Shaynen rolled in his sleep. His small cot creaked beneath him, not built for so much activity. He felt a small tickle on his face. It brought him towards consciousness only enough to swat at his face. The feeling over his nose didn’t go away, he swatted again and rolled over into the pillow. Just as he was beginning to fall back to the abyss he heard a voice, in his ear, clear as day, loud as a cannon;

WAKE UP

Shaynen’s eyes opened. He sat upright, looking around frantically. The other acolytes in the dormitory were sleeping without a sound. Nothing moved, not even the trees outside the windows. Shaynen leaned over and looked underneath his cot. But there was nothing there either. Shaynen narrowed his eyes as he sat back up on his cot. Staring at the high-arched beams of the room. Then back down to the wooden floors, trying to spot anything under any of the other cots. He felt a small tickle creep up the back of his neck. He swatted at it and grabbed at whatever it was.

He brought his hand around and carefully opened his hand to show what he’d caught. He expected an insect or something to that effect. But when his fingers separated, a soft glow flickered out from between them. A tiny little flicker like the flame of a candle drifted up to eye level with him and then in a streak of light vanished. Leaving on the burned imprint of its trail in Shaynen’s vision.

His blanket was thrown to the floor as Shaynen jumped to his feet. Freezing only for a moment when he heard the creak of another acolyte’s cot. He looked back at the other acolytes in the dormitory. Near the window someone had turned over but seemed to be still sleeping. Shaynen crept out of the dormitory and into the hall. His heart raced as he shut the door behind him, he shouldn’t be wandering the halls after lights out. No one was supposed to be, as such the halls weren’t lit in anyway.

Whatever the glow had been it had disappeared. Shaynen briefly considered going back to bed. Rationalizing about what mundane thing it had been. He surprised himself when he turned away from the door instead. He looked both ways down the hall. He drifted towards the left.

The monastery was perfectly still. Walking down the stone floor Shaynen felt like he was completely alone. He turned the corner but there was still no sign of whatever woke him up. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes.

“What am I doing?” He muttered. He leaned against the wall, holding his head and pushing his hair from his face. His eyes opened up again, wide awake. There was no point trying to go back to bed now. He wandered through the halls in a near trance. Replaying and obsessing over every detail of his day. Trying to pinpoint the exact place where he went wrong. Every other acolyte who’d undergone the ceremony all had their guides come to them. Why not him?

He was distracted from his wandering by sudden movement in the corner of his vision. He stopped dead, mistaking the movement for a nighttime warden, coming to see if everyone was still in bed. Instead there was a tiny sound like the chime of a bell from around the corner. Shaynen stopped and started a few times. Not able to unstick his feet from the ground. The little glow ducked out from the corner and chimed impatiently. It vanished around the corner again.

Shaynen leaned forward and slowly began moving. He walked around the corner and into the large common area. The whole room was dark without the glow of whatever thing Shaynen was following. A few benches stood around the room, tapestries hung. Giant stained glass windows were latched to separate the room from the night and the outer halls of the monastery. Shaynen inspected the benches, behind the tapestries. After a hasty inspection of the room he backed up into the center of the room again.

He heard the chime. He turned and saw the glow vanish outside the window. Shaynen leapt to the window, unlatched it, and threw open the doors. Wind manifested to push the fringe out of his face. He rushed out onto the balcony and jumped up onto the ledge. Quiet crickets gossiped, owls sighed, and there was no chime. The moonlight looked down to make the only visible light. Shaynen pressed his lips together tightly as he looked down from the second story and into the trees. A small light jingled into the leaves. He narrowed his eyes and went back inside. He quietly snuck back into the dormitory to grab his overshirt and sandals, pulling his hair back into its bun and quickly running down the stairs and outside.

He slipped out the front door of the temple and into the wild. The forest pulsed with raw magic, it made the tips of Shaynen’s ears burn. He walked in between the trees, abandoning the path entirely. The dead silence of the temple was forgotten by the constant movement and noise of the woods.

