The Land Beyond All Dreams

by Bryan Fields

  Maraz took my hand. I looked at her and thought about dancing on the edge of the cliff in the middle of the night. Her smile changed and I knew she was thinking of the same night. The tattooist nodded to himself and went to work.

  It hurt, of course, but after a few minutes the pain receded. I thought about our sparring matches, feeling an odd mixture of humility and pride at the progress I’d made. I thought about the first time I saw her walking toward me, moving like a great cat approaching its prey. I remembered her smile as I felt the rush of battle-joy, and the suns shining on her as she reclined in the fisherman’s nets.

  My focus snapped back to the present when the tattooist washed the blood off my new ink. Even though my wrist was thicker than hers, our tattoos were identical except for scale. He’d kept them in perfect proportion with nothing but a few faint guide marks to work from.

  Rose snagged my phone and took a picture of Maraz and I holding our wrists together. I started to pull Maraz into a hug, but a wave of acute social awkwardness left me fumbling and tongue-tied. She smiled and pulled me to her.

  “Remember your lessons,” she said. “Anger and hatred are weaknesses. Face your enemy with joy in your heart, and you will be a god of war.”

  I nodded. “I will remember. Thank you, Ideal.” I hugged her back. When I met her gaze, I froze, caught between desire and uncertainty.

  Rose snorted, rolling her eyes. “David, just kiss her already.”

  Maraz turned her head to the side and tapped her fingers over my heart. “That’s against my vow as well. But, yes, I like you too.” She stepped back and handed me my duffle bag. “Goodbye, David.”

  I shouldered the duffle. “Goodbye, Ideal Maraz.” I followed Rose out into the street, and she transported us home.

  Chapter Twelve

  No Fate But What We Make

  We appeared inside the travel circle inscribed on the workout room floor. I looked around, reacquainting myself with my surroundings. It seemed wrong that nothing had changed, but I had to remind myself I’d only been gone three days.

  Upstairs, Thirteen was sprawled on the recliner, soaking up the sun while watching a documentary on the history of Las Vegas and the nearby nuclear testing range. I waved at him and said, “Hey there, big fellow. Miss me?”

  The cat flicked his tail. I guess he didn’t.

  Frakking cat.

  Rose ran her fingernails down my back. “Is that really the first thing you want to do? Say hello to the cat?”

  “No.” I scooped her up and started up the stairs to the bedroom. “The cat can wait.”

  Sometime later, I stretched across the bed to grab the phone. Mom’s psychic abilities were firing on all cylinders, as usual. “Hi mom. What’s up?” Trying to sound casual was making me tense up.

  “I hadn’t heard from you for a few days. I thought I’d call to see if retired life was agreeing with you.”

  I couldn’t answer her. The sound of her voice made words catch in my throat. I covered the mouthpiece and took a deep breath. “Trying to get used to it. Getting some sun and working out.” I stopped for another deep breath and to keep my emotions from choking me up. “I got a tattoo.”

  “I hope it’s one you can show your mother in public.”

  I laughed. “Yes. It’s a tribal design. For remembering absent friends.”

  “Since I’m not absent, it better not be for me.” Mom was chuckling, but her voice had a slight edge to it.

  “No, it’s not for you. I still haven’t decided what I’ll do for you. Whatever I do, it’ll be tasteful and elegant. And no, you don’t get design approval. I decide what goes on my body for the rest of my life, no one else.”

  “Oh, I see,” she said. “So, do I get to see this masterpiece any time soon? I’m free for lunch tomorrow. Say, twelve thirty at the Dushanbe Teahouse?”

  Check and mate. “We’ll see you there.” I hung up and filled Rose in on our new plans.

  “Lovely idea,” Rose said. “Every time we go past it I want to jump out and add the entire building to my hoard.”

  I didn’t blame her. The teahouse was a gift from Boulder’s sister-city Dushanbe, a masterpiece of hand-carved, hand-painted art and architecture imported from Tajikistan and assembled by hand next to Boulder Creek. The place was a Boulder landmark. If all that weren’t enough, they make a damn good duck bulgogi.

