"There's plenty of cheese, olives, and breads in the breadbox," Cade said.
Harmony covered her nose with her paw. "Those cheeses stink, and I hate olives. I want roasted acorns, and I'm cold."
Cade hugged himself. Indeed it was cold this night, colder than any night on his journey so far.
"You can share my cloak," Cade said. "It'll keep us warm."
Harmony pouted but said no more. Tasha and the pegacats huddled up against Cade that night, sharing his cloak. Eclipse stood under an oak tree, snoring softly. When it was Cade's turn to guard, he stood by Eclipse, hopping from leg to leg to keep warm, his hands tucked under his armpits.
As he guarded, he heard terrible howls from the north. They sounded like the howls of wolves, not the noble wolves of Dream, but feral ones of malice. Cade shuddered when he remembered Baelish, the Wolf of Kar. More pets of Phobetor are swarming through these woods. He kept Sunclaw drawn as he guarded.
In the morning, they found wolf tracks surrounding their camp. Some wolves had come to within twenty yards of where they had slept. The tracks smoked and smelled foul to Tasha. "Nightmare things," the mouse said.
"The howling we heard came from far north," Cade said. "These tracks came close and were silent, as if they were spying on us."
They all stared at the tracks in silence. Finally Eclipse tossed his mane and stamped his hoofs. "Phobetor spies! Cade, what is this quest you're on? Tell me."
Cade sighed. "I can't do that, Eclipse. It would endanger your life."
Eclipse nodded thoughtfully and slowly. "It has something to do with the war against Nightmare, something important, doesn't it? No, don't say a thing. I understand."
They walked through the forest all that day, and all the next day, and soon a week had gone by, and the forest rolled on. They walked in silence, each within his or her own thoughts, gazing at the acorns and wisps of mist that wafted through the forest. It was a time of introspection and wariness, like the silence before a storm. Walking through the dreamland, Cade thought of his home, of Earth, and wondered if he'd ever see it again, if he could ever escape these lands beyond the world. And he thought of Moonmist. He missed her. For every acorn he saw strewn upon the ground, he remembered her smile.
It was not until the tenth day that the oaks gave way to great grassy plains.
"Finally!" Eclipse said when they emerged from the forest. "I don't want to see an oak ever again." His nostrils flared. "Ah, grassy plains! I am happy here. Come, now we gallop."
The pegacats sat before Cade on the saddle, and Eclipse burst into a gallop. The destrier was fast as a sports car, storming across the plains. Mountains rose and fell in the distance, and the grass became blurs of green. The fresh air slapped Cade's face and blew his hair back.
Harmony squealed in delight. "Faster, faster!"
Eclipse seemed never to tire. He galloped all day, and even at night did not wish to stop.
"I wish I could gallop all night," he said. "How I love to run!"
Cade smiled. "The king gave me the right horse."
They set camp in the grass, and Cade slept well that night. Tasha woke him before dawn, tugging his ear when it was his turn to guard. He stood in the night, and soon watched the sunrise stretch across the sky, kindling the soft clouds.
That day they galloped again, covering many miles, and they galloped for seven more days. As the miles blurred by, they crossed fields of poppies, hills of forget-me-nots and bluebells, and plains of clover with fluffy purple blossoms.
Then, on the eighth day after leaving the forest, they saw great cliffs rising ahead, a wall of stone stretching across the horizon. It reminded Cade of Anormaya, the wall in Autumn Forest where he had passed through Ral Badar. Eclipse galloped until they were close to the cliffs, then stopped. The cliffs soared over them, hundreds of feet high, casting a long shadow. The stone was smooth and white, and Cade could barely see the top. Looking up made him dizzy.
"Well, well," the horse said. "What should we do now?"
Cade turned to the pegacats. "Do you know anything about this cliff?"
Starlight examined it thoughtfully. "I have never been here," she said, "but I recall Galgev speaking of a great wall of stone far in the west, a sister to Anormaya. He said the wall runs forever, endlessly long, and that the only way across is to climb. He climbed it himself, he said." Starlight looked at the cliff. "I'm thinking this is the place."
Cade placed his palm against the cliff. The stone felt hot against his skin, though the air was cold. Was there truly no passageway?
"Starlight and I can fly and carry Tasha," Harmony said. "But we can't carry you, Cade. Or you, Eclipse. You're both too fat."
