could not be sure. It was so faint at first he thought that he was imagining it. After all, how could he see anything in this emptiness? He wasn't imaging it though, there it was again. It was just a speck of light that seemed to twinkle. Then out of the corner of his right eye, another yellowish light appeared. Fireflies!? But, these didn't move like any insect he had ever seen. They just floated in the dark nothingness, like specks of shiny dust on a still body of water. Now, more started to appear. They were all around him, as if in a sea of glowing yellow lights. The lights became bright enough to illuminate the area around Josh where just a moment ago was in complete darkness.

Josh blinked once, and then a second time, adjusting his eyes to this new dim light. Shadows began to appear that resembled tall dark lines reaching high into the darkness above. As the lines developed dimension, he realized what he was seeing. Trees, he thought, yes these are trees. He reached out with his right hand and touched the cold, damp moss covering the one closest to him. It felt soft and smooth on the palm of his hand. The forbidden forest, he tried to say aloud. Were his words out loud or in his head? He felt his lips move as he spoke, but there was still no sound. He could not hear his own voice. Panic struck him. I can't hear, he tried to say. Still nothing!

The feeling of warm calmness vanished instantly. His heart began to pound fast. He looked around in every direction trying to find a way, any way, out. His heart was beating faster and faster. The trees started to spin all around him. The lights no longer sparkled and floated. Now they spun like the trees. Mossy trees and yellow blinking lights flew around his head. His head spun with them. Dizzy and confused, he reached out his hands to stabilize his body; he felt it would tumble over at any second. Suddenly, everything stopped. He had steadied himself. The dizziness stopped when he saw the bright orange eyes. They stared at him as if looking through his very soul. The dizziness returned. He felt his body begin to fall, and then everything faded to blackness.

2

Josh opened his eyes. Disoriented, he blinked trying to make sense of his surroundings. The trees and lights had disappeared. In front of him was what looked like a light tan colored wall; no, not a wall, a ceiling. He was on his back. When he moved his arms, he felt his blankets and realized that he was lying in bed. It was a dream, Josh said out loud, relieved to hear his own voice. He lay there staring at the ceiling for a couple more minutes. The same dream again, he thought. What could it mean? He remembered his father telling him long ago that this was a place of vivid dreams. And everyone's means something. But his father was gone and could not help interpret his dream for him. Josh sighed, and then climbed out of bed. It was four in the morning, a little early to be up, but he knew there would be no going back to sleep now. He decided to shower quietly, dress and go to the kitchen to wait for the rest of the family to wake up.

Josh went into the kitchen. He looked at the square table with only three chairs around it. There should be a fourth chair, but his mother had removed it months earlier. He and his family would be sitting there soon, once again having an uncomfortable breakfast. He decided he did not want to start that any earlier than necessary. Instead, he looked over the sink and out the window to the tree line behind the house. It is a good morning to sit out back, he thought. He went around the table to the sliding glass door that led to the back porch. He unlocked it and very slowly opened it, trying to make as little noise as possible. There was no way he wanted to wake anyone up just yet. As he stepped out, he could feel the cool morning air on his skin. It would warm up soon to an uncomfortable temperature. And the summer would be insanely hot. But for now, he enjoyed the coolness of the spring months. Above, he could see the stars starting to fade, and the black sky begin to turn a dark blue. The stars briefly reminded him of his dream, but he quickly shook this thought. He noticed there was no moon this time of the morning.

The stars and the moon were not what interested him, of course. His passion was the forest. The woods behind his house had always fascinated him, even with the efforts of his mother to keep him away from it. He was only allowed to go a short distance into the woods behind the house, but the forest farther behind that was forbidden. Sounds too extreme, he thought. It reminded him of the many stories and fairy tales he had read when he was a young child. There was always a forbidden, enchanted or haunted forest that the hero or heroine of the story was not to enter. If entered, he or she had to take a lot of care to avoid the creatures that were within. Josh laughed. Silly stories, he thought, that is all they are. But here, on this strange new world, was a forest that really was forbidden.

It had been fenced off about ten years earlier. And now was guarded night and day, a decision made by the leaders of the settlement. What had happened in there? What had they found that is so dangerous that they will not let anyone in? His father had worked at the scientific facility, studying the forest and surrounding area. He had been in the forest many times. But whenever Josh asked him about it, his father just told him that there were many strange and wondrous things about this new planet, things that they did not understand yet; but, he would never go into any more detail. Of course, that was over a year ago, when his father was still alive. He was killed in an accident while conducting research in a far off region of Asalux, the planet on which they now called home. At least, that was what the family was told.

