Naytnal - Fallen dreams (english version) E-Book

Elias J. Connor

• Herausgeber: FINN Books Edition FireFly
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Kitty and Jojo's friendship is put to the test when the mysterious Lord Mik Harrow begins to exert increasing influence over Jojo. Finally, at the golden Imperial Tower in the heart of Naytnal, a decision must be made about a new Empress of the Star of Empires. After a serious argument with Jojo, Kitty decides to fight the evil that plagues Naytnal on her own, along with her boyfriend Dennis. With a few companions, she sets out in search of the legendary Dreamtime Guardians. They are the only ones who can still help in this difficult situation. In doing so, Kitty uncovers a great mystery that has to do with the strange stranger from her dreams - Rome... The fourth volume in the seven-part fantasy series NAYTNAL combines exciting, heroic fantasy with moving, emotional moments in a love story.

Leseprobe

Elias J. Connor

Naytnal - Fallen dreams (english version)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Dedication

Chapter 1 - Dearest Enemy

Chapter 2 - In the realm of dreams

Chapter 3 - The mirror of the soul

Chapter 4 - Decision at the golden imperial tower

Chapter 5 - The banishment

Chapter 6 - Close encounters

Chapter 7 - Love is stronger than fear

Chapter 8 - Jojo's new trial

Chapter 9 - The fall of the floating islands

Chapter 10 - Heralds of the end times

Chapter 11 - Kitty's hardest fight

Chapter 12 - Jojo's revelation

Chapter 13 - The Journey to Silar

Chapter 14 - The final battle of the Dreamtime Guardians

Chapter 15 - Who knows the truth

About the author Elias J. Connor

Impressum

Dedication

For Jana.

You are the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life.

Thank you for being a part of me and making me a part of you.

Thank you for your love, your inspiration, your trust.

I love you.

Chapter 1 - Dearest Enemy

The wind rustled gently through the window of the small room. It was warm in here, so Kitty didn't mind the little draft at all. She still had her eyes closed and let the wind gently play with her long, slightly wavy hair.

Kitty had been lying on this bed for hours. She wasn't sure if she fell asleep during this time or if she was awake and thinking the whole time. At least Kitty hadn't had any more weird dreams.

When Kitty remembered that she hadn't dreamed in the last few hours, she suddenly had to think back to her dream from last night. The dream that Lina said it wasn't a dream at all. Kitty still seemed pretty confused. She still didn't know exactly what was true and what wasn't. The fact that she now had it, the Stone of Truth, calmed her somewhat. Even if he didn't come up with an answer. But Kitty was sure that one day he would tell her the truth.

Suddenly there was a rumble in front of the door that led to Kitty's little hut, where she spent the last few hours. And not two seconds later the door burst open.

"Hey, Kitty," said Jojo, carefully sticking her head in through the door. "Did you just lie there the whole time?"

Almost imperceptibly, Kitty nodded.

"Do you know what you've been missing?" Jojo waved her arms around as she entered Kitty's hut. “This is a really great area here. Full of beautiful wrong turns, lots of hiding places, and you can play wonderfully with the Tajuna ball here.”

"Nice," Kitty said impassively.

Jojo looked at her and when she realized that something was obviously wrong with Kitty, she sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, come on, Kitty," Jojo said. "Come on, get up. We'll be leaving in less than an hour anyway.”

Kitty would have liked to tell Jojo about the Stone of Truth. But something in Kitty didn't want her to do that. Somehow Kitty had a feeling that it would be better at the moment not to tell Jojo anything about the wonderful stone that Lina had given her.

"I keep thinking about that strange dream," Kitty said instead.

"You mean the dream with the fair? Kitty - you wanted to forget that."

"You know, Jojo," Kitty began, "sometimes I don't really know anymore what's real and what's not. I mean what happens and what a dream is. It feels so weird at times, like it's all just getting mixed up.”

"I know," Jojo said. “Several of the caravan have that feeling. That must probably be related to the physical laws of this area.”

"I don't think it's just physical laws."

Jojo then pulled Kitty's arm and that's how Kitty finally got out of her bed.

When Jojo and Kitty came out of the cabin, most of the people had already reloaded their carriages. Those whose carriages died in the fire had received new carriages. The inhabitants of this valley, the Shor'zéen, gave the caravan new provisions, new tents and sleeping bags.

By the time Kitty and Jojo got to the imperial carriage, Dennis, Sydney, and Natalie had almost finished stocking up. Torok, spokesman for the Shor'zéen, stood with them.

"Our calculations are now complete," Torok said to Dennis. "We'll be able to leave in a few minutes." Then he spotted Kitty. "Ah, Kitty, there you are."

"What do you mean your calculations are now complete?" Kitty asked.

"We told you that we can shorten a long journey considerably. Thanks to our high level of mathematics, we are able to calculate the shortest and most impossible paths,” explained Torok. "It has to do with the laws of physics."

"Aha," said Kitty, although she understood almost nothing. "Torok, I think it would be good if you traveled with us in the first carriage."

"Well," said Torok, "Tuvar, Taljum and I actually reserved our own carriage for us. But Tuvar and Taljum will do just fine on their own. I gladly accept the honor of being able to travel in the imperial carriage.”

Kitty nodded to him. Then, one by one, all the fellow passengers got into their wagons and waited for Kitty to give the signal to start the caravan.

"Mouse, are you okay?" Dennis asked.

Kitty rested her head on his shoulder without a word.

"Let's go, Troi!" Jojo shouted to the driver after Torok, Sydney and Natalie had also taken a seat in the car that was leading the caravan. And then they drove off.

At first nothing unusual could be noticed. The wagons drove one behind the other on a wider lane, and the scenery didn't change much.

The sound of clattering hooves echoed monotonously off the mountains and hills that rimmed the valley. It was obviously a lot bigger than Kitty or Jojo had first thought. Or they've already left the Shor'zéen Valley behind and just didn't know it yet. In any case, they had already been on the road for many hours, and by now it was already deep in the night. Kitty thought again.

"What is it?" Jojo asked into the silence.

"Nothing," Kitty said curtly.

