Scouring Majula (Ellen's Friends Book 3)

by Matthew Satterlee

  Her heart sped up. If it did come for her, she was only going to have a few seconds to act before it crushed her and kicked her out of Brendon's dream. What could she do in such a minute amount of time that might convince Brendon he was dreaming?

  No answers came to her, but neither did any monsters. As the seconds passed by in silence, her heart settled down. This plan was going nowhere. She'd have to think of something else.

  Brendon paused and glanced back at her. "What's wrong?" he called out. "Do you need me to show you the way?"

  "I was hoping that monster would break down the wall and attack us," Ellen said, "but I think it forgot about us."

  "You were... hoping it would attack?" Brendon asked. He faced towards her and started walking her way. "You must have a fever or something, because you-"

  The sound of metal crashing into stone tore through the air. Ellen shielded her ears with her hands, and even then the commotion was so overwhelming it felt as if her eardrums might burst.

  The colossal monster had struck the top of the wall with its hammer, she saw now, turning a section of bricks the size of a small house into rubble. Chunks of debris rained down around her. She retreated down an adjacent road to avoid the carnage.

  The monstrous hammer shot up into the air then crashed down onto the wall again. A cloud of dust, dirt and debris erupted in every direction.

  After the mayhem ended, Ellen peered up at the gap in the wall. Not only had it quadrupled in size, there was now two deep red eyes peering in at her from the other side of the wall.

  She should've felt relieved, this was exactly what she'd wanted to happen, but knowing that colossal abomination was after her specifically filled every inch of her body with terror.

  "Get out of here!" Brendon shouted. He stood back on the first road, hovering around the fallen debris. "I can handle that thing, but you need to go somewhere safe."

  "I'm not afraid of it!" Ellen lied. "I'm going to fight it!"

  Brendon simply stared at her. His expression told her he thought she was crazy, but she had to save him from this dream and this was her only idea.

  "There's something off about all of this," Brendon said.

  It's because this is all fake, Ellen wanted to say, but the colossal monster started its assault before she could speak a word. It raised its hammer into the air then struck the wall again and again and again. The reverberations from each attack melded together and shattered every window in the area. Ellen shielded her ears with her hands.

  The attacks stopped after a few seconds. Ellen lowered her hands. Brendon looked to be shouting something at her, but all she heard was a faint ringing.

  The colossal monster pushed its way into the fortress through the gap it had created, then immediately slashed both its massive scimitars through the air, one right after the other.

  Ellen raised her buckler as two gigantic magic weapons rocketed towards her. Just like the first time this exact same thing had happened, she feared her shield would crumple when the weapons hit, yet just like before, both bounced harmlessly away. The first shot high up into the sky and sailed out into the grassy plains.

  The second went straight at Brendon. A terrible sense of dread swept over Ellen's whole body. The giant weapon was going to cut Brendon in half, or if he somehow avoided it, it would smash apart the wall behind him and bury him with debris. What would happen if Brendon died here in his own dream? Would his death carry over into the waking world like Alice's weapons had?

  The giant blade moved in slow motion as it closed in on Brendon. "This isn't right," he said. "This isn't how this happened."

  The white light appeared again, spreading faster than it ever had before. It consumed everything; the wall, the fortress, the colossal monster, and even Brendon.

  For a moment Ellen simply stared into the empty white space before her. She hadn't wanted to leave Brendon's dream, so why had the light appeared? Maybe she'd managed to reach him before the weapon hit, or maybe he'd died and taken his dream with him.

  The light soon faded, and Ellen returned to the underground chamber.

  Brendon was standing over her. Despite his thick beard, she had no trouble seeing the smile on his face.

  "I was wondering when you were going to pay me back for making me chase you around that, ah, Brazen place," Brendon said warmly, "and that castle too."

  Her dread vanished in an instant. Ellen climbed onto her feet. For a moment she'd thought Brendon was gone for good, yet here he was, smiling and attempting to get under her skin. "Sorry I had to kill you."

