The Dream Sifter (The Depths of Memory Book 1) Read online

  Standing slowly, Rai soon felt her equilibrium return. Mala led her out of the unadorned room, past the rows of undisturbed crèches, her arm around Rai's waist to steady her. Hobbling past the occupied crèches made her want to move faster, to escape the cavern and all of the women in stasis. When they passed out of the dark cellar Rai breathed deeply, only then grasping she was free of her confinement.

  Despite her foggy state, the Temple corridors appeared vacant to Rai--unlike what she'd expect for any Temple, which were the lifeblood of the cities. As they rounded a corner, the narrow corridor opened into a wide passage with colorful tapestries depicting rich, outdoorsy scenes to liven up their underground surroundings. Doors were spaced along the left wall while the right wall contained many large windows hewn through the stone, through which a magnificent natural-appearing amphitheater was visible. The stone in the amphitheater contained various horizontal swirls of color gradients within the green, grey, and black ranges, demonstrating the varied geology of the planet. Several Novitiates prepared the amphitheater for the mid-morning meditation. Their beige robes appeared to glow in the hazy mid-morning sunlight.

  "Which city are we in?" Rai asked.

  "This is Raven's Call, the largest settlement next to Barrow's Grove," Mala answered, with more than a hint of pride in her voice. Raven's Call had grown to just under twenty thousand under the current Matriarch, so Mala had reason to be proud to serve here. The weather was fair, if humid, at this inland city and farming wasn't a challenge. There were worse places on the planet, when all held the same threat. At least the city walls afforded a certain level of protection.

  "Shouldn't the Temple be more crowded?"

  Mala laughed. "This is an underground facility so it's difficult to gauge who's here. We have about three hundred and eighty women in Service right now, and the staff capacity to care for twice that if needed.

  "We'll have as many as twenty girls in transition, either in or out. Our staff is large enough to handle it, with three dozen Priestesses of varying levels assigned to the Birthing Quarters.

  "Still, you won't see our staff in large groups. We all have our specialties. Most of us spend our time dedicated to the girls in Service or the Medicinal Vaults. However, plenty of other functions the Temple offers citizens keep the Priestesses occupied. This is a very well structured Temple."

  Mala opened the third door down the hallway and ushered Rai into the room. The room was adorned in beige tones and contained a bed, table and chair, and a rounded natural stone bath at the far end. The oblong tub stood hip-height with a set of stairs carved around the front facing, and a utilitarian bathroom with a full-length mirror was located on the far end of the room beyond the curve of the pool. Inviting wisps of steam curled up from the swirling whirlpool, beckoning Rai to enter. The pool was the only source of warmth in this otherwise cold room.

  "This room is for your use. Please bathe, as it will help purge the crèche medicinals." Mala motioned to a set of packets on the shelf next to the bath. "Use these soaking herbs and salts for your bath. They're quite good at leeching out toxins. Sometimes your body can lose control over its homeostatic balance in the crèche. Considering the crèches' superior ability to maintain and control bodily functions, your system isn't always prepared to work as hard at removing cellular waste products when you first awaken."

  "And this is all normal?" Superior technology should leave you feeling better, not worse. How long had she been in the crèche to make her body so dependent?

  "Don't worry." Mala stroked her arm. "Your hepatic, renal and respiratory systems will catch on quickly--returning to normal capacity within a few days. Let me go get you some food so you'll have something to eat after your bath."

  When the door clicked shut, Rai shed her clothes. Thinking two packets were better than one, she opened two of the folded parchment packets and poured them into the water. Stepping into the bath Rai felt the contents of the packages fizzing against her calves. After grabbing a washcloth from the shelf, she moved herself into the waist-deep water in the middle and on impulse submerged fully. Much to her delight, the fizzing bath salts resonated through her ears.

  Rai located a submerged ledge toward the far end of the bath and lounged on it, taking ease in the neck-deep water. Alone in the quiet room, the disjointed distresses of the day flooded her thoughts. Her entire body ached, an apt reflection of her state of mind. The amnesia, when she focused on it, caused anxiety to tingle from her scalp all the way to her fingertips. Rai remembered so many normal, day-to-day things, just nothing about herself. The frustration galled her.

