Lucid

by L. E. Fred

  The Nightmares knocked again.

  “Go!” He pushed us down to the kitchen.

  “This way!” Viv opened the oven door to reveal a low, earth-covered passage. She pushed us inside before we had time to react. She shut the door but left a crack open for us to listen.

  “Ow,” Kyle complained behind me. I turned around and in the dim light saw him massaging his backside.

  “Silence!” Viv hissed. Just as she whispered to us, we heard the front door open. I was too far away to hear what was being said, but I could tell Sophia had warmly greeted the Nightmares as they crowded inside.

  “Our prisoners escaped from Leona’s resort and headed this way!” I heard one Nightmare speak. He must have been closest to the kitchen.

  “Oh, what a shame!” Sophia’s voice wavered a little. Either he was nervous or pretending to be a weak, old man. I had a feeling he was slyer than he looked.

  “You have not seen any strange activity?” Another Nightmare, this one female, asked suspiciously. I felt Mitch grip my arm, but I didn’t need his warning. The female Nightmare was the same one who helped us at the resort. I guess she didn’t care for us much now that we ruined her vacation.

  “No, nothing strange.” Sophia’s voice grew louder, and I realized he was ambling to the kitchen. “It’s just me in my quiet cabin mostly. My daughter visits from time to time, but she has her own life to be getting on with.”

  “Then you won’t mind if we search your house.” It wasn’t a request. Through the crack in the oven I saw the female Nightmare peering behind Sophia’s futon.

  “Not at all,” Sophia said graciously, as if the Nightmares were honored guests. “Why don’t you start upstairs while I make you a cup of wildflower tea?”

  “Keep your tea to yourself.” The male Nightmare spat, but he and his four friends ascended the stairs.

  In a flash, Sophia’s bright brown eyes peered through the oven crack.

  “You have nothing upstairs that you need to hide, Vivax?” he asked.

  “None,” Viv whispered. “I have all that I need in my pack.”

  “Good, then you are ready,” Sophia said. “I will transfigure the oven back after you leave, so they will not know. Seek your little gang when you get to Woodinville. Tell them it is time to show their true beliefs, whether they are prepared or not.”

  I felt my heart begin to beat quickly. Prepare for what? I hoped Sophia meant to prepare to send us home, but I didn’t think so. I just hoped we weren’t being shipped off to war with the Nightmares.

  “Be safe,” Viv said. “Give warning if you need help. I will return.”

  “Stay hidden!” Sophia said before closing the oven shut. Viv pulled on the handle, but the door wouldn’t open. Sophia had sealed us inside.

  “We must go.” Viv squeezed past us and led the way.

  “Hang on!” Kyle said abruptly. “You don’t think we’re going to follow you down this tunnel?” I found it funny he was now so cross with Viv. The loss of his Lucid power hit him hard.

  “What other choice do you have?” Viv asked him angrily. “There are five Nightmare Warriors looking for you. Once they catch your scent, they will hunt you to no end. You have no power, and the other two barely know how to control theirs. If you want to survive and have any hope of returning to your own world, then you need to trust me.” Her grey eyes glowed fiercely in the dark tunnel.

  I looked from Kyle to Mitch. Kyle looked as if he wanted to continue to argue with Viv. Mitch, on the other hand, looked down at his sword. I saw a gleam in his eye similar to Viv’s. He was determined to carry on.

  “We ended up on that bus together for a reason.” He looked at me. “And even though we had a few near misses and a lot of scares, we’ve made it this far. So what if we’re approaching a problem bigger than ourselves? I think the Dreamers need us, and we need them to free the souls.”

  “So you’re saying we should do this?” I asked, sounding lamer than I wanted to. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I mean — do you think we were meant to follow this path?”

  Mitch smiled. I could see his gleaming teeth even in the darkness.

  “Only in our dreams.” He held out his hand to me. I shook it firmly and smiled back.

  Chapter 12

  Close Call

  This is insane, I kept thinking as I walked behind Kyle through the dimly lit tunnel. We followed Viv in silence for what seemed like hours down the winding, enclosed space. Every time one of us tried asking Viv a question, she’d shush us and continue to move. I saw Mitch’s wavy, blond hair as he crouched in front of Kyle. He looked ridiculous, like a kid who’s too big playing in one of those tunnel playgrounds.