"What are you thinking? Looks pretty good so far,” said Jojo full of energy.

"I don't know," Kitty said. She looked out the window. “Outside, nothing changes at all. If we can go faster, we shouldn't notice it, right?” Kitty turned to Torok, who was sitting across from her, with this question.

"We'll see how fast we're progressing," said Torok proudly. "You will be amazed at what our mathematics is capable of."

"Kitty, I don't like that," Jojo suddenly said sternly, whereupon Kitty looked at her questioningly. "I don't like that at all," Jojo continued. "You're completely ignoring the mission."

"What? Are you crazy?” Kitty shook her head blankly.

"You talk about your dreams all the time, about how you're doing and what's on your mind," Jojo accused her. "You don't even think about the others anymore. Do you want me to tell you something, Kitty? I find that completely selfish and mean.”

"But Jojo... that's not true what you're saying," Kitty said with a desperate expression. "More than anything, I want to fulfill the mission for us and our caravan. For all people in Lantyan. For all of Naytnal. How can you say I'm selfish?"

"Joyo! Kitty!” Dennis tried to calm the two girls down.

"What's going on?" Natalie stammered, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"You keep withdrawing," Jojo complained. "You don't say anything anymore, you don't talk to anyone anymore except Dennis. The other day you said you feel like I don't like you anymore. Kitty, do you know what I think? It's you who don't like me anymore. Maybe you don't like anyone anymore. You going it alone..."

"What on earth are you talking about, Jojo? You're the one who's been acting weird lately. you say strange things Your moods change every minute. One moment you're still sweet and nice, then you yell around..."

"Stop that!" Dennis admonished both girls. "We won't get any further like this."

But Kitty seemed unimpressed. Now she was really on the move and could finally tell Jojo what had been bothering her about the last time.

"And then your friendship with Mik," Kitty yelled at Jojo. "He's doubtful. I don't know what you love about him."

"You're jealous, yes," Jojo roared.

Sydney, who has also woken up in the meantime, shook her head and looked questioningly at Natalie. However, she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Me and jealous?" said Kitty. "Jojo, I'm serious. We have to watch out for Mik.”

"You're welcome to do that," Jojo said loudly. "I trust him. I know he'll take us where we need to go.” Jojo stood up and put his hand on the door handle. "You know what, Kitty?" she suddenly asked in a very calm voice. "Maybe you're not the right person to lead this mission. Maybe Naytnal has the wrong empress.”

Then, without waiting for a reaction from Kitty, Jojo scurried out of the carriage while it was driving. And Kitty buried her head in Dennis' shoulder, crying.

"It's okay," Dennis tried to comfort her. "She'll pull herself together."

"What about her?" Kitty stammered. "She's against me. Why?"

Dennis just held his girlfriend tight. He knew that philosophizing with Kitty about what's going on in Jojo's head wouldn't do much good now. At the moment he couldn't change this situation either.

It wasn't the first time Jojo had had a freak out lately. And when she did escape from the Imperial carriage, she was usually drawn to her new crush, Lord Mik Harrow, who rode in the second row just behind the Imperial carriage.

Kitty could see Jojo going to him. She saw her jump onto his horse and he pulled her up while the imperial carriage suddenly had to negotiate a fallen tree trunk. Kitty saw Jojo take the reins of Mik's silver horse in her hands and then concentrate on jumping over the log. Apparently she didn't want to bypass him like Troi did with the imperial carriage. Apparently Jojo wanted to jump over it with Mik and his horse.

And then she jumped. And suddenly the picture seemed to stop. Jojo, Mik and the silver horse hung in the air for a few seconds. Kitty's eyes widened with shock. They hung in mid-air, just like that. Without her holding anything or anyone. Kitty looked closely. The other carriages drove on. It was just the one horse, hanging still in the air, with Jojo and Mik on his back.

After a few seconds Mik's horse completed its jump. And everything suddenly went back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

"Did you see that?" stammered Sydney, who had also been following this thing. She turned to Torok. "What is it that makes this happen?" she asked him. But he just shook his head in amazement.

“This is the same phenomenon as back then with the clay bowls. Or that with the naming ceremony...”, Natalie stated thoughtfully.

"No," Kitty then said quietly. "It's different this time." She paused and brushed hair from her forehead. “When the clay bowls fell, and at the christening of the ship, only things were affected. inanimate things. Now two people have been in the middle of something we don't know."

Sydney and Natalie looked at Kitty in surprise. Troi wanted to stop the carriage because he had also noticed what had happened, but Dennis motioned for him to continue anyway.

"Don't you understand?" Kitty continued. “This time, time suddenly kind of slowed down around Jojo and Mik. And they didn't even seem to realize it."

"Oh dear..." Natalie made.

"What if this happens more often?" Sydney asked anxiously.

"We have to find out where this phenomenon comes from," Dennis finally said. "And I suspect it won't be too long before we get an answer to that."

Dennis apparently had one of his premonitions again. Kitty knew that about him very well. She also knew she could trust him, so she didn't have to ask further what Dennis was mulling over. She knew he would tell her when it was time.

While Kitty and the others in the imperial carriage were still shaking because of the phenomenon, which they had now encountered for the third time, Jojo and Mik actually didn't seem to have noticed what was going on. Step by step they rode on.

"Well, Jojo, was there trouble in the imperial carriage again?" Mik smiled. He was obviously happy that Jojo was riding his horse again.

"Kitty sucks," Jojo said irritably.

But the very next second, when Mik, who was sitting behind her, put his arms around her from behind, a smile flitted across Jojo's face.

"Jojo, Kitty is your sister," said Mik then. "If she's annoying, you have to talk about it."

"You can't talk to Kitty anymore," said Jojo. "I don't understand that either. We used to be able to tell each other anything. We could talk to each other about anything. And now?"

Jojo played gently with her robe. Her hand gently stroked the beautiful Naytnal crest as she leaned back.

"You know," she finally said, smiling to Mik, "I'd much rather be with you anyway. With you I feel a lot...” Jojo thought about it, but she couldn't think of the word she was missing at the moment.

"Important?" Mik finally asked.

"Yes," Jojo whispered. "You make me feel so important..."

