by Gareth Otton
“I don’t?” he asked.
“The Senedd again,” she answered. “Me and Leon are going for the Scottish Parliament. It looks like they’re trying to take out the three main government buildings in the country to hit our morale. I mean, if we can’t protect these places…”
“How can we protect anywhere else?” Tad finished for her. “Shit. Alright. Are you sure you and Leon should be—”
“Don’t give me shit, Tad. We’re stretched thin and we need all the help we can get. We’re going, so you have to just deal with that.”
Tad threw up his hands in surrender and took a step back.
“Sorry, just saying is all. No need to bite my head off.”
She glared at him like she didn’t trust his words, then finished strapping her bullet-proof vest in place before glancing at Leon and the rest of her team.
“Enough talking, let’s get going. Tad, last we heard, the dreamwalkers had forced themselves inside the Senedd and had started taking down the dreamcatchers. They’re taking fire from the local quick response team, but they’re hiding inside of the building and our guys are sitting ducks outside. Don’t just dreamwalk into the building like a blind idiot. Go talk with the soldiers on the ground first. You got that?”
Again Tad felt like a child being told off by his mother, but he knew better than to argue. Stella glared at him like she wanted to make her point doubly clear, but then looked away and told her team to move out. A second later, there were a series of pops as she and her team vanished.
Turning to his own team, Tad saw them ready and waiting, one of them holding up a bullet-proof vest and helmet impatiently.
◆◆◆
Tad stepped out of Dream and wished he hadn’t. There was a whiz sound as something small and fast shot by his face and the soldier next to him fell to the ground, part of his head missing.
Incoming fire, Rodney shouted even as Tad was already drawing on the strength of his ghosts and throwing up a shield of air around him and his new team. No sooner was that shield in place when he felt the impact of another bullet, this one caught by the shield. The men with him flinched away from the bullet, but Tad stood his ground and looked beyond his bubble of condensed air to see what they had stepped in to.
The steps between the Senedd and the waterfront resembled a battleground. Dead bodies littered the steps, all of them in the garb of British soldiers and only a few bodies looking like they belonged to Kuruk’s people. What was worse was that the bodies weren’t just dead, they had been destroyed in a variety of ways. Some looked charred and were smoking, while others look pulverised, like they had been dropped from a great height. And then, of course, there were those who had just been shot in a more traditional but no less lethal manner.
Scattered amongst the bodies and taking cover where they could find it, what remained of the quick response military unit were firing back up at the building itself and the men with dreamcatchers that Tad now saw were surrounding the building while their friends got to work within. He couldn’t follow Stella’s orders and touch base with the quick response team because they were too spread out, and the attacks were too oppressive.
A flare of Dream caught Tad’s attention, pulling his eye to a man at the entrance to the Sennedd who had just activated a tattoo and was hurling a fireball towards a soldier who had broken cover to run towards an injured man on the steps. Tad flashed back to those teenagers in Swansea who had been burnt to a crisp by the fire nightmare, and he acted without thinking.
Keeping the shield in place around his men, he drew more deeply on the reserves of his ghosts and created a second image in his mind. Splitting his focus this way was something he hadn’t tried before, but after working with Ashley to create connections to multiple ghosts this morning, it felt like something he could do.
He motioned to the water behind him and, with a grand sweeping gesture, concentrated the movement of some of the water a thousand times over and in a very specific area. A jet of water that looked like it had been shot from the world’s most powerful hose-pipe jetted by Tad, arcing over the heads of the startled soldiers who flinched like they were being attacked from behind and then colliding with the ball of fire.
The fire and water cancelled each other out, the fire turning the water into a cloud of steam that provided the cover needed for the soldier who had been out in the open to drag his friend back to safety.
Why aren’t they using their dreamcatchers? Thomas asked from inside Tad’s head, the ex-politician horrified by the slaughter in front of him.
Because they haven’t had enough time to practice with them yet, Tony answered while Tad dealt with the mild backlash of using two dreams at once. The headache was painful, but it faded fast thanks to the three ghosts inside him.
He thought about Tony’s words and realised this was the major problem they faced in this war. Only Trevors and his team had enough experience with dreamcatchers to match what Kuruk and his army could do. All the quick response teams had dreamcatchers and that soldier could have just dreamwalked himself and his injured friend to safety. But he hadn’t used it enough and was falling back on more human instincts.
We need to bring them back together so we can co-ordinate a fresh attack, Rodney said, his mind focused on the job at hand. Again, his words were accompanied with knowledge and skills that Rodney used in life and Tad scanned the enemy, looking for weak spots to take advantage of. Therefore, he was quick to notice that the dreamcatchers that once hung in the windows of the building to defend it were no longer there. More than this, he felt the familiar tingling of Dream as people were dreamwalking away from the building.
He realised what was happening at the same time that Rodney said, We’re too late. They’ve finished what they came to do. We need to get out of here.
