Part of Liam didn't want to fall asleep again. Staying up and never letting your body rest was obviously impossible, and he knew if he had stayed up on a constant basis, he still had to deal with the problem in real life, not just in the dream. Liam, now tired from being up since three in the morning, knew he had to go to sleep. He hit the bed and sprawled out. Mentally and physically, he was exhausted, but he couldn't help but continue to overthink and try to rationalize the situation.
What if they knew where I lived?? he thought.
It wasn't time to overthink and analyze, and he knew that. He needed to sleep, and that was his priority. He didn't know what state his body was in while dreaming, but he knew he had to risk it. Liam took Benedryl prior to laying down and started to feel the side effects kick in. His eyes began to feel heavy as he slowly drifted into sleep.
Again, like the first time, his thoughts were completely consumed by a brand new world that had not been explored. He didn't wake up in the same area as last time, though. That was a problem, seeing as he didn't know how it was going to work every time he awoke in this place. Liam had many questions.
Why was he here? How long can he stay in this world? These were all questions Liam had in the back of his mind, but there was no time to dwell on questions that he knew wouldn't be answered any time soon.
Liam looked around at his new surroundings. This time, instead of waking up in an open plain, he woke up in what seemed to be a forest. This wasn't a normal forest, though. Once Liam looked around, he noticed the trees were mushrooms. Giant, really giant mushrooms. Mushrooms of various sizes and colors surrounded Liam on all fronts. The mushroom, which was directly in front of him, was taller than any tree he had seen. The trunk of the giant was solid and white in color. Liam was unable to see the color of the mushroom's top due to it being so tall. Surrounding the mushrooms were various brushes and wildflowers. What looked like lighting bugs illuminated the area, along with the small amounts of sunshine let in from the top of the forest. Due to the forest cutting off most of the sunlight, it was very gloomy and dark inside the forest of mushrooms.
Liam was just in awe. He touched everything he could. The trunk of the giant mushrooms, the brush, and the dirt on the ground. It all felt real. It felt so real; in fact, he even acknowledged the other reality—his reality possibly being a dream. Liam explored the forest more, seeing mushrooms as tall as he was and mushrooms that were the size of skyscrapers. Some of the mushrooms were blue, red, and even yellow. The entire forest made of mushrooms was genuinely stunning. With no sense of time and no sense of how big this forest truly was, Liam began to wonder when he'd wake back up and when he'd make it out of the forest of mushrooms.
As time passed, Liam saw plants that looked nothing like those found in his world. Some of the plants were alive, and he knew all the plants were alive, but these plants almost tracked Liam. Where he would move, they would move their heads. One of the plants quickly reached up and grabbed what Liam earlier thought was a lightning bug. The plant reminded Liam of an evolved Venus fly trap, but Instead of just keeping its mouth open and upright, the plant was able to fully function on its stem like a neck and catch its food. Liam thought it was probably best if he'd stayed away from plants like that.
Liam had stopped and taken a break. He began resting on the trunk of one of the giant mushrooms when he suddenly saw a small creature run from one area of brush to another.
Liam shot up, wanting to find the creature. It's small, Liam thought. There is no way it can hurt me too much. Liam walked towards the brush he saw the small creature run to.
"Hello, Can you talk?" Liam asked as he stood over the brush, trying to see the creature. Liam was unable to see the creature in the brush but suddenly heard a weird voice echo from the forest.
"Name?" it asked.
Is it asking for my name? Liam thought to himself.
The voice spoke again, "Name. Yes, tell me name."
What the hell? Did it read my mind?
"Mind. Yes. Read. Yes." The voices said it in broken English.
Liam looked around as the strange voice echoed through the forest. Liam said, "Alright, I don't really get too excited knowing you can read my mind. Is there any way you can come out? This world is rather confusing. I really just want some answers."
"Ok," said the voice, when suddenly, out of thin air, a creature appeared in front of Liam.
Liam could make sense of people in robes and weird plants, but this creature was definitely strange.
The creature was very small. Liam was 5'11", and compared to Liam the creature was as tall as his knee. The odd creature walked with a cane and had horns that twisted like the horns of a ram. The creature's skin tone was white, like the color of a cloud, and it wore white clothing. The face of the creature was the weirdest part. The creature's face had the facial structures of a goat and a human. Its eyes were sunken in and black, and the creature's hair was long and white with a small goatee.
The small creature looked at Liam and said, "Name? Liam? Mine... Yanderra."
"Yes, My name is Liam. Yanderra, it is nice to meet you. I honestly don't know where I am, and I honestly still don't know if this is even real. I don't even know if you fully understand me," Liam said while groaning and shrugging his shoulders.
The strange creature began to walk away and used his three-fingered hand to make a motion to follow. Liam did so, wanting to seek answers. Liam was unsure whether or not he was walking into a trap, but Liam didn't have time to second-guess himself.
