The Endërland Chronicles: Book of Serena: The Endërland Chronicles, #2

By Ed Marishta

Twenty years after he first visited Endërland, Daniel and his friends find themselves on a new quest. His daughter, Serena, has gone missing and he, Hëna, Nemo and Séraphin set out to look for her. Their journey takes them out of their dreamworld, to new places and new adventures, where they meet old legends and make new friends. But evil once again threatens to destroy them and everything they know and love, now wearing a new name and a familiar face. Will they be able to fight a prophecy as old as time, find Serena and save their worlds, again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ed Marishta
• Release date: Sep 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310840999

Ed Marishta

Ed Marishta was born and raised in the small town of Gramsh, in Albania. He grew up with a very active imagination, which he would usually put to work creating stories and sharing them with others. As early as 10 years old, Ed tried to write his first piece, a fantasy story about a little boy with psychic powers, which he titled "The Adventures of Ren". Sadly, that manuscript was lost and he never got to finish it, or any other work until many years later, when he picked up working again on several different projects. He would say he does not consider himself a writer and will probably never make this his profession, but he loves telling stories. 'The Endërland Chronicles' is the first finished work he publishes, mostly for his own pleasure and as fulfilment of a promise made. He is currently working on a new project, different from "The Endërland Chronicles", and hopes he'll be able to finish and publish it soon. Stay tuned for more news.

Book preview

The

ENDËRLAND

Chronicles

Volume II

‘BOOK OF SERENA’

Ed Marishta

Gramsh 2016

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

The Endërland Chronicles: Book of Serena -- 1st edition.

Cover by Erika Giselle Santiago

Copyright © 2016 Ed Marishta

ISBN13: 9781310840999

For everyone who has gifted me a part of their heart,

and made a home out of mine.

Contents

Prologue

The Other World

Beyond

Open Horizons

Old Friends and New

A Turn for the Worse

Fight or Flight

Down the Rabbit Hole

Through the Looking Glass

Blood and Fall

Volume III: Preview

Prologue

"He who battles with monsters, should see to it that he himself does not become one.

For when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

Beyond Good and Evil

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Void, the place beyond all worlds, real or dream-made, where time does not exist, light has always been absent, and where life as we know it was never cradled. It used to be nothing but a dark and empty space. Used to. Seething with unspeakable rage and malice, a lone spirit now lurks between the borders of all existing worlds, locked out for all eternity and unable to gain entry into any one of them.

How it came to be there and how long ago, no one knows. Even less is known of what it is and what it really wants. It can only be assumed that it is nothing good. Those very few souls that have had the great misfortune of sensing its presence from whichever world they dwelled in, ended up losing their minds, or worse. All, but one. He never knew if it was luck or something else that spared him from that same fate, but he was thankful that he was allowed to live and tell the tale, if only just once.

He spoke of a frightening presence weighing hard down his entire being, pushing with all its might to get inside his mind, while his body ached like it was being crushed under the weight of a mountain. He spoke of his own lust and greed of things and people manifesting a thousand times stronger than he had ever felt them. He spoke of anger and wrath wanting to explode and erupt like a lava breathing volcano that purges with fire everything in its path. He spoke of an evil so powerful and so terrifying, that no man could survive it and no world could contain it. He spoke of this only once, and then he spoke of it no more.

He went on to live his life, thankful for each day of grace, and that the spirit was locked away in The Void forever. But he never forgot.

Chapter 1

The Other World

The moon was high up in the middle of the sky as Serena gazed from her bedroom window. She loved looking at the moon every night; it was big, and round, and it always shone so bright. It made her feel like she could reach up, climb on it and ride in the sky all through the night, looking at the world below. But she knew that wasn’t possible. She envied Élena, the daughter of Summer, who had taken over the job after the Dark Winter.

When she was little, she would ask her mom to tell her all about it; what it was like to be among the stars and shine down all over Endërland when it used to be her up there. And her mom would talk for hours and hours until she’d fall asleep. Sometimes her dad would sit down with them and join in the stories, telling her how the two of them had met, and how they had fought in the Big War and won. She used to love listening to those stories.

