by Sophia Sharp
“Alright,” Logan agreed, and Alexander led Madison away.
When they were gone, Laura looked at Logan. “This is finally it, huh?” she said.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet,” Logan answered. “This is just the first step. Who knows what we’ll have to do next.”
“But it was our biggest roadblock for so long,” Laura said. “I can’t believe we’ve finally made it here. To have the repository before us, and the angels on our side… I feel like we can take on the world, Logan. The elders won’t stand a chance before us!”
“Maybe,” Logan said thoughtfully.
“Maybe?” Laura frowned. “What do you mean, maybe? This is what we planned to do, and we’re finally here. We’re finally ready to take on the elders once and for all!”
“I mean, I’m glad you’re enthused, Laura. I am too, of course. But you don’t know the elders like I do. They’re strong. And cunning. It’s best not to underestimate them. We’re talking about the most powerful Vassiz in existence, Laura. No matter what advantage we may have, it’s always better to expect them to be able to counter it full-force.”
“That wasn’t your opinion before,” Laura said sourly.
“It was always my opinion,” Logan said.
“Not before you pushed me into doing this! Not before you agreed to doing it!”
“I’m just saying that we need to be cautious,” Logan countered. “And come on. You know as well as I do that our chances of success were always low. All we can do is pray that somehow, someway, it’ll be enough.”
“But you don’t think so anymore,” Laura said. “Why? You weren’t so pessimistic before.”
“Seeing the repository for the first time made it so much more real for me,” Logan admitted. “When we were looking for the torrial, our path wasn’t yet defined for us. I mean, yes, we were all striving to find them so that we can take the next steps, but I guess… I guess there was a part of me that was holding out hope that we wouldn’t. It’s stupid. We all know what we were getting ourselves into. And now it’s real. Now it’s there. Before we found the repository, it was just off, somewhere in the future…” he waved a hand absently. “But now we have to face it head on.”
“At least we’re doing it together,” Laura said gently, touching his arm.
Logan smiled at her. “Yes. Together. You are the reason I’m here. Never forget that.”
“I won’t,” Laura said. She moved closer to him, and placed her head on his shoulder. He brought his arm around and held her tight.
“No matter what happens,” Logan whispered, “I’ll always be here for you.”
“I know you will,” Laura sighed. What happened next would determine their fate for their entire lives; for the entire future. If they succeeded, she could finally live in peace. Together with Logan. And if they failed… well, Logan’s candor made that possibility seem much more likely. If they failed, at least they would do it together. It was a somber thought, but oddly comforting.
“Shall we?” Logan asked, rotating Madison’s vial in his hands. Laura nodded, and he popped the top open. Laura stuck her tongue out, and he placed a drop carefully onto it. Then he opened his mouth and swallowed the remainder of the mixture.
“Five minutes, right?”
“Something like that.”
“Then we have enough time…” Laura trailed off, and traced her finger gently along Logan’s jaw. His eyes lit up, and he moved his head toward hers. He ran his hand up along her arm, and then down her body. She gasped, and then pulled his face close to hers to kiss him.
That’s when she heard Alexander bounding down the stairs.
Logan cursed, and pulled away from her. Laura let him go sadly. At this rate, they wouldn’t get a moment alone until after they faced the elders. If they got out of the confrontation alive.
“Madison’s found something,” Alexander exclaimed. “Come. Quickly.”
“What is it,” Laura started to say, but he was already gone.
Logan pushed himself up. “Better check it out,” he said. He started to help her up, but she shrugged him off. She could do fine by herself.
They went up the stairs to the highest level, where the vault stood open. Alexander was already inside. Laura followed Logan in. Inside, standing at the far end of the vault, she saw Madison. She was staring at something hidden from view.
“What’s going on?” Laura asked.
“Come, look at this,” Madison said. She spoke as if in a trance.
Laura started toward her, but Logan held her back. “Let me go first.” Laura hesitated, then nodded. Logan approached Madison slowly. “What is it?” he said.
“That.” Madison was pointing to something on the floor. Laura got closer, and saw a solid sphere. It was about the size of a large watermelon. The outside was made of thick, heavy-looking glass, dark and nearly impenetrable by the light. Laura blinked. For a second, she thought that she could see past the surface, into the very heart of the sphere. There were dark, angry clouds toiling there. When she blinked again, they were gone.
“What is it?” Laura asked.
“A torrial of immense power,” Madison answered. “I recognized it the moment I saw it. From my pack’s history.”
“I didn’t know packs have a history?” Laura said.
“Some do. Some are more cultured than others.” She shot a look at Alexander, who shrugged. “Mine did. They spoke of a device like this one, both feared and revered in the past for what it could do. It was passed down from pack leader to pack leader before the elders came to power. That was when it disappeared. To… end up here.”
“When the elders came to power?” Laura asked. “How is that possible? I thought the torrial were hidden away before that happened.”
“Perhaps it means the elders know of the repository,” Logan said tightly.
“Which means we’ve just walked into a trap,” Alexander said behind them.
