Dreamcatcher

by Christian Rosnell

  Troy himself was clad in a sleek, fierce-looking light set of black armor, a sword and short lance crossed upon his back, emerging ready to be drawn over either shoulder. Helm hooked onto his belt at his side, this leader of the Dream Syndicate looked not only ready for battle, but pretty cool out of it as well. Sitting up on a midnight-black warhorse as he was, Sky had to look up to talk to him, which she had to admit irked her a bit. She chose to ignore it however as she brought some of the questions that had been bothering her ever since their departure from Fear.

  “Well, just a quick first thing… when the crew and I set out to look for you guys, we tried to meet one of our contacts in the North, a man named Gairen. He apparently had connections to the Dream Syndicate. Do you know him?”

  Troy shook his head, “We have a pretty big organization; most of the people in the North know somebody who works for us in some capacity, if they don’t themselves. The man probably had contacts to Dream Syndicate personnel in his local area.”

  Sky nodded, “Yeah, well, we were supposed to meet him in the town of Aston where he lived, near the coast of Confusion. When we entered the town square where he was supposed to be…” Sky gulped; it was still hard to talk about. “He… well, someone else had gotten to him first, you could say. They killed him, actually… very brutally. Gairen was impaled onto the wall of a building with huge spikes, and whoever did it wrote a message above his dead body. “‘Lived a coward – died alone’, it said.” Troy exhaled as she finished speaking, looking down with a look of frustration.

  Sky asked the question that had been eating away at her for weeks, “I have to know – what happened to him? Who would have done this, and why?”

  Troy took a deep breath and looked over at Sky, “You’re not gonna like my answer. Partly because it may surprise you, and partly because you might not want to believe it. But it’s true, unfortunately, and we have to deal with it.” Sky nodded, urging him on.

  Troy looked back at the crew, “No offense, but you Southerners have mostly been brought up to believe that the King’s reign is so righteous and good… I mean, he even calls himself the Hero, right? Well, for those of us living in the North, the reality is much different. The King has never cared in the slightest about whether we live, whether we die, or whether we disappear. I don’t know the reason for that, but suffice it to say that ever since me, Kiara, Seth, and Iri created the Dream Syndicate about five years ago, the King’s Legion has made it an active goal of theirs to hunt us down and destroy us. You see, we stand for freedom in the North – freedom from the iron rule of your King who has oppressed us for so long. And since Decimader Vuruman is not remotely okay with that; about a year ago he sent dozens of Legends – active and former – pouring into the North to wage a campaign of violence and intimidation, in an attempt to subdue the population. And I hate to say, it has worked to an extent.” Sky rode alongside the leaders of the Dream Syndicate, stunned at what she was hearing – this was an entirely different perspective on the King of the Dreamscape than she had never heard before.

  Troy shook his head, “I’m sorry to say it, but the manner of the killing of this man Gairen indicates to me that it was the Legion who did it. They’re responsible for similar-type murders throughout the North – one or a few of them even like leaving messages like that. They think it will scare us into submission, you know. Well, on that, they couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, these types of murders are the very thing we’re fighting against. So we’re glad that there are some Southerners who finally understand. You and your crew have me and Kiara’s thanks for coming along with us; it’s a big step forward in Northern-Southern relations. Hopefully, this can become normal someday.” Sky nodded, still struggling to process all this new information. She still needed yet more information however.

  “Thanks for that, Troy, everything seems to make so much more sense now. But… there’s some other things I’ve been wondering about.” Troy motioned for her to continue.

  Sky paused, trying to think of how to say it, “Well… as you know already, we’re coming along with you guys because we still have our own mission to complete. I know you haven’t mentioned the exact plan, but considering that we’re throwing our lot in with you, I think we deserve to hear what’s actually going on. Even if it is classified Dream Syndicate information, you can consider us your allies, so there’s no harm really in telling us. Who exactly are we supposed to hand over the Dreamcatcher to, anyway? And how do you know you’re supposed to give it to this person, and them in particular?” Sky put her hands out, “What do you know that I don’t? I know there’s something.”

  Troy looked up at the drifting snow, considering, “First off, you say there’s no harm in telling you. I’m not entirely sure that’s true. It’s not that I don’t trust you guys – I actually do – it’s just that if even a single one of you got captured, your knowledge of this information could ruin everything. They could and would torture that information out of you, and then we’d be unable to threaten Dark any time soon, if ever. Our greatest advantage, understand, is that of surprise. The King doesn’t know that the Dark is in danger, and he won’t be thinking to protect it. If it gets out that there’s a threat to the existence of the Dark, we may not see another opportunity in our lifetimes. That’s why I don’t want to tell you.”

  Sky frowned, He mentioned the King. What does he have to do with any of this? Does he have some sort of relationship with the Dark? Is he for it or against it? The way Troy talking, it seemed like the King stood in opposition to the Dream Syndicate because the Syndicate wanted to destroy the Dark, so she guessed by the same token the King wanted to protect it. She couldn’t see why that would be, but before she could ask, Troy looked at her and continued speaking.