  When Rose and I arrived, mother was sitting on the patio next to a basketball player-sized rose bush. As I collected my hug, she latched on to my wrist and said, “Well, let’s see the artwork, Michelangelo.”

  I loosened the tape and peeled back the gauze bandage. I’d covered the tattoo with antibiotic ointment and a layer of plastic wrap, so it looked crisp and clean for inspection. “It was done freehand, with traditional tools.”

  “Well, at least it’s not some random goofball thing you picked off the wall.” Mom leaned back and frowned. “You need a haircut. How did you get the FBI to take you seriously looking like that? They probably think you live in a one-bedroom wooden cabin in Montana.”

  “I’ve had long hair since I was sixteen,” I said.

  “I know. The eighties called and they want that look back.” She sighed and said, “When it’s time for my service, I don’t want my friends to look at you and think you’re about to hold up a lighter and shout ‘Freebird’.”

  I put down my menu. “You’d be laughing your ass off if I did that. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”

  Mom looked away. “I don’t want to die, David. I want to be here to see you and Audrey get married. I want to meet my grandkids. I can feel my time slipping away. And I don’t want it to.” She inhaled some extra oxygen until her breathing was easier. “I’m sorry. I’m just having an attack of the verklempts. Pay no attention to the emotional turmoil.”

  “I think you’re entitled.” The waitress came over to get our orders and I tried to change the subject. “How are Audrey and that Steve guy doing?”

  “A little on the cool side. Steve doesn’t approve of you.”

  “Oh? This I have to hear.”

  Mom grimaced. “Steve wanted to know why he’s never seen you at church. Audrey told him you were a Pagan. He didn’t like that very much, and told Audrey she should shun you until you came back to the church. He thinks you’re a dangerous, corrupting influence. Why are you smiling like that?”

  I didn’t need a mirror to know what my smile looked like. “Oh, just thinking of having a conversation with Steve about hurting my sister’s feelings.”

  “Don’t you dare. Besides, she took care of it. She told him their relationship wasn’t going to go far if he started telling her who she could have in her life. She loves him, but she loves you, too.”

  I took a deep breath and found a calm point to focus on. “I’m surprised she stood up for me. That’s…nice. I’ll have to call her and say thanks.”

  Rose said, “Did she tell him anything about me?”

  Mom nodded. “She did, but he doesn’t consider you a danger. He thinks David is leading you astray. She decided to let it go. Pick your battles, you know?”

  “David does indeed, Mrs. Fraser.” A boy who looked about fifteen sat down at the table next to me. He looked perfectly normal, except for a livid rope burn around his neck. It ran under his jaw and raised a bunch of ugly associations in my mind. He placed his hands on the table, palms down, and said, “Let’s all be nice and civil, shall we? It would be a shame to damage this lovely building.”

  I nodded. “Thain. Did you kill this boy yourself?” Inside, I focused on Rose, urging her to hide her nature and try to pass as Human. From the look she gave me, I was pretty sure she understood.

  Thain looked offended. “Of course not. Without form, I cannot harm the living. This boy killed himself just as I found myself in need of a new body. He’s been an adequate host, and soon I will be able to reconstitute my own body. After that, he can rest in peace.”

  I unclenched my jaw and kept my voice low.
“You’re ruining my appetite. What do you want, dead man?”

  He spread his hands and smiled. “You wound me. I’m here to help you.” He gestured toward Mom and added, “And by that I mean you, Mrs. Fraser. Even in this state, I can heal you. All I ask for is David’s word he will not oppose me until the war begins.”

  Mom’s fingers tightened on her cane. “Go to Hell.”

  Thain held his hand up. “Allow me to explain. Your son has somehow acquired a level of magical ability unprecedented for this world. He survived judgment by Ma’at, the feather of truth. It revealed him to be a true and upright soul, the kind of man who can seize glory during the times to come. He could lead your world’s resistance, and I would be honored to be tested by him. Allow me to heal you, and you will live to see your son become the world’s savior.”

