by J E Mueller
Find your inner light.
Thanks, voice, but where was it and how did I just find it? I could feel magic more easily around me now, and I could feel that I had it, but there wasn’t a tangible source for this. Nothing that screamed ‘Here I am! Use me!’
Down the long hall I could see shadows of something big with large intricate antlers. Well, possibly a deer, but this place turned adorable into horror with ease. Steeling myself I tried to mentally grab at the magic around me, hoping something would stick.
Don’t grab, find it and push it forward.
The voice sounded like my sewing instructor as a child and I cursed. Of course I was doing it wrong, and of course the face of a deer slowly peered around the corner. It had three eyes on each side of its face and while it’s coat was white and looked soft, I could see the easy shine of what looked like icicles at the ends of its fur. This thing was not something you should pet.
As it turned further into the hall, I could see it had six legs and a tail that might as well be a ball of ice crystals. The creature stared at me curiously as it carefully approached. While scary, it didn’t look deadly. Was that code for being extra deadly?
Magic, magic come on!
I slowly took careful steps back as I tried to make something, anything work. I felt a ball of panic inside, and it almost felt like it was pulsing with magic. That’s it! I pushed the magic feeling forward, calling on its power to become physical in my hands.
To my surprise, a bow appeared in my hands. The wood had intricate leaves and flowers carved into it, but I had no time to admire it. The creature down the hall had stopped and its eyes were glowing an icy blue.
Panicking, I noticed I didn’t have arrows. What good was a bow without arrows?
The creature began moving forward again. This time it wasn’t hesitating as it quickly started to take bigger and longer steps. I wanted to scream, but instead pulled the bow back and hoped I could magic an arrow as I released the string.
With a thwack of the bow string I saw an arrow made of light reach the target, hitting it in the neck. The creature slowed it’s pace to a standstill, knowing I was in fact a threat now.
Deep breaths, I commanded myself. I could do this.
I pulled the string back, imagining myself nocking another arrow and tried to aim for the face. As I released the arrow, the creature dodged, screeched, and launched itself forward. I nocked another one back and aimed again, waiting for it to be too close to dodge and fired it, landing a shot in one of the eyes.
Screaming, the creature fell back and I took the opportunity to run by it. It’s screams echoed loudly through the halls and somewhere in the distance I could hear the sound of an Agmon dragging a blade along the walls.
At the staircase, I didn’t hesitate and dashed down full speed. I didn’t know where I was going but I took this turn and that until I finally found another set of stairs heading down. I didn’t stop until I reached the bottom step and collapsed.
Whatever was down here wouldn’t be as bad as those things I had already seen. I could rest. At least for a moment.
What had that thing been?
Daidogze.
Thanks, voice. Where did these freaky creatures come from?
Souls who couldn’t rest and were too corrupted.
What? That wasn’t what I was expecting. Though, to be fair, I didn’t know what I was expecting.
After a time, the souls will calm and be able to go back into the world. Until then, they take on a different form and give the souls who need closure, or something to complete a thing to face.
That was somehow not the strangest thing I had heard here. Still, what about me? Why am I stuck here?
That was an accident. I’m not sure what let Dreamers cross into this world, but we never did find a solution. For the most part, you wake up and there’s no harm. Those knocked out tend not to be stuck here very often either. Usually they fall back into a dream world rather quickly.
Then why was I here?
They’re keeping you here.
Something about that gave me chills. Who were they?
They are the creatures I moved to this world. They were hurting your home world. Slowly corrupting and destroying it for their own greedy reasons. They don’t appreciate being trapped.
Why didn’t you just kill them if they were so foul and evil?
We... really I wanted to redeem them. Everytime I think there’s a chance, the greater majority prove me wrong. It may be a long process, but I will not give up hope.
Do you think you’re giving them too much of a chance? Sometimes, things just don’t change.
There was a long pause. To be fair, I have an eternity, just as they do.
That wasn’t much of an answer, but before I could ask more, I heard footsteps coming from down the hall. I clutched my bow tightly, hoping I was ready for whoever or whatever it was.
I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Mare and Clove rounded the corner.
“There you are, Remi.” It felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders hearing Clove’s voice.
“I have no idea how you got all the way over here, but I’m glad to see you are alive and uninjured.” Mare beamed.
“And with a weapon,” Clove pointed out.
“I really don’t know what I’m doing with it, but I'm glad I finally have it.” I nodded at the two of them.
“So, what brought it out?” Mare asked a bit too excitedly. Clove gave an expectant look.
I realized there was no reason I should know the creature’s name and had to think before I replied. “It was a weird deer-like thing that looked like it had ice crystals on the end of it’s fur.” I shrugged as I continued on. “Um, icy blue eyes, giant crazy antlers…”
Mare and Clove stared at each other for a moment.
“Ice ball tail?” Clove asked.
“Six legs?” Mare threw in.
I nodded. “Yep, that was it.” I smiled. “I shot it a few times before I got it in the eye and managed to run past. I’m guessing it’s really tough if it’s on the third floor.”