"Jojo, sweetie," Mik said to Jojo while gently stroking her light brown, shoulder-length hair. "You know you would make a great empress?"

"What do you mean by that, Mik?" Jojo asked in surprise. "Empress of which realm?"

"All over Naytnal," Mik replied. "You would be a great empress for the star of the realms." He looked at Jojo proudly.

Jojo was very impressed with it, but also realistic enough.

"Mik, that's very kind of you to say that," she replied. "But you know that only the creator of the Star of Empires can be its empress. And this is kitty. She built the mobile that opened the door to this world. She is the creator.”

"Sure she is," Mik said, smiling. "But to whom has she dedicated most of her dreams, her fears, and her desires? Who has always played the most important role in Kitty's dreams?"

"Our mom?" Jojo asked thoughtfully. "Dennis?"

"Jojo, it's you," Mik explained. "Always, and from the beginning, you were the biggest part of Kitty's dreams, fears, and desires. You filled most of the stuff she built her mobile out of.”

"But she is still the creator."

"Yes, yes," said Mik. "But who says she always has to be the empress? You have equal potential for this task. You have the same dreams, fears and desires as Kitty. You've been a big part of Naytnal's existence. It would be fitting for you to become Naytnal's empress.” Mik patted Jojo's shoulder proudly. "Be honest, haven't you ever thought what it would be like if you were the Empress of the Star of Empires instead of Kitty?"

"Well...", Jojo admitted, "I thought about it sometimes."

"See?" Mik smiled at her.

"But I can't really become it... can I?" Jojo asked.

"Who knows?" Mik smiled back.

It was very quiet again in the imperial carriage. Kitty was thinking again. It's a good thing she hadn't noticed what Jojo and Mik were talking about. Or maybe Kitty had a premonition? She looked out the window very sad, very tired and with her nerves at the end. When would it ever get better?

Suddenly, and precisely at the moment when nobody was expecting it, the strange thing happened: As if by magic, the imperial carriage suddenly floated up into the air. Kitty, Dennis, Sydney and Natalie looked puzzled and scared out the window. And Torok smiled.

"It's okay," he reassured the others.

And then Kitty and the others discovered it: Not only the imperial carriage floated up, but also the horse on which Mik and Jojo were sitting. The carriage of the Shor'zéen Tuvar and Taljum driving behind it, and also all the other horses and carriages, were suddenly floating. The entire caravan shot up as if by magic. Now the caravan was hovering about 1000 meters above the ground. And suddenly she began to move insanely fast. She glided through the air faster than a bird. All the carriages and horses floated ahead faster than an airplane. Faster than the fastest wind, the whole caravan shot into the morning, while the sun slowly rose again on the eastern horizon.

In less than two days, the caravan, equipped with more than twenty carriages, at least twice as many horses and several silver knights, managed to cover a distance of more than ten thousand kilometers in flight. It would definitely have taken weeks to do this the conventional way.

It was already broad daylight, almost evening, when the last of them had slowly got used to flying in their carriages. Sydney and Natalie, in particular, had trouble adjusting to this. But now they had made it, only now that the flight was almost over.

Kitty was the first to notice that they suddenly slowed down again. She could feel the imperial carriage dropping in height.

"What does that mean?" she asked Torok. "Are we going to be attacked again?"

"No," Torok reassured her. "We're just slowing down because we're about to go down."

"Are we there?" Dennis wanted to know.

"We're very close to where you were headed," Torok reported. "Unfortunately, we can't land exactly there. We have to walk the last part.”

"You... you mean," Kitty stammered, "below us is the realm of dreams? One of the most secret of all places?”

"It's not far from here," Torok explained.

Excited, Kitty, Dennis, Sydney and Natalie looked out the window. The imperial carriage sank lower and lower, and the other carriages and horses followed suit as if by magic.

And then Kitty got huge eyes from what she saw below: There was a plain that was somehow hanging in a valley. What was unusual about it was that the plain was surrounded by the mountain massif in a precisely circular manner.

Kitty looked closer. And only now, at second glance, could she see it: there was no plain below them, no valley either. The whole thing was nothing but a huge, large crater that stretched out in a circle over a rocky landscape. A meteorite the size of a small town must have caused it. Without further ado, the crater was large enough to hold an entire country, perhaps even an entire sea.

Kitty tried to pick out details. Several colors shone brightly in the crater. Looking closer, she made out small, strange-looking objects—perhaps houses—lit by the evening sun. Kitty was also able to spot other strange shapes that also glowed brightly. In the overall form, the individual objects down there might have formed something resembling a city. However, it appeared to be made entirely of glass. It had to be glass, the kind that could reflect and refract the light of the evening sun so that it shone brightly.

The caravan slowly flew over these strange formations in the crater and flew over the rim of the crater. The caravan finally touched down a good ten kilometers away.

When Kitty, Dennis, Sydney and Natalie, followed by Torok, then left the imperial carriage, all the other passengers had already got out or dismounted from their horses.

Jojo ran to Kitty.

she exclaimed. "It was crazy to fly like that, only on a horse."

"How are you, Jojo?" Kitty asked immediately. She absolutely wanted to know immediately how Jojo felt about her. Had she already forgotten her argument at the beginning of this stage? She wanted so badly to reconcile with her.

But Jojo only looked coolly at Kitty. Then she immediately turned to Dennis.

"Where are we, Dennis?" she asked, suddenly looking very matter-of-fact.

"We've traveled more than ten thousand miles," Dennis said.

"I'm sure that the place we're looking for is very close by," said Mik, who just walked behind Jojo to the others. “The area, the supposed valley – everything fits together. It fits the descriptions I know of of a realm that is very secretive. It's called the realm of dreams.”

"This is it?" Jojo wondered. "Looks a bit desolate for that - just rocks, no plants..."

"I like it," Mik interjected, laughing. Of course he liked it. Much here reminded him of the Silver Knights Empire, which he inhabited and ruled.

"The realm of dreams is not up here," Torok then announced. "That which is in the great crater, this is the realm of dreams."

Dennis thoughtfully approached Torok and shook his hair. "Are you sure Torok it's down there?" he asked.

