Sarlak's Revenge: Dream Fighter Chronicles Book Two

By Calvin Locke

Six months have passed since the Dream Fighters discovered their secret powers. They succeeded in holding off the Gorgon attack. Now, they must fulfill their destiny and defeat Sarlak.Nothing ever goes as planned.

They dream of an impossible battle, the group separated and facing defeat. Fear is Sarlak's greatest weapon. Will the Dream Fighters be able to join together and defeat Sarlak and their fears?

They must train hard at the academy to develop their powers. Haley can fly, Jack can stop time. Braden will learn a hidden 'Higher Power' which might just save them all. But will it be enough?

First their leader falls in battle. Then, they face betrayal and must fight one of their own. Sarlak's secret identity will be revealed. Faced with a tremendous Gorgon invasion and the loss of those they trusted, the Dream Fighters must join together in order to
stop Sarlak once and for all.

Filled with action and excitement, Book Two of the Dream Fighter Chronicles will keep you at the edge of your seat. It's a twist on the classic hero's tale, one both young and old will enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Misak
• Release date: Jan 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215235485

Book preview

The Dream Fighter Chronicles

THE DREAM FIGHTER CHRONICLES:

The Sarlak Trilogy:

Book One: Discovery!

Book Two: Sarlak’s Revenge

Book Three: United They Stand

The Zyrvie Conflict Trilogy

Book Four: The Nowhere Kids

Book Five: Hearts Burst Into Fire Book Six: The Heroes Among Us

The Virium Saga

New Dawn

SARLAK’S REVENGE

BOOK TWO OF THE DREAM FIGHTER CHRONICLES

by

calvin locke

DREAMWORLD BOOKS—AN EMPIRE STRIKES PRESS IMPRINT

NEW YORK

The Dream Fighter Chronicles Book Two:

Sarlak's Revenge

A Dream Worlds Book / December 2016

All rights reserved.

Copyright  2015, 2016 by John Misak

BOOK DESIGN BY JOHN MISAK

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: Empire Strikes Press.

This novel is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places, incidents, dialogue and plot are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is purely coincidental.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Chapter 1

Haley stood at the edge of a high cliff. The wind blew through her blonde hair, whipping it all around her face. She swiped it away from her eyes, then took a deep breath, filling her lungs. She had been here before; Danny had taught her to fly from this very spot. Back then he told her she had to trust herself, and what better way to learn than by launching herself off a cliff? What scared her back then now gave her comfort, and she came whenever she needed time away from training to relax.

That happened often, lately.

She stepped closer to the edge, looking down at the valley below. Very little existed there; just some dirt and two small trees in what looked like an endless desert. She turned her back to the valley, looked up at the clear blue sky, and fell backward. The same sensation she always felt when she did this came to her. First, a feeling of fear, of not being sure she could actually fly, and then the rush of excitement that ran from her stomach to the tips of her fingers and toes. She felt the air swoosh past her, the ground coming toward her, and then, she took control.

Out of the backward dive, she turned, and with a force stronger than the wind rushing at her, she shot through the air, flying free. She’d never felt something so completely exhilarating before this. She felt more alive than she ever did, more connected to the world around her. It was better than she ever thought. It was perfect.

Haley floated for a little while, taking the time to enjoy the feeling of cutting through the air. It had taken a lot of time for Danny to help her perfect her ability. He could be difficult at times but she learned how to appreciate his methods. A few times she complained to herself about the training, that she wanted to give up, but it all seemed worth it when she soared through the sky like this.

She flew over the valley, noticing the birds below her, realizing she did something that everyone wished they could. She knew Danny and Uncle Johnny had told her not to brag about her powers, but it was hard not to enjoy them for what they were; special. After all, how many people could claim they could fly? Sure, she could only fly in the Dream World, but she’d learned that world meant just as much as the real world. And in the Dream World, she could fly like no one else. A little bit of feeling good about herself couldn’t be bad.

A feeling instantly grabbed her, something tingling at the back of her neck, a sense of danger. It felt both cold and angry at the same time. The anger came through stronger and she felt it overcome her. It burned in her stomach and quickened her pulse. For a second, she lost control of her flight, shooting downward, but she gathered herself quickly. Something was terribly wrong and she rotated to check if she could see something going on in the valley. It felt that close.

Far away, she saw her cousins locked in a battle, a battle like the one they fought against the Gorgons, back when Danny had saved them. She searched for Danny but couldn’t sense him past the anger and fear. The flashing lights of energy blasts filled her eyes and the outlines of several Gorgon warriors standing tall above all else came through here and there. She knew they'd have to fight this battle at some time.

She just never thought it would come so soon.

With the sound of crackling thunder she launched herself through the air toward the battle. She tried not to be upset her fellow fighters engaged without her. Something must have been wrong. Thinking about it, she felt bad they had to start without her there. Had she missed something?