  "That's not what happened." Brendon's smile vanished. "At least, I don't think that's what happened. I remember you sending that giant weapon at me with your... Was that your shield? But I woke up before it hit."

  Apparently she'd done something right without even realizing it. "What happened then?" she asked.

  "Every time you spoke I'd see bits and pieces of the past," Brendon explained, "but it wasn't until you started fighting that colossal monster that it all came back to me. You weren't the only one who stood up to that thing. I was there too, and so was Lindsey. I'm sure Kilroy would've come with us, if he was still... And that friend of yours-"

  "Stop," Ellen said. Her eyes were already damp. Her face was going to be soaking wet if he kept going.

  "Sorry." Brendon looked away. "I'm a little embarrassed that I was suckered into that fantasy world so easily. I figured I was too old and wise for something like, but I guess when you have your old home dangled in front of you like that-"

  "You're not the only one who misses the fortress," Ellen interrupted. "It was the first real home I ever had!"

  She hadn't meant to sound so snappy, but Brendon was treading on a tender part of her past. The Monad Fortress was not just her old home, it was also the place she'd met her friends, all of whom she still missed dearly.

  Brendon eyed her for a moment, then moved in closer and gently gripped her shoulder. "We'll find another home like the fortress eventually, but right now-" He looked to L.L. and Sycamore. "You know more about this dream business than I do, so I'll leave them to you. I see a bloody pile of monsters and I'm sure-"

  His eyes shot open.

  He'd probably noticed Alice's weapons. "Alice learned how to summon a living weapon in her dream," Ellen said. "She's as strong as you now."

  "She has two of them," Brendon said, sounding amazed. "Not just two weapons, but two different weapons." He chuckled. "You could probably do that as well, you just have to throw away that knife of yours first."

  He gave Ellen another pat on the shoulder, harder this time, then left to join the others.

  "Lots of bodies over there," he mumbled. "If she's had her weapons out long enough to cause that much carnage, she's stronger than me."

  Ellen glanced towards the battle. The whole back section of the chamber was littered with bleeding, mangled monster bodies. Most looked like the beak-faced, axe wielding types she'd seen earlier. Other types were mixed in with them, but they'd been butchered beyond recognition.

  She looked to L.L., but Brendon's words gave her pause. Could she really become as strong as Alice just by throwing her knife away? Even if that was true, she hated the idea. Not only was her knife a gift from her guardian, given to her when she had been too young to fight, but it had saved her life more times than she could count. It would probably save her life again in the future.

  She shook her head. It wasn't up for debate, she was going to keep her knife and she also was going to save L.L. and Sycamore.

  Chapter 20

  L.L.'s dream hadn't change at all while she'd been away. Once more Ellen stood at the edge of the Forlorn Dimension's grassy plains, the Primeval Forest at her back.

  She turned around. L.L. stood nearby, glaring at her with her typical bitter look. Her sister Coco was asleep inside a sleeping bag on the ground beside her.

  "Isn't it strange how I keep appearing like this?" Ellen asked, hoping for a quick victory.

  "There are
a lot of peculiar things about this dimension," L.L. agreed. "However, you yourself are not the least bit noteworthy."

  Was that remark aimed at her sudden appearance, or her character? Ellen couldn't tell. She didn't particularly want to know.

  What could she do that would instill doubt in L.L.? At least Brendon and Tear were willing to listen to her, and let her get close.

  Slowly she reached for her knife. L.L. had a high opinion of herself, and she'd yet to show off her new shield here. If she could defeat her or at least catch her off guard, then maybe she'd wake up.

  "What are you scheming?" L.L. asked. Her hands moved towards her swords.

  Ellen relaxed her hand. It was too much of a risk. The odds of her winning were slim, and if she lost she'd never be able to get close to L.L. again. "Nothing," she mumbled.

  "Is someone there?" Coco asked. Her voice was sweet but tired. She raised her head and looked up at Ellen. "Who are you?"

  "My name is... Ellen," Ellen said.

  "Mine's Coco. Are you a newcomer to this dimension, or are you a native?"