  “Like I said, I don’t want to tell you, but I’m going to anyway. One of my weaknesses, I guess you could say, is that I err on the side of trusting my friends, however risky that trust may be.” Kiara shook her head to his left, “Too true.” For her part, Sky was a bit surprised at the statement. Friends? She hadn’t felt like they’d known the guy that long.

  Regardless, he continued, “So you may tell your crew what I’m about to tell you, but before you do that, you have to make them promise that they will protect this information with their lives, and that they will die if need be to defend it. I’m not trying to be harsh, that’s just the reality of it. It’s all we have – if it’s compromised, we’re done. And that would be a disaster for the whole Dreamscape.” Sky nodded, and so Troy took a deep breath, “OK. Where to begin…”

  “I guess I have to start with a bit of history. It’s too long of a story to explain how I know what I know, but you can trust me that what I’m about to say is accurate. You will have never heard it before, because our “heroic” King doesn’t want you, or anyone else in the Dreamscape, to know it. Thankfully, since our founding of the Dream Syndicate to resist him, and our rise in the North, much of the North now knows his lies for what they are. Decimader knows this, which may be the reason he largely leaves the North alone. See, he knows that we understand his lies, and he doesn’t want that understanding to seep into the South. That’s all he has left really. He’s close – closer than you might imagine – to declaring open war on the whole North and marching his Imperial Army up here to try and subdue us by force.” Sky snapped her head around in shock. She hadn’t heard anything like that. It really made her wonder.

  What else don’t I know?

  Troy raised a hand to his hair, a look of frustration in his eyes, “It’s been a real bear to deal with, you know, working against Decimader Vuruman while trying not to provoke him into crushing our people. You won’t have noticed, living in the South, but the Dreamscape today is really split in two. People didn’t used to consider there to be a concrete “North and South”, even though they are clearly divided by geography. It didn’t used to be this way – that’s the first thing you need to understand. In fact, nothing used to be this way at all.”

  Tr
oy took a deep breath and went on, looking off toward the southern horizon, “Again, you will never have heard this before, but this is the true history of this land that we live in. Over a thousand years ago, and before that, what we know today as the Dreamscape was part of a much larger land mass in which multiple intelligent races, not just humans, lived and prospered. Dreamcasting did exist back then, though it was the sole province of a creator race named the ‘Godra’, who, according to their history, were given this special power by a true deity – which they were not themselves. They were simply a normal race, although they were the first one, which was given a unique power and mission. They somehow ‘ascended’ – which I don’t understand – into another realm they called ‘Aether’, from which they used their Dreamcasting abilities to create plant and animal life, shape the world, and even create a handful of races just as intelligent and capable as themselves. Dreamcasting must’ve been different back then, I guess, because it could create where none previously existed. We know, of course, that it cannot do that anymore.”

  Sky listened to the story, transfixed. She opened her mouth to speak, a thousand questions on her mind, but clamped it shut and resolved to keep listening. She would ask her questions at the end; she wanted Troy to keep going.

  “Well, after who knows how many millennia of this system existing, it finally came to the brink of collapse. Infighting and wars between the intelligent races of the main Godra families became nonstop, and bitter rivalries brewed between families. The odd thing, however, is that an intra-family dispute brought the downfall of the whole system. It all started when the heir to the throne of Vuru, the Godra family who created and ruled the human race, was passed over for the traditionally- inherited kingship by his father. When his father chose the heir’s best friend for succession instead – apparently a member of a lower branch of the family, the Kuru – this young man went insane and killed both his father and his friend, taking kingship of the human race for himself, as he’d always imagined.” Troy looked down at Sky.

  “This man’s name… was Decimader Vuruman.”

  Sky wasn’t that surprised by the claim – she’d thought that was where this was going. She wasn’t sure if any of this was true, but decided to reserve judgment until she knew better. Maybe she could learn more in Glory. It was the capital of the whole Dreamscape, after all.

  Troy went on, “Yes, our King who calls himself ‘the Hero’ really got his throne by killing his family to get it. He then created the Dreamscape, formerly a part of the larger world called Gaien, using whatever ancient Dreamcasting power he has to shield it off from the rest of the world. I believe, though I cannot confirm, that his power is the Dark. If we can destroy that, we can destroy his reign, and finally free the human race from the tyranny and lies we’ve been subjected to.” Troy finished speaking and glared south in the direction of the capital city to which they were headed.

  Sky was silent for a good minute, not sure what to say. “Even if what you say is true”, she began slowly, “what does this have to do with us taking the Dreamcatcher to Seth and Iri?”

  Troy nodded, “Right, that. Well, just know that this Godra race made an initial contract – with whatever deity gave them the Dreamcasting power – to give the power up after a certain period of time. When the time came, they would undergo a certain process that I don’t understand which creates an ‘Heir’ of each Godra – a physical reincarnation of themselves in the mortal race their family ruled, to be born at some indeterminate time after they die. This was supposed to be the end of the Godra race, and their transition back into mortality through the races they’d created. Well, Decimader believes that his friend, whom he killed for power, had created his Heir before his own death, meaning a human will be born at some point in the Dreamscape that is the reincarnation of Decimader’s own friend. Decimader fears that reincarnation will come to avenge his death in his prior life, and take power away from him again.” Troy shook his head in disdain.