She was too old now to waste time with that stuff; tomorrow would be the eighteenth autumn since she had been born. She did not want to spend her life indoors; she wanted to get out there, experience the whole world and travel to the farthest reaches of the kingdom. But everyone kept telling her that there was nowhere to go. There had to be something beyond the ocean, or on the other side of the Northern Mountains; the world did not just end there, did it?

Moving away from the window and leaving it open so she could watch the moon from her bed, she got ready for sleep. Her parents had already turned in for the night.

She wasn’t really looking forward to tomorrow. Yes, her dad was sure to have prepared some special surprise for her, like he always did, but other than that, she knew it would be just another day in Endërland. And she felt like something was really missing, like she had yet to uncover her purpose in life.

Determined to do something about it, she slipped inside the covers and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would be a new day; she would make sure of it. It took her a while, but eventually her body relaxed enough, and she fell asleep.

But this would not be like every other dreamless night for her; this one would be different. When next she opened her eyes, she had to close and open them again, unable to believe what she saw. She did that a few more times, but every time she opened them, she saw the same thing; a cloudy sky above her, instead of the familiar ceiling of her bedroom. She felt a chill run through her body and realized she was lying down on a very cold and hard surface. She stood up, barefoot as she was, and looked around. She did not recognize this place.

She appeared to be standing on top of a very tall house, built with large flat stones and mirrors. She almost felt dizzy from being so high up. All around her she saw many other similar buildings, but most of them were smaller, pretty much like usual houses. There were so many streets between them, with so many weird coaches that moved really fast and without any horses dragging them. Pillars of smoke rose up from several places in the city, while in the sky, giant metallic birds flew very high.

Fear gripped her now, not knowing where she was or how she got here. How would she go back home? What would mom and dad think when they would not find her in her room in the morning?

Stepping back from the edge of the terrace she was on, she heard a door creak open behind her, and a voice calling her name.

‘Serena?’

She turned around and saw a young man approaching with careful steps. He had short brown wavy hair, kind hazel eyes, and a silly smile on his face. He was taller than her, with broad shoulders, and an athletic body, wearing strange clothes. He appeared to be about the same age as her. Stopping halfway from the door to her, he said with a gentle tone.

‘Hi. I’m Freddie. I’m here to help you.’

The ocean lay wide and endless before him, colouring in its glorious blue all that the eye could see. Far in the horizon where it met the sky, it took on a purple hue, courtesy of the sun that had just crossed over to the other side for the day. Closer to him, below the cliff and right under his feet, Tálas still buzzed with the noise and movement of its numerous habitants, the majority fair-skinned and red-haired. The city had grown even bigger since the first time Daniel had seen it. A long time had passed since then, almost twenty years by human reckoning, though it did feel considerably longer in Endërland. And yet, no matter how often Daniel visited, he always remained awestruck by its splendour and beauty.

Today, however, he wasn’t quite so concerned with his surroundings. Clutching in his hands a small wooden box with a red ribbon tied around it, Daniel seemed deeply lost in troubled thoughts. He’d been living in this wonderful world for almost twenty earth years now, twenty blissful and happy years that had felt like at least two long and amazing lifetimes.

After the Great War, the kingdom had rebuilt itself anew; life picking up where it had left off as if nothing had really changed. But, of course, plenty had. The sky-people and the mermaids both had kings now, instead of their former queens. The Lord of winter had also been replaced, as had the Lightbringers. And most importantly, the Great Lord was finally back, and the whole kingdom felt all the safer and happier for it. Peace and joy were once again the norm in Endërland, made even more precious by the gloomy memory of the Dark Winter. But to the good people and its rulers that’s all it was, a memory and a lesson of how to live and appreciate life and goodness even more.

These had been the best years of his life, and Daniel would not have changed anything about it, nor done anything differently. He’d cherished every single day like it was a gift, which he was convinced it was, and had rejoiced in the new peace and freedom that the kingdom had enjoyed ever since. He’d even allowed himself to be cautiously optimistic, hoping that history would not somehow repeat itself. Deep inside, however, he’d known that as long as people lived, evil would always find a way in, and that his dreamworld would not be safe forever.

And now, he was sure of it.

