by R A Baxter
The old man wore the same thin rags he’d always worn in those dreams—an old loose mesh fabric that revealed a gray tank top and a thin white baggy shirt. Jack waited for him to say something, but he just stood there, waiting for the ape-men to make their move. Then Jack remembered—he’d never said a word in those dreams.
The ape-men surrounded Jack and his protector in ever-increasing numbers. The one closest to the old man jumped at him, its teeth flashing, triggering the rest of the mob to attack. The old man spun around and kicked the first attacker, then ducked and kicked another beast with his other foot, while at the same time cracking his walking stick over the head of a third beast.
Within ten seconds, however, so many creatures had piled on him that Jack couldn’t see him. Two of the winged demons snuck up behind Jack, grabbed his arms, and twisted them behind his back. Two more hefted him into the air and slung him between the wings of another ape already in flight. Jack looked back and saw the beasts dispersing, but the old man was nowhere in sight.
Jack’s captor darted low, gliding among the tops of shrubs and low pines, leaves brushing his shins. The creature dodged a tree, landed on a branch, and jumped twenty feet to grab another one. It swung over that branch and tossed Jack through the air, where another flying creature, darting below him, secured him on its back. Jack held on for his life.
At least forty other flying beasts glided nearby on all sides of him, some scurrying below him, fists to the ground. Others leaped from branch to branch through the trees. Jack searched in every direction but saw no sign of Katie.
Jack’s knuckles turned white from his grip on his captor’s long black fur, but the fear of falling vanished when he found himself closing in on a 50-foot-tall wall of solid granite. The demons showed no sign of slowing down.
Jack screamed and closed his eyes, cringing as he collided with the solid stone. Five seconds passed before he realized he wasn’t hurt. The rock wall had been an illusion. His transport soared along a cold, narrow crevice, now and then jutting to the right or left without warning. Finally, he entered a circular, open-air clearing at the center of the mountain and the creature dropped him on the ground like a sack of wheat. He rolled sideways, stopping at Katie’s feet. She reached out a hand to him and pulled him to his feet.
Crows flew off or roosted on roots or shrubs protruding from the rocks. Jack’s and Katie’s abductors bounded to ledges or disappeared into the dozens of caves and crevasses randomly situated along the high stone walls. None of them showed any further interest in their prisoners.
The space resembled the maw of a dormant volcano, only deeper. Jack couldn’t stop shaking.
Katie pressed herself against him. “What do you think they want with us?” She stared at two eight-foot-tall ape-men standing guard at a large opening at the foot of a rock wall.
Jack shook his head. “They’re the same creatures that attacked our camp. One of them left that note under your pillow.”
A familiar dark mist flowed from the large split in the rock, smelling of wet soil. Sinuous Ghost Knights emerged, mounted on their black steeds. Jack spotted Jeb, who stood out as the only ghost not covered in black armor and sinewy cloth. He dismounted and hobbled up to one of the large ape-men, removed his hat, and whacked the demon with it. The beast cowered and guarded its face with its hairy hands.
“Durn foolish imps! ’Tis certain I telled ye to leave the young ladies alone. They only summoned the boy.”
Jeb turned to Katie. “No offense, miss. ’Tain’t that it ain’t good to see ye again. Where’s ye little friend, Clara?”
Katie’s eyes went wide, and she turned to Jack. “We forgot about Clara!”
“At least she’s safe.” Jack shook his head, wondering how she could’ve so completely forgotten about her.
“’Tis likely she done woke up,” Jeb said. “Did I tell ye how she reminds me o’ me little Alice? Never mind. ’Tis best a young’un like her never thinks on nightmares like these.”
“Jeb,” Katie said. “I’m sure you mean well, but we don’t have time for this. We need to get to your haunt.”
Jeb looked away.
“Thou art free to leave,” boomed Ezekiel’s voice. He rode forward, peering down at Katie through the visor of his dark helmet. “The boy shall remain to face his challenger.”
A chill raced through Jack’s bones.
“He’s leaving with me,” Katie said.
“I’m truly sorry, miss,” Jeb said.
“No.” Katie hugged Jack. “You knights claim you help the innocent. Well, Jack’s innocent!”