Mare looked at Clove with concern and possibly fear. “What in the hell was a Daidogze doing inside?”
“Or on the third floor. I can’t imagine it wandered inside and up there by chance.” Clove nodded with as much concern as Mare was showing. “Let’s get back. The others need to know this development.”
“What’s going on?” I could only vaguely guess.
“Normally outside things can’t get inside, and vica versa. So something somewhere is going wrong, and if there is a problem with barriers, there could be a problem with safe zones too,” Clove summed up as she motioned for me to follow.
Getting up, I nodded at them. “Maybe it’s just the outside in. The eel thing and the Moglozas didn’t chase me to the third floor.”
Mare gave a slow nod as she led the way. “That’s good to know. Still, something coming from outside to inside is big. The outside is where the hardest creatures are, and no one on the first floor would be ready or expecting them.”
“Those things would make short work of most of us.” Clove sighed tiredly. “There’s even things I can’t beat out there.”
Oh. That was bad. That was really bad.
The walk back was fast paced but it was clear Mare was taking the most direct route possible. I was surprised nothing stood in our way, but even if there was a chance of that, Mare and Clove would take anything down here without effort. If it was supposed to be here.
As soon as we were through the painting, Clove loudly declared, “House Meeting! Grab everyone.”
People looked up from where they were sitting and several of them scattered. Some to the rooms, some through the painting. The rest started to move the furniture to all face the center of the room.
As I glanced around, I realized I still had my bow in my hands. I could feel the tug and push on my magic now, probably because it was getting tiring. I tried to let up and nothing happened. I looked u
p at Mare.
“How do I make it stop?” I gave a bow a vague wave.
“Oh, just release it. Let it go.” She shrugged. “You really just drop the connection and pick it up as needed.”
With a sigh, instead of pushing it away I tried to just drop it, envisioning it hitting the ground and watched the bow just vanish. Relief swept through me and a wave of exhaustion filled its place. For a moment, I wobbled in place.
“That was more tiring than I expected.”
Mare gave a small laugh as she motioned for me to sit. “It takes time to build up. Keep using it. Practice summoning it faster and faster. Sadly, you’ll probably need it.”
“What would happen if I got injured or killed here?”
Mare thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Since you’re a Dreamer, I’d assume you’d reappear again in a little bit, but I can’t be sure. Maybe it would be the jolt that wakes you up.”
Or the jolt that actually kills me. I didn’t want to be too grim so I kept the comment to myself.
Soon, people started to filter back into the room and take seats until there was only room to stand. Clove and Mare stood in the center of the circle of furniture and waited for everyone to arrive. After a slow look around the room, Clove gave a nod.
“Welcome. It’s been a while since we’ve done an impromptu meeting, but we’ve had an event,” Clove stated bluntly and carried on just as straight forward. “There was a Daidogze found on the third floor.”
There were equal gasps and looks of confusion.
Mare stepped in. “A Daidogze is a creature from outside.” Confusion turned to awestruck horror. “It’s a deer like creature with six legs, larger than necessary antlers, and ice crystals along its fur. If it hits you with its hooves it stands a fifty fifty chance of turning that spot into ice. While you can recover, it is far harder to move with parts iced over. It will happily stomp you to death if it gets the chance, and it is faster than everyone.”
Clove cleared her throat, bringing the attention back on her. “There is a chance that the barrier for a moment did not work. The only outside creatures to ever get in before were the Ragnest. Which we all know how to avoid. They are more slow, and annoying than deadly.”
I glanced at her wondering who this ‘all’ was since I didn’t know what she was talking about, but figured now was not the time to question her.
“Any questions?” Clove asked loudly.
Someone raised their hand and spoke right away. “What should we do about this?”
“Travel in groups,” Clove stated simply. “If it has eyes, you can blind it and escape.”
“And if it doesn’t have eyes?” another person chimed in.
“Don't move. The few creatures without eyes are all attracted to motion or detect things like a bat calling into the night. If you stay still, it’ll assume you are an object.”
“What about things that sense by heat?” a third person asked.
“Stay out of the basement.” Clove shrugged. “I’m fairly certain we all keep that door closed unless there’s a damned good reason to go down there.”
Most people were nodding their heads in agreement.
“Anything else?” Clove asked.
“What can we do to fix it?” I didn’t see who said that but the murmering began with that question.
I really liked that one. Could this be fixed? It had to be, somehow.
Clove sighed. “It’s no mystery to those who have been here for a time that the Creators have been missing. They control these things. I assume once they return, it’ll be fixed. I don’t know where they are, where they can go, or what even happened to them.”
“Didn’t someone say Benz got rid of them?” the first person asked. More murmurs.
Clove nodded and spoke over them. “That is the rumor. If you’d like to take this up with him, feel free. Maybe he’ll give us the answers we need. Likely not though. You’d have to be a fool to get rid of those who control the realm you’re trapped in. Dismissed.”
With that Clove nodded at Mare and walked to the bedrooms.
I glanced at Mare and motioned for her to come over.
“What are the Ragnest?” I asked simply.
