Eliven flapped her bat wings. "Silent Man, I must say, with all your creaking and hissing, you hardly live up to your name."
The Incubus turned his great scaly head toward her, but said nothing. His drool hit the floor and hissed, raising steam.
"Never mind Eliven," Phobetor said, stepping toward the Incubus. "Tell me, what have you learned?"
The Silent Man's hooks and horns glistened in the light from Eliven's hair and eyes. "The mortal twins have found your father," the Incubus creaked. "I saw them in Galgev's home. They think I did not see, but the Silent Man sees all. Your father is turning them against you."
My father. Phobetor turned aside and stared into the distance, the crackling pillars of fire, the dunes of swirling ash, the jagged mountains where creatures screamed in pain. What did he look like? he wanted to ask. Did he talk of me? Phobetor closed his eyes. The questions a boy would ask. It's been a long time since I was a boy. I am no longer a scared youngling living in exile. I am lord of Nightmare now. King of Kar.
"The Lord of Nightmare has no father, Incubus," Eliven said, possibly sensing his pain. She placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, and her eyes blazed like lit coals. "Did Galgev ever visit my lord? Did he ever even send a letter? No. Galgev couldn't care less; he just remains in his garden, serving the elk. Does that sound like a father to you, Silent Man?"
The Incubus stared, saying nothing.
"Enough of this," Phobetor said, stepping away from his wife. "What else have you learned, Silent One?"
The Silent Man blinked his three red, pus-filled eyes. Drool dripped down his fangs. "The mortals have also found the cats," he hissed.
"The kittens are useless," Eliven spat. Her eyes of coal flared, and her black wings creaked. "I want to eat them." She licked her lips.
Phobetor sat down in his throne of white marble, leaned back, and let his hands hang limply off the armrests. "Not as useless as you might think, dear wife. The white one is stupid, but the black cat knows some things of Dream and Nightmare. She was old when I was young. The humans could do worse when seeking counsel."
Eliven's hair of flame crackled. "I will still eat the kittens. But if you wish, my lord, I will eat the black one last."
Phobetor stepped toward the Silent Man and placed a hand upon the demon's scaly shoulder. "You have done well."
The Incubus bowed his head and turned to leave, his many hooks and horns reflecting the fire. When he had disappeared from view, Phobetor turned back to regard the flames, boulders, and mountains of his kingdom, resplendent under the growling, ashy sky.
"Are you ready, my lord?" Eliven asked, edging up toward him, licking her lips.
"The invasion of Dream is close now," Phobetor said, still staring into the distance, ignoring her. "And yet I wonder. What is the elk planning?"
Eliven shrugged. "Who knows what an elk, a bee, an ant might do? They are just animals, my lord." She smiled and hissed, showing her fangs. "I am an animal, too, in bed."
Phobetor gazed at the pillars of fire that swirled in the distance. "For now, we wait. Cuanbet is in Dream, you know. He is waiting at Anormaya, in the passage of Ral Badar. If the twins are truly questing toward us, Cuanbet will meet them."
Eliven pushed Phobetor back into his throne, sat in his lap, and kissed him. He said nothing more. For a few moments, at least, he could push away his worries, forget the thoughts of his father, forget about the war. For a few moments, he would enjoy his wife, like he would soon enjoy Moonmist, the princess he would bring to his hall.
Eliven kissed him hungrily, her hair crackling, as in the distance, great slugs and pillars of fire screeched.
Chapter Eight
Panda
On the branches of an alder overhanging the waterfall, Cade found sturdy strings of lichen. He threaded the strings through the seashells he had collected at Seashell Shore and made clinking seashell curtains.
"These are for you," he said to the pegacats, "to thank you for your hospitality and song."
Harmony seemed so delighted, that she began to dance and frolic and laugh until she crashed into the pool. Starlight bowed her head and uttered solemn thanks, then took the seashell curtains and hung them from vines over the cave's entrance. "Now Harmony and I will have a musical curtain to sing us to sleep," she said. She hit the curtains with her paw and smiled, listening to the seashells clink.