Cool air from the flapping wings of two imps brushed past Jack’s face and the imps landed on both sides of Katie. They each grabbed an arm and dragged her toward the nearest wall, her boots dragging in the dirt. They held her against the stone.
“Let me go!” She twisted and kicked at them but couldn’t budge their powerful arms.
“Leave her alone!” Jack ran toward her, but only slammed against the dark hairy chest of another imp that had dived to intercept him. Jack turned to Jeb and glared at him. “You traitor!”
The old miner shook his head vigorously. “No, no. Ye misunderstand, me friend. ’Tis certain this be the best I could do fer ye. Ye’ll agree with me when ye wakes up.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” said a gruff, too-familiar voice.
Jack stiffened and turned around. Avard stood before him, helmetless and clad in Ghost Knight armor, his eyes bulging with malicious anticipation.
Ezekiel rode forward and faced Avard. “Is this the boy from whom thou hast demanded justice?”
“You know he is.”
Jack shook his head. “He’s lying!”
Ezekiel turned to him. “Thou art accused of igniting the explosives that took this man’s life. Dost thou deny it?”
Jack pointed at Avard. “His friend knocked the fire stick into the explosives!”
“Jack didn’t kill him!” Katie kicked hard at one of the imps, but it didn’t seem to notice.
“Didst thou not bash tis man’s head against a rock, rendering him unconscious?”
“I kicked to get away from him. I didn’t know he’d hit his head.”
“Didst thou protect him from the explosives after having rendered him unconscious?”
“I didn’t know he was unconscious.”
Ezekiel stared at Jack for five seconds, then turned to Avard. “The accused didst fail to protect thee. I judge thine accusation valid. ’Tis my duty to inform thee, however, that the accused is neither ghost nor Material being. He is merely an Aspect, a dreamed entity. He shall not truly die.”
Avard laughed. “Oh, he’s Material all right. He’s Dream Running. He’ll die. He’s a living, breathing Material being. Nothing’ll bring me peace like crushing his skull.”
Ezekiel started to dispute him when Jeb stepped in front of him. “Now hold on here, Ezekiel. The Emend Delegation ain’t about telling the ghostly folk how to find their rest. The man says he’ll be satisfied wakin’ the boy. I say, let him have his rest his way!”
“Yes, Ezekiel, let me wake him up.” Avard laughed.
Ezekiel stared at Jeb for a moment, then glanced at each of four other knights. They nodded their heads in turn.
“So be it. Commence with the execution.” He backed his steed to the perimeter wall.
Jack stumbled backward and looked at Jeb, who winked at him.
“Don’t be a scared, son. Ye’ll be fine.”
“Jack didn’t kill him,” Katie yelled. “Leave him alone!”
Jack garnered no illusions. His life was about to end.
Avard grinned wide and faced him. “It’s time to die.”
Katie felt useless. Powerless. She used all her weight and strength to wrench her arms free but couldn’t budge the vice-like grips of these imps. The one on her left grinned at her. She saw no malice in its eyes, just the loyal obedience she’d seen in her dogs back home. They were just faithfully obeying their beloved masters
, the Ghost Knights.
The twenty-plus Ghost Knights in the cavern dismounted and stationed themselves in a wide circle around Jack and Avard. Imps descended from their ledges to tend to the shadowy warhorses. A tall knight stepped forward and swished his right hand through the air. Every opening in the surrounding walls faded and became solid stone. Ethereal, heavy, rhythmic drums and trumpets echoed within the chamber in unison with a chorus of unseen alto voices.
Avard beamed with malicious delight. Imps shook with excitement, grunting and dancing in rapturous ecstasy. Exhilaration permeated the air. Clearly, the Emend Delegation lived for exacting revenge.
A short, pudgy knight posted herself near Avard and faced him, clenching her fists. “Think on thine preferred weapon of execution and it shall be granted thee.”
“I can shape my own essence weapons. You got something that’ll kill a Material being?”
The woman nodded once, slowly.