The creature led Liam to one of the giant mushrooms. This mushroom leaned horizontally rather than vertically. The strange creature made short scurry noises as it led Liam to a small door carved into the mushroom. Yanderra spoke out, "Sorry, not much space. It's hard to talk and Read your mind. Come. Ahh. Much better. Now get answers." Yanderra opened the door. Liam stepped into what was Yanderra's home. The first thing Liam noticed was a large tome in the center of the room. The room seemed like a small house with only two rooms. In front of the tome was a chair for Yanderra. The chair was the same color as the tome but was decorated with bones. Skulls made up the legs of the chair. Yanderra gestured towards a smaller cushioned chair next to the book. Liam took a seat, still in awe.
"So? Questions. Ask." Yanderra said this while staring intently at Liam.
Liam began by asking about the world itself.
"What is the name of this world?" asked Liam.
Yanderra stated, "Draeldion."
"Can you tell me anything about this world?" Asked Liam.
Yanderra said, "Tome. Tome tells you everything."
Liam looked at the Tome. The book was very large and rather intimidating. Liam looked at Yanderra and asked with a chuckle, "It wouldn't happen to have pictures in it, right?"
Yanderra looked at Liam with a confused look and stated, "Picture? Of course… Stupid question." Liam laughed at that statement.
Liam looked at the top of the tome and unlatched the mechanism holding the tome closed. Inside the large tome, the first page showed a map of the world, and above the map was the name Draeldion. On the next pages, it reads about the different creatures that inhabited these untamed lands. Dragons more fierce than anything in the Children's Books on Earth; green flying goblins with a wingspan greater than any flying animal on Earth; and skeletal armies with precise marksmanship and great sword skills. These were only some of the creatures that inhabited the land of Draeldion. Liam did not have the time to read through the entirety of the Tome.
Liam wouldn't say it out loud, but he was genuinely scared and just wanted to know what his role was. Why was he transported here every time he slept, and how much longer can he just not sleep? He didn't have answers.
Yanderra told Liam, "I can help you understand, but this is not easy to comprehend. Do you trust Yanderra?"
Trust Yanderra? Liam thought to himself, I mean, he knows what I am thinking, so it's not easy to hide things from him. Yanderra was a peculiar creature, but for some reason, Liam trusted what he had to say and felt as if his intentions were true and good. He didn't know how to explain it, but he felt as if he wasn't meant to meet Yanderra.
"I trust you, Yanderra," Liam stated with an honest tone.
Yanderra walked towards a fireplace in his home. With the wave of a hand, he was able to start a fire. Liam was amazed and shocked. Yanderra looked at Liam and stated, "Yanderra is now your companion. Belong to this world; you don't, but you will."
"What do you mean I will?" asked Liam.
Yanderra, with a lack of English, had begun learning it with the little time he'd spent in Liam's mind. He used the English he had learned and tried to explain Liam's situation as best he could.
"You came here by ritual to help build the power of a bad person. You can only travel between dream right now, but together we can create a link between two world, allowing you to stay. Only you able to use link, and once die, the link lost. We will do ritual tomorrow; I will gather ingredients," said Yanderra.
Liam stared at Yanderra. "And if I refuse? What happens if I don't want to create a link between the worlds?"
"Being stuck in a dream between dreams is very bad. Bad men in red cloaks that after you are stuck between dreams. They no longer have mind of their own due to how powerful the state between the two world is and human brain unable to comprehend forever," said Yanderra.
Liam was hesitant, and for good reason. What did Yanderra plan for Liam, and why was it so important for Liam to create a permanent foothold other than to not go crazy?
"Liam, you meant for great things, and I sense great power in you. Our world has much magic, and I want to teach you how to use its full potential. I believe you are the key need for stopping evil in world and allowing world to be at peace once again," said Yanderra, knowing that Liam was on the fence.
Liam was a nobody where he was from. You could imagine that in a town of 13,000, most people know everyone. For Liam, it didn't matter that he lived in a small town of 13,000; no one knew him. He had been ignored and passed over. Liam felt as if he had no opportunity on earth. This decision was still not a simple yes for Liam. Liam still had family members he cared about on Earth. He knew he'd be able to visit them again, but why would he bring this danger upon them?
Liam looked at Yanderra with a look of determination and said, "Yanderra, I don't know what my purpose is in life, but I think I have found it. Give me some time to sort out some personal matters, and then I will be back tomorrow night.
Yanderra replied, "Yanderra is glad you accept. I gather all necessary item needed for ritual and will see you when you return."
Liam knew he was probably completely over his head, but he also knew that nothing in life excited him anymore. The 23-year-old man was ready to face whatever it was that confronted him head-on with courage. Liam sat back in the cushioned chair at Yanderra's home.
"Think of the home of Yanderra, and you will come here in dream," stated Yanderra.
Liam closed his eyes, drifted to sleep, and awoke in his bedroom. Everything was exactly as he left it, with the clock reading 8:30 AM. Liam prepared to say his goodbyes to his family and begin the adventure of a lifetime.