The Oneiro Rangers: First Night Read Online Free Page A

The
light’s circular beam crawled along the lake’s crystal clear surface, slowly
hovering over a group of students batting a beach ball to each other. A boy
leaped off of one of the encircling trees, swinging on a rope and bellowing out
his jungle man call. In a shower of water, his landing rained down droplets all
the way to the wooden pier. Roland didn’t budge, staying in his relaxed state
against the pier’s end post.
    Errol swam up to him, hanging onto a wooden plank. “I’m waiting
for our race. The clock is ticking.”
    Roland didn’t take his eyes off the girls lying on towels at the
lake’s shore. “Can’t you see I’m busy enjoying the view?”
    Errol rolled his eyes, climbing out of the water. “So long for the
race then.” He took Roland’s towel to dry off, twisting the water out of his
ears. “Nothing can break the spell they got you under.”
    “We’ll,” Roland corrected, “usually I’m cured once a guy comes
into the picture.”
    Done drying, Errol threw the damp towel over Roland’s face. “Ain’t
it the truth.”
    Letting the towel slip right off, Roland continued to watch the
girls. Now, they were running around the sand, grabbing at each other’s bikini
top strings to slip them off. “I don’t know what game they’re playing, but I’m certainly winning.” Roland sighed deeply, stretching his arms up. “Yep. Nothing
could possibly ruin this day.”
    Twigs snapped under heavy boots. The kids enjoying themselves in
the lake were too far away to notice, too preoccupied with their little
shenanigans. In the darkness, behind a pale tree, it watched. A single watchful
eye, glowing in a dim blue flame. A quiet growl, like gravel slowly popping
under a wheel.
    And just like the gentle wind between the trees, it vanished, just
as soon as it had appeared.

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Heavy bells tolled from the academy’s four towers, signaling the
beginning of class. Students piled into their wooden desks, filling the room
with a clamor of individual conversations. Partially hidden behind the black
and white Normlock flag bolted above the blackboard, the words “ METRANSISTOR
LESSONS ” was written in big letters with chalk. Sitting at his desk, the
morpheus finished up the paperwork needed to start the day’s curriculum,
stacking it off to the side. Only a morpheus was required to wear a black
trench coat, the academy’s Baku emblem spread across his back; its jagged
wingspan reaching shoulder to shoulder and its long tusks curving around the
collar.
    Roland and Errol sat down in the very back, slouching in their
chairs at the same time and spreading their legs out into the aisles. Both of
them still had slight welts and scuffs from fight training; anything that was
not on their face being covered by their school uniforms. When the young
morpheus stood up and cleared his throat, all of them sat forward at full
attention. Some nearly made their disbelief present, wondering if the man
before them–who was barely ten years older than they were–was truly their tutor
for the year. Ignoring the silent faces turning about and approaching the
blackboard, he wrote his name with a piece of white chalk.
    “My name is Morpheus Clint Murnau,” he set the chalk down after
underlining his name with a fancy line, “and I’m going to be your morpheus for
your first year of hands-on training with the metransistors.” From his coat
pocket, he pulled out a walkie-talkie and a star shaped badge. “These will be
your most essential tools against the Nightmares. Without them, the Oneiro
Rangers would be nothing like they are. We probably wouldn’t even still be here
if it wasn’t for them. And that is why learning how to use them is the most
important part of your ranger training. Any questions?”
    Nobody raised their hands, but some whispered to each other in the
back. Clint pretended that he didn’t notice, knowing that confronting it would
only waste time.
    “Good.” Clint put them back in