  Rose’s lips pulled back into a snarl, and I could see her nails starting to transform into talons. “Why should we wait? The smart thing to do would be to destroy you now.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Thain shook his head. “Certain destruction is boring. Why do you think I’ve allowed David to live? Besides—” He gestured toward sounds of kids playing in the park across the street. “—do you really want to start something while we’re surrounded by innocents? Please, think of the children.”

  The waitress brought our food and set a glass of water in front of Thain without really looking at him. Thain watched her walk away and sighed. “Speaking of reasons not to rush the end of this world…”

  “Why us?” Mom leaned forward and tapped her finger on the table. “Why this world? Why don’t you find a world that’s already lifeless and conquer it?”

  “This world invited me here, Mrs. Fraser. The preoccupation with zombies in popular culture, the energy put into dreaming of a global war against armies of the undead—they drew me here like a beacon. All the people out there who are suffering and failing under the dominant social structure crave a new world. One where the rules are simple, more understandable. No banks, no government, no little robots spying on you from the sky. I’m fulfilling that wish.”

  I stood up. “No deal, Thain. Get out of here.”

  Thain looked at Mom. “Last chance to change your mind, Mrs. Fraser. I urge you, think about what beautiful children your son and his lady friend will have. Choose life.”

  Mom took my hand. “I’d rather die.”

  Thain stood up. “Oh, you shall. So soon, in fact, I regret the need to hasten it. You cost me physical form, David. Observe and learn the price of your foolishness.”

  Swirls of wind whipped through the trees and flowers surrounding the patio, and all around us the trees and flowers collapsed into acrid black grit. The grass, the trees in the park and along the creek, every plant we could see for blocks around us, all dissolved into the same grit.

  Birds, squirrels, and a host of other small animals fell from the sky or ran out of their hiding places, screeching in agony as they, too, were consumed. The water in the creek turned into noxious, green-black sludge, and the fish flopped around in it until they vanished as well.

  In the middle of it all, Thain stood there, jaw clenched, staring at us through a dead child’s eyes. Black splotches spread across his face and arms, spilling out black grit until the lesions ate him away, leaving nothing but black sand mixing into black sand.

  Mom looked pale, holding her chest and trying to clear sand from her oxygen line. I picked her up and carried her to the parking lot. Rose grabbed our stuff and followed, looking around for any incoming trouble.

  When we got to her car, Mom thumped me on the shoulder. “You can put me down now. I am not an invalid.” Despite her protests, she was sweating and her breaths were labored.

  I opened the passenger door and set her in the seat. “You sit there. We’re going to the hospital. Rose can follow us there.”

  Mom looked over my shoulder. “Rose, can you do anything with him?”

  Rose leaned over my shoulder and said, “Gypsy, relax. Let David drive.” At least, I think that’s what it was—she said it in Draconic.

  Mom sagged back in the seat and I fastened her seatbelt. I closed the door and told Rose, “Community Hospital is right up Broadway. Meet us at the ER.” She nodded and hopped into our Land Rover.

  The emergency room was plenty busy, but a little shameless use of the imperative form got Mom through triage and in to be seen in record time. She was in and out of consciousness and seemed to have lost vitality during the drive. The doctor initially refused to do anything, citing Mom’s Do Not Resuscitate bracelet. I convinced him he could at least make her comfortable. Soon enough, Mom was breathing easier and her condition improved enough that she insisted on moving to a private room.

  Rose called Audrey and my dad, and then slipped off into the bathroom. She emerged only seconds later with her mother. Arwydd set a mirror-surfaced crystal sphere on the side table before turning to Mom and doing her own exam.

  Mom woke up with Arwydd leaning over her and managed a wave. “How nice. An angel. Do you see her too, David?”

  “I’m no angel,” Arwydd said. “I’m Rose’s mother. She asked me to come and help you. Do you understand?”

  Mom nodded. “What happened to me?”

  “You were exposed to some form of life-energy siphon. Someone absorbed a large amount of life energy from the environment around you. As weak as you are, the loss of energy was nearly fatal.” Arwydd stroked her head. “I can’t replace the energy you lost. It has to be replenished naturally. I’m sorry, but without healing, I do not think you will survive the night. I can heal you if you wish it, but it must be soon.”