Avard glanced at his hands and smiled at a gray cloud condensing and solidifying until it transformed into a shotgun in his hands. He squinted, and the gun faded and expanded into another foggy mass before reshaping and stretching into a rocket launcher, nestled on his shoulder. The same process repeated, and two Uzis formed in his hands. He laughed aloud and glared at Jack.
“Leave him alone!” Katie threw her weight forward and the imp to her right slammed its hairy palm over her mouth.
Avard’s Uzi expanded into a fog and reformed into a sphere which then condensed into a basketball-sized orb that radiated dozens of six-inch spikes, a type of morning star. The heavy ball hung from a thick black metal chain.
“I can feel the density in these weapons,” Avard said. “This’ll take out a Material being.” He leered at Jack and swirled the massive ball over his own head.
“You know I didn’t kill you,” Jack said.
He hadn’t finished his sentence before the razor-sharp spikes of the morning star slashed diagonally, inches from his face. Half of the pointed ball disappeared into the solid soil with an earth-shaking thump. Rather than lifting it again, Avard let it decompress into a cloud of dust and took hold of a new one forming in the air behind his back. With a grunt, he swung it high over his head and dropped it straight down between Jack’s feet.
Jack fell backward. Imps clapped and grunted with glee. jumping up and down.
Katie turned her head, terrified of what she might see. She gritted her teeth when she found Jeb easing over to her.
“That be no way to treat a lady,” Jeb waved a pistol in front of the imp and yanked its hand from Katie’s mouth. “Don’t be afeared o’ these imps, miss. They’s got no minds o’ they own. They exist to serve the Delegation.”
“I don’t care about them! You’re letting Avard kill Jack!” Katie screamed when Jack barely jumped aside from a heavy blow.
“Your friend set off the explosives!” Jack said. “He’s the murderer.”
Avard laughed louder.
Katie pulled again to free her arms, but she could do nothing but watch.
Avard swung the spiked ball horizontally and Jack leaned back, out of its path. Avard snarled and the morning star expanded into a mist, stretching and condensed into the form of a two-headed battleax. Jack ducked, and the ax brushed through his spiky hair.
Avard’s eyes bulged. “Hold still so I can cut out that noisy voice box of yours.”
“Let him defend himself,” Katie yelled. “Give him a weapon!”
A cloud of dust formed around Avard’s free hand and condensed into another morning star, half the size of the others he’d been using. He swung it sideways and let it go, sending it directly at Katie’s face. It dissipated into a cloud of dust only inches from her eyes, blurring her vision for several seconds. She nodded her appreciation to the short knight who held her hand outstretched in Katie’s direction. She’d saved her life.
“You coward!” Jack leaped up and swung his right leg in the air, landing a solid kick on Avard’s right cheek. The old man staggered back and faded from view for a few seconds.
“Give him a weapon!” Katie screamed.
“Fine!” Avard glanced at Jack’s hand and a cloud of dust formed into a short steel dagger. A larger mist became a long sword in Avard’s hands.
“You’re just playing with me!” Jack feigned a jab with his dagger, instead ducking low and swinging his leg out wide, meeting Avard’s right leg at the kneecap. Avard bent sideways and fell, caught himself with his right hand against the ground, and pushed himself back up, regaining his balance.
Jack stood up straight and took two steps back. “Just shoot me and get it over with!”
“I think I like this sword better. Don’t want you dying too fast. It’s too much fun watching you squirm. You don’t deserve no quick ’n easy death.” Avard raised his sword, his face creased with fury, and swung it hard past Jack’s neck, then took two steps and swung at Jack’s left arm. Jack stepped back from each blow, knights and imps moving out of his way and allowing him to work his way backward around the perimeter of the cavern.
The blows kept coming. Jack’s hand flew to a nick on his right shoulder. Blood soaked his left side after Avard’s next strike. The man lacked the finesse of a practiced fencer, but he made up for it with his relentless, constant attacks, one after another. Jack dodged another swing at his head and jumped back from a blow to his right arm.
Katie clenched her teeth, infuriated that Avard had only allowed Jack a useless dagger.
Jack stayed about five feet away from Avard’s sword. He ducked another swing to his head, spun around, and jumped forward, thrusting his dagger at Avard’s chest. Jack’s victorious grin faded when the blade curled sideways against Avard’s breast. The dagger was only a rubber child’s toy.
