I lie in my bed, stunned. My small apartment felt eerily quiet after the ear-shattering BASS I had just experienced. I raise my hand and click, just to make sure my ears still work. 

[i]click[/i]

I let out a sigh of relief I didn't even realise I was holding in, switch on my phone, notice the time, and freak out again. Lateness is a pet peeve of mine. I scramble out of my bed, hastily getting ready. At times like these I'm grateful for sleeping in everyday clothes. Less things to do when late. I stop before leaving, doing a things check. Pockets first; Phone, keys, wallet, and a pen and notepad. Cool. Bag next; Books, projects, laptop, cards, and duct tape. All good, then. Wait, ring in the dream. Grab that. See if those others in the dream knew about it. What were their names again? Kilo was the American one... Rana, and... Nasuri? Something like that. I'll recognise them all by sight, anyway. My headphones were on, and plugged into my phone. On my way out the door I shuffled my high-energy playlist: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x59diXFhhrI]You Really Don't Care[/url]. Fucking perfect! Blast my functioning eardrums with The Drones.

I race down the stairs several steps at a time. I nearly fall a few times, which would've hurt. The lift opened on the third floor, and I decided I'd race it. They're usually designed to go smoothly rather than quickly in these buildings, so I figured I had a fair chance. I round the corner, and almost faceplant into someone going up. He hurls some abuse at me, which I cleverly rebut with 'Shit C***!'. The Aussie insult of choice. I'd say sorry if he were nice to me, but oh well. He must've been stressed or something.

I didn't beat the elevator because of that. I did manage to make it to the footpath and hail the bus with barely seconds to spare, though. I guess that matters more anyway. The first thing I notice when I hop on is just how crowded it is. The only open seat is next to some girl I'd never met. I take it. No point standing up if there's a free seat. I must've reeked, judging by the glances people shot at me, so I rolled on some deodourant. The music is turned up enough that I don't have to listen to others. As I sat, my mind had time to turn to that... Dream?

What was it about? And what the fuck could a Conduit Stone be? Probably nothing to do with electrical conduit, judging from the talk of Mythic Wars and Lost Empires. What else did it say? Something about battlemages? Oh, and there was an ethereal grey dude... who hugged me? Hey, there was a yellow one, too. He was wearing armor. Holy shit, could it be talking about Mythic Legends? I rub the sleep from my eyes, dismissing the thought. I had no way to prove it wasn't just a freak dream. I did write it down in my notebook, though. I'd made a habit of doing that. Odd things give me ideas. I closed the notebook as the bus pulled up at school. I got off, stretched, and rubbed my eyes again. I hate that. How when you rub your eyes it makes them more itchy.

All the others were spilling off the bus or milling around the courtyard outside. Maybe I'll try to find the others in the dream...