by Gareth Otton
Borderlands
Book 5 of the Dreams of Reality
Copyright © 2021 Gareth Otton
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organisations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2021 by Gareth Otton, all rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without express written permission of the author.
Cover design by Gareth Otton
ISBN:
9798459883466
www.gareth-otton.com
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
Epilogue
Afterword
The Sterenteem Histories: Book 1
Books In This Series
1
Friday, 23rd December 2016
21:15
“What do you think? Good enough?” Tad asked.
Growler lifted his head from the crumpled duvet and yawned, his mouth so wide it looked more like a lion yawning than a dog. Sleepy eyes glanced at the glittery parcel in front of Tad before adopting a doggy frown that made his opinion clear.
“I know, it’s terrible,” Tad lamented, reaching for the chaotic mess of brightly coloured paper and tape that barely covered the box beneath. Never great at wrapping presents, his lack of dexterity with his burned hand took that to a whole new level.
The sound of muffled, angry voices rose through the floorboards, catching Tad’s attention and bringing a smile to his face. With Christmas on a weekend, he convinced Dr Burman to let him have Jen a day early. It felt like forever since she’d been home, and the familiar sound of her arguing with Tony was more than welcome.
Suddenly he wondered why he was wrapping presents when he should be enjoying his time with his daughter. His schedule had been too busy to wrap presents before now, but after fighting so long to get her back where she belonged, was this how he wanted to spend his time with her?
“This will have to do,” he said as he climbed from the bed and placed the present on the pile of equally messy attempts. “You can’t see what’s inside, and that’s all that matters, right?”
Growler looked at him doubtfully, then jumped from the bed and led the way out of the bedroom.
The sounds of raised voices grew as Tad made his way down the stairs. For the life of him, he couldn’t think why such noises ever annoyed him in the past. It was a sound he thought he would never hear in his house again, so he was unnaturally happy as he opened the living room door just in time to catch the tail end of a fight.
The living room was a mess, littered with open boxes and Christmas decorations that were yet to find a home. Distractions at work meant he hadn’t had chance to decorate for Jen’s arrival, and she and Tony were rectifying that... or trying to.
He found his daughter sat on the floor in front of their sparsely decorated Christmas tree, wearing a Santa hat that was far too big and glowering at Tony as she tugged on a tangled bundle of Christmas lights while he gripped the other end.
“Just let me do it, you’re not helping,” Jen snapped, the red of her aura matching the colour of her floppy hat. She tugged at those lights hard enough to snatch them from Tony and make the hat slip down her face, the white fur covering her eyes. Tony laughed before stepping back, hands raised in surrender.
“I was just trying to help. But if you want to spend the rest of the night doing it the wrong way, be my guest.”
Jen pulled the hat back into place and glared at Tony like she was about to say something else, but was distracted when suddenly the hat was tugged away so hard it nearly pulled her into the tree.
“Hawk, no,” Jen shouted, but was too late. Her overgrown dog tugged on the furry ball at the end of her hat like it was his favourite toy and bounded away, tail wagging as he shook his head vigorously. He only had a moment to enjoy his success before his brother was there, starting a tug of war with Jen’s hat as the rope.
“No, don’t,” Jen shouted, lunging for the dogs, but it was already too late. There was a loud tearing sound and two giant dogs fell away from each other, looking guilty as they both held half of Jen’s hat in their mouths.
“Aw,” Jen groaned, slumping in defeat. The disappointment in her voice did more to chastise the dogs than her earlier shout. With his tail tucked between his legs, Hawk wandered over and dropped the remains of the hat in her lap. “Well, it’s no good now, is it?”
Hawk’s head dropped lower in shame, somehow still making puppy dog eyes despite being larger than any dog Tad had ever seen. As always, Jen gave in quickly and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.
“Naughty dog,” she said as she let him go, the tone of her voice not reprimanding in the least. She was about to say something else when she was interrupted by Tony snatching up the remains of the hat and slipping it over her head. The furry white ring fell over her face and settled around her neck, the red material covering her mouth.
“You know, that’s a good look for you. I think in your case it works better as a gag than it did as a hat,” Tony teased, causing Jen’s eyes to narrow and her face to turn scarlet.
There was something about the sight that struck Tad as comical, and before he could stop himself, a chuckle slipped out. Jen’s eyes narrowed further as she turned her glare on him, but that looked even funnier for some reason, and Tad laughed harder.
