Zarif

Before the master traveler became the master traveler, he was a dreamer. He dreamt he was a navy piolet in a dogfight. He soared in the blue skies and disappeared in the clouds before diving toward his enemy target. The bullets darted from his fighter jet until his enemy’s jet exploded in a flash of red and orange fire. His celebration was short when he came into a tailspin and then a freefall. The gages in the cockpit went ballistic. His heart throbbed, and his breath was short. He was just about to pull the eject cord when he saw someone sitting beside him.   It was odd that some sat beside him because there was only one seat in the jet. Still, his visitor sat beside him with a green-shaded face with reptilian scales and a pair of curled horns on the sides of her head. She told him that she was far from being an angel. She was a djinni from the Aurai race of djinn.   She said her race had empathy for humans, and her empathy brought her to him. Her name was Zarif. “You’re in a dream,” she told him. “But you don’t realize it. The dream is supposed to feel real.”   The master traveler had sworn that if Zarif was no angel, she was indeed the devil. But she seemed too calm. His image of the devil was of a red spirit with black wings and a long-spiked tail. Zarif spoke to him as if she had no concern they plummeted to an inevitable crash.   “This is supposed to frighten you. The fear radiates from you.” She pointed to a mist of rust above his head. “That’s your fear.”   “If you want control of your dreams, you only have to tell me yes. Then all this will disappear, and I will see you in the next dream.”   The master traveler said yes to her; before he knew it, he was already lying in his bed at home.   Zarif was true to her word. She met the master traveler in his next dream and gave him a magic pill. “It will allow you to project your consciousness into this realm. Into this City of Dreamers. When that happens, you will control your dream. Then you’ll learn to do much more. But never stay here too long,” she warned. “Always return to the physical world, eat food, drink natural wine. Otherwise, you will think this world is real.”   She directed him to the pyramid at the south gate. “Go inside. Do not come out until you understand your mission. Now that you may enter this place on your free will, you may be the one to save it, me and the entire metaverse from the destruction awaiting.”   The master traveler entered the pyramid opening when Zarif called back to him. “I have no more pills to give away. You are my last hope. I will help you as much as I can. You only need to say the words. Hoof sa vi Zarif”   From then on, Zarif proved to be a valuable friend.