Vivid Dream Reality 3

by Savannah Maun

  The best chance to prevent war or find out if that was even possible was to capture the spy alive. She could then be interrogated to work out how they had managed to subvert an elf to work against the Elven Nation, what they knew and what messages had been sent. We could then hopefully work through her to clear up any misunderstandings. The difficulty was that we wanted to prevent war without appearing weak which would also lead to aggression.

  At the end of the day, managing the situation wasn't my responsibility. Mary and Kayla would take the lead as to what our response was going to be. Our duty was to try and save Wendy while capturing the shopkeeper. If we went in all guns blazing there was a good chance the spy would end herself. I worried about teleportation magic, but apparently, that hadn't been invented. The only similar magic was druids with wood familiars travelling through the trees, but that was limited to only the wood druids. They couldn't take anyone with them.

  If Wendy returned unpoisoned then Spitfire could protect her and potentially fight the spy, but fire familiars are not very good at non-lethal action. Spitfire, obviously upset about the situation, suggesting burning the shopkeeper's arms off, but suicide could be achieved with magical means and would likely be a spell or enchanted item. It was possible that if she was in enough pain, it would be hard to concentrate on any spell, but that was a risk.

  Ideally, we wanted to knock her unconscious almost instantly without her being aware that she was under attack and I was the best person to achieve that. Inda could fly me there very quickly. Hand gliders reduced the energy required for flight, but that was more for my honour guard that it was for me. Inda told me that she was strong enough to fly us both without difficulty. Inda had a sphere of influence which was about half a mile, so long before we arrived she could recognise Wendy's shape from the air she displaces. Andi's sphere was about one hundred metres and when the shopkeeper was within her influence she could temporarily stop her heart.

  That revelation came as a bit of a shock to Mia. Electrical familiars were known for producing lightning, directing storms and shocking people with either a touch or through a metal weapon. All such actions took a lot of energy out of the environment and so couldn't be repeated frequently. As a healer, Mia was aware of the nervous system and the signal sent to the heart to cause it to beat, and she had been on Earth long enough to hear about defibrillators and using electrical charges to affect the heart. The amount of energy required to stop or start a heart was tiny compared to a lightning strike so theoretically I could kill or incapacitate ridiculous numbers of people if they were within my strike range.

  Inda had a longer strike range and suffocation required very little effort on her part but was less instant which meant there was the possibility that it could be countered. If people just fell to the floor seemingly dead, for no apparent reason, those not affected would be terrified. The one big difference between mages and druids was that the mage decided what to do with their magic and a druid asked their familiar who would decide if they wanted to do it. Familiars didn't really have the same morality as us and tended to listen to our emotions to work out what the right thing to do was. So not all familiars were useful during war. Almost all would protect their druids, but striking out at soldiers or even goblins was hit and miss. In my case, Andi and Inda had already shown that they were both capable and willing to be offensive. Even more than me.

  So the plan was Wendy would pretend that she was still helpless or would be still helpless. If Spitfire was available, she would prevent any further injury to Wendy but not act offensively towards the spy. She was not very happy with that idea but was willing to go along with the plan unless something changed which put Wendy in jeopardy. Mia had been still arguing with Myra in the room next to mine so when we returned she and I would rush out of our rooms. Inda would then fly us to the shop and Andi would incapacitate the shopkeeper as soon as she was within range. Andi was fairly sure that she could keep the spy alive by controlling the heartbeat. By keeping the frequency of the beat slow Andi was sure that she would remain unconscious.

  Vee would tell Myra what was going on and arrange for the guard to take over, but since there were probably other spies in Amilyf, it would be done quietly with little fanfare.

  The one plus to the whole affair was that it forced Mia to confront her feelings towards Wendy and resolve her fears and worries from her previous relationship. Once this affair had been concluded successfully, the original plan of copying Wendy and having a joint bonding ceremony would go ahead. Whatever happened to the spy would be down to Mary and Kayla who would probably leave it to Danielle who was their head guard.

  We gathered back on the bed. I cuddled Vee and mentally prepared myself, going through the next steps. To be honest, I didn't have to do much, most of my part was going to be done by my familiars and they already knew what to do. Mia clutched Wendy with protective aggressiveness. Clair and Belle brought the headsets and connected it all together. I checked everyone was ready and then logged on.

  ◆◆◆

  Wendy's POV

  I woke up still shackled to the table but noticed immediately that Spitfire was with me offering me reassurance. I tried to relax and not move my arms or legs. Having lost complete control of them, I desperately wanted to just wiggle my fingers and toes to confirm that I had control again but knew that wasn't the right thing to do.

  I wasn't even supposed to be able to turn my head so I had to wait for the spy come into my view. She looked puzzled.

  “What just happened?”

  I smiled internally. She would still think I was under a truth drug. “I fainted from the pain,” I responded. “Please don't do that again, I promise to tell you everything I know. The truth is I don't know everything and was only taking the time to think of what I knew so that I could answer your question.”

  She looked at me with an unsure expression. She knew something was off but had no idea what. “Tell me what you know,” she eventually said, still looking suspicious.

