Mare 1 - Circus

In this book we are introduced to Mare, the main character of the story. A wandering circus finds him unconscious in the river and rescues him. Mare has no memory of who he is, where he's from or what he is. Something about him (possibly his aura) gives the circus director (Caravaggio) the creeps. The boy is therefore named Mare. Mare finds himself trying to help in the circus to fit it, and becomes best friends with a lady called Esmeralda. She is the lady with the beard, and she can let it grow at her own will. In her original form she is a thin, beautiful woman, but when she lets herself go her body grows out into an obese state and her beard grows out.

Mare gets the task of watching the horses, but thinking the horses look sad and wants to run he sets them free without thinking of the consequences. The circus staff has to work for hours to collect all the horses, and the circus director wants to find an orphanage for Mare. It never gets to that point however. The monsters working for the tax organisation comes after the circus director's magical arm, and intends to chop it off as the director hasn't payed taxes in years. Without knowing how, Mare scares off the monsters by calling forth a bunch of nightmare creatures. He doesn't know how to put them away, and only when Esmeralda calms him down they disappear. The circus director changes his plans, and wants to make Mare the new main attraction. Esmeralda gives Mare a hat, Houdini's hat to be precise, and since then it's always on his head. Throughout the books he suffers from nightmares, and he dreams of someone, they seem to dream he came visiting.



Mare 2 - The Key

In the second book we're first introduced to "the shadow". Mare is dreaming about a hall of doors, and the shadow is chasing him down it, threatening to consume him. Mare tries opening the doors to escape, but they're all locked. He wakes up screaming, and this dream repeats itself often. The circus heads off to the next big city, and on their way they have to make camp by a place called "the dark forest". Within these woods the elves live, and people have been known to disappear within them. Normally, the fastest way would be through the woods, but it was here the circus director tricked the elves into turning his arm magical. With the magical arm the circus director can do magical illusions and healing.

At night, the twins Rem and Rom force Mare to come with them into the forest. They are thrill seekers, and have the ability to join their bodies together in every way they want; whether it be sticking together at the toe, nose or waist. Partly or fully. In the forest they encounter the elves, who seem to know who Mare is. They refuse to tell him, saying he needs to remember on his own. Even so they hand him a glowing golden key which Mare hangs around his neck. It feels familiar, magical, but again the elves won't tell him what it's for.

When they arrive in the next big city, the clown of the circus finds several "wanted" posters with an illustration of Mare on. He's wanted by the church, and it is offered a fortune for bringing him in, or coming with information that can lead to arrest. The greedy circus director makes a deal with the church, without telling anyone else. They set up the circus tent, and Angelo puts the flag at the top of it. Angelo is a tiny child-angel, who's wings were so burned he didn't manage flying all the way to heaven. Mare continues dreaming of the circus staff, and they wake up having nightmares about him.

While doing some tourist-travelling around the city, Mare encounters the writer Ruben for the first time. Mare asks the writer if he dreams about the black dragons. The writer says that in this city they don't have to dream about them. The writer recognize the key hanging around Mare's neck and calls it the "key of dreams". He then asks Mare if he is the prince of dreams. The writer is intense, and Mare and Esmeralda leaves.

Mare has the last act of the show, and manages to let the dream-creatures flow out of him. There's all kinds of animals, but the most beautiful of the creatures is the silver dragon (something which later is known as his most powerful creature). When the act is finished, the men of the church throws the audience out and fetches Mare, giving the circus director his award. The rest of the circus staff is shocked and angry, not approving of selling the boy out to the church. The tax monsters is happy about Mare being away from the circus, that way they can take Caravaggio's arm without Mare defending him.




Mare 3 - The apocalypse

The third book revolves around the church torturing Mare for information. They want to know how to access the dream world, but Mare still doesn't remember anything. He hides the key in Houdini's hat, and the hat being magical makes the church unable to find it. In this book we get to know Mare's arch enemies; the shadow and Manoohera. Manoohera is head of the church, and her face and body is deformed after falling into a fireplace many years ago. She claims it is Mare's fault, and they push his head underwater until he almost faints before asking him questions. He can't answer, and so they continue until he faints. Eventually, they start believing they might have the wrong person but they decide they need to kill him as a witness to their torture.

The circus rescues Mare with help from the writer. The circus director has to pay the writer the amount he got for turning Mare in for a map over the underground tunnels leading to the cell. The circus director claims rescuing Mare was the plan all along, the staff doesn't believe him. When they escape the cells and are crossing the lake to get away, the black dragons start attacking them. Mare calls forth the silver dragons subconsciously, and they defeat the black dragons. One of the dragons however falls near the boat and its' tail flicks Mare overboard. He looses his breath and as he drifts into unconsciousness he remembers who he is. They rescue him thanks to the silver dragon, and after resting up, Mare says his goodbye's.

Using the key, he sticks it into a random wagon door and opens it, entering the dreamworld. The creatures there recognize him and is happy to see him. They show him the way to his castle, which he finds empty. We are briefly introduced to the pictures of his siblings; Lacrima and Mori. When the portrait of the uncle Phobous is "shown", Mare makes it clear to a monologue that the shadow is his uncle. Phobous is fear, and can manipulate it forth in anyone, even Mare. In Mare's sleep Lacrima visits him, giving him the strength to fend off his uncle. Mare enters the hall, and as the shadow consumes him, he fights it off. His uncle runs off, but Mare promises to visit him in his sleep.

After this, Mare visits Esmeralda in her sleep, letting her visit his home in a dream. He then goes back into the human world to find Caravaggio all alone. The circus split up, not wanting to be with a circus director that sells out his 'family'. Mare tells him that the tax monsters are nearby, and says he'll scare them if the director promises to work on being a better person. He does this, and Mare convinces the tax monsters to quit their job. As a final act, Mare visits Manoohera in her sleep, and she promises him that she'll kill him.

Mare replies with the following;

I will be your nightmare in your dreams, you'll dread going to sleep every day. And when you wake up, I'll still be there, I'll be a mare in the human world as well.

It's clear in the books that the uncle is the reason Mare's siblings are not at home. Phobous has trapped them in a dream prison, where they cannot use their powers. It's from here OUR story continues. Will Mare save Lacrima and Mori, or will Manoohera and the evil uncle win? The fight for the dreams has begun!