by T. J. Klune
“But you heard Zero.”
“Yeah. The closer we got, the louder he became.”
“Can you hear him now?”
“No. I don’t… think so? But it’s like I can feel him, you know? He’s like this… little pulse of light. It’s warm. I know he’s safe.”
“And can you feel Kevin that way?”
“Ye-es?”
“And why do you bring this up now?”
“What? Oh! That. Right. So, I couldn’t sleep last night, and I was tossing and turning and I was just so tired—”
“You have ten more words to use.”
I stared at him in horror. “For the rest of my life?”
“That’s six. Four left.”
A challenge! “Heard dragons last night. Ha! I did it! Suck on that, Randall! Wait. Shit.”
“You heard them… last night?”
“I assume I can have more words now? Good. Yeah. I think so? They kind of… whispered to me. No big deal.”
“It’s no big deal?” he exclaimed.
“Are you just repeating everything I’m saying right now? Because that’s really annoying.”
“Sam, I need you to listen to me.”
“Sure, dude.”
“Don’t call me dude.”
“Uh. Sure, man.”
“Gods, I am going to strangle—no. No, Randall. Just control yourself. Everything is fine. Everything is fine. Now. Sam. What did the dragons tell you last night?”
“You believe me?”
“I believe pretty much everything these days,” he said with a sigh. “Answer the question.”
“Oh. Um. They said they saw me, and that it would be soon.”
He gaped at me.
I shrugged. “I’m used to it by now. It’s kind of my thing. It goes with the whole destiny-of-dragons deal. And man, I really still hate that word.”
“Sam, I need you to promise me something.”
“Tell me what it is first before I agree.”
I thought he was going to smack me across the face. “You mustn’t do what the voices in your head tell you to do.”
“Wow. Because that didn’t make me sound like I’m crazy or anything—”
“I’m serious, Sam. You need the others here. You have never faced anything like them before. You cannot go alone.”
“Have you seen them?”
He hesitated.
“Holy shit! You have. Dude! You’ve been holding out on me.”
“I told you not to call me dude!” he said shrilly. “You will refer to me as Randall and nothing more!”
That reminded me of something I’d always wanted to ask him. “Sidebar.”
“We don’t have time for a side—”
“Why don’t you have a wizarding name?”
His eyes widened. His face paled.
And then he turned and left the labs, robes trailing behind him.
I didn’t see him for the rest of the day.
I DREAMED that night of a blizzard.
I was in the Dark Woods, but I wasn’t alone.
Ryan said, “Hey. There you are. I missed you.”
I said, “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
He smiled and took my hand.
We continued walking through the forest.
It was night, but the moon and stars were hidden beneath low, thick clouds. The Dark Woods were quiet; the only sounds were the crunching of the leaves under our feet.
“Where are we?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t think I’ve been here before.” That didn’t feel quite right, but everything was unfamiliar. For a brief, terrible moment, I was sure we were on the same path I’d taken to see the Great White for the first time, but there was no moving mountain ahead of us. Just the trees.
“This is a dream,” Ryan said, sounding amused. “I’m dreaming of you. Gods, you would make so much fun of me if you knew that.”
I stopped. He looked back at me.
“What?”
“You’re dreaming of me,” I said slowly.
He rolled his eyes. “Dream you catches on about as quick as real you does.”
“Ryan. Where are you right now?”
He looked around. “Standing in the middle of trees.”
I almost smacked him. “No, you dork. In your travels. With the others. Where are you guys?”
“Oh! Tarker Mills.”
My eyes bulged. “The home of the truth corn? Are you out of your damn mind! What if they try and capture you again!”
“Kevin ate the cult leader, remember? Everything is… mostly back to normal here. They weren’t very happy to see us again, but then Kevin growled at them, and they were nicer.” He shrugged. “You know how he gets.”
“Shit,” I breathed. “I think this is real.”
“What? This is a dream.”
“Ryan, I need you to listen to me. Right now, I’m in Castle Freesias. Asleep.”
He squinted at me. “But you’re standing right in front of me.”
“Oh my gods, has hanging out with the others decreased your IQ? We’re dream-walking.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“You’re dreaming. I’m dreaming. We’re in the same dream. For all intents and purposes, this is real.”
His eyes widened. He took a step toward me, raising a hand to my face. He stopped right before his fingers brushed against my cheek. “You’re here?” he whispered. “Sam, this is really you?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
He didn’t hesitate. He kissed me, long and deep, his arms coming around me, holding me tight. I didn’t think I’d ever felt anything so sweet.
He broke the kiss, resting his forehead against mine, breathing me in. “Hi,” he whispered.
“Hi.” I sounded giddy.
“I miss you. Are you okay? How’s Randall? Is he treating you right? Do I need to kick his—”
“I’m fine,” I said, laughing. “Everything’s fine. I’ve…” Told him things I haven’t told you. Important things. “I miss you too.”
