Chapter 13
In my dream, I find myself in a pine tree forest. Lilies of the valley cover the forest floor, surrounding me where I sleep. Sitting up, I see that I am wearing a blue dress that looks like it is from another century. The holes in the sleeves and on the skirt give it a distinctly worn appearance that seems to confirm its age. The forest smells like moss and sodden leaves and the dense mist that surrounds me clings to my face like dew.
Suddenly the haze lifts and an attractive young man approaches me. I am a little afraid of him at first, feeling uncomfortable being alone with a stranger. He's wearing a modern suit as green as the grass below our feet, a white dress shirt, and a hunter green tie. His slick hair, combed over to the left, is black as coal, and his skin, a pale gray.
"Sonia, do you know where you are?" the man asks.
How does he know my name? Then I remember that I am in a dream and the man is just another version of me, a very odd version of me. "No."
"I am not an odd version of you and you should learn to hide your thoughts better—you never know who might be listening."
I am shocked.
"Shocked, are you? Good! Our current location is a Norwegian forest, thousands of years ago, if that clears your confusion," he says, his voice formal and his accent Scandinavian.
"Okay?" I suppose anything can happen in my dreams.
"You believe you are dreaming, but you are not. You have been granted a vision by the Almighty Huldra."
"Who is that?" I ask—I have never heard of her.
"Of course you have not heard of her. No living mortal has, and so far, no other Huldra has either. She only reveals herself to those she chooses."
"Why is she granting me a vision?" Will I get to meet her? Crap, I need to hide my thoughts better so this green guy can't read them.
The guy with the green suit looks slightly amused and says, "Shall we give the guy in the green suit a name?"
I try not to squirm where I stand because it bothers me to have someone else inside my head. "Yes, please."
"You will get used to me being in your head. My name is Olaf," he says.
I want to be honest; it isn't worth trying to hide my true thoughts from him. "That's an... interesting name."
"Yes, I hear that quite often from post-creation people," Olaf says.
Post creation? I think.
"Post creation is the time after the creation of Adam and Eve, is that clear enough for you?" Olaf says, somewhat condescendingly.
"Yes," I say. "Were you born before the creation?"
"Not exactly. Follow me." He swivels around and waits.
Oh, I'm supposed to go with him.
"Yes, please come," Olaf says.
"Where are we going?" I step up next to him.
"I want to show you some of your origins," he says, taking me gently by the arm. We start gliding a few inches above the forest ground.
Now I don't feel as uncomfortable in this strange man's presence—only curious, well, as long as he stays out of my head. Where will he take me? We glide on for a while, passing hills and crevices, trees and a lake, until he stops me in front of a large valley.
"I am glad you are not afraid of me. It is a sign of your courage. I have to admit that I had my doubts about you, but the Almighty Huldra knew what type of a Huldra you were."
"How can she know that when I have never met her?"
"No, you haven't met her, but she knows of you."
"Does this Almighty Huldra have a name?" I almost laugh at the word 'almighty,' thinking it sounds ridiculous.
Olaf frowns. "If she wants to reveal it to you, she will. Now, behold, the valley of life, or in other words, the valley of our pure heritage as it used to be." Olaf gestures to it. The valley is deep, green and gorgeous with trees, rivers and flowers throughout. Soaring mountains surround the valley on either side, making it breathtakingly beautiful.
"It's lovely," I gasp.
"Yes, it was lovely once, wasn't it?" Olaf lets go of my arm and kneels down in the grass, looking as if he is praying. "All of this can be yours if you want. Look at it, Sonia, it was so beautiful before!" His hands lift up above his head, glorifying the valley, and when he lowers his hands to his sides, clouds appear in the heavens. "This is what the valley of our heritage looks like now!" He begins to sob. The trees and plants shrivel up and leave nothing but a desert with sand and rocks and skeletons of trees. I get the feeling that his tears are not genuine, only fabricated for a performance tailored for me.
Even so, I mourn the destruction of the valley, seeing how destitute it has become. "Oh."
He composes himself and speaks again. "Take courage, Sonia, it can all be yours and be beautiful again just like before."
"Mine, what do you mean?" I ask, growing curious now about the power I might acquire and almost forgetting that I am dreaming.
"It is symbolic, Sonia. If we do not care to restore the order of the pure Huldras, it will all die just like this valley of life died." Olaf's stare cuts through me like a razor.
"Sorry, I don't know anything about restoring a valley or our heritage." I look away.
He grabs my arm and squeezes it so hard that it hurts. "Yes, you do. It will all become very clear once you commit. We are not after your current abilities, we are after your future, for we know who you can become because the Almighty Huldra has seen it in a vision."
"Let go of me." I pull my arm away.
"I am sorry. I did not realize you were only a girl and not a mature Huldra yet. Mature Huldras are much stronger, you will learn. I did not mean to hurt you."
Wait, how does he know that I'm a Huldra in the first place?
"All Huldras know their kind. We can see it as plainly as black on white."
Again, I forgot that he could read my thoughts. I don't like him being in my head.
"Get over it. The sooner you do, the sooner you can learn and become as powerful as you were meant to be."
"How will I learn?" I ask, testing to see if he knows about—I restrain my thoughts.
"Yes, dear Sonia, the Huldra Academy. I know about it so there is no need to shield your thoughts from me. You are but a caterpillar, still not ready to enter your cocoon, still not realizing that there are other ways to receive the training you need. You are not just forced to train with the Dynasty at the Academy, though your mother wants you to believe that that is the only way. You can train with us, with me, with the Almighty Huldra."
"Why would I want to train with you? What's in it for me?" I ask.
"If you train with us, you will learn more. Not only will you learn how to control your flair, you will be able to acquire more power and more control than if you trained with the other Huldras. That is something the Huldra governesses do not want you to know because they want to maintain the control and the power over all Huldras and Huldus."
Governesses? Another new term. "What would you want in return?" I know there has to be a catch.
"Your loyalty and commitment to the Almighty Huldra, that is all, and the promise that you will use all of your gifts to promote her cause. It is only a minimal sacrifice on your part."
"Why does she want to train me?"
"Because she wants you to become all that you can be. The governesses stole the Almighty Huldra's fifth Huldra gift, and now she cannot use her powers," Olaf says. "She is afraid they will do the same to you, but I cannot say more. It will all make sense once you meet the Almighty Huldra. All you need to do is say you will come, and we will take care of the rest."
"It sounds like you are asking me to become my mom's enemy." I scowl.
"Oh no, nothing of the sort. If your mother knew that the Almighty Huldra was alive, she would side with her—I am certain of it. But, you must not tell her, of course for it could lead to dissension within the Dynasty, and we do not want to cause that."
I don't know if my mom would side with the Almighty Huldra, and now I am feeling pressured into doing something I don't want. Then I catch myself. What am I thinking? It's just a stupid dream anyway!
"No, this is a visitation, not a dream," Olaf says.
I don't believe him.
"Read the black birthday envelope that arrived for you. In it you will find the invitation to what we have discussed. Just mail it back to us to let us know you wish to join. The return address is inside." Olaf smiles.
This is crazy. Well, maybe it's not so crazy. I am dreaming. Of course this guy would know about the envelope because he is in my head, in my dream.
"Olaf," he says.
"What?"
"You said 'this guy.' My name is Olaf, remember?"
Just then I wake up.