Graced by Sophia Sharp Page B

just this one, but al of them – taps into the difference between the essences of the dream realm and the human world. The one before you is but one example.”
    “Is it how some dream walkers are able to sense your location in the human world?” Laura asked. Rafael raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Not many know that, but yes.” Laura looked to Madison, who winked at her.
    “So what happens,” Rafael continued, “is that the dream world exists on a type of paral el plane to our world. The spot where you met the angels – while fascinating in and of itself – is one place where the two planes overlap. They intersect. And I believe they do so because the two planes, while nearly perfectly paral el to each other in most places, undergo a slight tilt there.” He put his two hands out in front of him, holding both of them flat and one a few inches above the other. “Imagine my lower hand is the human world, and the upper hand is the dream realm. Usual y, there is no overlap. To travel from one place to the other, you need to cross this chasm.” He looked at the space between his hands, and widened it for effect. “That is, of course, why everyone experiences that peculiar ripping sensation when they leave the dream. To jump between planes like that exhausts the very fabric of reality, and what you experience is the world mending itself back together.”
    “Wait a minute,” Laura interrupted, “are you saying that by crossing over to the dream, and back again, we’re essential y destroying pieces of… reality?”
    “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Rafael confirmed. “Now, both of these realms – both of the planes –
    are flexible, of course, but also very strong. They couldn’t support the sheer size and immensity of themselves if they were not. So, in most cases, they are able to repair themselves quite wel when someone jumps between planes.”
    “But not always?” Laura asked.
    “Right. I think that is what caused the overlap that you found behind that vault door in the mines. Based on what you told me, I have a much clearer picture of things, now. I believe that when the first angel stepped out of the dream, the disruption that resulted, it sent shockwaves throughout the entirety of the dream realm. And because of that the angle of the plane was changed. Like seismic activity underneath the continents, the entire plane tilted .” He moved his upper hand so that it sloped harshly towards the lower one. Now, the tips of his fingers were touching the top of his bottom hand. “Of course, the tilt has been corrected since then, ever so slowly…” he positioned his upper hand into a more gently slope, “…but the intersect stil remains. It is there where you found the silver pool, and there where you found the dark shadow. That is the crossing point between the two realms, and it al ows one to bypass the chasm to enter either realm directly. But . Neither plane was ever designed for such travel, and neither were our bodies. Which is why, perhaps, the sensation of crossing over was so much stronger, so much more visceral, when it occurred there.”
    “Ok, I understand that,” Laura said, “as I think everyone else does.” She looked around quickly, and her inquiry was met with brief nods. “But what does that have to do with this artifact? With this… torrial ?”
    “More than you might suspect. For the torrial takes advantage of the distance between the planes to al ow its user to do things that would never be possible otherwise. Some may take advantage of the very nature of the differences between the two realms. But in essence, these artifacts, the torrial , they forge a connection between the user and the dream realm, each in their own way, to accomplish different things.”
    “And what does this particular one do?”
    “It al ows the user to transcend limitations of time and space that are so characteristic of the human world. The dream realm, as you know, has a much more…