Jen struggled to remove the offending hat so she could shout at them, but the fur ring kept getting caught either by her hair or her chin. As her skin turned an ever brighter shade of pink from frustration, Hawk sniffed around her face to investigate the problem, which made Jen squeal and pull away from the cold, wet nose. It was only a matter of time before her efforts and the dog’s growing excitement sent her crashing into the tree, and soon both Tad and Tony were howling with laughter as Jen struggled with the offending garment.
That only angered Jen further, but gradually her aura changed colour as she saw the funny side and it wasn’t long before she was laughing with them. It was one of those moments where their laughter was feeding off each other, exaggerating what might only be worth a chuckle at any other time to the point where Tad had to look for somewhere to sit as his ribs hurt. Tony collapsed onto the sofa beside him, tears running down his face, and even the dogs barked with excitement at all the commotion.
A popping sound was lost amongst the noise, and none of them noticed Stella and Freckles arrive. Stella looked over the top of the large cardboard box in her hands with a bewildered expression.
> “What’s going on?” she asked, her lips twisting into an amused smile.
“Jen… hat… dogs,” was all Tad could say before all three of them burst out laughing again like that was the funniest thing they ever heard.
Stella chuckled and shook her head. “You lot are crazy,” she announced before placing the box on the floor with the others just like it. “That’s the last of them.”
“So you’re officially moved in,” Tad said, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Took you long enough.”
“I didn’t see you rushing to help.”
“Really? Because I seem to remember trying to help and getting shouted at for not doing it right. That doesn’t go in that box. You’re supposed to fold it, not throw it in. That’s not supposed to—”
“You done?” Stella interrupted, eyes narrowing as she tried to look dangerous. Tad just grinned. Since her eidolon changes, Stella was a terrible liar, and he could tell she wasn’t annoyed. Seeing that she wasn’t fooling anyone, Stella shook her head and laughed again. “Whatever. You’re not helping if you don’t do it right.”
“That’s what I said,” Jen announced, holding up the tangled ball of Christmas lights that started her argument with Tony.
“That’s what I said,” Tony mocked, once again taking things just that one step too far.
“Alright, enough,” Tad said, climbing to his feet. “Jen, finish the lights, Tony go do something else. Finish up as quick as you can and I’ll make us some hot chocolate. It is Christmas after all, right?”
“With marshmallows?” Jen asked, forgetting her anger at Tony.
“I’m sure that can be arranged.”
“And spray cream?”
“Of course.”
“And chocolate sauce and sprinkles?”
Tad laughed and shook his head in mock dismay. “Alright, a mug of diabetes coming up.”
Jen clapped her hands happily before turning her attention back to the lights in her lap with a new smile on her face. Tad took a moment to enjoy that expression before turning to find Stella watching him with a smile of her own.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “Come on, I’ll give you a hand.”
“You get everything you wanted done at HQ?” Tad asked as he stepped into the kitchen, headed for the fridge.
“No, but that was never an option,” Stella said. When he frowned, she added, “Don’t worry, I’m still going to be here when you’re awake. I’ll just head into work when you’re all sleeping.”
“This was supposed to be a break for you too,” Tad pointed out, annoyed that again work was interrupting their time off. It was unfair to feel that way because he knew the stress she was under, especially with everything that was coming. Five thousand soldiers armed with dreamcatchers, not to mention the might of the world’s largest super power. Between Stella, Trevors and what remained of the Dream Team, they had made enormous progress in setting up things like quick response teams who could use dreamcatchers of their own, but they were up against an impossible deadline.
The last thing she needed was him nagging her about finding time to come home for Christmas. But she wasn’t the only one working hard and they both needed a break. Three days at Christmas with Jen was the reward that had been keeping Tad going, and selfishly he hoped they could escape the craziness of the coming war for just a few days.
“I know,” Stella said. “I’m not thrilled either. But I—”
“No, don’t explain,” Tad interrupted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. Just make sure you get some rest. I promise, a Christmas with Jen and Tony is chaotic at best, so you need a break somewhere.”
Stella grinned. “I’ll manage. Besides, it’s just paper work. I can do most of it with my eyes closed, so I can rest at work.”
“Right,” Tad said, not believing that for a second.
Now they were on the topic, Tad couldn’t help but think about everything coming their way. As much as Christmas would be a break, he couldn’t ignore the worries at the back of his mind.
How have we come to this?
He knew the answer, of course. He had been thinking about nothing else for months, maybe even the whole last year. Ever since the night when he killed a monster called Joshua King and unknowingly completed a sick ritual. The man had been killing Proxies to weaken the barrier between their reality and what he thought was the realm of Death and the source of a Proxy’s power.