"Yes," said Torok. "By our calculations, it must be down there."

"And how do we get there now?" Jojo asked excitedly. She jumped back and forth nervously. Then she turned around, and a moment later she found the answer herself. "There's a path," she said, seeing a small path that seemed to lead to the rim of the crater on the horizon. And at the same time she got up.

"Wait, Jojo," Kitty said. "What about the carriages and all?"

Jojo turned back, looking grim.

"Kitty is right," Torok stated. “We must leave the carriages and horses here. Before we go down, we'll secure them. Also, some people should stay here as security guards.”

"We'll take care of that," one of the sailors clarified. Torok nodded to him.

"My silver knights could also keep watch," said Mik. "But for tactical reasons, I think it's better to take them into this crater."

"I have to agree with Mik," Dennis stated. "The danger down there could be far greater than up here."

"Danger? What danger?” Kitty said thoughtfully.

Dennis put a comforting arm around her shoulder. He didn't have to tell Kitty anything. She sensed that he suspected something that was very important. And Kitty had a strange premonition too, and the closer they got to that strange place, the more frightened she got.

Most of the fellow travelers, except those who stayed with the wagons and horses, now set out. They walked slowly one after the other along the narrow path, step by step.

Kitty kept touching her mysterious key of power. Even though Dennis held her the whole time, she felt more and more uneasy with every step. Kitty recalled feeling something like this the first time she went to the doctor, before she got her very first shot.

Jojo seemed to get a completely different feeling. The closer they got to the edge of the crater, the more euphoric, joyful and full of energy Jojo became. She couldn't wait to enter this crater.

After about an hour's walk, the caravan finally arrived at the rim of the immense crater, just in time for sunset.

What Kitty then saw made her heart sing: From up here, when you were right on the rim of the crater, the crater looked like a huge canyon. The seemingly kilometers high cliffs shone tenderly in the evening sun. Individual trees, bushes and plants growing on the steep walls also glowed.

To the left of Kitty, Jojo and the others, a mighty waterfall tumbled down. Kitty was surprised that she didn't hear his roar the whole time. Actually, he only started to roar when Kitty discovered him. But the majestic appearance and the way the light refracted in the water didn't stop Kitty from brooding.

"It's crazy here," Kitty breathed softly. "It looks so beautiful."

"We should go down there slowly," Jojo demanded cautiously.

Suddenly something very, very strange happened again. Neither Kitty nor Jojo knew if it had been there all along or if they just hadn't noticed. In any case, from up here it suddenly looked as if most of the crater was covered by a strange glass dome that covered everything below it in a semicircle.

"See that?" Kitty then asked Jojo while standing close to her and pointing at the strange dome.

"I see a city or something," Jojo said.

Under the dome glowed the many objects that, taken together, made up a big city or something like that. You could now see more details than before from the flight. The buildings were almost all circular. In the center of the crater was a pointed hill on which most of the round buildings were arranged. It almost looked as if they would hang on top of each other, the hill was so densely built up.

Between the buildings on the hill - and in fact all the buildings looked like they were glass towers - steep narrow stairways made their way up to the very top.

And now Kitty beheld the most beautiful and most luminous building - the largest round house in this city, with the two tallest towers. The heart of this city stood at the top of the pointed mountain, and it seemed to be a castle, mighty, majestic and wondrous. It was definitely one of the most beautiful castles Kitty and Jojo have come across in Naytnal.

"Come, mistress," Mik then said, seeming to have discovered something. "Here is a device. We can slide down that.”

Mik spotted a kind of lift right next to the roaring waterfall. There was a chariot there, and it hung on a silver steel cable. You could take the car down like an elevator. Mik couldn't make out where the car would end up, but he trusted it.

"I don't know," Kitty said when she saw what Mik discovered. "What if it breaks?"

"But it's the only way," urged Mik. "The cliffs are too steep to climb down. We should try this.”

"Come on, Kitty," Jojo said. “Risk is part of the game. You said so yourself.”

Of course, Jojo was right about that. And that finally convinced Kitty.

The car - a kind of cable car without a roof, only with a railing to hold on to - was big enough for everyone to ride down at once. As soon as everyone has climbed onto the device, it started moving all by itself.

"It runs by itself," stammered Sydney.

"There's bound to be someone downstairs running that thing," Kitty guessed.

The rope then even led further down directly over the huge, roaring waterfall. The car slowly drove so close that a few splashes of water hit the passengers.

Suddenly the waterfall split. As if by magic, he suddenly broke apart. And in the next second, the rope the car was hanging from broke and the car fell into the abyss.

There wasn't enough time for most people to get a shock. Because not even two seconds later the car landed completely soft and safe somewhere in a cave. At least it was dark in here. The roar of the waterfall became noticeably quieter, and only a faint ray of light shimmered in from somewhere.

"Oof!" Natalie said.

"Anyone hurt?" Dennis called.

There was a low murmur, from which Dennis concluded that everyone really had landed safely down here.

"Great!" Sydney said then. "How many meters was that? That must have been endless. How could we still land so safely?”

Sydney looked at Kitty. However, she smiled back.

"It wasn't me," Kitty said. "Although I don't rule out the possibility that magic is involved here."

"We should find an exit," urged Mik.

Nobody seemed to notice that Mik was getting more and more nervous, almost like he was waiting for something.

"Over there!" Jojo suddenly shouted.

Jojo had discovered a small gate or something like that. Actually, it was just an archway, without the gate that should normally sit underneath. She hurriedly ran ahead and stomped out of the strange grotto, followed by Kitty, Dennis, Sydney, Natalie and Mik, as well as all the others.

"Is this the realm of dreams now?" asked Sydney, walking next to Dennis.

"Still not," Dennis said. "The border is probably under the glass dome."

"This glass dome shouldn't have to prevent us from finding what we're looking for," Mik said proudly.

Dennis made a meaningful gesture towards him. "I'm not so sure about that," he said quietly to Kitty. And Kitty nodded to him.

Both Kitty and Dennis had had this strange premonition for a long time. Something told them that danger might be lurking beneath the glass dome.