Harmony emerged dripping wet from the pool, her mouth full of glowing gems from the pool floor. But instead of eating these gems, she placed them at Cade's feet. "And these are for you, sir," she said and pushed them closer to Cade with her nose. "Look, they glow!"
Starlight padded up to them, the silver sparkles on her black fur twinkling. "A useful gift," she said. "They will provide light to you in the darkness of Nightmare."
Cade thanked them and pocketed the gems. They must be worth a fortune, he thought. At least they would be back home. But I would give up all the gems in Dream to get this quest over with and go home.
"It's time for us to get going," Cade said. "We don't have time to rest. Will you direct me to the Crystal Caves?"
Harmony shook her head. "We'll do better. We'll show you there!"
Starlight nodded. "You won't find them on your own. Harmony and I know the way. We'll lead you."
Cade smiled. "You're kind, dear pegacats, but I can't ask you this. Nightmare has spies here, and if they see you leave your home, what would they think?"
Harmony growled. "We're not afraid!" she squeaked in her high-pitched voice.
Starlight flapped her silvery butterfly wings and flew several feet in the air, so that she could stare at Cade levelly. "The Nightmarish Lord cares not for two pegacats. He respects only strength and grandeur, and would never spare pegacats a second glance nor see them as a threat. For that, we are safe while other gods of Dream remain wary. Furthermore, it is known to all in Dream and Nightmare that Starlight and Harmony are wanderers who often venture into the forests and plains in search of gems."
"And mice!" Harmony said with an evil smile and wink.
Tasha rushed into Cade's cloak and hid there.
And so they headed out, the pegacats hovering ahead, flapping their butterfly wings, Cade walking behind with Tasha hidden safely in his cloak. They left the waterfall behind and entered the forests.
It began to drizzle, and drops covered the trees' leaves. Snails with gold and purple shells emerged from the soil to crawl across the fallen, mossy logs. Faeries--small as bumblebees and bright as sparks--danced around the shiny boles of young birches, oaks, and ash trees. Cobwebs hung between branches of dogwood and chestnut, glistening in the soft rain, while Spanish moss swayed from tree branches like curtains. Once they saw dreamloomers in the distance, glowing and humming and weaving their dreams between the trees. The cloak and hood Galgev had given him kept Cade dry and warm, and the scent of water and growing things invigorated him.
Starlight and Harmony proved to have excellent noses for food, even better than Tasha's. They could sniff out berries a hundred yards away. Cade filled himself with blueberries, raspberries, and cherries while they walked. Mushrooms grew abundantly, and plenty of water gathered on the leaves for them to sip. As they moved through the forest, Harmony sang nonsensical songs she invented on the spot, mostly simple "tralalas".
By afternoon, they twice came upon smoldering tracks in the earth, clawed and black. "More monsters," Tasha said. "They're crawling all over this land."
A group of hinds raced across their path, not pausing to acknowledge them. The animals ran down a slope to their left, hopped over a shallow stream, and disappeared into the trees. Cade wondered if they fled something.
He checked his compass. "Phobetor is west from here. We're traveling northwest, so we're not losing much time, I think."
Starlight nodded. "Even if you lost a couple days, it would be worth it. Tam is wise, perhaps wisest of the gods besides Yor and Alandria. If he makes you a Dreamblade, it will save your life once you enter Nightmare."
Cade shuddered. He still hated thinking about entering Nightmare. As dangerous as Dream had become, with Phobetor's spies and scouts, it was a beautiful land. He did not want to leave it.
They walked along a thin trail between copses of birch. Eyes covered the birches, in the fashion of birch bark. Cade remembered himself as a child, wary of birches and their eyes, wondering if the trees could see him. As he walked between these birches of Dream, he gasped. He realized that they were watching him. As he walked, the eyes in the bark followed him, blinking.
"The trees can see us!" he whispered.
Starlight nodded. "Many things in Dream can see, and many more listen. Windwhisper is the greatest guardian of Eloria, but he has help from many things that breathe, grow, or even lie still upon the ground." The pegacat looked at some boulders coated with moss. She nodded. "Yes, Cade. The lands of Dream seem empty and unguarded, but do not be deceived. Yor is a wise elk, and when Phobetor invades, the Nightmarish Lord will find us prepared."