“Where are you?” Shaynen called. He kept his voice low, wary of anyone in the temple hearing him. “What are you?” A little flicker of hope had ignited inside him.

What if this glow was for him?

“Where are you leading me?” Shaynen asked. A gust of wind traveled up from behind him, bringing a loud chime with it. The world went dark and he heard the sound of a bead of water drop. He felt butterflies in his chest as he walked into the warm blackness. The chime exploded into a thousand glowing stars. They spun around him and bundling together. They became a dancing peacock that spread its feathers in a dazzling array. It burst into a giant wild stallion that began running into the wind. Shaynen ran headlong alongside it practically screaming with hysterical laughter. The stallion leapt up and disappeared into a ripple of water that Shaynen didn't feel but in a second the image rose up high above him taking the shape of a bear. Then it all vanished. Shaynen looked around for where it would appear next. Surprised when the light burst out from behind him with loud clattering of bells. The shrapnel of light turning to feathers all flying past him in a race of adrenaline.

The light all reformed into the chiming glow that raced away from him. Shaynen went cold as the glow began to fade.

“No! Wait!” Shaynen yelled. He ran after it but the darkness began to tunnel. The light became a distant star that altogether went out.

Shaynen launched himself out of his cot and fell sprawling onto the stone floor. The vision of his dream fading away in the morning light.

“Shaynen? Are you all right?” Ayra walked into the dormitory and Shaynen peeked up from behind the mess of empty cots.

“What?” He asked. “Where am I?” Shaynen looked around starting to get his bearings again.

“Did you fall back asleep?” Ayra chuckled as he walked into the room.

“What?” Shaynen asked again. Finally recognizing where he was and getting to his feet shakily.

“You’re fully dressed. You even have your sandals on.” Ayra pointed to Shaynen’s feet but he was hardly listening.

“I… I have to go,” Shaynen was moving about frantically. Trying to gather his scattered thoughts.

“Go? Go where?” Ayra asked.

“I don’t know. But I have to go!” Shaynen turned again and went to rush past the older master but Ayra caught Shaynen by his shoulders.

“Now calm down!” Ayra snapped. “What are you talking about?”

“I had a vision,” Shaynen whispered excitedly. “I saw it. My spirit! It came to me last night and it’s trying to take me somewhere! I have to go!”

“Leave? You.” Ayra couldn’t get any words out. “Are you sure you’re ready to leave? You’re not more than a child, are you sure you’re prepared for the outside world?”

“I am not a child.” Shaynen wrinkled his upturned nose. “And YOU were the one who said our spirits call upon us. Mine is calling!” Ayra’s face was blank. His eyes went far away for a moment but shook himself back to reality.

“I suppose that is.. I mean yes I understand,” Ayra nodded. “But where will you go? Where are you heading?”

“I don’t know!” Shaynen vibrated. “Uh. Spirits take forms we’re familiar with. Maybe it’s something I should be familiar with. But I’m not because… Because I’m HERE.”

“Where is this going?” Ayra asked. Shaynen shook away from Ayra and he stumbled for the door with Ayra running behind him. “Where are YOU going?”

“My family! They weren’t from here! They came from… uhm... “ Shaynen stopped dead. Causing Ayra to run into him. Shaynen turned to him. “Where were they from?”

“Uh. I don’t know. I think I had heard they had travelled all the way from the High Forests.” Ayra stuttered.

“Then I’ll go there! I bet that’s where my spirit is!” Shaynen said definitively.

“That is… Shaynen I don’t believe you understand how far away that is,” Ayra grabbed Shaynen again.

“I’ll stay on the trails! Stick with the caravans! Keep in large groups,” Shaynen pleaded. Ayra stepped back and covered his face.

“Shaynen.” Ayra sighed tiredly. Shaynen felt his soul leave him.

“Master Ayra, please. I need to do this,” Shaynen begged. “What if this is my only chance?” Ayra could manage a response.

“Stick to the roads. Keep with the large caravans.” Ayra conceded finally. Shaynen couldn’t contain his excitement and hugged the master excitedly.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” He said. Shaking himself free from Ayra and running down the hall at full speed.