Dreamwalker by A.K. Adler

Author:A.K. Adler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deep Hearts YA
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

I jerk awake as a loud bang sounds from the street outside. A throaty roar tells me it was a motorcycle backfiring that woke me up. My heart is thumping wildly. I can’t wake up now—we’re in danger! What am I missing? I will my duvet to wrap me back up in sleep.

‘—and Meera would bite your ear off if you tried to ride her anyway!’ Aliya shouted, and the rough man growled, drawing the club back to strike.

Quantum leapt from her belt and launched himself at the robber, landing on his foot. The man tried to shake him off, but Quantum stretched his jaws wide and bit down, his sharp little teeth piercing straight through the leather of the man’s boot and leaving a row of tiny bleeding puncture wounds in his flesh. He yelled in pain and flung Quantum off, lifting his boot high—

Aliya darted forwards, shouting ‘Quantum—no!’ But she was too late. With all his weight, the man stomped down on the little lizard. Aliya choked on a sob and fell to her knees as Quantum was crushed flat. She determined to at least retrieve her friend’s broken body from the ground, but when the robber lifted his foot, Quantum jumped up and gave himself a shake. There was a dragon-shaped dent in the earth, but he was unscathed. He went for the man again, and the robber nearly clubbed his own foot trying to hit the speedy lizard.

‘How do you like that, then?’ Quantum squeaked as the huge man roared and swiped at him once more. ‘If you come at us again, I’ll set you on fire!’ Plumes of smoke rose from the nostrils on either side of his face, and sparks spat from the corners of his mouth.

Aliya stayed on her knees, chest heaving. Her head was buzzing like it was full of bees. This man had gone too far. This man had tried to kill her friend. She planted both of her fists on the dirt road, grounding herself to the earth, drawing power from her roots. When she spoke, her voice came out heavy and deep, like the chanting used for shamanic rituals.

‘You have severed the roots of love, but the roots of the earth will bind you. You have run from honour, but you will run no more. Stand and face yourself. Stand rooted in this place.’

The robber’s face paled. He tried to take a step towards her, but his feet would not lift off the ground. Panicking, he shouted, ‘What have you done to me?’

‘I have given you roots,’ Aliya replied. All her fear and anger drained away. What had she done to him? The roots he experienced tethering him to the ground only existed in his mind; nevertheless, they would hold him tight. He believed in her power, that a shaman could call to the earth and the earth would answer. That belief bound him. They were bonds forged of Aliya’s own roots, her sense of right and wrong that

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