Serena had been missing for three days now; three long days of anguish and torment during which he’d had no news of her whatsoever, and no clue as to what might have happened. Old memories and wounds of his older brother being kidnapped had resurfaced all over again, and he dreaded what would follow. He sensed nothing but dark days ahead, and he hoped with all his might that he was wrong. He did not want history repeated and Endërland going through another turmoil; not after all they had been through.

But maybe he was getting ahead of himself. For all he knew, Serena was just hiding somewhere or had chosen to run off in one of those adventures she always dreamed of going. She’d probably come back soon and they’d all laugh about this, sitting down by the fire again, and listening to her new fictional tales.

But if that was true, then why had she not left them a note or something, so that they would not worry? It wasn’t like her to be so irresponsible; they had raised her better than that. And more importantly, why couldn’t he sense her presence anymore? He’d always been able to, from the first day she’d come into their wonderful, renewed world; just like he could feel his mother’s, Damien's, and even Hëna’s ever since the two had become one. As much as he hated it, this could only mean one thing, she was no longer in Endërland.

By what means she’d left though, he had no way of knowing. Élios and Élena – their current sun and moon - constantly guarded Endërland from the sky, and they had witnessed nothing and no one suspicious in the few days leading to, or following her disappearance. Had she run off somewhere on her own, they would have seen her. Plus, even if she had, where would she have gone? How would she have left the kingdom? The only way he knew someone could leave Endërland was through a Visitor’s portal, but he knew of no other Visitor apart from his brother. The fact that Damien continued to visit them daily ruled that theory out. And if there were any other Visitors who had come to Endërland recently, he had no knowledge of them.

No, he suspected something else was happening here. It was unprecedented, and he had no way of confirming this theory, but he didn’t think it a coincidence that Serena disappeared on the night of what would have been her 18th birthday. Just like anyone else in Endërland, she had never been able to dream. Since this had always been the case in this world, Daniel had never thought anything of it. But what if she was like him? What if she was also a Dreamer, and on that night, she’d had her first dream and gone off somewhere else? He knew by now there were other worlds out there, and Dreamers could always create their own, completely new in most cases.

But even if that was what had happened to her, that still did not explain her body missing. He’d always left his body behind whenever he’d visited Endërland in his dreams. But Serena had actually, physically left this world, and he had no idea how or where she might have gone.

After the first couple of days worrying and waiting for her to return, Daniel had finally decided to come and consult the oracle. He was the only person who knew more than anyone at this point, and Daniel desperately needed help in finding his baby girl.

He’d been sitting outside the little house on the cliff for a while now, waiting for the oracle to come back home. Hëna had left him alone, choosing instead to stay inside with Veronica and help with the dinner preparations. It was just too painful for the two of them to be alone right now, and she could really use the distraction.

The sky eventually turned a darker shade of grey and the lamps below in Tálas began to light up one after the other, quietly transforming the landscape before him. Daniel wanted to appreciate the view, but his ever-growing anxiety allowed him to do nothing else but worry about his only daughter.

From the moment she was born, Serena had never left his sight. His heart ached as he thought back to all the times he had taken her in his arms and held her close to him; all the times he’d wiped her tears whenever she would fall down and graze her knees. Or her wide little eyes as she intently listened to him repeat the war stories over and over again, every time enchanted just like the first time. Even now that she was all grown up and had turned into a beautiful young woman, the spitting image of her mother, in his eyes she was still just his little girl, and he missed her terribly.

He now understood unequivocally what his parents had been through with Damien and him, the past choices of his mother, and the overprotective behaviour of his father. In just these past few days he’d earned a newfound love and respect for both of them. For the first time in his life he really knew what it was like to fear for the loss of a child, and he decided there was no worse feeling. He wished so desperately that he had them close now, even though he knew there was little, if anything at all, they could do to help. It had been a very long time since he had felt so helpless and desperate, and he really hated the feeling. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

He was relieved when the oracle finally returned home, not long after sundown. He joined Daniel outside the little house, and they sat together overlooking the city on the sea, like they often did.

Alfie had not changed one bit in all these years, looking exactly the same as the first time Daniel had met him; an unassuming small man, who once was lord and creator of this entire world.