“Oh those.” Mare gave a tired laugh. “They are large hunched back creatures with a mouth that never closes, and shows too many teeth. It has two long sharp talons on either arm and it basically tries to impale its victims. Thankfully it’s slow, and usually easy to lure back outside.”
“And they are somehow the only ones that could come inside before?” I asked, surprised.
“Yep, that really sums it up.” Mare nodded. “I’m sure one of the Creators has a reason for it, but I’m not sure what so, if we ever stumble upon them again, we’ll have to be sure to ask.”
I nodded slowly. “Right. I am fairly certain that will not be the first question I’d ask.”
“Good luck with that. No one really gets their first question out.” Mare snickered. “We try to, but I think I ended up asking ‘how did you even create this place’ or something along those lines first.”
“Well, what was the answer?” I asked curiously.
“To be honest, it was weirdly complicated. I guess they needed to trap some evil things, and then they needed someone to support the world, and I guess there were a lot of weird things with missing memories, but yeah…” Mare shrugged, “I really lost track and stopped paying attention. Sorry.”
“You are trapped in this realm and you didn’t pay attention to it’s creation? That might have had the answers to solve so many things.” I wasn’t sure how to handle her response.
Mare shrugged. “It’s not like anyone really remembers all the things. I’m sure plenty of others have asked too.”
Well, maybe that could be of help. I shook my head. “I think I need a nap.”
“‘Night,” Mare called chipperly as I headed to bed. This place was getting to be too weird.
“We heard your words…” The weird olive green fog said to me.
I glanced around where I stood. My dreams seemed to have dropped me off with the mutant fog again. Random candles were floating here and there, casting shadows as if their sole purpose was to make the fog more ominous. Darkness laid claim to everything else, making it seem like there was a helpless void all around us.
It was working.
A chill crept down my spine and I wondered if this was even actually a dream. Didn’t something happen in the last one? Something when I touched it?
I drew myself several steps back away from the thing. “Wow, you heard my words,” I replied, trying to put on some bravado. “Eavesdropping is so very becoming.”
“We hear all, we see all…” The fog declared, its voice shifting from baritone to alto. From male to female. “We cannot keep track of everything, but you are worthy. You are worthy of watching.” The voices kept shifting randomly throughout the speech.
“Still, no less creepy.” What the heck was it listening to? Why would anyone, or thing, want to watch me?
“You long for your sister,” it declared and the fog changed.
It rippled and grew but as it grew it flattened and became like glass. Pictures started to swirl on it and I saw a small girl in bed. At first I hesitated, but then dared to take a step forward, followed by another, and another until I could see the picture perfectly.
It was Melly, wrapped tightly in a mound of blankets that I couldn’t place. They looked familiar but they weren’t from home.
“We can make sure she lives…” the fog whispered softly.
Well, I couldn’t help it. “How can you make sure she lives?” How did I even know this was real?
“We have magic of old, we were trapped for sins that weren’t committed.”
That totally sounded one hundred percent innocent. I shook my head. “No one is sinless.”
“We agree.” The voices shifted again, and again. “But the sins they hold us for, we are guiltless in.”
Uh huh. I found th
at very hard to believe, despite their alluring offer.
Suddenly Kegan came into view and I knew Melly was at the inn. Kegan placed a cloth on Melly’s head before turning quickly and fiercely to look at me.
“I sense you lot. Get!” Kegan waved her hands and suddenly the image blackened and started to reform as the fog.
“What happened?” I asked, surprised by the change.
“One of those fools who helped to trap us. She doesn’t want you to know about your sister,” they replied sharply.
Now I knew that was a lie, but bit my tongue. If Kegan, by whatever powers that be, could sense them and wanted them gone, they must be evil. I had always thought something was off about that innkeep, but she was keeping Melly safe as best as possible and that’s all that mattered.
“What about my body then?” I asked them. I figured even if they weren’t giving all the correct answers, they were, at least, giving some truths.
“Away in another bed, barely hanging on.” The fog let tendrils move closer toward me and I took a step back.
“No surprise there.” I shrugged, ready for this dream to be done.
“We could save you too, if you desire.” The tendrils spread out but did not come toward me this time. “But we see you don’t much care about that, so we leave the answer in your hand.”
“If it’s truly my decision, then I choose to make no move at this time,” I replied, standing as tall as I could.
“You sister fades quickly. You don’t have much time there.” The fog’s voice turned deep and threatening.
“She is stronger than most give her credit for. I’ve no doubts in her strengths.” Melly wasn’t the rock beneath my feet, but the water that gave life to the land around me. She was the crashing sea, the fresh spring rain. If Kegan was watching her, she would recover.
The fog said nothing. Did nothing.
For a time we stared at one another, lost in our own thoughts before everything around me went black and I awoke to a rough shake as I fell out of bed.
8
The cold ground was not the wake up I wanted, but I was certainly glad to be done with that fog. I was doubly grateful that I had this room to myself. Mare had said that sometimes there were more people here, and sometimes far less. The Creators had told her unrest was more widely built up in times of desperation, war, and chaos. Normal times where most of the lands were faring well left a smaller ripple.