  “First of all, I have to say that we have not broken any treaties. Our treaty with the Empire only refers to citizens and we have not touched any citizens. I think you know that or have guessed it. I mean I am sure you would have had reports of people missing.”

  “The Empire is vast, people go missing all the time,” she said before abruptly collapsing like her strings were cut. Because she had been leaning over me, her face hit me before bouncing off, her body hitting the floor with a thud. There was no strength to it though, so I wasn't hurt.

  I knew what Mia was shocked by. I mean it was so sudden. One second she is talking and then she is dead or unconscious. I thought about asking Spitfire to release my shackles but the heat would probably burn me so we just waited. At least I could wiggle my fingers and toes which was a relief. It wasn't long before I could hear movement and then Mia was there hugging me. Tia looted the spy's body to find the keys and released me. Tia had to wait to keep the body alive but unconscious, so we decided to wait with her.

  As soon as the guard arrived Tia insisted we leave her to it. There wasn't anything more we could do anyway so reluctantly we left. I wanted to spend time with Mia and Myra, but I didn't like the idea of Tia being without support. It wasn't long after we left that I saw a carriage heading towards the shop, so I knew Tia would soon be back at the palace.

  Chapter 23

  Tia's POV

  I stood next to the unconscious woman slowly letting go of the adrenaline that had been coursing through my body. Plans were great, but the unexpected derails or alters even the best of them. Hope for the best and plan for the worst. Wendy was safe, unharmed and had taken great strides in her new relationship with Mia. This woman in front of me, despite her innocent-seeming features, was an imperial spy and represented a huge potential problem.

  The royal family was well aware that the Empire had somehow managed to place spies in Amilyf despite the no humans allowed in Elf territory law. This was obvious with the information that they had manage
d to acquire, but up till now, no spy had ever been caught. Elves, on the whole, are fiercely loyal to the royal family and very insular, treating other races with a strong degree of mistrust. Managing to convince any Elf to not only betray the Queen but to do so to a human was hard to believe. Regardless of how improbable that seemed, we knew that information was leaving Amilyf and working it's way to the Empire.

  Danielle was excited to finally have a break in a security breach which had been ongoing for years. Not only that, but the fact that this spy had poisoned Wendy, who was well known to be mated to Myra, meant an automatic death sentence so Danielle had no restrictions on what she wanted to do. I was slightly worried about my part in delivering the woman for torture, so I was gently questioning Danielle as we travelled to the palace.

  Torture was not in this woman's future though. Danielle told me of a previous human empire about three to four thousand years ago which had its entire economy based on slave trading. They had come up with a slave collar. After that empire had fallen the Elves had visited the war-torn lands and attempted to remove all traces of this hideous device. They had however kept one so that all condemned prisoners had their guilt confirmed. Most of this can be done with a truth spell, but spies were often loaded with misleading spells to subvert the known methods of interrogation. The slave collar made you want to obey and gave pleasure when your thoughts fitted your commands and pain when they didn't. The mind of the slave was conditioned within minutes of it being worn with the unfortunate side effect that the only way to reverse the damage was to force the mind to forget anything that happened after one was applied.

  Once we had managed to move the spy to the prison cells underneath the palace, Danielle would apply the slave collar and I could request Andi to release her hold. My presence after that was not required. All information would then be given to the Queen who would have to make the difficult decisions. To be honest, I was glad that this wasn't going to be one of my responsibilities. Already I was stressing about talking to Nudi and Cari's kidnapping still weighed on my mind. A potential war with the Empire was not something that I wanted to contemplate.

  As best I could I put that from my mind as I made my way to Vee, who was still in our suite waiting for me. I gave a quick overview of what had happened while Inda kept an air shield around us in case there were any more spies. We cancelled our lessons for the day and decided to go for a walk to settle our emotions. We had a big celebration ahead of us so we needed to get into a more positive frame of mind.

  Spending alone time with Vee always makes me feel better. Inda let me know that we had guards spaced around us to keep us safe, but they kept their distance and didn't intrude. I didn't need Vee to say anything, just her company was enough to let me know all was right with the world. We found a cave that Leaf had mentioned, where the water looked so blue it felt almost unreal. I sat back against a wall and pulled Vee onto my lap. She is usually the more dominant one, but with the pregnancy, I think she felt a little more vulnerable and didn't mind me occasionally holding her. I stroked her belly and we talked about a future without worries. A place for our child to grow up surrounded by love, without a care in the world.

  It was when we were heading back that I got the call. Conversations with your familiars are not really done with any words. Mostly it is questions followed by shared understanding with feelings mixed in.

  “What?” Vee asked me.

  I had stopped walking as I was taking in what Adi, my wood familiar was trying to tell me.

  “It's time,” I said as if that explained anything. “Nudi was waiting for something to happen before she could see me and whatever it was, it has occurred and now Adi is telling me I have to go.”

  “Do you know where we are going?”

  “No. I just have a direction I need to go in and a feeling of urgency, like it can't wait. I just hope I am back in time for Myra, Mia and Wendy,” I said as I started walking again, this time away from the palace. I didn't really know the right direction. It was like a weird game of hot and cold. Whenever I wasn't heading in the right direction I felt uncomfortable and automatically changed until I was 'happy'. I also started walking a bit faster.