Daniel himself had changed little for that matter. Even though twenty years had passed in the real world, he barely looked a couple of years older than he was when he first came to Endërland. He could now at least pass for a young man in his early twenties. Hëna would often tease him about that, saying that at this rate, his great-grandchildren would definitely look older than him. Daniel would agree and then laugh along with her; but he was still proud of looking a bit older. He liked to attribute that little maturation to the fact that he had to play father to a spirited daughter like Serena.

Beside him, the oracle shifted in place, arranging himself into a better sitting position.

‘How’re you holding up?’ he asked, a simple enough question that somehow never heralded an easy answer.

‘How do you think?’ Daniel replied without looking at him. ‘I’m scared, Alfie, scared as I’ve never been in my entire life. I’m trying not to come apart in front of Hëna, but I can barely hold it together anymore. I don’t know what to do. Please tell me you got something for us; you’re our only hope.’

He now fixed his eyes on the oracle, desperate and begging for some good news.

‘I’m surprised you did not come to me right away,’ the oracle said, more as a way of buying time.

‘Well, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to. I was hoping this was all just a bad dream that we would wake up from any minute. Besides, it’s not like you live next door to us, you know? And, unlike you, I can hardly appear wherever I want, whenever I want to.’

The oracle smiled apologetically.

‘You know I can only do that from one world to another, never in here. But you could, if you really wanted to; technically, you still are the Great Lord.

‘Anyway,’ he quickly added, returning to the subject at hand. ‘I’m afraid I will have to disappoint you guys. I have nothing to share but suppositions and theories, and even those are premature and unfounded at this point.’

Daniel looked on with dread practically sculpted on his still young face.

‘What do you mean?’

The oracle continued, seemingly uneasy to share what he was about to.

‘You know I work with the Order of the Guardians, yes?’

Daniel nodded with his head.

‘I know I haven’t told you much about it in the past, but if you bear with me for a second, I’ll try to make this brief. My role in the Order is pretty much to keep an accurate and up to date record of all existing and new dreamworlds and Dreamers. And that is only made possible because of the ability I have to sense when a new world is created and added to the pantheon of all the existing ones. Each one of them has a distinct feel or scent to it - call it a mark or a signature if you will - that is unique to that world alone and its creator. I don’t know how to explain it properly, but I can sense this signature, and that is how I manage to match the Dreamer with the world they have created.

‘Sometimes, several Dreamers can share the same signature; this usually tends to happen when descendants of the same bloodline are connected to the same world, like Endërland and everyone from our bloodline. But as you know, there can be exceptions. It’s rare, but sometimes, someone not of the bloodline can bear the signature that connects them to a world, thus allowing them to gain entry into it. And sometimes, someone from the bloodline can alter their signature and create their own world, so that their connection to their initial dreamworld is severed, and a new one is created instead. This is what happened with Sam and New Endërland, as you well know.’

The oracle stopped for a moment to make sure Daniel was following. He was, albeit confusingly. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what he was hearing, he just couldn’t see where Alfie was going with this, and what it all had to do with Serena. The oracle guessed as much, so he continued to explain.

‘Recently, there have been some very unusual developments in what we call the Dream Realm. Several new worlds have been created just in the past few seasons, only they seem to belong to no one I know. They all bear the same signature, which means that they were created by the same person, something that doesn’t usually happen, only we don’t know who that person might be.

‘As you well know, Dreamers come from long bloodlines that are well known to the Order, so I’ve only had to keep an eye on a handful of people really. Ours is one of those bloodlines, but I thought Endërland had seen the last of the Visitors with you and Damien. He and Sam never became parents, and Serena is a child of this world, so I never thought…, until now. Assuming there aren’t any new ones I don’t know about out there, and I don’t think there are, being a Dreamer, is about the only explanation for Serena’s disappearance that makes sense to me.’

‘So, she’s a Dreamer, so what? Stranger things have happened, Alfie.’

‘You don’t understand, Daniel. This has never happened before; no child born of this world or any other world in this realm can ever dream, let alone travel to another dreamworld.’

‘So, what does this mean, then?’ Daniel asked, confused.

The oracle took a deep breath, before speaking again.