  Ellen hesitated. Something felt very off about having a pleasant conversation with the dream version of L.L.'s deceased sister. L.L. seemed to think so as well, because her expression had become even more bitter than usual.

  "I live in the fortress over there," Ellen said, gesturing to the Monad Fortress. "Lindsey lives there too. She's a part of Galvin's Special Forces. I think she's the second in command."

  Coco looked up at L.L. "What's she talking about?"

  "That's... none of that-" L.L. reached up and grabbed her head, first with one then with two. She looked to be in pain. "That girl is a troublemaker. Don't listen to anything she says."

  "She seems nice," Coco said, and Ellen smiled. At least there was one person in L.L.'s family who liked her. "What's wrong? Does your head hurt?"

  L.L. lowered her hands. "A little bit, but I'll recover. You can go back to sleep."

  "Okay, but I think you should treat our guest-" Coco eye's shot open. "Did you hear that?"

  "It's a monster," L.L. said plainly.

  Coco's voice was racing. "Aren't you worried? What if it finds us? We have to hide!"

  "It's going to find us, there's no way to avoid it. You should run if you're worried." L.L. sighed a bitter sigh. "I'll... I'll try to hold it off."

  "Are you sure? What if it-"

  A monster leapt out of the Primeval Forest and landed a short ways behind Coco and L.L. Its landing shook the ground and launched a cloud of dirt and shredded grass into the air.

  Ellen recognized it, it was the same purple skinned, hunched back monster from before. Its long, yellow nails seemed to have grown since her last visit.

  Coco shot out of her sleeping and took off into the grassy plains. "We need to run!" she shrieked. "Come on! Let's go!"

  L.L. didn't budge.

  "Let's fight it together," Ellen said. L.L. had grown so accustomed to seeing her sister cut down by that monster that she'd deemed it invincible. If they could kill it or at least hinder it long enough for Coco to escape, she'd have to realize this was all a dream.

  "You can try whatever you'd like," L.L. said dismissively. "You're never going to pierce that monster's skin."

  The monster leapt forward.

  Ellen drew her knife and slid her buckler onto her arm. She didn't have time to argue. One more leap and the monster would strike Coco down.

  She took off running after the monster. Normally she'd never go near something with such large claws, but her health didn't matter in this dream.

  The monster glanced back at her with its beady black eyes and its small, knoblike head.

  The monstrous claw shot forward so fast Ellen barely had time to raise her buckler. The monster's grimy yellow nails hit with a loud screech. The force of the impact sent her rolling backwards, first onto her back then her chest.

  For a moment she lay face down in the grass, trying not to think too hard about what shape she'd be in right now if she had not raised her buckler in time, then she heard the sound of heavy feet stomping her way and forced herself up.

  The monster was marching towards her. She'd at least drawn its attention away from Coco, which was a good thing, but how she was going to kill something that looked like it was made out of stone was still a mystery to her.

  "Get away from here!" she shouted at Coco, who'd stopped to observe the battle. "You have to survive!"

  Coco nodded and took off running.

  She felt odd putting so much effort into saving someone who didn't really exist, but knowing Coco would survive the encounter still gave Ellen a hint of relief. All she needed now was for L.L. to wake up.

  The monster raised its right claw at her, but she darted backwards a few steps before it could take another swing.

  "Your sister survived," Ellen called out. "Do you still think this is real?"

  L.L. didn't respond. Ellen glanced back at her and saw her clenching her head tight with both hands, probably fighting off a headache caused by her altered memories.

  She faced forward. Saving L.L.'s sister was not enough. She'd have to kill this monster as well.

  The monster pressed itself flat against the ground. For a second Ellen considered darting over and sticking her knife into one of its eyes, but before she could take one step, the monster leapt high up into the air.

  It shot up at an angle, then started descending directly towards her. Ellen bolted forward. She moved fast enough to avoid having the monster crash into her but the shockwave from its landing still knocked her to the ground.

  Ellen leapt back to her feet then charged at the monster's backside while it recovered. It was a very mobile creature. If she could open one or two of its veins, even small ones, it would bleed out in no time.