After walking on for a while, Jojo and Mik arrived directly at the glass dome first, closely followed by Kitty and all the other fellow passengers.

Kitty felt very carefully over the glass. It was chilly. It felt cool but comfortable. At the same time, however, it somehow radiated something that made Kitty anxious. Kitty looked up. The glass dome seemed to have no end. It had to be immensely high. And if Kitty hadn't seen from afar that it was a dome, she might have thought it was an endless glass wall.

Jojo, who was a few steps in front of Kitty, also felt over the wall.

"Entrance...", Jojo whispered. "We need an entrance."

Jojo looked questioningly along the wall. There seemed nowhere to get in.

"Will you conjure up an entrance?" Mik asked her. But Jojo shook his head.

"I don't know any spells," she said.

"And if you take your sword?", Mik considered. "Just cut a hole in the wall with your sword."

Kitty, Sydney and Dennis were now a little further away from Jojo and Mik and were looking for an entrance in the other direction, while Natalie just walked over to Jojo and Mik to see what they found so far.

"I think that's a signal," Dennis said. "If the dome won't let us in, maybe we should stay out."

"But there are important answers in there," mused Sydney.

"Hey guys!" Jojo suddenly shouted. "Here is an entrance! Exactly here! We can go in!”

Sydney, Dennis and Kitty hurriedly made their way to Jojo's location.

Natalie was already there. She saw what Jojo was doing. Jojo tried to be quick so no one would notice, except for Mik of course. But she wasn't fast enough. Natalie had just seen how she stowed her water sword in the magic bag again.

"Jojo... what did you do?" Natalie asked quietly.

"Woe, you say something!", she warned Jojo. "You're going to be in the most trouble." She scowled, pausing for a while. Then she continued: "You didn't see anything, do you understand? The opening had been there all along, got it?”

Before Natalie could even reply, Kitty, Dennis and Sydney arrived, and behind them came the Silver Knights, followed by the other passengers.

"So," Jojo said. "Then let's go."

"Don't, Jojo," Dennis said. "Stay outside. Believe me, it's not good to go in there."

"Oh, Dennis, you scaredy-cat," laughed Jojo. “After all, that's what we've been looking for all along.

"Jojo, don't!" Kitty exclaimed. "Stop it Dennis. Please! Mik, tell her something."

But neither Jojo nor Mik listened to Kitty and Dennis. They marched in through the opening with quick, determined steps. Resolutely, they finally entered the strange, mysterious glass dome through the opening. And Kitty looked after Jojo and she saw that she wasn't scared at all.

"Jojo!" Kitty exclaimed desperately. "Come back!"

The silver knights then followed Jojo and Mik under the glass dome. And a little later - maybe she didn't even know why - Natalie ran in too. She actually wanted to stay with Kitty, Dennis and Sydney. But something just pulled her along with Jojo and Mik and the silver knights.

Kitty looked after Jojo helplessly. Jojo turned to her. She smiled. Maybe it wasn't that dangerous after all? Jojo waved. She called out something, but the sound was practically swallowed up by the thick glass. You couldn't understand anything.

Suddenly Torok came running. "Where are they? Where are Jojo and the lord?” he called excitedly.

"They went in," Kitty said desperately, pointing to the small opening in the wall.

"Oh, no," Torok said.

"What? What is it?” Kitty stammered, clearly nervous.

“We just learned about the danger posed by this glass dome. You have to know, the realm of dreams is not usually located under such a glass dome. It's that dome that makes it so dangerous.”

Kitty looked back at Jojo. She still stood there, waving. Kitty called after her anxiously, "Jojo! Get out of there, please!”

But Jojo didn't seem to hear anything. She slowly lifted her arm, slowly moving it to her ear. Then Jojo seemed to say something, but you couldn't understand what she was saying. No sound penetrated from the inside either, just as little as from the outside in.

Kitty looked at Jojo in surprise. Suddenly she looked at Mik. Apparently he was standing in the same spot the whole time. But why? Kitty took a closer look. Then she discovered that Mik took a step. He walked very slowly.

"Is there water under there? They move in slow motion,” Sydney suddenly stated.

"No," Torok said, deeply affected. "It is too late. We can no longer save them.”

"What?" Now Kitty was really getting scared. She knocked hard on the pane. But Jojo didn't react. Very, very slowly she lifted her arm down from her ear. Very, very slowly she turned around, and after it took her minutes to take the next step, the image almost seemed to stop.

"It's the time," Torok said with a very sad expression. "Time holds everyone who goes under this dome. It's time running so slowly down there that everything seems to come to a standstill. And Jojo and Mik and Natalie, as well as the silver knights, are now prisoners of time. Irrevocable.”

"No..." Kitty stammered. Tears ran down her cheeks. "That must not be. That must not have happened. Jojo, come out of there, please..."

Chapter 2 - In the realm of dreams

Dennis held his girlfriend while she rested her head on his shoulder. He looked at Jojo and Mik. They stood almost motionless, still in the same pose as minutes before. Jojo was still waving. Mik was still about to take the same step he had been taking for minutes.

Suddenly Dennis noticed that the opening leading under the dome seemed to be closing slowly. It became more and more noticeably smaller.

"Oh no," he said.

"The opening is closing," Sydney realized. "We have to do something."

And now Kitty, too, noticed that the opening kept closing. Soon all you could see was a small gap leading inside the dome. What should Kitty do now? Nobody, not even those who were with her now, could give her any advice. All she knew was that she had to act very quickly. If she didn't find a way to help Jojo in the next thirty seconds, Jojo would be doomed. And with her Natalie, Mik and the silver knights who were already under the glass dome.

Kitty thought. And the seconds flew by. What should she do? What only? Gently she felt her locket, the mysterious key of power.

Kitty then reached a hand gently into the gap, which now appeared to be only inches wide. She found her arm a little numb as she reached under the dome. She looked questioningly at Dennis, who was holding her by the other hand. Then Kitty did the very dangerous thing. She did it because it was better than leaving Jojo alone. She took all the great risk, and it was the only choice she had.

Kitty then also carefully ran under the dome. She looked behind her and pulled Dennis in as well. Then she held on to Dennis again and saw how the others gradually entered the interior of the large glass dome.

