Dream a Little Dream Read Free

world who can help us find an Earth person and she is the only one who may have seen the source of the river.”
    “But, Father, you know she will ask that I keep her company through the night, as payment for her help.”
    “Yes, I know. But she never harms you and she would never do anything you don’t want her to.”
    “That doesn’t stop her from trying,” Mich grumbled.
    “It is a long way. It would be best if you got a good night’s sleep and began your visit to Mangor in the morning.”

    With that, the conversation ended. Mich hugged his father good night. Snort followed him through the corridor and up the winding stairway to his room.
    The next morning, Mich bathed and prepared himself. He bid farewell to his friends and set out on his steed, Heat. He brought with him a three-day ration of food, a lightweight steel sword, and Snort for protection. “You may comein handy if the sorceress tries to go too far,” he said.
    Snort snorted a ferocious jet of fire, looking outraged. Mich laughed.
    Mich urged Heat to go faster and they broke into a trot. The palace stables fell behind. It wasn’t until he was some distance from it that he could get the whole castle in view.
    It was a large castle in the most extreme way. He, his father, the palace scribe, three cooks, the gardener, the guards, Misty the resident friendly ghost and a few assorted pets were its only inhabitants. They had no choice about its size. It had been built beside the River of Thought, out of dreamstone, at the time he was born, and it had never deteriorated.
    The dreamstone walls were of a brownish hue, and they gleamed as if made of glass. Mich knew that dreamstone could be any color. Dreamstone could not be destroyed by any normal means. It was magically hard and could not be crushed, broken or shaped. It was mined from deep beneath the ground in various places. The dreamstone that made this castle had just appeared one day and had been here ever since, forming the perfect fortress.
    They rode through the orchards that surrounded the castle. Then they entered the Forest of Imagination, where all sorts of strange creatures lived and worked. It was normally filled with the joyoussounds of birds singing and tree creatures squeaking and chattering. This day, the forest seemed empty and quiet.
    As Heat trotted beneath a low-hanging branch, a small bird dropped something on Mich. Luckily, it was a cluster of burrs instead of a dropping. He tried to work them out of his long black hair, but ended up pulling out a few strands.
    He looked back, but the bird was gone. He heard a faint sound, something like the babbling or cooing of a baby. He heard some rustling in the brush. Suddenly, Heat reared, slightly opening his wings, and Snort shot a small flame into the air.
    “What is it, friend?” Mich asked, patting his steed to calm him down.
    I’m not sure. I saw nothing, but lam cut, thought Heat.
    Mich looked down. Sure enough, there was a small, blood-streaked wound on Heat’s foreleg.
    “Do you need any healing spice?”
    Of course not! The wound is merely a scratch. I believe Icon survive.
    Mich reminded himself of how proud an animal Heat was. He had to constantly watch what he said, lest he insult his friend.
    Heat could read Mich’s mind and feel everything that he felt, and vice versa. Their relationship was one of true friendship. Mich did not think of him as a beast of burden, but as an equal. The only reason Heat let Mich ride on him was because it was logical. They would get to their destination much faster this way than if they were slowed down by his having to walk.
    They rode through the morning until Mich and Heat both started to get hungry. Heat drew to a halt at the edge of the Forest of Imagination, where they had lunch. Snort, who had been keeping pace by whomping along behind, slunk off into a thicket to flush out a few creatures. He snapped them up as they ran in his direction. Heat cropped the dry grasses and chewed