"I'll have to climb," Cade said and heaved a long sigh. He remembered the miniature axe he had found in Ral Badar, after trapping Cuanbet the Incubus with the tree trunk. He pulled the jeweled axe out of his backpack. "I'll use this to carve chinks."
He turned to face Eclipse. The destrier stared back, blue eyes sad.
"I guess this is goodbye," Eclipse said, "unless you can carry me."
Cade smiled sadly. "Unfortunately not, my friend." He hugged the horse's neck and kissed his cheek. "Goodbye, dear Eclipse. You've brought us far, but you can't help us beyond here. Say hello to Princess Moonmist and tell her that I hope to see her soon."
Eclipse nodded. "I will when I see her again, but I'm not returning to the Begemmed City yet. You are on an important quest. I don't know exactly what it is, but I can guess. I can't climb this wall, but I can run. They say this wall is endless? Perhaps. I will discover so myself." He tossed his mane. "I will run like I have never run, along this wall, and see if I can find a passageway. If I can, I hope to help you again."
With that, the horse took off, running along the wall into the distance. His hoofs kicked up dirt, and he moved as a black and white streak. Cade, Tasha, and the pegacats watched him go.
"I do hope to see him again," Harmony said. "I like his mane. It's the same color as my fur!"
Starlight nodded and bowed her head. "Eclipse of the Begemmed City is a noble soul, and a great follower of Yor."
Cade stared up the cliff and swallowed. He hated heights. With a deep breath, he hammered several chips into the cliff side. He placed his feet into two niches and his hand in another. Windwhisper never told me about this cliff; he must have forgotten I don't have wings. With a sigh, Cade pulled himself up and began to hammer out more cracks to grab.
He climbed for a long time.
He did not know for how long. He knew only that this was the most difficult time in his life. The ground soon became a distant dream, and whenever he looked down, his head spun and cold sweat washed him. His muscles ached, his head hurt, and always the distant ground taunted him, spinning. The pegacats hovered behind him, pushing against him lest he lost his balance. But he knew that they were not strong enough to catch him if he fell.
Soon his limbs ached so badly, he worried he'd lose his strength, lose his grip, and fall to his death. He stared up into the blinding sun. He had barely climbed half the cliff, and already exhaustion filled him.
"Harmony," he whispered, "can you hold up the wineskin to my lips?"
His fingers were chaffed and his nails cracked. Harmony, flapping her butterfly wings, pulled the wineskin from his backpack and held it to his lips. Honeyed milk poured into his mouth. It filled him with energy, and he hammered another chink and pulled himself up another foot.
Foot by foot. Could he reach the top before his strength died?
Wind gusted. Cade tightened his grip. The wind flapped his clothes and hair.
"Cade! Hold on!" Tasha said. Cade shut his eyes and tightened his lips. The wind blustered, then subsided.
Cade trembled. He had almost lost his grip. His heart hammered against his ribs. "I'm okay," he said, but just then another gust blew, stronger than the first. His left hand came loose, and Harmony screamed. Cade held on, head spinning. He reached out his left hand and grabbed the wall again.
"Harmony!" Starlight said. "Come here, beside me, we'll block the wind."
The pegacats flew to Cade's left, whence the wind blew, and spread their wings wide. The wind blew again, but the pegacats shielded Cade.
"Go on, Cade," Tasha urged, standing on Cade's shoulder. "You can do this."
Cade kept climbing as the wind blew. The pegacats hovered by him, blocking the wind, but they could no longer hover behind him, to push against him and support him. If he lost his balance now, there would be nobody to push him back against the wall. He tightened his lips and climbed. He needed to reach the top as fast as possible. Every moment here risked his life.
He dared not look down. The earth was so far now, and if he looked, his head would swirl and he'd fall to his death. If I fall now, I not only lose my own life, but the magical bottle will shatter, and Phobetor will conquer Dream and fill the nightmares of everyone on Earth. I can't die now.
He kept climbing, teeth clenched. He seemed to climb forever.
"We're two thirds done, Cade," Tasha eventually whispered into his ear. "You okay?"
Cade nodded. "I think so." Sweat drenched him. "I think I can make it."