Josh thought differently. He knew that his father worked studying the forest, and thought something happened that the research facility was covering up. But that was just his child’s imagination, which is what his mother always told him. Don’t let your imagination get carried away with you, she would say, We have to be realistic and move on with our lives. However, under that strong motherly exterior, Josh could tell that she was suffering. Maybe she even thought that something else had happened, but couldn’t do anything about it since she had two boys for which to care. I will find out what happen, Josh thought. I know that it has something to do with the dreams. I just know it.

3

Breakfast was awkward just as Josh knew it would be. His mother made and packed lunches for Josh and John, his oh-not-so-loving brother. He and John had been pretty close before the accident. They could talk, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. However, in the last year many things had changed. Everyone copes in their own way, was what his councilor at school had said to him on the many occasions that he was required to see her over the last year. John’s way of copying was to pick on his little brother at any chance he got. It was even worse when he was around his friends, like he was showing off. Josh learned to ignore most of it, but in many cases he found that running and hiding was the best course of action. How horrible is this? He thought, I have to cope by hiding from my own brother. I guess it is better than taking another beating. Everyone copes in their own way. Yea right!

Josh had also been told that he and the family would have to find closure. This had been very difficult since there was not an actual funeral. Dr. Bishop, a scientist his father worked closely with, had said that the accident was so bad that they had not found a body. They only could hold a memorial service. Josh had his doubts. He held on to the thought that his father was not dead, just lost. One day, he would return home to his family.

His mother had put an end to such thoughts, out loud anyway. It was time to move on. After a while, she no longer spoke of her husband as possibly being alive. Moving on was what they all tried to do, although secretly Josh continued to hold on to that little bit of hope.

After eating a bowl of cereal, and avoiding any sort of eye contact or conversation, Josh grabbed the lunch his mother had packed and ran out the door. He hoped that he could beat his brother to school, and again avoid the harassment of him and his friends. Today was a lucky day, he thought. He missed John and his friends by only a few minutes. He smiled and headed off to meet Sam.

4

At school, Josh went to the regular meeting place, where he would find his best friend Sam Ramirez. He and Sam had been friends for so long that neither of them could remember the exact moment they had met. Their parents had told them that they were just too young to remember. And that was just fine with them. They could say that they had been friends forever. And that was about as close to the truth as anything.

Hey Sam, Josh called out to his friend as he came around the corner. Sam, with his head in a new book, jumped with surprise at the sound of Josh’s voice. What are you reading now?

Sam’s brown eyes lifted from the book and met those of his friend. Sam’s black hair was mostly slicked back, although he had one piece hanging down over his right eye. He wore his favorite gray sweatshirt over a pair of baggy blue jeans. Sam thought that if he wore larger clothes, he wouldn’t feel so small. Oh, just an old book I found in my father’s library. I never heard of the author though, Jules Verne? He shrugged his shoulders and scrunched his face as he asked, You ever heard of him?

No, but I think my dad would have known who he was. He liked the old books and movies from Earth, Josh replied without much enthusiasm. His mind was elsewhere at that moment. Josh had spent a lot of time studying the archives of Earth when his father was still around. However, right now he did not really care who wrote what fiction books more than three or four hundred years ago. All he cared about was telling the only person in the world who would understand about the dream he had that morning. So, guess what? You have to put down the book. This is really important.

Fine… Sorry, what is it? Sam asked, feeling surprised at his friend’s sudden excitement.

I had another dream, Josh blurted out. He had intended to lead up to it, maybe add in a little suspense. But he was so eager to tell him that he could not hold back.

Sam stared at him for a moment. The boys stood face to face and from a distance, someone would say that they were the same height, although they both knew that Josh was a quarter of an inch taller. This news was not really what he was expecting to hear. I thought you said you weren’t going to get those anymore, he questioned his friend.

That’s what the doctor said, but it was exactly the same as the ones I had last year, Josh replied.

What are you going to do about it? Sam asked, looking concerned for his friend.

The previous summer, after his father’s death, Josh had started to have what he thought of as dreams that were calling to him. The psychiatrist, whom his mother sent him to, concluded that they were induced by the sudden loss of his father. She told him that these dreams were the way his subconscious was dealing with the tragedy. Josh still thought that there was much more to the dreams. He thought that maybe his father was calling to him, or trying to tell him something. Of course, this was crazy talk according to his brother. Even his own best friend got to the point where he thought maybe Josh was losing it, although he would never say it directly. I’m not going to tell my mom this time, that’s for sure, Josh responded with determination in his voice. Last time she sent me to that doctor. And he just told me that it was because of my father’s death, part of some PTSD or something. I do not think so. Not this time.