  However, Mala had said the amnesia would pass, and only existed because of the drugs the Temple staff had used. The knot in her stomach said otherwise.

  Rai ran a hand over her belly, the slight curve betraying no hint of either the trauma or the history her body had lived through while she'd slept unawares. Would she feel more connected to the tiny life she'd lost if it had been born first? If she'd had a chance to hold it in her arms? She'd never know for sure, but Rai was relieved: her instincts told her she wasn't natural mother material.

  The far-off murmur of chanting voices and rhythmic drumming sounded from the mid-morning meditation. Still drowsy from the crèche medicinals and comfortable in the water, she closed her eyes and relaxed into the sound, intending to wait out Mala's return with the food. As the drumming and chanting grew in volume, Rai nodded off into a trance-like sleep.

  With sleep came a dream.

  Rai stood in a forest full of ancient trees, so tall the crowns were lost beyond her vision. The smallest shimmer of light shone through the dense canopy, not enough to burn away the thick morning fog lying in the valleys. A melodious trickle pointed the way to a nearby stream. Gliding deep into the large grove, she took in a landscape dotted with immense ferns growing out of rocky outcroppings and long-dead fallen trees. The trees had split into great building block sections, as if formed into massive tables and benches laid out for a feast. Moist humus squished between her toes. Rai felt like a mere trog bug dwarfed by her surroundings.

  Blisters covered the soles of her bare feet. She wore a long brown cape over a simple dress--mud caked the areas around the knees and forearms. Her waist-long red curls contained bits of fern and dirt within their tangled mess. She gasped at the cool, humid air, trying to slow her breathing, then stilled in fright when the rustling fronds of ferns moved in the distance.

  The sound of muted voices grew, echoing off the ancient trees. The meaning of the words escaped her, but their tone was all too clear. They were coming to punish her, but where could she go? The voices became a thundering force pushing down upon her, relentlessly pressing her to either run or face their malicious threat.

  Filled with terror, Rai ran away from the voices. The forest fought her, fern fronds whipped her in the face, branches ripped at her clothing, and gnarled roots caught at her toes and twisted her ankles as she fled. She caught glimpses of hooded figures in her peripheral vision and her fear drove even faster. Running through fog and fern the voices pursued, getting closer with every step. She stopped to gauge her path through the dense fog and the voices abruptly ceased. The entire forest stilled. Something brushed through her hair, took hold, and pulled. Rai let out a frantic scream, striking her fists against her unseen attacker as she fell backward ...

  Mala's voice delivered Rai back to consciousness for the second time that day. Rai laid in the bath, Mala leaning over her, Mala wrenching Rai's wrists in the air between them, her grip burning against Rai's skin.

  "Stop it!" Mala cried out. Her grip on Rai's wrists tightened.

  Shaking in residual fear, Rai relaxed her arms and tried to regain some composure. "Yes, Mala, I'm fine." A red mark on Mala's chin stood out against her tanned skin. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

  "Be still, Rai. It was just a bad dream." Mala released her grip and stepped back, and then straightened her skirts. "You must be more tired than usual from the crèche. It happens someti
mes. Still, for your own safety, don't nap in the tub."

  Rai sat up, bristling over her mistake. "It won't happen again."

  "I brought some food for you."

  Rai climbed out of the bath, the mention of food twisting her empty gut. She stopped to grab a robe and throw it around herself, not bothering to dry off her still dripping skin. The chairs were wooden and waterproof, which was good because water from Rai's hair and body continued to drip, forming a small puddle on the floor as she took a seat at the table.

  The food was bland and tasteless, but she didn't complain because it sated her hunger. Sliced, roasted fowl accompanied with an assortment of root vegetables and some brown bread and butter entertained her eyes if not her palate.

  "Get some proper sleep after you finish eating. You need it." She poured Rai a glass of water and then pulled a packet from her pocket, tore it open, and then dumped it into the glass. "This should help you to sleep more ... soundly. Don't get back in the water until after you've slept off this sedative. I'll check in on you from time to time, just in case." Mala turned to leave.