One by one, the defenders at the top of the steps also started blinking out of existence and Tad realised they were seconds away from another explosion. If it was anything like the explosion in London, then no one on these steps would be safe.
“Dreamwalk out of here,” he commanded the men behind him who as yet had not had a chance to be of any use as Tad’s shield not only kept bullets out, but also kept them in. He didn’t wait to see if they listened before he turned his attention to the soldiers on the steps. They hadn’t realised what was happening and it looked like they were going to try to rush the building now that the number of defenders were dwindling.
Tad wanted to shout for them to retreat, but knew his voice would be lost when compared to the sound of gunfire. The only thing left to him was to protect them from the coming explosion.
That’s stupid, Tad. That explosion is going to be enormous. Defending against bullets is one thing, but this is suicide.
Tad agreed with Tony’s protests, but he couldn’t bring himself to abandon these people. There had to be a way to protect them.
More of Kuruk’s people dreamwalked away, and he realised he was running out of time.
We need to go, Thomas said, sounding panicked. Tad wanted to tell him he could go if he wanted, but he needed his strength for whatever he was going to do next. In fact, he could do with the strength of…
His thoughts trailed off as a new idea surfaced and suddenly he was looking around for something that might just be able to save them all. At first he found nothing, but when he stopped focusing with his eyes and focused with dreamwalker senses, he soon spotted them. The ghosts of the dead soldiers who hadn’t moved on. They were with their friends, trying to help where they could. There were only five that Tad could find, but hopefully that would be enough.
You’ve never connected to five before, Tony pointed out, not helpful in the slightest. Tad ignored him, and focused only on the fact that if he didn’t do something now, they would all be dead.
He focused on those ghosts, and just as Ashley had taught him that morning, he tried to connect with them. It was kind of like casting a fishing line. He wanted to get his hooks into the ghosts to make a connection th
at would allow him to draw power. However, this was more like casting five fishing lines at once and on targets who didn’t want to be hooked.
As soon as each ghost felt him try to connect, they fought him, scared of what he was doing. Unfortunately, Tad didn’t have the experience he needed to force the connection, as Ashley might have been able to, so he tried something new. Using instinct rather than the knowledge Ashley shared, he simply asked for their help.
With every new fishing line he cast, he bated the hook with the knowledge of what he was trying to do and how he needed their help. As soon as the connection landed, that knowledge was placed inside the ghost’s head. For one ghost it didn’t matter, and he fought him off anyway. For the other four though, they realised who he was, what he was trying to do and that this might just be their only hope to save their friends. Those four ghosts let themselves be hooked, and Tad felt power flow down those fishing lines like he had just hooked onto a power line instead of ghosts.
Electricity rushed through him, making him feel stronger than he ever had in his life. Light exploded around him as his eyes were adapting more strongly to the night than ever before, and it was like he was seeing in daylight. He had noticed before that each new ghost allowed for what felt like exponential growth. With three ghosts, he had the approximate strength of eight dreamwalkers. Those extra four ghosts left him with what felt like the strength of one-hundred-and-twenty-eight dreamwalkers, and that power felt like it was too much.
His every nerve was buzzing, the surrounding sounds were overwhelming, and he felt like if he wasn’t careful with how he stepped, he might break the very stone under his feet with his new strength. But he didn’t need to step, he needed to imagine something and open a door in his mind.
He imagined another shield of air, this one much larger than the one that had just protected himself and the men at his back. This new shield was to cover the entirety of the steps outside the Senedd and shelter every man here. He imagined an enormous bubble of solidified air, and when that image was clear in his mind, he pushed on that door to another reality.
It was like someone had replaced the heavy door on a shopping centre with one that still looked heavy but had no weight whatsoever. Tad braced himself to handle the resistance of the door, but there was no resistance and he threw that door open wide with such force that Dream rushed through in a torrent. An ocean of power consumed him so fast that he felt like he was going to tear apart at the seams. A little panicked at what that much power might do to him, he flowed it all into this new image and instantly reality reacted to his will.
He wasn’t a moment too soon.
In a dreamlike moment, a series of enormous fireballs built within the Senedd, soon combining into one tremendous explosion that had no where to travel but outwards. Windows shattered, steel melted and scraps of wood and stone were flung out into the world by the force of a blast that should have annihilated everything around it. Indeed, the buildings behind and to the side of the Senedd were peppered with rubble and destruction that did massive damage. Sheltered by the bubble of Tad’s power, though, the steps in front of the Sennedd were unchanged save for the fact that the very ground beneath their feet was shaking.
So dense was the shield of air that the awesome sound was barely more than a muffled cough, allowing everyone within the bubble to look up at the destruction without even needing to cover their ears.
Darkness consumed them as the bubble was covered in rubble, but because of the shape of that shield, the rubble slid off to collect around the edges.
Twenty seconds after the bubble went up, Tad let go of Dream and the sounds of the world flooded back in. He didn’t hear them, though. Instead, he was focused on what he had just done and was awed that there was no pain. Even at the end, he let the bubble drop because it was no longer needed, not because he felt tired.
