Dimar: Lost Waters
(you can order a paperback copy or ebook here)

Table of Contents

Intro
Prolog

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33

Glossary
Dimar terms
Arrallin terms

Map

Lost Waters - Chapter 23

     Massive nightmare ships spun through Tara's mind. She was adrift in a kind of space - a starless inky blackness - spinning out of control as the ships descended upon the delicate blue globe below. A voice in her mind screamed out for them to stop. Lightning flashed.
      Her point of view shifted. She was on a blisteringly hot surface as those same ships ripped up from the ground in fiery archs, disappearing as pinpoints of light atop pillars of deceivingly peaceful white smoke. There was incredible power there, and danger. Presences within her head resonated with variations of fear, pride and wonder.
      Another shift. The massive red wood walls of what she instinctively knew to be a War Barryd rose before her. She could see them moving, stretching upward out of the flames toward the sky. At her feet, a tiny shoot had taken hold, and was blooming. The ground around it was cooling and healing within the tiny grasp of it's white roots. A protective need washed over her.
      She found herself falling toward the tiny plant at her feet, falling into it. The scene blurred and she found herself lying on her back in a field. Dizzy, she sat upright and took in the scene. The familiar shapes of trees filled her with a sense of peace. She was home, back on Earth. It was a scene she hadn't seen since she was five. The tree shifted, and grew into something quite alien, but it still felt like home. The plants around her grew brighter, with broader leaves, reaching up around her to caress her. The forms ahead of her, once trees, finally became recognizable. It was the twin spires of Telka. Her horse ran by, through the thick Dimar field. She found herself running in slow motion, chasing after the horse as her white form vanished into the thick brush. The trees blurred by as she leapt through the brush, laughing.
      Breaking clear from the thicket, she stood before the same walls of the War Barryd she had seen growing from the flames. A massive oolar leapt from the front gate, claws and fangs bared, but she felt no fear - only pride. It landed before her and touched it's nose to her hand. She regarded the Barryd for a long moment. It too was home. A familiar brick pattern from Earth flickered within the wood grain, but she couldn't place it.
      Telka she knew well, but this new place that was home begged some exploring.
      The scene shifted again, and she found herself and the oolar drifting down toward their own reflections in a set of deep pools. They passed through the mirror-still water below them into a murky green pool. There was no difference in temperature or sensation, and they kept falling, straight through the bottom of the pool.
      The wall-texture changed to a grayish, softer, less wood-like tone. A chorus of voices and ghostly forms welcomed her, each with a story to tell. Stories of great battles, of a strong race ruling with power and justice over its creations, echoed in her mind, and a feeling of pride and superiority welled within her. She swirled through the different stories as if through a dance. A singular, strong call was pulling her back, and regretfully, she parted with the vapors.
      She followed the high musical voice back through the wall, and through the ground and back up into the open air. She was air now. The oolar stayed beside her, keeping pace with its loping gate as they raced back toward Telka. At the gate, a morrak charged out, it's head low and hooved toes flashing. The oolar charged ahead leaping up to bat the creature aside, but the morrak slammed it and sent it tumbling through the air. It landed with a crash behind Tara, who continued to drift toward Telka. Shocked, the oolar raced back behind Tara barking hollow threats.
      The creature that stood before Tara was no ordinary morrak. It gazed at her with an intelligent and steady eye. She approached and touched it's nose with her hand. She found herself moving with the morrak in the lead and the oolar in tow through the walls of Telka and down, into it's room of vapors. Again, she danced with the voices, each with a story of achievement and invention, power and creation. A single form, a darkness where there should have been light, hovered in a corner.
      The morrak and the oolar studied each other intently, and then looked toward the dark form. Tara found herself no longer pulled or pushed, but under her own direction as the morrak and the oolar exchanged unreadable thoughts. As their exchanges continued, the darkness grew.
      She moved toward the dark figure as it tried to evade her. She took control of her lucid dreaming state and willed herself into the darkness.
      The scene shifted again. Images of torture, of humiliation and torment faded past her, and she found herself drifting in the starless sky again. The monster ships roared past, and she reached out toward them with her mind. No answer. She looked ahead to where they were going and saw Earth.