  "What happens now?" Rai asked. "When do I return to my Sept?"

  Mala hesitated, looking back at Rai with her calm, controlled face--the one Rai now dubbed as the 'withholding information' look. "Today you rest and recuperate. You'll meet with the Matriarch tomorrow and all your questions will be answered." Mala left and closed the door behind her.

  It occurred to Rai for the first time that she had no idea what her life might become, and to her great concern, what it ever had been.

  Although she'd lost her appetite, Rai tried to focus on the steaming food in front of her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Rai awoke from a dreamless sleep. Dim light shone in from under the door, and Rai realized this room had no windows. It seemed odd to her, but she remembered that the sections she'd walked through with Mala was part of an underground cave complex. Perhaps they didn't bother with windows because they'd only provide a view of the hallway? Rai touched a rectangular metallic plate on the wall next to the door, eliciting a soft glow from the recessed lights in the ceiling.

  A breakfast tray sat where last night's dinner tray had been. Today's breakfast contained an assortment of sliced native red fruit and spotted melon and adapted Earth grapes and pears. Two slices of toasted egg bread framed the plate. Rai poked at one of the yolks, confirming the eggs semi-soft perfection nestled atop the toast. A fresh glass of water and a medicinal packet sat in the corner of the tray.

  Still foggy from the crèche, Rai decided on a quick bath to help clear her head. The bathwater had become transparent again, so the medicinals and soaps from last night must have circulated out while she slept. This morning's cooler bathwater made for a more invigorating experience than the previous evening, and the fogginess cleared from Rai's mind.

  New clothes lay out on the bench next to the bath, and Rai slipped into the beige dress, long vest and sandals. Rai dried her hair and regarded herself in the full-length mirror in the back of the room.

  Her bright auburn hair tended to clump into tight ringlets. It was the long hair from her dreams, just cut at chin length. Rai studied her body, understanding she somehow knew that she was petite and short. The crèche appeared to have kept her body in decent shape despite the months she'd lain flat, judging by the still toned state of her arms.

  Her gaze again fell upon the blue triple-moons tattoo on the back of her left hand. It had healed completely, and must have been administered days or even weeks ago. Perhaps when Rai had first arrived for Temple service? That memory was lost with all the others, at least for now.

  For a moment, the unfairness of it all burned within her. How she could remember the names of fruit and how to work the lights, but not remember her own Sept or name? Or losing a child? Wouldn't she have been awake for a miscarriage, if it had happened?

  Rai stared at herself in the mirror in frustration, and sensed a brief surge of recognition in her light-hazel eyes. However, beyond her eyes the rest of her face brought no such recognition. She liked her high cheekbones, but was less than impressed with her overly thin lips. Her current expression came across as either critical or harsh; Rai couldn't quite decide which. Neither appeared an appealing or pleasant demeanor to project to others.

  She tried to soften her expression, but still found herself facing a shorter than average stern-looking teenager. Rai figured some would see her as attractive, if the light caught her face just right, and at the right angle. Rai decided the intensity of her eyes made her whole face appear stern, regardless of her expression.

  Realizing studying her physical appearance wouldn't yield any clues to her past, Rai sighed and walked back to the table and sat down in the chair. She took a bite of bread. Something was wrong. The bread lacked flavor and aroma; it was ... well ... missing somehow. She picked up a slice of red fruit and sniffed it, and then took a tentative bite. It also had hardly any smell or taste. Rai got the disturbing impression she, and not the food, might be the problem.

  Had something muffled her sense of smell and taste as well as her memory?

  Remembering how Mala had said the medicinals helped to cleanse her system, Rai opened the packet and emptied its contents into her glass of water, hoping this might also help her nose return to normal. Waiting for the medicinal powder to dissolve in the water, Rai picked up the empty packet and sniffed it--and sneezed. Rai dropped the packed and grabbed a nearby towel. She wiped the powder from her face, and stopped sneezing at about the same time. A momentary feeling of dizziness came over her, no doubt from inhaling the powder.

