Chapter 14 The Dreamscape

Angela was dumbstruck, how could an animal talk?

She looked at the beast thinking that probably her mind was playing tricks on her, she shook her head trying to make sense of the new world she found herself in but it only got more and more confusing. She looked back again at Mizpah and was about to open her mouth to test if she was really bonkers but as if reading her mind the beast spoke to her again making her squeak and step a few steps back.

"I'll never get used to you speaking!"

Mizpah went on as if she hadn't spoken, there is someone you need to meet, she will help you understand the new world as you are calling it."

"Are you a mind reader too?"

"I can hear your thoughts same as you can hear mine but if and when you choose not to intrude on my thought you can block our connection."

Angela looked at the beast as if he had grown an extra head in place, she was wondering how she could do all that he said she could.

"Calm your thoughts, go ahead, and calm the chaos in your mind," Mizpah was speaking to her in a calming voice. Without a thought and as if she had no power over her actions, her heart rate started to even out, her breathing evened out and her whole body relaxed causing her feel so light.

A vice that sounded distant was speaking to her but because she could not yet hear what it was saying she concentrated all her focus by closing her eyes. It was then she heard it, it was like a gentle tickle in her mind.

"Think of something you would want to tell me," Mizpah prodded.

"uummuumm, this is so swell," she thought.

"You see, that was not so hard now."

"Yes, it feels so normal. Can you really hear me think?" she asked happy to be doing what she thought was only for heavenly beings like angels. Mizpah laughed when he heard her, she looked his way and felt embarrassed for talking about mythical beings like angels who probably did not exist.

"Yes, I can hear your every thought because you are yet to learn how to block our connection when you want your privacy."

"How do I do that?" she asked excited to be learning a how to communicate via mind channel with her pet friend. Her excitement had caused her to temporarily halt her concern for her grandmother Alice and put it on hold.

“Just think that you do not want me to hear your thoughts"

"Hallo? Halloo? So you can't hear me?" she attempted but realized that the beast could not hear her. "Yoo-hoo! He cannot hear me," then she waved her hands and laughed but Mizpah had to speak audibly for Angela to hear him.

"I cannot hear you, congratulations! You now have mastered the art of communicating via mind channel. We will be doing a lot of it in the coming days; mostly it will be to guide you and to teach you the ways of the land." Mizpah told her.

He continued when she did not say a word. 'You will need to be very weary of the people in the palace. Most would give anything to sit on the throne of Grundolf; actually there are those that are planning to get rid of you as we speak.

That got her attention so fast that she lowered the link wall she had put up to block Mizpah, "what? Why would they want to get rid of me, I want nothing from this huge dump except for my grandmother. Speaking of which, you told me that you can sense her magic. Does that mean that my grandmother is a witch? And alive?" she seemed saddened by the fact that Alice could be a witch. Their reputation was so tainted that, even on the third realm where humans resided witches were burnt at the stake because they brought untold chaos, fear, and terror, upsetting the world balance. To be considered a relative or friend of a witch was so bad that nobody ever wanted to be connected to one. She had also witnessed Casper attack her own grandmother, causing her belief that witches were dreadful to be cemented as the truth in her heart.

As they continued to speak, Angela learnt that her grandmother was locked in the dungeons in an unknown location but in Grundolf. Alice had been locked in the northern dungeons where only the most notorious of criminals were locked. It was so difficult to access the exact location of the dungeons as it was magically cloaked from everyone else but for Casper and the guards that kept watch over it day and night. Angela was rearing to go but Mizpah prevented her, as he knew that it would be foolhardy to go unprepared in such a place.

He asked her to go back to the dreamscape where all the information she needed to live her life free of fear and intimidation from the other pack members waited for her.

"What is that place and how do I get there?"

Angela asked anxious to be leaving immediately.

"The dreamscape is an alternative reality; we can travel there only through our minds leaving the physical body behind. It can be a serene place to stay, if you chose to, or it can be full of challenges, that one has to overcome to survive. If by any chance you died in the dreamscape, your body dies here as well. If you thrive well in the dreamscape, it will be visible in the glow that your whole body will exhibit.

Some choose to live in the dreamscape where they create their reality to escape the pain of their current reality on this plane. Others are imprisoned there as a means of punishment or to make one realize the error of their ways. The dreamscape is an alternate reality created by the priestesses of the old who were judges over all the land. They imprisoned wrongdoers there for a time until they regretted their deeds. Some would be banished for a decade, others for a century while for some it would only be for a few years."

"Wow, is that for real? How does one create an alternate reality and banish people there?"

"Only the most powerful witches and wizards are able to create this alternate reality.

They are believed to be the direct descendants of the priestesses of the old and the oracles. There is also another group that was given the privilege of traveling to and from the dreamscape, they were also taught how to banish individuals for as long as they deemed fit until they determined whether they had regretted their wrongdoing. These are people with royal blood and as such, you too are able to travel to the alternate reality."

"Who is this person I'm supposed to meet in the dreamscape?" she asked.

"You have met her, she has all the answers you need and the way to get to your grandmother Alice." Mizpah replied to her.

"My existence is tied to your existence; l was created for such a time as this. Even though we have met in many lifetimes, I carry the burden of having to be separated and reunited after a short while. In every lifetime, I am always your faithful familiar who shares your pain, joy, triumph, and victories. They have been numerous; you have come in all sorts of forms, but always remain the same. It is my honorable task to remind you of who you are every time you come back. This time though it is different, another has been tasked to remind you."

"What are you talking about? This is so unbelievable!" Angela said incredulously finding it hard to believe the words coming from the beast's mouth.

"It is not my place to divulge that information, it is being kept a secret for various reasons. Your safety is paramount; secondly, you need to reconnect with yourself if you are to triumph in the upcoming challenge. There are those that have anchored the hope of their survival in your being, and those are the majority. The world balance has been upset by the black magic the reigns the seven realms, the veil has been damaged and very soon, darkness will be unleashed on unsuspecting individuals who will suffer for the greed of a few individuals who feel entitled to power. There is someone who is waiting to tell you where it all started before you can plan a rescue mission for Carita Bennett, the Grand witch of the Bennett coven

"Why me? Who am I against the crazy individuals who can even escape using magic?

She asked.

"You are more powerful than you can imagine, you have a long way to go before you can become the woman you are supposed to be. But you have individuals placed by your side, those that will guide you, there are those that will support you and there are those that will inspire you. The spell put on you when you were a child to cloak you suppresses your magic and that is why you need to go to the dreamscape."

"How do I travel to this place?" Angela asked feeling lost but trusting her newfound pet and friend to guide her. She was eager to go back into the dreamscape because she was hoping that the person waiting for her was the same person she met the last time she found herself in that place. She was also not ready to divulge the truth of having been to the dreamscape but it seemed he already knew even without her telling it to him.

"You only need to go lie down in a comfortable place and focus on the person and the place you had visited earlier. With time it will get easier and you can go back and forth even without having to lie down anywhere."

"How do you know I have been to that place?" Angela asked feeling a bit embarrassed to be caught in a lie.

"I talked to her too!"