May Hawaii and the Dreamhunters

Riding a raptor was a new experience that involved holding onto its neck, ducking to avoid branches, and trying not to fall off while the beast leaped, pivoted, and raced through the jungle. The only one who seemed to know what he was doing was Rex, leading the pack with one hand on the reins and the other on the flank. His whistles guided the whole group toward clearer paths. The deinonychuses crossed the river in a flash. There was no sign of the newts. The water was still very hot, though not boiling. The green-brown shadows gave the ride a surreal feeling, reminding May she was in a dream. A dream that was growing stranger, teetering on the edge of a nightmare.

When Ember finally shouted to Rex that they had reached their destination, May was able to dismount her battered bones to the ground and observed what appeared to be a wire fence a few meters off the path.

“Don’t touch it,” said the redhead. “It’s electrified.”

“That won’t stop all the kabus,” May said.

“It’s not for the kabus; it’s for people,” Ember replied with a smile.

Inside the fence was a large area that didn’t look much different from the jungle itself, except that the vegetation was far more controlled. A winding path led to a peculiar house, almost hidden within the surrounding nature. Its structure was simple and light, barely seeming to touch the ground. Wooden slats allowed the interior and exterior to blend seamlessly. The roof, a network of rods exposed to the sky, played with the light filtering through the palm tree canopies. The cleanliness inside contrasted with the mess outside: gasoline drums poorly stacked, half-chopped firewood, and plastic sheets covering the compost heap.

There were a few moments of logistics. Rex asked Ember for buckets to water the raptors. Rooms were assigned. Don Gregorio and Marcus inventoried the gear and supplies. May took a shower.

When she came back down, she saw that Ember had taken out some drinks and spread a map on one of the elegant wooden tables. Don Gregorio and he were discussing a few details. May opened a beer and approached the map. Seeing the group in clean, cozy clothes reminded May of some kind of friendly gathering, which made her feel quite comforted. There was a special warmth amidst all the worry. May thought about Pérez and Valdés again, hoping they were truly alright. Part of her felt like she had abandoned them. She had looked all over the house, but there were no phones. Presumably, their way of contacting the Rondadores was through direct contact in Sotopeña. The house was completely cut off from human society.

“May!” said Marcus, who looked like a college student in his hoodie. “I don’t remember any of this. Where are the other temples? They’re not on Ember’s map.”

May placed some empty glasses at the locations of the three unexplored temples. The first was near the observatory, the second further beyond, and the third across the river, deep in the jungle. The closest one was the one near the evacuated observatory.

“There’s no problem getting to this one. But the other two won’t be as easy. The one across the river will require a long detour to use the bridge, since there are no fords in that area. The one deep in the jungle is dangerous because it passes through tribal and wild animal territories.”

They decided to start with the closest one and make decisions based on what they found.

After that, Ember brought out food for everyone, and they had dinner while catching up on everything that had happened.

“Tomorrow, once I’ve rested, I’ll be able to activate the phone and contact Minerva,” May said to Don Gregorio.

During dinner, May and Ember started talking about aerena and jumping. Marcus paid attention at first, but he fell asleep on the couch. Don Gregorio and Rex retired early. Ember was curious about humans being able to sleep inside Oniria.

“It seems like a paradox, but it’s actually very common to dream that we’re sleeping, and it’s not unusual to have false awakenings either. We call it that when we think we’ve woken up but are actually dreaming about our usual waking routines.”

“Does sleeping in Oniria also help you replenish aerena like sleeping in Vigilia?” Ember asked.

“Yes… actually, our bodies generate aerena constantly. Just the passage of time allows us to recover it. If I sleep and don’t use resources, I’ll accumulate enough to use it discreetly. But if I wake up and spend the whole day with waking routines, the next time I dream, I’ll have much more, because more time will have passed in Oniria.”

“I see. In my case, it must be similar. My human part must generate aerena.”

“I’d say so. In principle, kabus don’t generate aerena. They’re made of it and don’t use it like humans. But you’re different. In any case, it would be good to see to what extent you can generate and accumulate it.”

“Can it be measured?”

“Yes… although the method isn’t very precise. The Engineers invented immersion tanks where they can ‘weigh’ your aerena. It takes five immersions on separate days to establish whether the generation rate is regular or irregular and what flow you have.”

“Sounds complicated, I hoped we could do it here.”

“I’m afraid not, you need to go to the Palace of Wishes.”

“Then it’s dangerous to do anything with my aerena if we don’t know how I can recover it or at what rate.”

“Yes. Especially if you want to learn how to jump, we should first learn a bit more about your anatomy.”

Then there was a moment of empathetic silence.