Kitty and Dennis, looking out of the glass dome, noticed that all of a sudden everything outside was somehow speeding up. Outside, everything suddenly moved much faster, like fast-forwarding a video film. All of the fellow passengers seemed to suddenly decide in a flash to enter the glass dome as well. But no sooner were they under the dome than their movements seemed to resume their normal speed.

Kitty turned around. Jojo stood behind her and smiled at her.

"N / A? Have you decided to come with me after all?” she asked. "Why were you waving around so fast and hard the whole time? I don't even know what you wanted."

"Jojo," Kitty cried through tears. And then she started to hug her sister. But Jojo raised both of her arms and pushed Kitty away slightly.

"Jojo... I was so scared for you," Kitty stammered. "Don't you know how dangerous it is in here?" Kitty sniffed a little and rubbed her nose against the back of her hand. "You are prisoners of time here. We are all prisoners of time. Torok said so.”

"Prisoners of what?" Jojo looked at Kitty in disbelief. "What nonsense."

"It's true, Jojo," Kitty said softly. “Time runs differently here than outside. The glass dome shouldn't normally be there. Listen to me, Jojo."

But it was hopeless. Jojo just didn't want to listen to Kitty. Determined, Jojo walked ahead, followed by Mik after finding a strange path with colored cobblestones. She followed the path without discussing anything with Kitty. Jojo now acted completely on his own authority, without asking the empress, yes, even without listening to the empress's advice.

Kitty ran hopelessly after Jojo, Mik and the silver knights. She couldn't change anything about Jojo's will at the moment, Jojo just didn't understand the danger they were in. And Dennis, who hadn't let go of Kitty's hand the whole time, knew it too.

"It's okay, Kitty," he whispered softly.

"But..."

"Let Jojo do it. There's nothing we can do about it at the moment," he said.

Sydney ran to Natalie's side. Pleased that Natalie seemed to be doing just fine, Sydney put her hand on her shoulder.

"Natalie," Sydney said. "Thank God, nothing happened to you."

Natalie looked at Sydney with a straight face. Actually, it was an almost impassive look that Natalie put on the day. She looked puzzled, but at the same time somehow mechanical, almost like a living doll.

Of course, Sydney immediately noticed that something was wrong with her. "What is? Is something wrong with you?” she asked.

Natalie shook her head. She looked pale and her skin was pale. She would have loved to confide in Sydney, her best friend, what she had seen. But some power seemed to prevent that. Somehow Natlaie Sydney couldn't say anything.

Kitty looked up in surprise. But not without making sure that Jojo would always stay close to her.

"There's no such thing," Kitty murmured softly. And also Jojo, Dennis, Mik and the others now looked up.

The passengers caught their breath. From down here they saw a clear starry sky. And in the east, the very first harbingers of the rising sun were already fighting their way through the night again.

"Early morning? Already?” breathed Jojo. "Mik, how long have we been in here?"

"I don't know," Mik said curtly. "Does not matter anyway."

"It's actually very important," Kitty stated. "Two hours ago the sun went down - and now it's rising again. Something can't be right."

Jojo looked around. There were a few houses to the left and right of the fellow travelers. They looked strange. They were tall and round. Completely round, seemingly without corners and edges. On top of each of the houses were small round towers. And the houses shimmered in many bright colors in the rising morning sun.

Kitty, too, looked at the houses in amazement, just like the others in the caravan.

"Have you ever seen anything weird like this?" Jojo asked Kitty.

However, Kitty did not answer. She was still very confused. And maybe she didn't really know what was going on in her head at the moment.

"Now that we're here," Dennis said, "maybe we should go and search." Dennis turned to the fellow travelers. “As you know, we are here because this is supposed to be the realm of dreams. The birthplace of the Dreamtime Guardians.” He raised his arm towards the mountain peak that was in the center of the huge glass dome. On it stood a large castle, which looked very strange - circular, with two high, round towers - and it shimmered and shone colorfully in the rising morning sun. “Up there seems to be the heart of this city. We should go there.”

"Shall we go up there?" Sydney asked, looking helplessly at the pointed peak. "There's no way up there."

Kitty exhaled deeply. "Well, let's try it," she said thoughtfully.

The fellow travelers then followed Kitty, who, closely followed by Jojo and Dennis, eventually continued on the path Jojo found.

It was the only way down here. He meandered past the strange, bizarre houses. Kitty found that the longer she walked around, she was more and more impressed by the soft light the buildings gave off. Kitty got a strange feeling about it and she couldn't place it at all.

After about half an hour's walk, the caravan arrived at the lower end of the summit. And only now could you really see how high the mountain actually was. Narrow, slim - but very high.

"Hm..." Sydney made. She looked up at the mountain helplessly.

"No way," Natalie stammered.

"Maybe there's an entrance or something," Jojo suggested. “And then we have to go up from the inside. Maybe there's some kind of elevator in there."

"I don't think so," Dennis said. Thoughtfully he began to walk up and down the mountain. "I think we have to climb."

The mountain had many rocky outcrops. You could climb it if you knew how to do it, but it still looked like it was going to be very difficult.

Kitty ran up to the mountain and gently touched one of its ledges.

"That... that's totally smooth," she then stated. "Almost like glass"

"It's glass," said Mik, who also touched the mountain. “Everything seems to be made of glass here. Even the rocks.”

Jojo now tried to climb one of the ledges. And indeed it rose a few meters before falling down again.

"Ouch!" she cursed.

"Did you hurt yourself, Jojo?" Kitty then asked while turning to her.

"No," Jojo said, shaking his head. "I do not think so."

"It's probably not that easy after all," Natalie then stated. "If we somehow had something sticking to the glass..."

"What do you think? Glue or something?” Sydney wanted to know.

"Maybe something made of rubber..."

And at the same moment something in Kitty and Jojo's magic bag started to rattle. Something was moving in there, waiting to come out.

Kitty and Jojo carefully opened their bags to reveal two pairs of strange looking suction cups that you could attach to your hands and feet. You could put them on like gloves and shoes.

