The adventure continues! With the first element (earth) painfully collected within the Oracle, Ret Cooper and his friends return home to find that things are only heating up. Thanks to some mischief caused by the peculiar Benjamin Coy, Ret's second scar makes its explosive debut. But what does it mean, and where will it take them? These questions gnaw at Ret as he begins his sophomore year at Tybee High. With challenging twists, inspired turns, and a few unexpected surprises, our hero once again confronts danger and disaster, while discovering newfound feelings for a certain female companion. Old friends and foes, along with a few new ones, follow Ret as more of our world's mysteries lead him to Fire Island and the second element (fire). Ancient artifacts, a hot-air balloon, lines in the desert, a city in the mountains, tribal societies, and even the navel of the world all play their parts in Ret's continued quest to fill the Oracle. This second installment in the Oracle series is a must read, full of fun, adventure, and wholesome purpose. Hang on tight as author C.W. Trisef takes you to places and predicaments you have never seen before or even imagined, and makes you feel like you are a part of Ret's destiny, to cure the world.

Fall, current day, Atlantic Ocean. Another hurricane tears through the Bahamas, headed for Florida. Among the wreckage: a U.S. Coast Guard rescue boat, one survivor (Ret Cooper), and a spherical object of curious design (the Oracle). Ret Cooper is a simple young man with mysterious origins, unique physical features, and no memory of his past. His new family and friends discover he is truly extraordinary, with supernatural powers and strange scars on the palms of his hands. But what is his destiny? The Oracle is the key to Earth's unity and full potential, too perfect to be man-made. Legend claims it can unleash limitless power when filled with Mother Nature's six, pure, original elements. But where are these elements? And which of our planet's ancient secrets will be explained in the process of locating them? The first book from new author C.W. Trisef will have you cheering for Ret as he travels a submerged road, discovers a lost city, climbs an electrifying mountain, and begins to unravel the mystery of the Oracle...all during his first year of high school.

"The adventure continues! With the first element (earth) painfully collected within the Oracle, Ret Cooper and his friends return home to find that things are only heating up. Thanks to some mischief caused by the peculiar Benjamin Coy, Ret's second scar makes its explosive debut. But what does it mean, and where will it take them? These questions gnaw at Ret as he begins his sophomore year at Tybee High. With challenging twists, inspired turns, and a few unexpected surprises, our hero once again confronts danger and disaster, while discovering newfound feelings for a certain female companion. Old friends and foes, along with a few new ones, follow Ret as more of our world's mysteries lead him to Fire Island and the second element (fire). Ancient artifacts, a hot-air balloon, lines in the desert, a city in the mountains, tribal societies, and even the navel of the world all play their parts in Ret's continued quest to fill the Oracle."--Back cover.

A groundbreaking history of the human mind told through our experience of dreams—from the earliest accounts to current scientific findings—and their essential role in the formation of who we are and the world we have made. "A resounding case for the mystery, beauty and cognitive importance of dreams." —The New York Times What is a dream? Why do we dream? How do our bodies and minds use them? These questions are the starting point for this unprecedented study of the role and significance of this phenomenon. An inves­tigation on a grand scale, it encompasses literature, anthropology, religion, and science, articulating the essential place dreams occupy in human culture and how they functioned as the catalyst that compelled us to transform our earthly habitat into a human world. From the earliest cave paintings—where Sidarta Ribeiro locates a key to humankind’s first dreams and how they contributed to our capacity to perceive past and future and our ability to conceive of the existence of souls and spirits—to today’s cutting-edge scientific research, Ribeiro arrives at revolutionary conclusions about the role of dreams in human existence and evolution. He explores the advances that contempo­rary neuroscience, biochemistry, and psychology have made into the connections between sleep, dreams, and learning. He explains what dreams have taught us about the neural basis of memory and the transfor­mation of memory in recall. And he makes clear that the earliest insight into dreams as oracular has been elucidated by contemporary research. Accessible, authoritative, and fascinating, The Oracle of Night gives us a wholly new way to under­stand this most basic of human experiences.

In Earth's distant future, most of its religions known today decline or change. As a result of this spiritual upheaval, the barrier between the spiritual world and the physical one falter, and ghouls and demons are loosed upon the earth. Ultimately, most of these are resealed by the new religions, but one such demon named Belial, requires nothing short of sealing by angels to put back to rest. Thousands of years later, a beggar named Ambrosia Brahmin picks herself off the street only to be sent on a fetch quest by God, joined by swordsman, a shaman, a thief, a druid, an exorcist, an angel, and a demon. Meanwhile, the demon from eons before, sealed in a jar, is slowly being unsealed by a duped wizard, given false promises of rewards that await him...

Two elements collected (earth and fire). Will the pain from Sunken Earth ever subside? Will the smoke rising from Fire Island ever disperse? Will Ret, Ana, and Paige ever complete their sophomore year? No, not yet! A third scar has appeared, pointing them to a place where Mr. Coy refuses to go. Fortunately for him, a fourth scar surfaces, one that takes them to the Amazon Rainforest, the Sahara Desert, and ultimately the City of Gold.We follow our heroes across sea and sand—along rivers wet and dry—on a journey that spans multiple continents as they seek out the hiding place of the third element (ore). Organized or vigilante, trouble finds them at every turn in lands where deadly curses abound. Somewhere, between golden arches and ancient ruins, an age-old secret is waiting to be uncovered.But Ret's enemies are multiplying, a grim reality that will try the hearts of his friends. And even while some romances bloom and others fade, Ret and the gang must stay on guard. The Oracle is wasting no time now, clearly hastening the gathering of its elements. Things are in full motion; Ret feels this. So does Lye; he is ready—and waiting.