  Mom shook her head. “No. Thank you, but it’s my time. Where is David?”

  I sat down on the bed. “I’m here, Mom.”

  “Get your camera out. I want you to record this.” Once I was ready, she said, “I’m making this recording as an amendment to my will. In the event of my passing, I wish to be cremated immediately. It is my wish for my ashes to be scattered in random locations in the mountains. Nederland. Trail Ridge road. Places like that. Will you do that for me, David?”

  I nodded. “I will, Mom.”

  “Good. That’s all. Thank you, son.” She waited until I put the phone away and added, “David, if that man manages to get my body somehow, it won’t be me. Destroy him however you can.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Good boy.” She looked past me, focusing on Arwydd and really seeing her for the first time. “You’re Rose’s mother? How did you get here?”

  I said, “Rose travelled back to her home world and got her. Rose isn’t Human, Mom. Remember what you saw at Sharon’s funeral? Rose did that. What you saw was her world.”

  “It was beautiful.”

  “I know.” I pulled out my camera and flipped to the pictures I’d taken at Stonewall. “I had a short visit there.”

  Mom looked at a few of the pictures, stopping at one of Karav and Altia in the arena, holding their weapons. “That must be an Elf,” she whispered. She looked at Rose and asked, “Is that what you are? An Elf?”

  Rose took her hand. “No, Gypsy. I’m a Dragoness. I’m one thousand forty-two years old. By our standards, I just turned twenty-one.”

  “Thousand years… At least my son isn’t chasing jail bait.” Mom coughed, holding her chest. When the spasm stopped, she asked, “Is that wizard we met from the same world?”

  “No,” I said. “We don’t know where he’s from. We think he’s trying to build an undead army he can use to invade his home world. We don’t know how to stop him yet, but we’re working on it.”

  Mom patted my hand. “Good. Take him out.”

  I heard Audrey’s voice through the door and stood up. “Company’s coming. I don’t think Dad and Audrey are ready for the truth.”

  Mom straightened her robe. “I don’t know that I was, but I’m glad you shared it with me.”

  Audrey and Dad came in, rushing to Mom’s side and throwing questi
ons around without waiting for answers. While they talked to Mom, I found a corner where I could talk to Arwydd.

  “Is there a way to keep Thain from taking over her body before…arrangements can be made?” Even asking the question was a punch in the gut.

  Arwydd glanced at Mom. “After a fashion. The reflection stone prevents scrying attempts, but it must stay with her to be effective. If he discovers her, I cannot shield her from possession.”

  I nodded. “We’ll just have to move forward as fast as we can, then.”

  Audrey was praying next to the bed, while Dad sat holding Mom’s hand. I sat on the bed and waited for Audrey to finish. Mom was visibly weaker and her breathing was labored.

  Dad looked up and asked, “What is it, son?”

  I took a breath to steady myself. “Mom wants to change her arrangements. She wants to be cremated. She had me get a video of her making the request. I can play it if you want.”

  Audrey shoved me away. “No. That can’t be true. Mom would never say that!”

  I said, “She did, Audrey. You can watch it for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

  “Mom! That’s--that’s horrible! You--” Audrey choked up. “Where will I come visit you if you do that?”

  Dad ignored Audrey. “We discussed this already. We bought the joint plot.” He sighed and shook his head. “All of this was settled a year ago.”

  “I’m sorry, Orlando, but I changed my mind. Last minute details. David has my instructions.” Mom tried to smile. “Audrey, I’ll always be there for you. Just listen for me. I love you.” She fell back on the bed, breathing hard. “Not long now,” she whispered.

  Audrey stepped out of the room long enough to call for one of the doctors. Mom beckoned to Dad and held her hand out. Her wedding ring all but fell off her finger into his hand. He dropped the ring into his pocket and sat there, just holding her hand until the doctor arrived. Mom lay still while the doctor examined her, her breath slow and shallow. She answered his questions in a quiet whisper, eyes half-lidded. The doctor gave us a short speech on what do not resuscitate meant—as if we didn’t know all too well—and left us alone. Her heart monitor would call him back when the time came.