“You know I’m coming, right?”
I waggled my eyebrows at him. “So it’s going to be that kind of dream, is it?”
“Gods,” he said, sounding awed. “You’re so stupid. I love you.”
“Thanks! Kind of.”
He kissed me again. He tasted as he always had.
He finally stepped away, trailing his hands down my arms. “How are we both here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is it the I don’t know when you truly don’t know? Or is it the one where you have an idea that I’m probably not going to like very much.”
“Yikes. You know me too well. I might need to change it up a little bit. Keep the mystery alive.”
“You’re a wizard,” he said wryly. “There’s always going to be some kind of mystery because of the secrets you have.”
I took a step back.
He frowned. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
I looked away. “I don’t… I don’t mean to keep secrets.”
“I know. It’s just part of the job description, I guess.”
I shook my head. “No. Not anymore. Ryan, there’s things I have to tell you. Things I’ve kept from you. You need to know. Everything. It’s—”
Wizard, the trees whispered.
“Uh,” Ryan said. “What the fuck was that?”
“Just because we’re dreaming and I haven’t seen you in weeks and now there are ghost voices coming from the trees does not mean you can curse, Foxheart. You are a knight. Think of the children. Also, I don’t know what the fuck that was, but I might have an idea.”
“There are no children in our dream—”
“Don’t let my parents hear you say that. They always wanted to be grandparents.” My eyes widened as I looked over at him. “Uh. I totally didn’t mean to say anything like—”
“Children,” he said faintly. “You just said we should have children.�
�
“I said nothing of the sort. My gods, we’re not even married. I will not have little bastard children out of wedlock. Why are you making me talk about this!”
“Sam,” he said, taking my hand again. “Do you want to get married?”
I gaped at him. “Are you out of your damn mind? You’re proposing to me now?”
“What! No! I’m not proposing. Oh my gods, I was asking.”
“Yeah! Asking me to marry you! You couldn’t even do that in real life? We’re in the middle of a shared dream, you gigantic dickbag!”
“Why are we yelling at each other in the middle of a forest!”
“I don’t—”
It started snowing.
“That can’t possibly be good,” I said, squeezing Ryan’s hand.
“What?” he asked. “It’s just—”
We see you, wizard
“Uh-oh.”
Ryan turned to look at me slowly. “What? What’s uh-oh? Sam, who the hell is saying that?”
The snow fell heavier. The wind started to pick up.
“I think we should probably run.”
“What? Why do we have to—”
A harsh roar echoed out into the woods around us.
Followed quickly by a second.
“Oh,” Ryan said weakly. “That’s a good reason.”
We ran. Hand in hand, we ran. The wind whipped around us, the snow falling now a full-fledged storm. There was the crash of trees coming from behind us as if something large was barreling through the forest, uprooting them and knocking them aside. The ground shook beneath our feet, and for a moment, I thought it would split in half. Even though I knew we were dreaming, it still felt real. Like we could die just as easily here as we could in the real world.
I wondered if this had to do with the mountain dragons. If this was their doing.
Wizard, they sang out behind me. We see you
We’re coming for you
And we see him too
“That doesn’t sound good!” Ryan shouted at me over the storm.
“No fucking shit it doesn’t sound good!”
“What are we going to do?”
“Not die!”
“Gods, I hate it when that’s your plan.”
I grinned rakishly at him. “I’m Sam of Wilds. That’s always my plan.”
Our luck, though, was bound to run out sometime.
And it did, when the trees began to thin out around us. We should have paid more attention to where we were headed, but we were too concerned with outrunning whatever was coming after us.
Which explained why we didn’t see the edge of the cliff until we almost went over it. We skidded through the snow toward the cliff, screaming louder than either of us probably cared to admit.
And came to a stop right at the edge.
“That… was close,” Ryan breathed.
We couldn’t see how far down the drop was. It was lost in the storm, the blizzard swirling around us.
Twin roars came from the forest.
We whirled around.
Ryan, ever dashing and immaculate, stepped out in front of me and reached for his sword, only to come up empty. “Oh,” he said. “Right. Dream. I don’t actually have my sword.”
Trees broke apart in the woods.
I leaned forward, putting my forehead on the back of his neck. “Hey,” I said, kissing the base of his spine just once. “You know how when you’re falling in a dream and you gasp right before you wake up?”
“Yeah,” he said, digging in, preparing himself for whatever was coming for us.
“I love you. Please don’t hate me. But I really need you to remember to gasp.”
He turned to look back at me, eyes wide. “Sam, what are you—”
I circled my arms around his waist and pivoted on my heel, spinning us around. I let go the moment our positions were reversed, and the momentum carried him over the edge of the cliff. He fell without a sound, disappearing into the swirling snow.