Harmony whispered in Cade's ear, "Eloria means Dream in our language. Starlight just uses it to sound poetic. She also says Kar instead of Nightmare."
As they kept moving, Cade could not tear his gaze away from the birches that watched, silently, following the travelers with their eyes.
When night fell, they found a burrow beneath overhanging roots and hung Cade's cloak over the entrance, shielding them from the drizzle. Tasha slept in her seashell, and Cade slept with the pegacats nuzzled up against him, one at each cheek. Starlight's black fur smelled like clear mountain night, while Harmony's cream fur smelled like honey and milk.
They continued walking with morning. As they moved northwest, Cade noticed that the season seemed to change. The leaves on the trees became golden, red, orange, and yellow. White boulders and fallen brown branches, covered with splotches of green moss, peeked from pools of dried leaves that covered the earth. More dried leaves glided through the crisp air. Mist hung beneath the forest canopy.
"We are entering Autumn Forest," Starlight said.
"It seemed to be summer just yesterday," Cade said, "yet now it seems we're in the middle of fall."
Starlight flapped her silvery wings. "And two weeks south from here, it is winter. In Dream, seasons do not come and go. They live in their own places and stay there."
"I like the winterlands," Harmony said thoughtfully. "My white fur fits in there." She licked her paw.
Cade paused. He sucked in his breath with wonder. A hundred yards ahead, half hidden behind two birches, stood a panda of great beauty and wonder. Its fur glowed in the forest and leaves fell around it, not dry leaves but leaves green and fresh as spring. In this forest of autumn, spring seemed to cling to the panda. It seemed not to regard them, if indeed it saw them at all, but only to eat from the branches.
"Who is he?" Tasha whispered, gazing with wonder from atop Cade's shoulder.
Starlight spoke in a solemn whisper. "We do not know his name. Because he is immortal, we call him a god of Dream, though he is different from other gods. Yor did not create him, nor did any god of Yor's creation."
Harmony flapped her butterfly wings and landed on Cade's left shoulder. "Panda never says a word," she said. "Maybe he can't speak. He was old already when Starlight and I were young, and we are among the oldest gods of Dream."
Cade stared in wonder. The panda moved slowly, chewing the leaves, and his fur was like snowfall and midnight. Soft light clung to him. A god of Dream.
Starlight's voice was soft. "Tam thinks that Panda might be the creator of Dream. He might have even created Yor."
"But we do not know for sure," Harmony added. "Not even Old Twig Eater knows."
Starlight shook her head. "Yor lived alone in Dream for a long time before Queen Alandria was born... but Panda might have hidden during those eras. All we know, really, is that he is ancient, and that all things flower and turn green around him."
They stood still among the trees, as dry leaves glided around them, and gazed at Panda with beauty in their hearts and tears in their eyes, until the silent god of Dream wandered down a slope into a thick copse and disappeared.
* * * * *
"Don't the leaves ever run out?" Cade wondered aloud the next morning, as they walked through the forest. The golden and red leaves continued to glide over the landscape of birches and rolling earth. Between the distant trees, they glimpsed a white cliff piercing the sky. A pack of dholes ran across the forest, sparing the travelers but brief glances, then disappeared into distant trees.
Harmony looked at him. "How could leaves run out? New ones keep growing!" She shook her head. "Silly mortal."
"But autumn is permanent here in Autumn Forest," Cade said. "How do new leaves grow without spring?"
Starlight smiled, walking beside him over piles of leaves and twigs. "You are still thinking in Earth terms, mortal child. The forests of Eloria do not follow the rules of the World."
The scent of earth and leaves was rich. By noon, oaks and chestnuts began to appear among the birches, and white boulders coated with moss rose from the fallen leaves. The land became hillier, and granite rocks and thick roots hid inside the leafy floor, hindering progress. Lichen hung from the boughs and the foliage thickened. Every breeze moaned and tossed flurries of leaves. They crossed a rivulet and glimpsed a pool, set in a circle of birches, where wolves drank.
Soon the cliff they had glimpsed in the morning was close. It rose like a smooth wall of granite into the sky, slicing across the forest. From what Cade could see, it ran for miles on both sides.