Avard doubled over in laughter, the tip of his sword clanking on the rocks near his feet.
Red-faced, Jack tossed the useless toy aside and kicked his opponent in the forehead, spun around, and kicked him in his left arm. “You don’t fight fair!” Jack clenched his fists and shook with anger. “You don’t care what’s right! This is not right!”
A long sword formed in Jack’s hand. There’d been no condensing cloud. No transforming form. It just appeared out of thin air. Katie didn’t know what kind of power Jack had in Essentia, but his words reminded her of what Jack had said when they first entered the haunt into the dream world. When something wasn’t right, he could make it right.
The smirk on Avard’s face turned to an expression of shock. He focused on Jack’s sword and a thin fog enveloped it, but then dispersed. He glared at the pudgy knight who’d been providing his densified weaponry.
She wheeled her clenched fists toward Jack and squinted hard, but the sword remained.
Jack wasted no time laying into Avard with all his strength. He swung the sword across Avard’s chest, and this time, Avard stepped back with fear in his eyes.
Ezekiel lifted his lance and pointed it at Jack’s sword. A thunderous bolt of purple lightning exploded from the lance’s tip. Sparks of light bounced from Jack’s silver blade. The ancient ghost shook his head when the sword remained unaffected in Jack’s hand.
The fury in Jack’s eyes increased and he charged Avard with renewed energy, knocking Avard’s sword from his hand with his next blow, and forcing him back, cutting his right arm.
Avard slapped the blood trickling down his arm and his eyes bulged.
“So, this is how you want it, Park? So be it.” A dark cloud formed around Avard’s arms and quickly condensed into a two-barrel shotgun. He started to lift it, but Jack swung at it with his sword and knocked it clattering against the nearby rock wall.
Katie grew hopeful and bit her lip. Avard formed another sword in his hand and parleyed with Jack for ten seconds before sliding sideways from a blow, twisting around, and thrusting his sword deep into Jack’s chest.
Katie trembled, too overcome to scream. Jack’s sword fell from his hand and clanged against the rocky soil. He dropped to his k
nees and glanced at Katie, apologizing with his eyes before dropping lifeless onto the dirt. The drums and trumpets faded away.
Katie stared in mute shock and disbelief, Avard’s loud laughter filling her with pain.
He kicked Jack and rolled him on his back. Jack’s lifeless eyes stared out. He was dead. Avard looked around, a smug grin on his face, and stared at his hands. Katie knew he was trying to produce another weapon, but nothing appeared.
“Aw, don’t I get to kill his accomplice?” He grinned and gestured at Katie.
“Justice has been served,” Ezekiel said.
The imps flew up to the high ledges and the two that were holding Katie relaxed their grip. Katie shoved them aside and darted to Jack’s limp body, her muscles tense and aching with stress and fear.
Jeb stepped up behind her, keeping his eyes focused on Jack with such intensity that Katie found it creepy.
“This is all your fault!” Katie punched him in the chest. “Stay away from him!”
"Ye don’t understand, miss. Everything’ll be all right. Ye’ll see.”
“You’re insane!” She pointed at Jack’s body. “You’re staring right at him. Can’t you see him? He’s dead!”
She didn’t know why she could see the rock wall through Avard’s increasingly transparent body, and she didn’t care. “You murderer!” She charged at Jeb, stopping when two knights grabbed her arms.
“Let me go! You got what you wanted! Take your hands off me!”
Ezekiel approached Avard, paying no attention to Katie. “Brother Avard, thou hast achieved the purpose of thine essential existence. The Emend Delegation envies thy triumph even as we rejoice in your victory. Thou shalt now have thy rest. May God have mercy on thy soul.”
Avard glanced down at his fading arms, then darted looks around the cavern. “Wait a minute. What’s happening? This ain’t right. I won the fight. How do I stop this?” He charged at the nearest Ghost Knight but passed through him, his body now barely visible. “Was this some kind of trick? Tell me how to stop this!” His voice faded with every word until it went silent and he disappeared.