  In fact, this entire situation was ridiculous. Even reminding myself it was just a dream didn’t help the situation. The line between dreams and reality blurred in Leona’s resort and completely vanished when I met the Dreamers. If Sophia’s stories were true, we had just entered a very different and very dangerous reality.

  “Ow!” Without warning, we came to a stop. I head-butted Kyle’s back and he returned it with a noogie.

  “Cut that out!” I struggled free from his grasp. Although his Lucid powers were gone, Kyle could still death grip me for torture.

  “Silence!” Viv hissed in the front of the line. I squeezed past Kyle and saw her grey eyes were alert and faintly glowed in the darkness.

  “What is it?” Mitch asked, trying to see past Viv’s head. He gripped Reverie a little tighter.

  Viv stared ahead as thick silence followed. We waited for a few moments, Kyle, Mitch, and I holding a collective breath. Finally, Viv spoke. “It is nothing.” She started forward. “I don’t think the Nightmares caught our scent.” Without further explanation, she exited the tunnel. After exchanging nervous glances with my brother and Mitch, I followed suit.

  The tunnel emptied into a small clearing of pink trees. Even though it looked like early evening, I knew it had to be nighttime. I looked up and found an explanation for the extra light — there were two moons. They weren’t like replicas of our moon, though. One was full, and the other was shaped in a crescent. They also slowly moved across the sky as if on a projection screen. As they moved, the full moon grew slightly smaller and the crescent moon grew fuller. I wondered how many cycles each did before daylight.

  “Sophia told me that humans were fascinated by our moons more than our sun,” Viv commented, bringing me back to Dream-Earth. By Mitch and Kyle’s flustered looks I could tell they were both looking up at the sky, as well. I couldn’t blame them, it’s not every day one sees two moons chasing each other.

  “We can compare universal activity later.” Viv looked over her shoulder. “We have to get as far away from the border as possible.” She didn’t wait for any questions before disappearing into the clearing.

  “How are we supposed to follow her if she keeps running off like that?” Kyle complained, still stretching out his back from the tunnel journey.

  “I think she just wants to create as much distance between us and those Nightmares as she possibly can,” Mitch said, nervously glancing behind his shoulder. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I heard footsteps behind us.

  I didn’t want to hang around to see who else may be in these woods so I started edging toward the forest. Mitch followed.

  “Hang on!” Kyle didn’t move. “Are we really gonna follow that strange girl into another dark forest? Shouldn’t we at least have the right to ask questions along the way?”

  “Viv’s trying to get us away from the Nightmares,” Mitch explained impatiently. He glanced back at the forest behind us. I had a feeling he heard the footsteps as well. They were faint but growing louder by the second.

  “We can’t stay here,” Mitch said, trying to grab Kyle’s arm. My brother shook his hand away immediately.

  “Oh, no, I don’t have to listen to you because Devon was stupid enough to give you that sword!” Kyle backed away from Mitch. “I think I’m gonna go back
to Sophie’s house and wait to wake up there.”

  “You have to come, now!” Viv surprised us all by leaping from the nearest tree. “There are Nightmares just beyond that clearing, and I don’t doubt they heard your loud voice!” She shot Kyle an angry look.

  Her narrowed eyes soon grew wider as she looked at something beyond the clearing. Mitch and I turned around and gasped. The trees behind the clearing were falling at a rapid rate, as if someone were cutting them down.

  “What the—”

  “Go!” Viv interrupted Kyle as she shoved him into the forest. Despite his protests, Viv easily pushed him further on. Eventually, he realized resistance was futile and ran into the forest. Mitch and I didn’t need telling twice. We disappeared behind the first thicket of trees just as I saw horns on the opposite side of the clearing.

  “That was close,” I whispered, not daring to look behind my back.

  “Yeah,” Mitch agreed. “If they saw us—”

  “FOUND THEM!” We heard a booming voice not far behind.

  “Looks like they did!” Viv hissed in a mixture of anger and fear.