Yea, it is probably best that you don’t tell your mom. You don’t want to go through all that again. Sam agreed. He felt a little guilty about saying this because he was Josh’s best friend, but he did not want to be the one to tell him that this was crazy.

Exactly, Josh replied. What we are going to do is explore. I am more positive than ever that there is something in that forest that I need to find.

Are you serious? There is no way of getting into the forest without getting caught. They have it fenced off all the way from the cliffs to… well I don’t know where. There is no way of getting in there, Sam said, He was the cautious one, but he also loved the thought of an adventure as much as Josh did. His question meant more that he wanted to know what Josh had in mind, rather than to say that it was not a good idea.

Josh, on the other hand, did not care that there was a chance of getting caught. He had thought about the forest and the cliffs for most of the winter. He was waiting for the weather to warm up enough to make the trip up to the cliffs. He just knew for sure that there was a way over the fence and into the forest in that direction. His theory was that when the fence was built, it was at the cliffs where they would have made a mistake, and there would be a weakness. And he was going to be the one to find it. School gets out in a couple of weeks, and that is when the adventure will begin. I am in the process of planning the trip to the cliffs. And when I’m done, we will go up there to find our way in, Josh said to his friend. He looked around to make sure that no one was listening. He did not want his brother to get wind of the plan. That is all I can say right now. We should get to class. We’ll meet later. At that, they heard the sound of the first bell that said they had five minutes to get to class. They went their separate ways both excited about what was to come over the summer.

5

The following week Josh and Sam spent most of their time in Josh’s room planning out their big adventure for the summer. Josh made sure to keep his door locked and their voices low so his brother would not be in on their little secret. That was not to say that John and his friends did not try to find out what was going on in Josh’s room. A locked door and whispered voices just begged John to snoop. After a few attempts to get in, John quickly gave up and moved on to other trouble that he could cause elsewhere. Josh really did not care what that was, as long as it did not include him or disturbing his plans.

Josh knew that something strange was going on in that forest, and he was determined to find out what it was. Sam did not feel there would be anything, but he loved an adventure. And he was willing to follow Josh to the cliffs to find what he was looking for.

Josh’s father had given him some old maps that were created while the town was set up, and included the surrounding areas. They also displayed the woods behind his house and the cliffs that lay beyond that. The edge of the map showed the forest, but there was nothing to depict what was in it. That part of the map was blank. Josh was determined to fill that part in himself. But to do that, he would have to find a way into the forest. This is where the cliffs play into the picture, he had told his friend on one of the occasions after school in his room. I think, in the process of building the fence along the edge of the forest, they may have missed something around those cliffs. There might just be a gap or some other way that we will be able to slip in.

I thought that the fence was electrified and had all kinds of security systems connected to it, Sam had asked.

Yes. This is true. But my dad told me that it is not actually electrified but more like a force field. It will give a little shock when you touch it, but will not cause too much damage. Maybe just a headache, he laughed to himself imagining someone touching it and getting a little surprise. This part he kept to himself. He continued, He also said that it only works if there is nothing blocking it. The field cannot go around or through rocks. This is what I am hoping to find. If there are any gaps between the rocks, then we can squeeze through without disturbing the surrounding field.

And without setting off the alarm on the fence, Sam added.

Exactly, Josh exclaimed a little louder than he meant to, a lot louder actually. There was no telling when and where his nosy brother was going to be spying on him and Sam, and now was probably the worst time of all. He looked cautiously towards his bedroom door. He saw no movement underneath the door, but that did not mean his trouble causing brother was not lurking somewhere beyond it. Maybe we should continue this later, when we know John is not around, he whispered to his friend.

Good idea, Sam agreed.

6

What Josh did not know at the time was how right he had been about his brother. But, he did not know from where he had been spying. Yeah, keep looking at the door, you stupid little punk. You will not find me there, John whispered to himself. Summer was about to start, and already the temperatures had risen to the point that the windows needed to be opened. Unfortunately for Josh, John had realized this, and he had not. That day John sat under his brother’s window listening to the conversation about the woods, the fence and the cliffs.

Yeah right, like you are really going to find a way in, he whispered, and almost laughed aloud. He caught himself in time, putting one hand over his mouth. He knew that Josh only thought that he was spying on him. He did not want him to