“He’s going to be so mad at me for that,” I said with a sigh.
I turned back around.
The crashing came to a stop along the edge of the tree line.
At first nothing happened.
Then four bright blue lights began to glow.
Eyes.
Two sets.
Something surged within me and I felt blue and it—
“I THREW my boyfriend off the edge of a cliff last night,” I told Randall. “After we talked about having babies and getting married. We got chased by bright blue eyes in the snow, and then I threw him off a cliff after telling him not to hate me.”
Randall stared at me for a moment.
Then he got up.
And walked away.
Again.
I was going to start being offended if that kept happening.
“What do you think it means!” I yelled after him.
MIDWAY THROUGH the fourth week, the calling became too loud.
I knew what they were. What they wanted.
And I had no choice but to give it to them.
Chapter 12: The Mated Northern Dragons
“AND JUST where do you think you’re going?”
I froze at the main entrance to the castle, my pack hoisted on my shoulder. It was the middle of the night, and I thought I’d been so sneaky. I should have realized that Randall was a creepy-ass stalker.
I turned slowly to look at him. He stood near the staircase, arms crossed over his chest, robes flowing gracefully. “Heeyyy, dude. What is up?”
He arched an eyebrow at me.
“You got insomnia?” I asked. “That’s an old-person thing, right? Insomnia.” I frowned. “Maybe I mean incontinence.”
“Do you ever tire of hearing your own voice?”
I shrugged. “It’s pretty much the only one I’ve got, so.”
“What are you doing?”
“Going for a walk?”
“Try again.”
“Going for a long walk?”
“Last chance.”
I sighed. “Fine. I’m going to the dragons because their voices are getting really loud in my head, and if I don’t go to them, they’ll come to me, and I really don’t want them to be super pissed off at me more than they already are.”
“Is anything ever easy with you?”
“My hair,” I said promptly. “I just rolled out of bed and it looks like this. Great, right?”
He uncrossed his arms and took a step toward me. “Sam, what could have possibly possessed you to think this was a good idea?”
“Hey! I have good ideas.”
He waited.
“Sometimes,” I amended. “But. This is…. I can’t wait for the others to get here. I don’t want to wait for them.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. “You didn’t… you didn’t see the dream. Ryan was scared. They scared him. And I don’t want to run the risk of anything happening to him. Or Gary and Tiggy and Justin. Kevin is injured and can’t even fly. I just—I need to do this. Now. I need to get this done and over with. Now.”
“You promised him. Kevin told you to wait, and you promised him.”
I winced as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah. He’s not going to be real happy with me. Probably.”
“You are an idiot.”
“So you’ve said. Thanks for that. Really keeps the ol’ self-esteem in check. Overblown ego? Not when Randall’s around—”
“I’m coming with you.”
I blinked. “What?”
“If you’re going now, I am coming with you.”
“Uh, no offense—”
“Really, have you ever meant that in your life?”
“—but can you even make it in the snow for very long? I mean, you’re super old, dude. I don’t want you to accidentally keel over and die. I would have to leave your body wherever it fell, and then, hundreds of years from now, mountain climbers would find you perfectly preserved and would wonder what religious purposes your e
yebrows served.”
“Your concern is touching. But I think I’ll be able to handle myself just fine. Besides, how were you planning on locating the creatures?”
“Hey! I have a plan. It’s a good plan too.”
He scoffed. “Were you just going to go outside and start yelling HEY DRAGON to see where it led?”
“Exactly. Wait. I mean no, of course not. Why, that would just be ridiculous.”
He rolled his eyes. “I weep for all our futures.”
“It’ll be okay,” I said. “Probably.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I know where they are?”
“Um. Yes?”
“Gods.”
“You don’t have to sound so exasperated. Geez.”
“Wait here,” he ordered. “There’s a few things I need to gather before we leave. It won’t be but a moment.”
I sighed. “If you slow me down, I will leave you behind.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
“Bullshit,” I muttered.
“HOW,” I gasped, lungs burning, “in the name of all that’s holy, are you human?”
We were on a path cut into the side of the mountain, steep and dusted with snow. It’d been a sharp incline for a while now, and my legs felt like they were ready to fall off.
Randall, of course, looked as if he wasn’t affected in the slightest.
I despised every single part of his being.
The sky was beginning to lighten, and flurries were swirling around us. We’d been at it for a good few hours, and Castle Freesias had long since passed from view. I expected to have Randall lead at a slow pace where I’d need to refrain from trying to pass him every few seconds.
That, unfortunately, didn’t happen.
I probably should have realized I was in trouble when he’d come back down the stairs with a walking stick.
Who the fuck had a walking stick and actually used it?
Randall did.
I’d scoffed at him while inwardly wondering if I was doomed.
“Maybe we should take a break,” I said. “Have some jerky or something. While sitting down. And not moving.”