  The pounding of feet grew louder, which we took for our signal to run. Even Kyle huffed along. I guess he only argued with people who didn’t look like they could kill him.

  Viv led us through the trees quicker than humanly possible. The thicker the trees got, the more she weaved and twirled between the branches and over the roots. I’m not sure how we kept up, until I realized the aura around Viv was growing a little brighter. I had a feeling she was helping us along with Dreamer magic.

  “Do not think about it!” Viv panted, looking at me.

  “What?” I huffed, not daring to look behind me. The Nightmare’s shouts seemed farther away, but I knew they were still chasing us.

  “Do not think about the magic aiding us.” Viv seemed to be warning me. “I saw you in the coliseum. You doubt your own power as much as you doubt others. If you think about my magic…” At that moment her aura flickered. We skidded to a halt as her magic stopped. Kyle had a harder time stopping and tumbled into a cluster of bushes.

  “Let me guess,” I said, feeling stupid as I spoke. “That’s going to happen.”

  “You got it—“

  “Uh, guys.” Mitch pointed in the direction from which we ran. Now that we’d stopped using magic speed the Nightmares were catching up.

  “Hide!” Viv pushed me and Mitch into the bushes, landing on top of Kyle.

  “Watch it!” Kyle complained, but he thankfully didn’t give any more noogies.

  I looked up and saw Viv climbing into the tree above us. She covered her face with her olive green scarf and sunk beneath a cluster of branches. Her fashion accessory blended perfectly with the bark.

  Moments later, the Nightmares arrived. I saw the female Nightmare and two of the others. One was a little shorter than the female but much broader. He had a goatee that he kept in three braids, and his horns were shorter and stockier than the others. The other was taller than the female but lankier. I knew this one was also a guy, because I’d heard him speak back at Sophia’s house.

  “They passed here.” The short one snuffled. “I can smell that Dreamer’s magic.”

  “But did they come from the old man’s hut?” the tall one asked.

  “Impossible, Salik!” the female snapped. “We searched the house inside and out!”

  “Then why were we ordered to take the old man, Aille?” Salik asked slyly. “Surely he must be of some importance if he even sparked the interest of the Lord. Why else would he send two Elite Scouts and a Tracker to find information?”

  Mitch held his breath next to me while Kyle softly swore. The Nightmares kidnapped Sophia, all because he may have helped us. I didn’t know what Lord they were talking about, but if he was some sort of Nightmare king, I never wanted to meet him.

  I heard a faint rustle of leaves above me. Looking up, I no longer saw Viv. Maybe her disguise was too good, but I knew better than for her to be still after hearing about Sophia’s kidnapping.

  “Enough standing here contemplating our Lord’s ways!” Aille sounded agitated. It was strange hearing her name, especially since it sounded so normal. I still wondered if she’d save us like she did in the resort.

  “Which way do you think they went, Baz?” Salik asked the short one. Baz sniffed the air a couple of times. Twice, he looked in our direction, nearly giving me a heart attack.

  “Towards the river,” Baz finally said, pointing right behind our heads. “We better hurry before they cross!” Without warning, Salik and Aille sprinted ahead, nearly wiping us out. Thankfully, Mitch grabbed Kyle’s and my necks and slammed us to the ground before the Nightmares leapt over our hiding spots.

  “I’ll be just a minute,” Baz called to them, looking on the ground. “After I claim you as my prize.” He picked up a small, leather bag I recognized from Viv’s belt. He opened it to reveal a few wrapped cakes. I had a feeling she didn’t accidently lose her pouch right next to the Nightmare.

  “I might hate them, but those Dreamers do make some good food — ACK!” Baz exclaimed as Viv leapt onto his head. Before he had time to react, she pinned him to the ground, a long knife pointed at his neck.

  “Where did you take the old man by the lake?” she snarled, her voice laced with hatred. She shook the Nightmare a couple of times before letting him answer.

  “I d-don’t know!” Baz spluttered, clawing at Viv’s gloved arms.

  I wasn’t sure how someone as lithe as Viv could hold down a big brute like Baz. I quickly reminded myself that I was in a mystical dream world that had two moons and pink grass; surprising things were bound to happen here.