‘There is a prophecy, very old and spoken long before my time, one that very few still believe it might come true. It tells of the arrival of a Dreamer so powerful, that he or she will be able to change even the real world. No one has ever been able to do that, Daniel; whatever power Dreamers have, it is confined to their own dreamworld, the one they have created. Never the real world!’

‘And you think this all-powerful Dreamer is Serena? Why?’

‘When you first came of age and started to dream, I thought it might actually be you, Daniel. You come from the greatest bloodline in history after all, with a Dreamer in every generation, three, if we include Sam and Damien. And the way you broke through the restrictions I’d put in place to keep you out of Endërland, the way you changed and affected life here, and made it your creation and your world, taking over from me; I’d never seen it before. But all that just meant that you and I were much more alike than I’d thought possible, and that you and Endërland were meant for each other.

‘But what Serena seems to have achieved, to actually, physically leave the dreamworld she was born in; that is beyond anything I’ve ever seen or even thought possible. She is not supposed to have that kind of power, Daniel, and unless there is some other explanation for it, then my money is on the prophecy.’

Daniel fixed his gaze on the horizon before him, his eyes following a pair of seagulls flying far above the sea.

‘Alright, let’s suppose you’re right for a moment. Let’s suppose Serena is this great Dreamer of the prophecy; what now? Where do I go from here, Alfie? How do I find her?’

‘This is uncharted territory for us both, Daniel, and what I know is very little. Even less is what I can do or advise you to do.’

‘Is there nothing at all you can tell me?’ Daniel sounded frustrated, but the oracle took no offense. He knew all too well the anguish Daniel was dealing with.

‘I have no way of knowing that my theory is valid; it’s just the most logical conclusion I can come to. But if you’re convinced that Serena is not here, and there has been no sign of her leaving the kingdom by any other means, then I believe I am right.’

‘Then the question is, where would she have gone? Where is she now?’

With sadness in his eyes, sure that he would have to disappoint his friend once again, the oracle replied.

‘That, I do not have the answer to. She could be in any one of the hundreds of worlds out there, Daniel, and I have no way of knowing which one.’

‘That doesn’t help me much, Alfie.’

‘I know, my friend, but I got nothing else for you right now. I need you to be patient and give me some more time. I will get in touch with all the Dreamers I know, if I must, and inquire of her. Maybe someone knows or has seen something.’

‘And what am I supposed to do in the meantime, just sit and wait? Do you have any idea what’s it like for us to sit here and do nothing, while my daughter is out there all alone and quite possibly in danger?’

‘I could tell you that I do, but you might not believe me,’ the oracle replied, still speaking gently, despite Daniel’s frustration and raised voice. ‘I could also tell you that there’s nothing you can do right now, but you don’t want to hear that either. So, against my better judgment, I'm gonna tell you about the only other option I can think of, but I will have to strongly advise against it, Daniel.’

‘Whatever it is, we’ll do it.’

The words came from behind them, and it made them both jump and turn around at once. Hëna had approached silently and was now standing above her husband. Like Daniel, she had changed very little, and time had left no visible marks on her. She was still breathtakingly beautiful, with her big black eyes and pure white skin still radiating youth and light as if she’d never stopped being a lightbringer. Even after all this time, Daniel's heart never failed to skip a bit at the sight of her approaching.

‘Hëna,’ the oracle stood up. Daniel followed. ‘I haven’t even told you what it is you’d have to do yet, and what you risk.’

‘Would you stop and think of the risks if it was your child, Alfie?’ she asked. Her long black hair was left free to dance in the wind.

‘I guess not,’ the oracle answered. ‘Still, it is my responsibility to inform you properly of everything that is involved if you are to do this.’

‘Then inform us,’ she said again, as Daniel put one arm over her shoulder, drawing her to him.

The oracle looked at the both of them and saw the determination in their eyes. He knew then they would not be dissuaded, and wished he hadn’t said anything in the first place, but it was already too late.