  Vee stayed with me and I could feel my guards as well. One of them separated themselves and headed back to the palace presumably to inform somebody of my departure. After about half an hour of walking my guards closed in on my position and travelled with me and Vee. Elves have great hearing so they knew what I had told Vee but wanted to know if I had any more information for them, which I didn't.

  An hour passed and I still didn't really know what was going on. I was comfortable that I was heading in the right direction and knew that I couldn't delay, but that was it. It was coming from Adi, who I trusted, so I wasn't worried about some kind of trap or ambush. Still, I had to quiet my mind as it tried to tell me all the bad things that could happen.

  Another hour passed and I could tell Vee and the guards were getting agitated. I tried to reassure them that all was well but I wasn't one hundred per cent sure myself so my replies probably didn't help that much.

  About half an hour later we reached my destination. It was a huge oak tree. I would guess it was hundred's of years old, grand and beautiful. Then Adi told me that we hadn't reached the end of our journey. I needed to walk into the tree as if it was an illusion.

  “This is going to sound weird. Apparently, I need to walk into the tree,” I told everyone, preparing to do just that.

  “Don't!” Eve said reaching out to hold onto my arm. She was one of my usual guards. They tended to keep their distance so I hadn't really interacted much or got to know them.

  “Why not?” I asked her.

  “It is your wood familiar who is urging you to do this?” she queried.

  “Yes.”

  “Druid's with wood familiars can travel between trees, but they can't take anyone with them. If you go into that tree, we will all be left behind.”

  “Oh. I guess that makes sense.” I thought for a moment. “I'm not sure that matters though. I NEED to see Nudi and if the only way I can do it is alone, I think that is a risk I am going to have to take. How about I hold hands with Vee and she holds hands with you and I try and take you with me. If it works then we will all be there together.”

  “And if it doesn't?” Vee asked.

  “This is to potentially save our planet. It is not like I can say no. If it doesn't work I will just have to continue alone. Don't forget I have a lot of familiars who will keep me safe. I don't really see many options,” I admitted.

  I took her hand. Vee clearly wasn't happy, but the stakes were too big to change my mind. An unhappy guard held hands with Eve holding my other hand as I walked head first into the tree trusting Adi that I wasn't going to get a concussion. I closed my eyes concentrating on the tree being an illusion.

  For a second I felt like I had merged with the tree thinking slow but profound thoughts, having patience far beyond my own and standing firm against anything that was trying to knock me over. I felt all my familiars with me which allowed me to separate myself from this tree mind and as my mind came free, my physical body came away as well. No one was holding my hand. I was alone. I looked around, the ground, the land, the trees. None of it was similar to where I had been. Then I felt the pull. My journey wasn't over. I started walking again.

  Chapter 24

  I felt bad for leaving Vee behind and knew I was going to be in trouble when I returned. Intellectually I knew she would understand. I didn't want to leave her behind or the guards although we all knew it was a possibility, but the opportunity to save Earth had to take priority. Emotionally, she would be hurt and I would be the cause. I tried to shake off my disgust with myself for hurting the one I loved.

  I distracted myself by concentrating on the information coming to me from my familiars. I could tell that I was approaching bush and trees screening the entrance to a valley behind it. If it wasn't for Inda I would have thought I was heading for a dead end
. To get through the vegetation I needed my wood familiar, Adi to help creating a space for me to crawl through. Dani protected my hands and knees so that I wasn't hurt by the sharp thorns and leaf litter that was unavoidable.

  After an uncomfortable ten minutes, I finally reached the end of my tunnel. I was lucky that I could feel the air around me and so always knew how far I had to go and where I was. The space behind me closed up quickly as Adi let go of her manipulations. Even with that knowledge, I breathed a sigh of relief when I was able to stand up and look around. My sigh turned into a gasp at the beauty before me.

  The scene was dominated by this huge tree with silver leaves contrasting with a dark brown bark and hints of red that made me think there were red berries in amongst the foliage. It looked perfectly in proportion, but the normal trees around the meadow suggested its majestic stature. Like a carpet before it were wildflowers in a rainbow of different colours. On one side there was a cliff with giant rock steps that allowed water to fall gracefully with several small waterfalls down from that great height. At the bottom, the water gathered into a pool before draining down a meandering course dividing the meadow with a beautiful stream.

  Besides the obvious beauty, there was a feeling of serenity and joy. I so wished Vee had been able to come with me. I took a deep breath and headed for the tree knowing that it was my ultimate destination. I had to cross the stream but Dani was able to freeze the water temporarily creating a bridge. Inda offered to fly me but that felt wrong somehow. I think Adi was influencing me and enjoying her connection to the ground.

  I knew the tree was big, but approaching it was like walking toward a mountain, it took a long time to get any closer and with time passing and the feeling of urgency I asked Inda to speed up our journey. She cocooned me in her loving embrace and whisked me towards the tree at a breakneck pace. I still struggled to comprehend the size as we approached. The trunk must have been at least one hundred metres wide. It felt like I was heading towards a wall.