"Wacky," said Jojo while putting her pair of suction cups over her hands and feet. Then she tried again to climb the wall of the glass mountain - and it actually worked.

"Now we can climb up there like flies," she said, smiling.

And then Kitty put on her pair of suction cups.

Just as Kitty was about to climb the mountain as well, two pairs of suction cups came out of her magic bag. And two more pairs of suction cups came out of Jojo's magic bag. And when these were there, two pairs of suction cups came out. And then two more. While Kitty and Jojo looked around in amazement, so many suction cups came out of their magic bags that the whole caravan could climb the mountain.

"Okay," Kitty said then. "It's easy. Put on the suction cups and follow us. Just do it like Jojo and I do.”

And the others eventually followed Kitty and Jojo. It wasn't long before the caravan reached the top of the huge mountain. When they got to the top, they found a very strange looking circular glass castle.

"The heart of this city," Dennis said.

"The heart of the whole empire," Mik corrected him.

"Good. We'll go in,” Kitty explained after thinking for a few minutes and looking at the glass lock in awe.

Meanwhile the sun was shining in the evening sky in the far west, and the castle reflected an even more beautiful light. You could see a lot of circular windows. And on top of the two towers was a circular little dome, like a miniature version of the dome that enclosed this realm below. The building didn't actually look like a castle, it looked like a house from the future. Neither Kitty nor Jojo had ever seen anything like it before. And they were both very impressed too.

Kitty peered around the lock to see if it had an entrance anywhere. Eventually she found a door, or at least something that came very close to a door.

"We could go in there," she said, pointing to the door. And off she went, in the direction of this door. But just as she was about to open it, she suddenly turned and looked at Dennis.

"Dennis," Kitty said. "It is evening. See?” Kitty pointed to the setting sun.

Dennis nodded.

"A beautiful sunset," Jojo said, slightly annoyed.

"Yoyo. It was morning two hours ago. And now it's evening," Kitty pointed out.

"Maybe it just looks like it," said Mik. "Back then, in the Kingdom of a Thousand Nights of Sleep, the sun didn't rise for days."

"Yes," Kitty said thoughtfully. "But this is different. Really weird.”

Jojo shrugged. Then she pulled off the suction cups. "I think we can take that off now," she said. And then the others followed suit.

No one had noticed that Mik was speaking as if he had been in Thousand Nights of Sleep. But he wasn't even with the caravan then. How could it be that he knew how long the night was in the Thousand Nights of Sleep Realm and what it looked like there? Only Kitty looked at Mik suspiciously.

Meanwhile, Jojo was busy opening the front door to the castle. Anyway, she tried, but it didn't quite work. Her fingers kept slipping on the door handle. She kicked the door in frustration.

"Jojo!" Kitty admonished her. And Jojo looked at her annoyed and made an unmistakable gesture with his hands.

"Let me," Kitty said. Then she touched the door and it opened. Just like that. Kitty had only touched the handle lightly, and the great door opened with a loud creak that sounded oddly metallic. "All right," Kitty said. And then she ran in, followed by Dennis, Jojo, Sydney and Natalie and the other passengers.

A violet light shimmered in the room. It looked like the wall was glowing, but was it really? There were no lightbulbs or torches to be seen. But the wall shone with a soft purple glow.

Kitty turned around once, then she ran to one of the many windows and looked out. Outside the sun was already gone and a deep night was beginning, while the stars had already risen.

"I don't understand," Kitty said thoughtfully to Dennis, who was standing next to her. “I had assumed that time runs more slowly here. But it seems to go the other way around. Much quicker than outside, outside the great dome that encloses the whole realm.”

"No, Kitty," Dennis said. “Time actually runs slower under the dome. What we see is the time that is passing faster and faster outside the dome.”

"Oh my God..." Kitty said, startled. "That means days, weeks or even months go by outside while we're only in here for hours..."

"Let's find what we're looking for," said Mik. "Then we'll see that we get out of here as quickly as possible."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Jojo looked questioningly into Mik's eyes.

And just at that moment, a mysterious sound was heard. It was weird, like a metallic hiss. Creepy, but euphonious at the same time. And it wasn't long before the noise became a voice.

"Seekers," the voice finally said. It sounded bright but deep at the same time. It could be a little girl's voice, but at the same time an old man's. Kitty, Jojo and the others were startled. Only Mik looked relatively composed.

"Seekers," the voice repeated. "We have awaited your arrival, Empress of Naytnal."

"Who are you? Where are you?” Kitty asked impatiently. Actually, she didn't mean to sound impatient.

Suddenly something came out. Kitty couldn't see where it was coming from, but suddenly it was there. A small light shone in front of her. A dot the size of a firefly fluttered back and forth in front of her. But Kitty couldn't make out the shape of that point of light.

"We are the will-o'-the-wisp," said the strange voice, and now it definitely sounded like a little girl's voice. "We are the shifters."

"The... Changers?" Kitty wanted to touch the point of light, but then she didn't dare.

"The Shapers that can transform," the voice declared - and now it sounded low, like a man's voice. "Look here," the voice prompted Kitty. And suddenly the will-o'-the-wisp parted and a strange shape emerged from it. It became a mixture of a girl and a horse. In front the figure had the girl's body. But she had four feet with hoofs, and a long tail behind.

Kitty admired the will-o'-the-wisp, which was now a strange shape.

"Say, is this the realm of dreams?" Kitty then asked a little nervously.

"So it is," replied the will-o'-the-wisp.

"Then this is the birthplace of the Ta'lar?" Dennis interjected.

The strange figure turned and looked at him.

"It is," she said after a few minutes. "But you won't find anyone here."

And now Kitty suddenly noticed what she had been noticing all along. Since she and Jojo arrived here in the realm of dreams together with the others, they have not met a soul, not a being. No one was here except the fellow travelers in the caravan.

"Are you here all alone?" Kitty finally asked.

"As you can see, yes," said the being.

"Where did they all go?" Kitty wanted to know. "You know, because we were hoping to find the Dreamtime Wardens here."

"They are not here," said the being. And now the voice sounded like an old woman, and it sounded very sad and affected. "Long ago the last of them went on a journey."