  Rai picked up a slice of spotted melon and took a cautious bite, expecting its signature tang. Instead of the usual tart flavor, this slice was so bland it was nearly flavorless. Picking up the bread again, Rai smelled it and took another bite. The flavor of the bread had faded further. If anything, smelling the medicinal had caused her taste and smell to fade further.

  She ran her tongue over her teeth, stretching her jaw uncomfortably.

  She took a small sip of the medicinal water, followed by yet another bite of the bread to confirm her suspicions. As she consumed more of the medicinals, the flavor of the food was nonexistent. The medicinals dulled her senses of smell and taste. Could they be contributing to her mental fog as well? The thought wasn't a comforting one.

  Although Rai couldn't fathom why Mala or the Temples would give her something that would dull her senses, nevertheless she decided to forgo the treatment. Rai looked at the empty packet more closely, but it lacked any identifying markings. She had assumed that it contained more detoxifying medicinals, but it could have been anything.

  Rai poured the remaining water from her glass into the bathtub where it would filter out with no one the wiser.

  When Rai heard the door unlock, she realized they'd locked her in the room all night! Why would they lock her inside? She set her empty glass back onto the tray and picked up another slice of melon. Rai did her best to seem only mildly interested in the opening door. Mala opened the door, cheerful and smiling as ever. With a mouthful of melon, Rai nodded her acknowledgement, wondering to herself if Mala knew about the medicinals' ill effects.

  Mala walked into the room and left the door open behind her. "Good morning, Rai. I trust you slept well?" Her eyes moved to Rai's water glass and the empty medicinal packet next to it.

  Rai noted Mala's jaw line and the bruise she'd inflicted yesterday was already a vivid, mottled purple with red tones around the edges. The raw power of Rai's blow must have been considerable. Rai's head ached, knowing she'd done such a thing to another person, however unintentionally.

  Rai forced a smile. "Yes, thank you. No more nightmares, either. I awoke just a little bit ago."

  "That's good to hear. I had some concerns after last night." Reconciling Mala's caring eyes and soft expression with the suspicions Rai carried in her mind gave her stomach twists. Did Mala know what she was doing, or was she simply handing out medicinal on a sch
edule set by a Priestess, or Elder?

  "I would appreciate some additional packets of that sedating medicinal for tonight, if it's not too much trouble," Rai asked, not intending to take it.

  "I'd planned for you to have extra anyway."

  "Thanks, Mala. What was in this one?"

  "Oh, that's a special antiviral treatment we give to women who are postpartum. It helps them to heal more quickly while also preventing the spread of the plague."

  "How long will I need to take it?"

  "Just a few days. You have an appointment with the Matriarch now, so we need to leave."

  Mala's cheerful mood was in stark contrast to Rai's own. The Matriarch oversaw the fate of the entire city. The prospect of having her fate handed out to her galled. "I just finished up with breakfast. I guess I'm ready." Rai stood and smoothed the front of her dress.

  "Let's go then." Mala walked out the door with Rai following behind her.

  The hallway overflowed with brilliant morning sunlight streaming in through the arches along the left wall. As Rai walked a few steps behind Mala, she took in everything around her, anxious to fill the void left by her memories and study her surroundings in detail.

  The corridor they passed through encircled the amphitheater she'd admired yesterday. The upper rim of the amphitheater climbed an additional story above the corridor. The base appeared to be one to two floors below them. A walkway surrounded the structure at the base, allowing attendees to move freely. Arched, regularly placed doorways allowed passage into the corridor a floor below them. Although morning observances had passed, a few devotees still lingered in meditative thought. The bright blues, yellows, reds and browns of their robes brought contrast to the otherwise plain space. Semi-circular, terraced rings of stone seating radiated out from the northern altar to the southernmost side of the amphitheater. The rectangular unadorned altar cut from pure white marble -- the centerpiece of the theater. The space resounded with the quiet murmurs of the devotees. Rai imagined with a few hundred parishioners filling the space the noise reverberated into the nearby city streets.