As she rushed toward the battle, felt the heat of it, it moved further away from her, constantly just out of her reach. With an even louder cracking sound, she moved faster through the air, feeling the cold of it on her face. She pushed forward with all her power, racing toward the battle at super speed. She had to get to them, had to help them fight off this surprise attack. With the best energy sword skills of the group and her protective bubble, Haley could easily rank as the best among them. Fighting without her left the Dream Fighters at a major disadvantage.

As fast as she moved through the air, the battle moved just as fast. The more she tried to get close to it, the more it stayed away from her. She moved so fast at this point she could feel her hair pulling from her head. It felt like someone tugged at it. That didn’t matter to her. Her worry about her brother and cousins made her not even think about it. This had to be an emergency. Also, though she couldn’t be sure, it seemed like they were losing it, and badly. No matter what the Dream Fighters did, the Gorgons kept coming, more and more.

They needed her.

She had learned a little about moving faster, of teleporting, but she wasn’t that good at it because Kal didn’t have the time to teach her. He had only shown her the basics, like how she needed to forget about things like space and distance and will herself to move faster. She wanted to learn, but most of the time, she worked with Danny on flying and never really had the time to practice the technique. She certainly couldn’t try it now, as much as she wanted to.

She tried to reach out to Danny in her mind. He didn’t respond and she couldn’t sense his presence clearly. She also tried Uncle Johnny. One of them fought with the group, that she knew, she just couldn't tell which. The dust of the battle blocked her vision. And something prevented her from contacting either one of them with her mind. She could only tell that one fought and one didn't. She didn't want to think about who or why.

Blasts of energy and light shot from the battlefield, and she got the sense that Braden led her cousins in battle. His purple spheres of energy soared through the air at the enemy, crashing into the ground in violet splashes of light. It looked like the attacks had little effect. For every Gorgon he and her cousins fought off, three more appeared. The large warriors just kept coming, their wooden clubs raised high in the air. Something had to be done.

Just then, Haley sensed another presence. It pulled at her for a moment, teased her, like it wanted to show her what it had planned. Anger and negativity surrounded it and she tried to shake it off. She caught a brief image of a face but it flashed before her eyes too quickly for her to see clearly. Images of the academy in pieces passed before her, however, and she could see the back of this new presence as well, standing over it as if in victory. She heard a deep chuckle, one that sounded like satisfaction. This presence wanted to destroy the academy.

Haley pushed the images away. The presence felt familiar, close to her. She wanted to identify it and never know who it was at the same time. Before she had the chance to see any more, a powerful force pulled her away. She tried to fight to stay awake, but the force proved too much for her.

Haley woke up in her bed, sweating. The images stayed with her instead of fading as most dreams did. She'd had strange dreams before, even nightmares. The feelings remaining from this felt stronger than any others before. She shouldn't have dreamt something like this. No doubt it was a bad sign, an omen, as Uncle Johnny had once said. Haley knew as soon as she woke something bad headed their way. The images showed that. And a new enemy had revealed itself. She wanted to contact Uncle Johnny, Danny, or someone to tell them what happened, but try as she might, she could not make her way to the academy. It would just have to wait.

Braden had trained like this before. He and Uncle Johnny had worked on it for weeks; he tried to concentrate his energy blasts, and Uncle Johnny clouded his mind with uncertain thoughts. He didn't like it at first but learned why he needed to do it. Doubt and fear weakened his powers and he had to learn how to fight them.

This time the doubt felt stronger than ever before.

Before him stood three Gorgons, over seven feet tall and hairy, the same way they always appeared in the Simulation Room. He wondered sometimes if the programmers purposely chose the ugliest ones for simulation. Then again, he struggled to consider what an attractive Gorgon looked like. He could hear his teacher in his head telling him not to be so judgmental. Good luck, he thought.

Braden raised his right hand, made it into a fist, and created a ball of purple energy in front of him. Focusing on the atoms and molecules he knew existed in the air but couldn't see, he imagined them coming closer and closer together, rubbing against each other and releasing energy. He concentrated harder, watching the ball grow. Then, as Danny taught him, he launched it in the middle of where the three Gorgons stood. It raced toward its target, leaving a trail of light behind it.

Once it reached them, he did what Danny taught him, shooting another burst of energy at the ball, this one smaller and faster. The two spheres collided in a tremendous explosion of light. The combination of purple energy and blue sparks lit up the area, something Braden always liked to see. Nothing compared to it.

The plan worked, as it always did, and the Gorgons disappeared in a flash of purple light. Even though he succeeded, something just didn’t feel right. He felt alone, and the whole time, doubted his strategy would work. He never felt that before. Sure, he knew the training included fighting his fear and that Uncle Johnny sent doubt his way, but this felt, different.

Braden ran his hand through his brown hair and felt that it was wet. He sweated, but why? He also felt scared, unusual for a training exercise. He didn't sweat in the Dream World, certainly not when going through normal training like this. A scene of smoke and fire came before his eyes, but he couldn’t make out much more than that. He tried to follow the image, force it to show him more, but it faded the harder he tried. Something in the back of his mind told him he didn't want to see it, anyway.