“It might,” Madison said, “and it might not. The shadowed being that Laura fought off may have been the only thing protecting the repository.”
“So what does this torrial do?” Laura asked.
Madison looked at her gravely. “With it, you can bring anyone into the dream realm. From absolutely anywhere in the world. And you are in complete control of what happens to them there.”
Laura yawned despite herself. She had no idea where the need to do so came from. “Why was it feared?” she asked.
“Dreams are a private thing, Laura,” Madison answered. “To be able to bring someone into the dream realm, it allows you to see into their mind. It gives you the power to have absolute control over someone else. That type of power is dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“Wait, so can’t we…” Laura started, but paused when she had to suppress another yawn. Her eyes started closing, and she fought them open. “Can’t we use it to bring the elders into the dream realm? That seems…” she yawned again, “…perfect for us.”
“Let’s see what the angels say,” Madison replied.
Laura nodded, and just at that moment a wave of drowsiness washed over her. She had to grip onto the wall to avoid falling over. Lowering herself down slowly, she hit the ground and instantly fell asleep.
Chapter Nine
~The Dream Realm~
Laura jerked to herself. She had to blink a few times to realize where she was. She had awoken in the same spot she had been before, but she was the only one there. Madison’s mixture had worked – she had gotten into the dream realm!
Laura looked around to get a sense of her surroundings. For some reason, focusing on anything around her proved… difficult. The walls of the vault, the ground and the ceiling, and the very air around her shimmered and distorted itself in odd patterns. She was reminded a bit of the darkness that surrounded her when she fought the shadow.
Suddenly Logan popped in beside her. He blinked a few times, dazed, but when his eyes rested on her he smiled. “You made it,” he said.
A second later Alexander came to them, and then Madison. Their transition into the dream realm was much smoother than hers or Logan’s had been – Laura suspected it was because they didn’t need to use the potion.
Laura stood up to try to clear her head. It didn’t help. When she looked at Logan or Madison or Alexander, their bodies were constantly twisting and shimmering, like she was looking at them through a body of water.
Logan must have picked up on her unease. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“Sure,” she lied. The cut on her heel started to throb, shooting waves of pain up and down her leg. She clenched her jaw to avoid showing discomfort. The world continued to swirl before her.
“Okay,” Logan said, unconvinced. He turned his attention to the torrial behind him. When Laura tried to look there, things became even more… hazy. It was like looking at them through a heavily magnified lens that blurred out all but the most prominent features. But she could see one thing. Flowing into each of the torrial was a bright blue… essence. It was the same colored light she attributed to an active torrial before. She couldn’t follow it to its source directly, but she could see every torrial lit up by the light. It was like looking at an array of bright blue Christmas lights.
“Can you see that?” Laura asked Logan.
“See what?” he asked, frowning at her. “The torrial?”
“No. The light activating them. The flow of power into each one.” Laura knew that was what it was. The blue light was the same essence the torrial tapped whenever they were activated. The light was the ether that gave torrial their power in the human world.
Logan looked at her oddly. “No, I don’t see anything.”
Was it just her? “Madison? Alexander? Can either of you see it?”
Madison shook her head after a moment. “Perhaps an effect of the circumstances of your feeding,” she suggested.
“Maybe,” Laura said, but she was less sure. As strange as it was, it felt like it had something to do with how she saw the world around her shifting. It was almost like she could see the flow of ether that made up the dream realm.
You have found it.
Laura spun around. The voice rang in her head like the chiming of bells. At the door of the vault, she saw the angels for the first time since meeting them in the intersection between the two realms. To her, they were clearer than the other components of the dream realm. The air around them still shifted, but their representation was unmarred by whatever ailed her. She recognized Gabrielle standing in front, and the five others standing behind him. As before, she was struck by their sheer physical beauty. Each of the angels had a slightly different appearance, but each was still perfect, in their own way, and more beautiful than the last.
Welcome back to the world of dreams, Laura Cubus.
Laura couldn’t help but smile with delight. Gabrielle’s majestic voice in her head made her feel like she could do anything. Suddenly, the air around the angels ceased shimmering. The nausea she felt looking at other parts of the world disappeared. She glanced back, and could see the torrial clearly. It was like the angel’s presence stabilized everything for her. But now, the blue ether touching the torrial was gone.
“Gabrielle,” Laura exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you!”
We have been watching your dreams for a long time, Laura. Waiting for you to come.
“It took us time to find the repository,” Laura said. “If you knew where it was, why didn’t you tell us?”
Our description would have been meaningless to you. For us, physical structures are not as they look to you. We know the world of dreams; we can even imagine the same representation in the human world. But we see things as a part of the whole; as a small element of the ether of this world. Distance and space is meaningless to us here. Locations and places exist in constant flux in relation to the rest of this world, and to each other. What is close one moment is far the next. What little we could have told you would not have helped.
“But we are finally here,” Laura said. “Ready, and willing to take on the elders. It is time to make them pay for what they did to you. To make them pay for the despicable way they treat their own kind.”
You have grown eager in your time away, Laura. Good. We are ready to do what we must.