  She raised her knife up then jammed it down into the monster's back. While she didn't expect the blade to sink in very far, it ended up not going in at all. It scraped across the monster's skin without leaving so much as a scratch.

  It was as if she'd attacked a rock. No wonder L.L. didn't bother fighting this monster. If her knife couldn't pierce its skin then what would?

  She still had to try. Ellen thrust her knife down into the monster's back once, twice, then a third time, but it made no difference. She couldn't hurt it.

  "Hit its eyes!"

  Who'd said that? Ellen glanced first at Coco, but she was still running away. Then she turned to L.L.

  "Its eyes are the only soft part of its body!" L.L. shouted. There was a great deal of determination in her voice. After how little interest she'd expressed in everything leading up to this point, Ellen hardly recognized her. "Cut its eyes out and it's done for. These stupid, clumsy swords of mine are too big, but your knife should be able to get the job done."

  Ellen nodded then faced the monster. It was standing upright now, its hunched back turned to her.

  If this was the waking world she never would've considered such a thing, but since her life was not at risk, Ellen attempted her most outlandish maneuver yet: she jumped onto the monster's backside and started climbing up the spikes sticking out of its spine as if they were a ladder.

  Each spike cut into her hands. By the time she reached the hump on the monster's back, her palms were red all over, but her plan was working. The monster was spinning in place, seemingly unable to locate her. She just had to make it over the hump and then she could attack its eyes.

  She climbed over the hump with zero issues, the monster's tough exterior was sturdier than the ground beneath its feet, then she wrapped her left arm around its narrow neck and started stabbing at its eyes.

  She missed the first stab. The monster was spinning faster now that it knew where she was. It was also trying to slash at her, but its arms had too little upward flexibility to reach her.

  Her second stab hit the monster's jaw and bounced off, but her third stab was right on target. L.L. was right, the monster did have soft eyes. Her knife sank halfway into its head. If the mon
ster had a brain, her knife had to have pierced it.

  The monster croaked as she pulled her knife from its head. Then one of its legs gave out and it collapsed onto its side.

  Ellen lost her grip as the monster fell. She landed on the grass right beside one of its claws, but fortunately the monster was too busy trying to get back onto its feet to notice her.

  She scurried across the grass towards the monster's head while it flailed around and jammed her knife into its other eye. A trickle of gray blood ran down the monster's face, becoming thicker as she forced her knife in deeper and deeper.

  Once her knife was in as deep as it could go, Ellen backed away. The monster flailed around for a little bit longer before it became still.

  "Ellen," said a angry voice behind her.

  Ellen turned around. It was L.L.

  "What do you think you're doing?" L.L. demanded.

  "I was fighting the... monster," Ellen said, pointing awkwardly at the corpse behind her. The corpse of the monster L.L. had dreamed up. "So that your sister..." L.L. had to know now that this was all a dream, which meant her explanation had to sound like complete nonsense.

  "This is all fake," L.L. said sharply. "The fortress, the forest, my sister, that monster: they're all fake!"

  "I know that!" Ellen said. "I've known that for a while now, but I had to wait for you to-"

  The white light swept over the area. It consumed everything; L.L., Coco, the monster, the forest, the grassy plains and the Monad Fortress. Once it faded, Ellen was back in the underground chamber.

  She was halfway to her feet when L.L. came over and pulled her the rest of the way up. Then she stared down at her.

  After a long moment of silence, during which Ellen feared L.L. might lash out at her for separating her from her sister, L.L. said: "You can be a real nuisance sometimes, but for the most part, you're a good kid."

  It was the first time L.L. had ever said something nice to her. Ellen smiled.

  L.L. scanned the area. "Did you rescue the others? What were their dreams like? Were they forced to relive the worst parts of their lives as well?"

  "It was the opposite," Ellen said. "Everyone had really pleasant dreams. Yours was just-" She recalled the screams L.L.'s sister made as she was cut down, then shuddered. "Morbid."