  “Decimader also believes that there is a pair of Dreamcasters destined to find and destroy this Heir, and believes he has now finally found them. They are currently in the capital as we speak. However, we know that there are in fact two Heirs of importance – Decimader’s friend, and Decimader’s own Heir, which was created without him knowing it. You see, Decimader was supposed to die long ago, but he didn’t because he is somehow able to preserve his Godra body in the Dreamscape he created. But his Heir was created anyway on schedule, and we believe both of these Heirs to be living in the Dreamscape today. These two have the only chance, per our source, of using this Dreamcatcher object to destroy the Dark. Apparently, it’s something only Godra Heirs can do, though I’m not sure why this could be.”

  “The important part is, we believe that the same two Dreamcasters the King thinks will destroy the one Heir he believes exists, are actually the two Heirs we’re looking for. Weird, right? But, our sources say it’s true, so… right now we’re heading South to meet Seth, Iri, and the one who is our source for all this information – whose name I can’t reveal, sorry – as well as these two Dreamcasters to see if they can destroy the Dark with this Dreamcatcher as we hoped.”

  Troy looked down at Sky, smiling, “I can’t tell you the Dreamcasters names, as it would be especially dangerous if anyone in your crew gets captured, which is unfortunately possible. I will say, however, that I think you may be in for a pleasant surprise, if my sources are anything to go by.”

  Sky looked at the tall young man riding straight-backed on his war horse, “Pleasant surprise… what, I’m supposed to believe that I’m involved in all this?”

  Troy laughed, “More than you know, Sky. More than you know.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  As the red sun finally sank below the western horizon, Lyght sat up, exhaling. He looked over at Mikael sitting on the balcony. They were outside of Lyght’s room, looking out over the channel and setting sun as they waited for the right time. Lyght dropped a hand into his pocket, pulling out the small tied-up scroll a messenger had brought earlier. Lyaness hadn’t brought the note from the King, as she usually did. No, both Lyght and Mikael had been surprised to hear knocks on their doors shortly after arriving back from their last day of training, revealing a trio of Legends. They had delivered each of them this note, which Lyght opened now and skimmed his eyes over again, trying to see if he could glean anything else from it.

  Lyght,

  In regards to the offer the First Legend made you, it is time that we get that mission underway – if you’re still inclined to help. When the sun sets this evening, I would like very much for you and your friend Mikael to come up to the top floor of Triumph – the guard will bring you up – so that I can debrief you on the details of this mission. Come fully armed, please, in your Legion uniforms and the armor they’ve given you. This mission may possibly involve use of force – though if it goes smoothly, you two won’t have to do any open fighting. I’d still like you to be prepared, however. I’ll fill you in much more when you get here.

  My regards, and I’ll see you then.

  Decimader Vuruman, King of the Dreamscape

  Lyght and Mikael had only needed to wait just over an hour for the sun to set, and they sat out now on Lyght’s balcony in full armor – such as they had, anyway – complete with the Legion capes they wore as class leaders. In addition to the sword the Legion had given him strapped across his back, Lyght kept a duo of knives strapped at either hip, with a smaller knife hidden in his right boot.

  Armed as he was, Lyght was still nervous about whatever mission the King was going to ask them to complete. Sure, Lyght had fought with his peers in training, but always with blunted weapons in practice sessions. The King had said in the note that the mission wasn’t likely to come to force, but if it did… Lyght guessed he’d have to use his training to protect himself and Mikael. He wasn’t too worried about that – he was a Dreamcaster after all. No… he just had to wonder about what he was going to be asked to do. He was
n’t going to be asked to kill somebody, would he? Lyght wasn’t sure if he was ready for that. Of course, he was excited with the prospect of joining the Legion once this mission was completed, but he still wished he knew what he was walking into.

  Mikael didn’t seem too worried, however. He jumped off the balcony rail he’d been sitting on with that mischievous grin that Lyght knew all-to-well. The one that said he was about to really enjoy this; and he knew it. Lyght tucked the note back into his pocket and stood up, stretching. Mikael took a step forward, placing his hands on either of Lyght’s shoulders, “So, are you ready? It’s our time.” Lyght looked his friend in the eyes and, trying to seem confident, nodded. He must’ve pulled it off, but Mikael drew back shaking his head. “You look ready enough, but not that excited. I mean, you know what this means right? If we’re successful here, our dreams are going to finally come true. You know… the ones we came all the way here for?”

  Lyght opened his mouth, about to speak his reservations to his friend, but closed it at the last second. He smiled with an effort, “Yeah… yeah you’re right. I’m worrying too much, as usual. We always wanted it to be our time, but I don’t think either of us thought it’d come to this… mission or whatever they want us to do. Well, regardless, I’m ready. Let’s do this.” For once, Lyght flipped the roles and stretched out a fist as Mikael was wont to do, and Mikael met it smiling, “That’s what I want to hear. Let’s…” Mikael jumped up onto the balcony, nodded his head towards Triumph, and jumped off, cloak flying, “GO!” Lyght sighed.