"Travelling?" Jojo looked slightly confused.

"You must know, the Dreamtime Guardians never travel. They always stay in their secret place. The place you have now found.”

"But... now they're gone?" Jojo asked.

"Wait a minute," Kitty said thoughtfully. "Is this where you live? Isn't this where they are born before moving on to the most secret place in all of Naytnal? I thought they would only be here for the first few years of their lives.”

"That's the way it is," the strange being explained. "Come over to the wall. I'll show you the history of the Ta'lar.”

As the being walked towards the wall of the large, circular room, the light suddenly dimmed. And glowing contours appeared on the wall. Soon they became real pictures. It looked like cave paintings. Kitty and Jojo looked at these pictures with fascination. And especially Dennis looked at her very interested.

Numerous pictures were taken. Kitty then discovered the start in the top left corner. The first image glowed white. It showed a kind of cocoon.

"Your birth," she said softly.

The second picture showed something slipping out of the cocoon. An insect-like being was recognized there. It appeared to have multiple arms on its torso. And in addition, it had at least three legs under it. Thin, narrow legs.

Kitty was too impressed to say anything. The images did indeed tell the story of the Ta'lar. And Kitty understood her.

"It starts with her birth," Kitty explained softly. “They are born in these cocoons. You are born from dreams. Her purpose in life consists exclusively of dreams. But not of their own. It's people's dreams.” Kitty almost jumped at herself, so fascinated was she by what she saw in the pictures. And she didn't even take her eyes off the many bright images.

"They came from people's dreams. They make the dreams and they take the bad dreams away from people. From the beginning, the Dreamtime Guardians protect all our dreams. That's what they're here for. That's what they were made for. That's what they live for."

Kitty turned to face the other wall, where more glowing images formed. She gently brushed her hair and felt her body tremble in awe.

"Three years after their birth, the Ta'lar are being formed into what they will be," Kitty continued while the others listened intently. "They must pass many hard trials in order to become the guardians of dreams and time. And after passing these tests, they go to the most secret place in all of Naytnal. No one, not even themselves, knows where this place is. However, they never travel. They never leave their birthplace, although they do so at the same time. They take their place of birth with them. They take the realm of dreams with them to where they will go later. But now…” Kitty paused for a long time and took a deep breath. "Now something bad has happened. The Ta'lar, the Dreamtime Wardens, have gone on a journey. Never before have they left the realm of dreams alone. And it should never have happened that they leave the realm of dreams alone. But still it happened. Nobody knows where they went. Nobody knows why they left. It is said that an uncanny power is after them. However, it is said that a group of Naytnal people and beings, led by the Empress of the Star of Realms, are on their way to help them. In them lies the whole hope of all people on earth.”

Kitty fell into Dennis' arms, obviously exhausted. Her account of the Dreamtime Keepers ended there, and the images either could not or would not continue the story. Everyone was still looking at the pictures in awe, trying to understand what Kitty had just explained and what Kitty had to try to understand herself.

Suddenly the whole lock started to shake. An earthquake? Here? Now? Everyone hastily tried to hold on to something. But it turned out to be very difficult, because suddenly everyone noticed that the large room was completely empty. There was nothing here. No furniture, no railings, no stairs. Just nothing.

And the strange creature was suddenly gone.

Then Kitty suddenly felt the ground cave in beneath her. As if by magical power, he seemed to vanish into thin air. Suddenly the floor was gone, just like that. Seeking help, Kitty tried to cling to Dennis, but suddenly she was all alone.

Kitty was floating. She looked around. The castle... the mountain... everything suddenly disappeared. Kitty could still see the strange, warm glowing purple light shining through the night. It was the only thing left. Everything else seemed to have magically, mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

"Dennis?" Kitty called. "Jojo?" Nobody answered. "Strange creature... will-o'-the-wisp..." Kitty exclaimed. But there was no one there.

Kitty then felt herself land softly somewhere. It could be a cloud the way it felt. Kitty looked down. It wasn't a cloud she was standing on. A floor of warm earth lay beneath her. She stood on it very softly. So soft it could have been sand. Kitty could see that this sand had no color.

"I have to dream," Kitty then said quietly to herself.

Instinctively her hand went to her pendant, the mysterious key of power. She touched him. The locket shone as beautifully as it always shone. And Kitty felt his power. At least she hadn't lost that.

Suddenly the ground moved. Another earthquake? Kitty felt herself floating up again. Carried by a strange power, as if she had wings. Kitty flew right. She looked around quietly. She didn't want to fight back. She didn't want to oppose what was happening to her now. Kitty considered. It could be an important message that this dream would tell her.

Suddenly Kitty saw things. Characters. There were figures. Kitty looked around. It was all very blurry, but there was definitely something there.

Kitty felt herself suddenly falling down. And then she realized that she was holding onto something or someone. Kitty looked around. She was on a roller coaster. Kitty was on a roller coaster?

The car in which Kitty was now sitting made two curves and a loop before it pulled into the bus stop and ended the journey. Kitty saw other people beside her, behind her, and in front of her. And as she shot into the station she could see more people.

"The carnival," Kitty whispered. "I'm back in Silver Summer."

After the train stopped, Kitty spotted a girl she knew very well who was apparently waiting for her. It was none other than her sister Jojo.

"Wow," Jojo called out to her when Kitty got off the train. "You really dared. Four loops and you did them.”

Kitty was shaking. Was this her yo-yo now? The girl who was just with her in Naytnal, in the realm of dreams? Or was it again that Jojo who met her at the fair back then and said to her that she, Kitty, made it all up?

"How are you?" Jojo asked curiously. "How was it?"

"Really cool," Kitty replied hesitantly. She tried to smile at Jojo. This time, for a reason, she didn't want Jojo to notice anything. Even if Kitty didn't know why.

Kitty suddenly felt something in her hand. It felt like a small stone. Kitty opened her hand and she saw the Stone of Truth. The precious gift that Lina gave her.

Suddenly Kitty saw letters forming on the magic stone.

"You don't dream," she read there.

The stone spoke to her. And he told Kitty she's not dreaming.

---ENDE DER LESEPROBE---