Kaelan Hyde

He was just six years old when his parents had died. He was there. He remembered a night of fire, blood and screams. He remembered crying, panting, his lungs searing as he ran for dear life.

Sanda Ariel came to him that night. Being close to her was like feeling a cool breeze in a moment of sweat and horror. She had wrapped her arms around him, the folds of her billowing jacket like vast wings shielding him from the heat and the hurt.

She made him strong, made him fast. No one could move like Kaelan Hyde moved. She made him who he was.

Seven years after that night, that same woman drew a scar on his face and left him for dead. What drove this woman, mysterious but kind, silent but caring, to spill the blood of the child she had taken under her wing? For four years, Kaelan Hyde struggled to answer this question.

He blinks; the scar stretches down the right side of his face. He's seventeen now: taller, leaner, almost handsome - but his eyes still look like the tear-stained eyes of a six-year-old orphan, or perhaps the hollow, lifeless eyes of a traumatized thirteen-year-old boy.

His sword is sharp. His will is unfathomable. He has become so strong.

But is he strong enough to face Sanda Ariel?

There was only one way to find out.

Read Waywalker.

dream on

I think many people are sensitive to discussing and sharing their dreams with other people. I'm not talking about "sleep" dreams; I mean "goal" dreams. A dream, in this respect, is essentially an extension of a person's identity. And as it should - what else defines us better than what we want to accomplish in life? What could possibly say more about you than what you want to do with your life?

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."

--Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist

When framed as such, it's not hard to see why people don't like talking about their dreams. They might seem silly to other people - becoming a doctor and becoming a chef are two completely different things, with different values attributed to each. It doesn't help that society as a whole accepts the direct correlation between monetary value and personal value. So even if you want to become a chef, the populace isn't going to see it as worthy or as lofty a goal as becoming a doctor. A dream is important to you, and you only. But if something gets in the way of that fact, it's easy to become discouraged, and set on a path that takes you to a more socially acceptable and relevant calling.

It's no wonder, then, that people don't like talking about their dreams. Who would open themselves to the prospect of such injury?

"In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path."

--Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist

Following one's dream requires a strength of resolve that I am only beginning to grasp. I want to become a writer; I want to write books for a living. I can't imagine just how far I am from my goal, but I do know that it is something I want. No matter how far I get, I know that anything I do will be more productive than all those other people who refuse to act on their own dreams, or worse yet, have no dreams at all. I will not become one of those people.

"Each year that passes rings you inwardly with memory and might. Wield your heart, and the world will tremble."

--Doran, the Siege Tower

This desire, fleeting as it may prove to be, defines me. No, I don't want to be a doctor, and no, I don't want to be a banker. I want to write. I believe I can shake the earth with my words. But it's up to me to prove that.

Conviction is one of the most empowering feelings you can have: it's the notion that you can do anything, simply because you believe so.

When you know that you were born to do something, and that nothing can stop you, what is stopping you?