“And we are ready to listen,” Laura said. “Tell us what we need to do and it shall be done.”
There was an… uncertainty… that Laura felt within her head. A hesitation, that came from Gabrielle. We take command from you, Laura. You are the one who must guide us. In the time since we last met, we have grown stronger. Strong enough to aid you. We are beginning to realize the powers that have been taken away from us, but we are far from complete. The eternity we have spent in the pool has sapped us of our strength, and it will take time yet to get it back.
“But you are strong enough to fight now?”
Yes. We are strong enough to assist you. But you are the one who must guide us.
“Okay,” Laura said slowly. She hadn’t thought about this before. She had thought, since the angels’ domain of being was the dream realm, they would know instinctively what to do. Apparently that wasn’t quite the case. “Well, we have the torrial now. Do you know which ones may be useful?”
In reply, Gabrielle moved toward her. He did not walk; rather, it was as if he shifted the entirety of the dream realm to propel him forward. But it was different from what she or Logan, or any of the other Vassiz, could do. Reality was mutable here, yes, but Gabrielle and the angels seemed to exist outside of that reality. Or, at least, on a different level of it.
Laura realized belatedly why that was after a second of thought. She was only here as a projection of herself, as were Logan, Madison, Alexander, and any of the other Vassiz who visited this world. Her real body was back in the world of humans. And while she had immense power over the formulation of her own perception of the dream realm, she could not alter the fabric of this world permanently. Gabrielle and the angels, however, were different. Their entire being existed in this dimension. They had no equal representation in the human world, nor were they able to access it the same way Laura could access the dream realm. That was why the way they perceived this world, and lived in it, was so much different. The dream realm was all they knew, and they knew it in its purest form. They existed here in their purest form. They were a permanent part of the dream, not mere tourists like Laura and others who came from the human world.
Gabrielle drifted past her, toward the remainder of the torrial in the vault. Laura saw that everybody was watching him. Logan and Alexander and Madison all had their eyes glued to what he was doing. He came to a stop before the first row of artifacts, and began to examine them carefully. He picked them up, one by one, to look at closely. Some he brought to his ear, as if trying to hear something, while others he hefted in his hand as if judging the weight. Most he put back in their place, but a few he set aside.
Laura glanced behind her to see what the other angels were doing. She felt a wave of goose bumps run along her skin when she realized they all had their eyes on her. Their faces were the picture of serenity, but each pair of dark eyes were glued to her like she was their only salvation. She didn’t even know their names. Gabrielle was the only one to have spoken to her.
She turned back, uncomfortably conscious of the weight of those eyes on her. Her foot continued to throb horribly. The angels were expecting something from her, of course. She had been the one who saved them from their eternal trap, the one who promised revenge against the ones who did that to them. She was also the one prophesized to do it all. That was what they expected out of her, and they were all ready to follow into whatever she might lead them to. It was odd, how beings so majestic – so clearly and obviously superior to her – were willing to follow her at her merest suggestion. Maybe it was a type of loyalty that arouse from how she had saved them, but it was a loyalty she did not feel she deserved.
Gabrielle had worked his way to the back of the room. He had cle
ared out a space in the middle of all the different torrial, and had placed a few select ones there. Laura recognized the three dancing figurines she noticed before in the pile. There was also a gold bracelet ring, an ivory sword hilt, and what looked to be a murky wine bottle. Everything else Gabrielle discarded or put away.
He continued that way until he reached the very end of the room, where Madison was standing. She was nodding her head at him, and Laura suspected he was speaking to her in her mind. Madison pointed to the sphere that was at her feet, and Gabrielle moved swiftly to pick it up. He examined it for a moment. Then he turned around and rose it triumphantly above his head.
This is it, Laura!
Elation like she’d never felt before filled her mind. It was not just coming from Gabrielle, but from all the angels together. The globe in Gabrielle’s hands darkened for a moment, and then rebounded the other way and became completely transparent. For the second time, Laura saw the swirling clouds inside. They roiled and churned, leaving dizzying streaks of dark reds and violent oranges in their wake.
And then the entire room started to twist. The walls shifted angrily in rhythm to the swirling clouds. The ceiling contracted and expanded, threatening to consume her. Alexander, Madison, Logan, Gabrielle, and all the other angels flickered in and out of being. The only thing that did not change was the sphere.
The shifting reality made Laura nauseous. She put her hand out, to try to get a grip on the wall, but misjudged the distance to it. Her hand grasped at empty air and she stumbled in the direction, dizzy and uncoordinated. The colors of the room swirled around her angrily. They threatened to consume her. She closed her eyes to try to get away.
Instead, the swirling shapes and menacing colors penetrated her mind. With her eyes closed, they became even worse. They became more vivid. She felt lost in a maelstrom. She could feel her grip on herself slipping.
She was floating in a dark abyss, and the only thing she was sure of was the piercing pain in her foot. The wound she had taken seemed to feed on the uncertainty. The pain she felt became more and more terrible, gripping her with a horrible intensity. It became too much, and she blacked out.