He chiseled another chink in the cliff side and pulled himself up again, grunting with the effort... when a shriek came from above. Cade glanced up, saw a feathery creature swoop down, and pain exploded. A vulture flapped over his head, biting. Its foul odor, like bad breath, filled his nostrils.
"Starlight!" he called. The pegacats were already biting and clawing at the vulture. The creature shrieked and left Cade. The pegacats flapped onto it, scratching and hissing. Cade could not look. Blood dripped down his forehead. Feathers and fur flew, and the vulture plummeted down, dead. Cade watched it fall and glimpsed the distant ground. His head spun and he clung to the wall, shaking.
"Cade," Tasha said, "can you hold on?"
Cade nodded weakly, his arms trembling from weakness and fear. His heart hammered. "Yes, I'm--"
More shrieks came from above. Several more vultures came swooping down.
"Leave this place, scavengers of Kar!" Starlight shouted. "I command you as Starlight, pegacat of Eloria and servant of King Yor!"
"Yeah, go away!" Harmony said.
A vulture slammed into Cade. His legs lost hold, and he dangled by his arms. The vulture bit his left hand, and Cade was left holding on with one hand. Starlight and Harmony covered the vulture, biting and clawing. More vultures flew around them. The pegacats swooped from left to right. Fur and feathers and blood flew. The ground spun below.
"Hold on, Cade!" Tasha shouted. Cade's fingers were slipping. He kicked his legs and found a purchase. He swung his left arm, punching at the vultures.
One vulture, the largest and smelliest one, laughed. "You will die now, Cade of Earth," it hissed. "My master commands it."
Cade swung his axe. The vulture leapt aside, flew onto him, and flapped its wings.
"CADE!" Tasha screamed.
The vulture had knocked the mouse off Cade's shoulder.
"TASHA!"
The mouse was plummeting into the distance.
"Harmony!" Cade screamed.
"I see her!" the pegacat shouted back. She was already diving down.
"Die now, mortal," the vultures shrieked. Free from Harmony's claws and teeth, they attacked with new vigor. Their beaks slammed into Cade, and he shouted in pain.
"Not while I'm alive," Starlight hissed, leapt onto the largest vulture, and bit hard.
"Tasha! Tasha!" Harmony shouted. Cade glanced down. The white pegacat was near the ground now. As Cade watched, she swooped forward and came flying back up. Had she caught Tasha?
A vulture bit Starlight's neck, and she cried in pain. She suddenly sounded very young, even though she was thousands of years old. The dark pegacat tightened her lips and swooped back into the cloud of vultures.
Cade swung his axe again. He cut deep into one vulture. It plummeted down, dead. The carcass slammed into Harmony, and Cade sucked in his breath... but Harmony kept flying.
"Got her!" Harmony cried when she was near Cade. She tossed Tasha back onto Cade's shoulder and flew right into the vultures, hissing, her claws drawn.
"Tash!" Cade said. "Thank God."
He kept swinging the axe, and soon only two vultures remained. Harmony and Starlight killed one, and the last vulture--a gangly gray beast with oozing eyes--turned to flee.
"You will die, Cade of Earth," the vulture shrieked, like chalk on a blackboard. "And you, pegacats, will beg for death." It spat and flew, disappearing over the cliff.
Harmony growled and began to give chase, but Starlight called her back.
"No, Harmony! We must stay here and guard Cade in case more vultures return."
Cade leaned his head against the cliff. He did not think he could climb any farther. He was bleeding, his strength was leaving him, and he felt close to letting go and falling to his death. Starlight let him drink from the wineskin, and Harmony wrapped his wounds with cloth she tore from his cloak, but that could not revive him.
"Just a bit more, Cade, and you'll be close enough to use Maninav's rope," Starlight said.
Cade nodded, took several deep breaths, and hammered another crevice into the cliff. He pulled himself up and kept climbing.
It seemed forever until he came close enough. The pegacats tied Maninav's rope at the top of the cliff. They tossed one end down. Cade grabbed the rope, sweat pouring down his temples, and climbed onto the top of the cliff.
There, atop a patch of grass stained with vulture tracks, he collapsed. The pegacats collapsed atop him, and they all lay, breathing deeply, more weary than they'd ever been.
"We made it," Harmony said. "I knew we could do it. Yay Cade! Na ley ta."
