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CHAPTER6

GHOSTS AND DREAMS

“What makes you think I can find your sister?” I asked the girl.

She brushed her long bangs out of her face.

“You can talk to ghosts,” she replied, as though that explained everything.

“And how will that help me find your sister?”

“Ghosts are always watching,” she said. “Maybe they saw something that will lead us to my sister and the other missing kids.”

“Other missing kids?” I frowned. “Just how many kids have gone missing?”

“Six. All Dreamweavers.”

“So you’re a Dreamweaver.”

“Obviously.” She fiddled with the end of her ponytail.

I looked around at the tall buildings. “So where are we anyway?”

“The Magic Emporium.”

Yeah, that made sense. Supernaturals from other realms generally weren’t permitted anywhere on Gaia besides the Interchange and the Magic Emporium. I probably should have thought about that earlier, when I was talking to the bandits, but I’d been a bit too preoccupied with totally freaking out.

“Yeah, we’re in the Emporium. We’re on the ugly backside of the big mall,” the girl told me. “Those bandits are pretty good with a bow and arrow, but their magic is totally lame. The teleportation trap they’re so proud of has a maximum range of only two hundred meters.”

Their spell still sounded way more impressive than any magic I could do. Ok, admittedly, repelling the Cursed Ones was a pretty useful skill, but it wasn’t all that versatile. And I wasn’t sure it even was a spell. I certainly had no idea how I did it.

I could also, apparently, talk to ghosts. I wasn’t sure if that was a spell either.

“So, will you help me?”

I looked at the girl. “What’s your name?”

“Violetta.”

“Hi, Violetta. I’m Savannah.” I smiled at her. “And of course I’ll try my very best to help you. Though I’m just an Apprentice. Wouldn’t you rather, well, get arealKnight to help you?”

She shook her head. “No. The Knights won’t help me.”

“Why not?”

“They only get involved with human problems.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Your Government typically doesn’t allow them to do anything else. I guess it’s their way of punishing the Many Realms Court for not yet inviting Gaia to join their ranks. But in the end, the only people who get punished are all the struggling supernaturals who travel here to make an honest living.”

“What is the Many Realms Court?”

“An association of leaders from all across the Many Realms.” She frowned. “You sure don’t know much about supernatural matters, do you?”

I sighed. “The Gaian Government likes to keep its people ignorant.”

“Yeah, sounds familiar. Our leaders do that too.”