By afternoon they reached the cliff and stood before it. It rose from the forest floor, soaring a mile high. The trees gave way before it, and sunlight drenched the company.
"We have come to the wall of Anormaya," Starlight said, "the border between East Eloria and the western realms."
Harmony pointed at a crude sketch of an elephant, faded by age, on the wall. "Look! I drew that last time I was here." She found a piece of chalk, took it in her mouth, and flew to another part of the wall. There she began to draw another elephant.
Near Harmony's sketch, a cave yawned open in the cliff side, ten feet tall and several feet wide. It was too dark to see inside.
"This is the passage of Ral Badar," Starlight said, pointing at the cave with her paw. "Tam carved it long ago. It's the only way through the cliffs into the western realms of Dream."
Cade gazed at the passageway. "Seems like we've reached another crossway," he said. "I wonder if Phobetor has blocked this one too." He told the pegacats about the Crunge who guarded the bridge.
Starlight seemed shaken. "The Beast of Fur and Fang," she said, grave, when Cade had finished his tale. "You saw Feesrog, one of the six Incubi, high-ranking scouts of Kar." Starlight shook her head wildly, as if to banish the thought of them. "Foul creatures are the Incubi, and you are lucky to have seen one and lived, Cade. But Harmony and I have passed through Ral Badar before and encountered no danger."
"Phobetor's monsters have only recently invaded," Tasha said, standing on Cade's shoulder, whiskers twitching. "Previous journeys through this passageway do not guarantee safe passage today. Nightmare has proven it knows, and can disrupt, Dream's logistics." The mouse shuddered. "I don't like what this foretells."
Harmony fluttered from the wall back to them. "Look, look!" she said, pointing back at her new drawing of an elephant. "I drew the first elephant a girlfriend. I think I'll draw a new one every time I visit Anormaya. Tam is not the only artist in Dream."
Cade wished he had brought a weapon from home, even just a pocketknife. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the golden crown he had found in the Crunge's lair. The crown's edges were jagged and sharp. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it would have to do.
"Starlight, how long is the passageway?" he asked.
"Two hundred yards or so," Starlight said. "We won't be long in the darkness."
"Then let's go," he said. "I'll lead the way."
Holding the cro
wn, he stepped into the cave. Tasha rode on his shoulder, and the pegacats pattered behind. The air was musty and Cade could see nothing ahead. He fished through his pocket for the gems Harmony had given him. He held the stones before him, and their glow lit the darkness. Bats covered the ceiling and dank stone walls.
"Bats!" Tasha hissed. "Disgusting creatures. I hate them."
"These animals had not lived here when we last walked through," Starlight said.
They continued to advance into the passageway. Soon the sunlight faded behind, and only the gems cast their glow. The air smelled of mold, bat dung, and something worse which Cade did not recognize.
"The stench is unbearable," Tasha said. "Something here stinks worse than the Crunge."
The gems radiated only a soft glow, and Cade could see only two feet ahead. The bats' eyes glared, and he quickened his pace. Fear pulsed through him.
Suddenly there came a growl.
A dark shape pounced.
The light glittered on long teeth. Cade leapt back but felt teeth in his thigh.
"Cade!" Harmony cried.
Pain filled him and he called out. He punched, freed himself, and began running back to the opening. The bats flurried and the pegacats screamed.
Pain throbbing, Cade reached the opening where they had entered. Blood pulsed from his thigh, yet he forced himself to keep running into the forest. He peeked over his shoulder and saw a monster emerge from the cave.
It had the body of a brown tiger, the head of a shark, and but one cruel eye that burned red. Cade feared he could not outrun the beast... but the monster stopped several feet outside the cave, growled, then turned and reentered the darkness.
"It won't leave the passageway unguarded," Tasha said. "We're safe." The mouse suddenly stiffened. "Cade! You're hurt."
Cade collapsed onto the forest floor. His blood soaked the soil. Weakness spun his head, and still blood flowed, pooling around him. The pegacats stared in horror, mouths agape. They trembled.
"Tash," Cade whispered hoarsely, trembling too. "I think an artery is torn. Find some vines, I'll need a tourniquet."
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