  “Liar!” Viv half-shouted. “You’re chasing three others, yet you stopped to kidnap the old man first. Where did you take him?”

  “To our camp—“ Baz stopped talking. I couldn’t see most of his face, but I could tell he was looking up at Viv with wide eyes. “You live with the old man, don’t you?”

  “Answer my question!” Viv pressed the knife deeper into Baz’s throat. Instead of choking again, Baz began to growl. In an instant, he was to his feet, slamming Viv against the nearest tree. Thankfully, Viv’s reflexes were quick, and she grabbed the lowest branch and swung herself onto her feet. The two faced each other; Viv drew both knives, and Baz produced a crude-looking club.

  “You helped the humans escape!” Baz’s slow comprehension skills were at work. He took a great sniff in Viv’s direction. “Yes, I smelled your magic! Where are the humans?” He lunged at her without waiting for an answer.

  Viv rolled under his attack and slashed at his back with her knives. The blades seemed to bounce off of his large back. Viv’s eyes grew wide with surprise as she leapt away, keeping as much distance from Baz as possible. She drew her bow as the Nightmare advanced slowly, chuckling. Viv remained where she was, apparently too afraid to make another move.

  “Come on,” Mitch muttered, drawing his sword. “Let’s help her out.”

  “Pfft, you and your sword can do that just fine.” Kyle shook his head. “I think Devon and I will stay here where we’re safe.”

  I silently agreed with Kyle. Even though Baz was barely taller than me, he was still a scary, powerful Nightmare. Also, if Viv couldn’t handle him, what good would I be?

  Mitch looked at me once before jogging over to Viv. I thought back to what he said after we left Sophia’s house. Maybe we were meant to come to this world and help the Dreamers as well as save the souls at the resort. What if the challenges we faced were simply tests?

  “Devon, no!” Kyle grabbed my shoulder as I struggled to my feet. It was strange to see Kyle look so scared. Then again, I knew how it felt to have power and then lose it, feeling defenseless.

  “We gotta help her out.” I cleared my throat a little to avoid my voice cracking. “Viv and Sophia helped us out. It’s only fair.” I ran to catch up with Mitch. Kyle groaned behind me before following.

  Turns out, it wasn’t our
time to play the hero. I had a split second to get a better understanding of the situation. Viv wasn’t frozen with fright at the thought of fighting Baz. She was frozen with concentration, muttering under her breath as her arrow grew brighter. Maybe she could’ve handled herself after all.

  “Fools!” Viv noticed us, breaking her spell. Her arrow lost its glow, returning to normal.

  “I knew it! The humans were close!” Baz shouted in triumph.

  Mitch ran in front of Viv, holding Reverie aloft.

  “What are you doing?” Viv asked incredulously.

  “Protecting you?” Mitch looked somewhat offended. Viv pushed him aside.

  “I told you to stay put!” she shouted. “They’re after you, not me!”

  “And now we found you!” Baz raised his club. I thought he was about to attack, but instead he put the handle to his lips. Out came a sound so deep I thought the ground would crack. Within seconds, Salik and Aille appeared.

  Aille looked at Mitch and me with a strange expression on her face. It looked as if she were torn between pitying us, like we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and as if she were disgusted with us, like we betrayed her.

  “Humans!” Salik said with delight, unsheathing a wicked looking sword made with black metal. He noticed Mitch’s sword, and a look of apprehension dawned on his face.

  “He does not know how to use it!” Baz said gleefully. “Or I would’ve been obliterated moments ago! Get them!”

  Salik lunged, Aille following after a moment’s hesitation. Mitch slashed his sword in their direction. Kyle jumped behind Viv, and I closed my eyes, bracing for an attack (real heroic, right?) Before Salik’s blade touched us, however, a warm fuchsia light appeared around us, acting like a thin shield. I looked for the source and found Viv concentrating fiercely.

  “Hey, I thought you didn’t know magic!” Kyle looked impressed.

  “Sophia — taught me enough,” Viv panted, straining to keep the shield. Salik struck his sword against the force field, causing it to flicker a bit. I knew we only had seconds before Viv’s magic would die.