Tad, the ghosts, Tony urged from inside his head, breaking through his shock and forcing his attention back to the ghosts who had leant Tad their power. Two of them were on their knees, looking like they might keel over at any moment, while the other two were losing their form, with shadow spilling from their eyes as they gave in to the madness that accompanied the pull of the next life. While Tad had been marvelling at his power and the lack of cost to himself, those ghosts had been paying the price for him.
He cast those fishing lines again, forging connections with these ghosts and this time pulling down Dream under his own power and not using theirs. The door felt heavier compared to last time, but he didn’t need to open it far, just enough to feed power from Dream down those fishing lines and into the ghosts who had almost sacrificed so much to help him.
Ten seconds later, he cut the connection as his job was done. It was that easy to bring these ghosts back from madness. Tony swore.
All this time, Tad, he whispered. We could have helped so many ghosts.
Memories of the twins rushed through Tad’s head, memories that weren’t his own but Tony’s. Along with those memories were the near overwhelming emotions of sorrow and regret. Alone Tad wouldn’t have known what to say to his ghost, as he felt those emotions as though they were his own, emotions he didn’t even know his ghost was capable of on such a scale. However, he wasn’t alone.
You can’t dwell on what could have been because even Tad can’t change the past, Thomas insisted. Think instead of all the ghosts you can help now that you have this power.
Tony wasn’t mollified by the words, but they helped Tad enough to think more clearly.
He moved his attention from the ghosts to the crater that once housed the building they had come to save. They had been too late and would have died had Tad not been given that instruction by Ashley this morning. If this happened even yesterday, he wouldn’t be standing here right now.
This wasn’t the only target for a bomb like this, Rodney reminded him, and Tad’s eyes widened as he realised what he meant.
“Stella,” he gasped, then vanished.
33
Friday, 30th December 2016
23:11
Stella tried to ignore the stinging cold of the wind as she looked down the mountainside toward the distant lights pointed out to her by the soldier at her side. They stood atop Arthur’s seat, the extinct volcano that overlooked Scotland’s capital city, and Stella’s attention was being directed at two large buildings at the bottom of the famous Royal Mile.
“Locals spotted suspicious activity outside the parliament building an hour ago and called it in. The police who responded were killed, but not before they called for the quick response team. They arrived in time to fight the enemy back, but there weren’t enough of them to end this, so they’ve occupied the parliament building itself. With the aid of the dreamcatchers on the building, they’ve been able to hold out so far and they’ve kept the enemy on the back foot. Most of them are hiding out near the gates of Holyrood Palace.”
The soldier’s pointing finger moved an inch to the right, this time pointing at the older buildings that stood in stark contrast to the more modern, hard lines of the parliament building across the street. The ancient stone and sharp peaks of the palace were harder to make out in the dark of the night, but Stella still saw them well enough.
“So they’re at a stalemate,” Stella said, trying to think how she could use this to her advantage. “Well, at least until Kuruk’s people get some reinforcements. Those dreamcatchers in that building might keep them out right now, but trust me, I know from experience that there’s more than Dream that can breach a building.”
“Which is why we’re here, right?” the soldier asked, and Stella nodded in response.
“What do you recommend?” she asked, knowing that she was out of her depth tactically and was better off letting him take the lead.
“I think we should split our people into two forces and hit them from both sides at once. Half of us dreamwalk into the grounds of the palace and come at them from that direction while the rest of us come from the direction of the road an
d hit them from that side. That way we’ll have them trapped and should be able to end this quickly.”
“Don’t forget they have dreamcatchers of their own,” Stella said. “The second they think they’re trapped, they’re just going to scatter. You can’t contain them that easily.”
“Then what do you suggest?” he asked. With anyone else, he did a masterful job at controlling his frustration at being second guessed by a civilian, but Stella’s talent picked it out easily enough. In fact, she didn’t just notice the change in his tone, but it was almost like he was projecting his true thoughts at her. It wasn’t quite like reading his mind, instead like there was an instant understanding of the true meaning of his words.
Stella was distracted by the strange sensation that offered so much more than she ever got from her talent before, but she didn’t have time to question it now. Instead, she tried to focus on how they could take advantage of the situation. However, between her improved eyesight and this jump in her talents, she couldn’t help but wonder what else had changed within her thanks to the video that Lizzie put out.
That wondering led her to an idea and suddenly she knew what was needed.
“How quick could your guys secure those men if they were frozen in place?”
The soldier frowned at her, and again she had a flash of insight as she realised he was trusting the darkness to hide his frown and didn’t think she could see it.
“I’m not rushing anything tonight,” the soldier answered. “Those men are armed with dreamcatchers and your people have spent the last month hammering into our heads how dangerous they are. We go rushing in and—”
“I’m not asking you to rush. I’m asking what you could do with a couple seconds advantage without having to worry about them attacking you?”
The soldier didn’t know how to respond, but someone else in their party understood what Stella was getting at.