‘There is something I haven’t told you before,’ he began, ‘something that very few Dreamers and even fewer members of the Order are aware of. I learned a while back that some dreamworlds can be connected to each other when their creators are in some way related in the real world, more than by just blood. I mean that in a geographical sense. I don’t know how or why that is, but when two Dreamers have a strong connection to each other, sometimes that connection extends beyond the confines of the real world, and brings their two dreamworlds together, so that they physically interconnect. Don’t ask me how, but I know for a fact that Endërland is connected to at least two other worlds. I believe that if you were to travel far enough in the right direction, you might be able to cross into either one of them.’

‘But how can that be? We’re talking about jumping from world to world here, and you’re making it sound like interstate travel.’

‘Daniel, very few dreamworlds are as big and as populated as Endërland; most of them are quite small and confined. The Dreamer’s mind is usually quite passive, and it limits itself greatly when it comes to creating and populating the dreamworld.’

‘Are you saying that we can actually leave Endërland and cross into another world if we wanted to?’ asked Hëna.

‘I’m saying it’s a possibility, yes. If your connection to Serena is strong enough, and if these bordering worlds are her creation, you might be able to visit them yourself. But you would have to find the crossing point, that place where Endërland and these other worlds meet.’

‘Then, what are we waiting for?’ Daniel asked, hope suddenly lighting up a fire inside of him. ‘We need to get moving.’

‘It is not as simple as that, Daniel,’ the oracle stopped him. ‘There are so many reasons for me to strongly advise against this, that I don’t even know where to start. First, we have no way of knowing who these neighbouring worlds were created by. I’ve never claimed to have knowledge of all the living Dreamers; anyone could be behind this. In the best-case scenario, their creator is friendly, and Serena has somehow travelled to one of them, and your connection is strong enough to lead you to her. But you would still need to travel blind, for who-knows how long, hoping you’d find the crossing point without getting lost, and that might take an entire season, or an eternity. There’s no guarantee that you would ever find it.

‘And in a not-so-good-case scenario, you might end up crossing into a world which is not so friendly, and I cannot even imagine the dangers you might face if that happens. Worse yet, you might get lost in some long-forgotten world that might still be connected to this one, with possibly no way of sustaining life and unable to find your way back. The possibilities are endless, and one scarier than the other, Daniel. I cannot in good conscience advise you to do this; it’s as good as suicide.’

‘You’ve made your point loud and clear, Alfie, and I appreciate that. But now allow me to make mine just as clear. Sitting here, doing nothing and waiting for this nightmare to end, while our baby is somewhere out there, most likely in danger and in need of her parents, is simply out of the question. What kind of a father would I be if I didn’t try every way possible to get my daughter back?’

‘And what would happen if she were to suddenly return, only to find that you two are gone and might never find your way back home?’

‘Well, I’m hoping she will find at least one of us here, if she returns,’ Daniel turned now to face Hëna, hoping against hope that she would agree. But, of course, he knew her better than that. That strange and beautiful gleam in her eyes, the one he had fallen in love with from the very first day, was still there, as bright and stubborn as always.

‘I love you, Dan, but if you think that I’m gonna sit here all by myself, while you’re out there searching for our baby; and she’s who-knows where, all alone and afraid, then you don’t know me as well as you think you do.’

Daniel smiled and kissed her on the tip of her nose. His bright green eyes always lit up when he smiled at her like that, full of adoration and love.

‘Actually, I think I know you pretty well, which is how I knew you’d say that. But you can’t blame me for trying, can you?

‘Well then,’ he turned to the oracle again, ‘it’s settled. We’re both going. And if Serena returns while we’re away, then at least she’ll be safe, and she’ll know that her parents love her so much that they didn’t sit back and left her in the hands of fate.’

The oracle shook his head in dismay.

‘All this time, and you are both still as stubborn and reckless as the first day I met you. I guess there is nothing I can say to make you change your mind?’

‘You would do the same if you were in our shoes, Alfie.’

‘Yeah, I guess I would,’ the oracle surrendered. ‘Alright then, I will do my best to help set you on your way, but I really hope you understand what you’re getting yourself into. You might never return from this, you know?’

‘If there’s even a slight chance that we might get our baby back, it will all be worth it, Alfie.’

The oracle shook his head again, completely resigned to the fact that they had made up their minds and there was no stopping them. The only thing he could