After a year of focusing on that night, Tad thought he understood what happened better than he ever had. Every soul was connected to the next life by a spiderweb of energy that tethered it to a reality beyond even Dream. It gave the soul a path to the next life, but Tad suspected it also gave Proxies the ability to pull Dream energy across that barrier. A lifetime of doing that weakened the barrier around that Proxy’s tether, and when they died, the violence of their soul tearing through to the next life was more than the barrier could repair, and the hole between realities became permanent.
King focused on this weakness, killing multiple Proxies in the same spot in order to continue widening that hole and weakening the barrier. After a decade of murder it was just one death away from permanently altering both realities, creating a connection that would alter the very laws of nature. Tad had given it that death when he killed Joshua King and created the Borderlands in the process.
For a hundred miles in every direction, dreams started coming true, nightmares manifested as reality, and what seemed like actual magic provided a future for mankind that no one could ever have predicted. It also created an imbalance in the world, a focal point for opportunities not available outside the Borderlands, and therefore something to be coveted by people not living within its boundaries. In short, it offered a tantalising excuse for invasion and war.
He wished he could wake up tomorrow to find this was all a misunderstanding. However, a month of war planning with the Prime Minister, Stella, Trevors, Ryan, and other key members of the upcoming defence, told him this was real and was happening.
Countless war games and scenario planning meant it was impossible not to imagine the horror of what was coming. Though he tried to put on a brave face and concentrate on the role he was asked to play, he was terrified. Just over a year ago he was a teacher who had never been in a fight other than when he was bullied as a child. What did he know about war?
That same part of him was convinced that all this could still somehow be prevented. He knew he should be focused on dealing with the reality of what they faced, but he couldn’t help thinking there had to be a way around this.
If only Jacob hadn’t acted so rashly. The core of his idea was good. They should have tried to lead the way with the Borderlands, opening it up and sharing its wealth with the rest of the world. However, even as he thought that, he knew he was kidding himself. No matter how much they shared, they couldn’t get around the fact that they had an enormous resource locked up on British soil, so other countries could never truly relax.
There had to be another way. War couldn’t be the answer, or where would the conflict end? If other countries couldn’t sit back and let the Borderlands be a British asset, how would any other country being in charge be better?
War would only lead to more war in a vicious cycle that would cost countless lives.
“You speak to Norman today?” he asked, trying to move his mind to another topic.
“No. He’s got enough on his plate.”
“I just thought that with him winning that vote today, he might want to talk.”
“He barely won it,” Stella replied, talking about the vote of no confidence that Norman barely survived. Revealing his dreamwalker nature immediately after Jacob made the world afraid of dreamwalkers had led to a month of bad press and rebellions in his government that culminated in today’s vote. “He’ll be locked in a room with Amelia celebrating and planning what to do next.”
“Celebrating with Amelia?” Tad asked.
“Okay, so
maybe there’s less celebrating and more planning. Either way, I don’t expect to hear from him for a couple of days.” Tad was about to say something else, but Stella beat him to it. “Tad, let it go. You’re getting wound up again. Just focus on those hot chocolates and remember you’re taking a break for a couple of days.”
“It’s not right to make you work alone. I can help with—”
“Tad, enough.” She grabbed his hand, making him stop what he was doing so he could turn to look at her. She was smiling at him, but her eyes were serious. “Please don’t let this bother you. You know me better than that. I wouldn’t be able to rest anyway so I might as well work. It won’t bother me to see you take a couple of days off. I’d rather see you enjoy spending time with Jen. You’ve fought hard enough for this, don’t mess it up by getting caught up with work, please.”
“But—”
“No buts, just enjoy yourself for a few days. I plan to. Besides, it’s our first Christmas living together. Don’t ruin that by sulking.”
“I wasn’t sulking,” Tad protested.
“Whatever, Holcroft. Just get your head on straight and finish those drinks. I want to see the same man I came home to five minutes ago when you’re done.”
Smiling at him to take the sting from her words, Stella turned and left the kitchen. Tad returned to the stove, stirring the milk that was approaching a boil as he got his head on straight.
Stella was right. He had fought too hard for this Christmas to spoil it by sulking about things he couldn’t change. Besides, this Christmas wasn’t about him. It was about giving Jen something to enjoy at the end of what was otherwise a terrible year.
Determined to give her a Christmas to remember, he finished up the hot chocolates, going all out to make them as decadent as possible. Unable to carry all three thanks to his bad hand, he picked up Jen’s and Stella’s in one hand and carried them into the living room. The moment Jen’s eyes widened and she jumped up from the floor to go sit on a sofa ready to receive her drink with a huge grin on her face, Tad felt his worries slip away. Stella was right, he should just concentrate on Christmas and enjoying himse—