Arms trembling from weakness, he reached out and ruffled her fur.
Chapter Sixteen
Ghosts
They slept that night in the grass above the cliffs, huddled up together. In the morning they continued walking west. The land sloped gently down into a valley of mist and purple flox, white mountains soaring to the north and south.
"They knew my name," Cade said to Starlight as they walked through the fields. The air was heavy with pollen, sweet scented, and bumblebees buzzed around them. "The vultures. Phobetor knows I'm here."
Starlight thought for a moment. "He knows some things," she said finally, slowly, as if still mulling her words. She was nearly invisible, walking among the tall flox, only a black shadow among the purple flowers. "He knows your name, and he knows you're somehow involved in this war between Dream and Nightmare. Does he know of the compass? The bottle? That is uncertain. He may know less than we think."
Cade sighed. "I hope so. If he knows about this quest, we're done for."
Starlight said nothing more, but her eyes were worried.
As the miles and days stretched on, Cade felt a sadness grow inside him. He missed Eclipse and he missed Moonmist. He dreamed of the princess every night, and wondered if he'd ever kiss her again. As they walked through the misty valleys of flowers, he imagined returning some day to the Begemmed City and seeing her waiting for him upon the walls. She would be waving.
Someday I'll return to you, he vowed.
The mist hung around their feet, covering the grassy valleys. White boulders peeked from the mist, scrimshawed with golden runes. Faeries the size of dragonflies hovered around the boulders, laughing with tiny tinkly laughter. They spoke to one another in the ancient tongue of Dream.
In the passing days, the boulders disappeared, as did the grass, and they walked upon barren gray rock under cloudy skies. Deep purple trees grew here, skinny like running liquid, spreading knobby fingers toward the veiled sun. Trilliums grew from between the stones. The hills rolled endlessly, and as the miles went by, Cade felt as if he were walking upon a gray-blue sea which had frozen and turned to stone. They saw birds rarely, high in the sky. No other animals lived here. It was a bleak land, chilly and lonely, and Cade missed the smell of green g
rass and flowers.
"Cade," Harmony whispered one night, huddled up against him, "do you love me?"
He laughed. "Of course I do, Harmony."
Tasha was guarding, sitting perched atop a tree branch. If she heard, the mouse said nothing.
"Na ley ta, Cade," Harmony whispered. "I really love you. I don't want you to go back to Earth."
He sighed. "I don't know what will happen, if any one of us will ever go home."
Harmony buried her face against him. "I miss home," she whispered. "When all this is over, you should come back with us. You can live in our cave. You know, with the seashell curtain you gave us!" Tears streamed from her eyes. "I miss those days."
Cade stroked her white fur silently.
"I'm scared, Cade," she said. "I'm scared of the vultures coming back. I'm scared of more snakes. I don't want to go to Nightmare. But I'll go with you. Because you need me and Starlight to protect you."
He smiled. "Thank you, Harmony."
"Cade, when Niv was little, I was her pet. Do you think... do you think that when you marry Moonmist, and you two have children, I can be their pet?"
He laughed. "So you think I will marry Moonmist?"
She nodded vehemently. "Yes! I want you to. And then I can be your child's pet, as I was to Niv. Starlight too, if she wants to."
"If I do marry Moonmist," Cade said, "it's a deal."
Harmony smiled, mumbled a "hooray!", and fell asleep against him, snoring softly.
In the morning, they walked along pebbly earth, maple and ash and beech trees growing upon hills. The trees were mostly naked, dry leaves covered the ground, and a cold breeze blew. Cade was thankful for the warm cloak Galgev had given him; Dream was growing colder. The closer we get to Nightmare, the colder it gets.
Gradually the hills grew taller, covered with carpets of fallen leaves, the trees reaching toward the sky like hands raised in supplication. Cade could not see the sun; a gray pall covered the heavens, letting through but soft light. The land was eerily silent, so silent Cade could hear every moist leaf rustle under his boots. In the afternoon, the trees thickened, growing straight and black from a floor of orange leaves. Cade had to walk slowly, stepping over fallen logs, or under branches, or pushing aside foliage to step through. The air smelled of rotting leaves, wood, moist earth... and somewhere, far beyond, the faint smell of burning wood.
The Gods of Dream: An Epic Fantasy Page 14