The stairs went down for a long time. Kai counted one hundred steps, then two hundred. The air got colder with each step. Strange sounds came from the darkness below.
At last, Kai reached the bottom. He found himself in a huge room filled with floating bubbles. Each bubble glowed with soft light. Inside the bubbles, Kai could see moving pictures like tiny movies.
"These are dreams," he whispered. "Dreams that people lost."
Some bubbles showed happy dreams. A little girl playing with a red ball. A man dancing with his wife. A student getting good grades. But other bubbles showed sad dreams that would never come true.
Kai walked between the floating dreams. He was looking for any sign of the first crystal. Then he heard a voice behind him.
"You should not be here, Memory Merchant."
Kai turned around. A tall figure stood in the shadows. It wore a long black coat, and its face was hidden by a hood.
"Are you the Shadow?" Kai asked.
The figure laughed. It was a cold sound that made Kai's skin crawl. "I am the Keeper of Lost Dreams. And you are too late. The Shadow has already been here."
The Keeper pointed to an empty space in the center of the room. There was a hole in the floor where something had been taken away.
"The first crystal was here for a thousand years," the Keeper said. "But three days ago, the Shadow came and took it. You have failed before you even started."
Kai felt his heart sink. But then he remembered something the old man had told him. "Sometimes the greatest truths are hidden in lies."
"Show me your memories," Kai said to the Keeper. "I want to see what really happened."
The Keeper stepped back. "No. You cannot make me."
But Kai was already reaching out with his power. He touched the Keeper's mind and saw the truth. The Shadow had come, yes. But the crystal was not taken. It was hidden.
"You moved the crystal to protect it," Kai said. "Where is it?"
The Keeper's hood fell back, showing the face of an old woman with tired eyes. "The crystal is safe," she said. "But first, you must prove you are worthy. Can you tell the difference between a real dream and a false one?"