Zander stared down at the alley from his rooftop perch. The distance to the ground below seemed dizzying and he reflexively backed away from the edge, not for the first time that night. As his long, thin tail wrapped around to his front he unconsciously gripped it with both hands and began stroking the fluffed tip. It was a nervous habit, done without thought, that he had been known to do since he was a much younger dreamkeeper. The mouse-like boy stole a sidelong glance at the nearby street. The occasional dreamkeeper passed by the side alley, far fewer than during the day. None would likely notice him even if things went to plan or completely awry.
As he crept back to the ledge and stared down the four story drop, he wasn’t sure whether that fact would be good or bad. Zander swallowed nervously and took a deep breath in an ill-fated attempt to slow down his drumming heartbeat. He took another step back, not in a reflex born of trepidation this time. Instead he used the step to lean forward and crouch low. He felt the muscles in his legs tighten as he prepared to commit himself to his next action, the very reason he was on that rooftop at all. Slowly determination overtook the fear in the dreamkeeper’s eyes as he released that built up energy in his legs. He leapt off of the edge.
Immediately he noticed the wind biting his eyes. He fought to keep them open. Closing them would do no good except to increase the chance of his failure. When he considered the price of failing, the choice was clear. There was a constant loud thumping noise in his ears that seemed to drown out the rushing winds. It barely took a moment to realize that he was acutely aware of his thumping heart before he forced himself to focus. He knew it had to be the adrenaline that allowed him to think and act as quickly as he was, but the ground still rushed to meet him and he had little time to do what he needed. He shoved his emotions aside for the moment and dove inside himself to search for a feeling that he had become familiar with over the last couple months. Within his spirit he grabbed onto that feeling, a spark deep inside himself that waited to be unleashed. The dreamkeeper felt the energy from the spark course through his body and permeate his being before he finally let it go. The effect was immediate. Though the ground still rushed to meet him, the wind no longer whipped at his body. When he looked closely for a small moment, he made the image of a transparent bubble that surrounded his entire body and he knew that the ring had materialized above his head. That moment of clarity was short lived as the oncoming earth finally demanded his attention. Though the rush of air was gone, he still fell, and panic finally took hold as he stretched his arms out in a fevered attempt to break his fall. The bubble hit first.
The impact wasn’t painful in a physical sense. The moment the bubble met the ground an agonizing wave of numbness washed over Zander’s form and he gritted his teeth in anguish. A crack formed in the bubble as the numbness receded, leaving behind an increasing feeling of exhaustion and a growing headache. It took little time for the crack to expand and splinter before the dreamkeeper’s eyes. When his exhaustion was almost to its limit, the bubble shattered, allowing him to fall to the ground with an audible and mildly painful thud. The mouse-like dreamkeeper rolled over onto his back in a bid to catch his breath. He gazed at the stars between the rooftops and sighed. He now knew he needed to work on his stamina. Despite the shield falling apart at the end, he gave out a small laugh. Without it he surely would have died. As he was now, though, he still got a few scrapes from the final landing.
With great effort, Zander stood up from his test. He still had a bit of a ways to go, but now he knew where his current weaknesses were. As he dusted himself off to head home he smiled, “Maybe I can help save this city after all.”
