by Brandon Mull
Mira jumped high onto the playset, landing on a bouncy bridge made from rope and wood planks. The Shaper’s Flail followed her unobtrusively. Cole joined her, grateful for the gentler landing that came with heading upward.
“Hey!” a voice called.
Cole whirled, surprised. The broad face of a freckled girl with auburn hair in braids poked out at him from the mouth of a tube slide. She looked a few years older than him, maybe fourteen or so.
“Who are you?” Mira asked.
“I can help,” the girl said. “But you have to come now.” She didn’t sound scared. If anything, she seemed a bit bossy.
“Who are you?” Mira repeated.
“It’s not a trick,” she said. “I’m Amanda, Brady’s sitter.”
“His babysitter?” Cole verified.
“Not actually,” Amanda said. “He modeled me after her. I helped protect him. I saw you getting chased and thought you could use a hand. The whole place will join the hunt soon.”
Twitch and Jace joined them, making the bridge sway and wobble.
“Who is this?” Jace asked.
“Brady’s babysitter,” Cole said.
“Now or never,” Amanda said, glancing out of the tube slide.
“She says she can help us,” Mira said.
“Only if you hurry,” Amanda said.
“Would you put on this shawl?” Cole asked, fingering the clasp at his throat.
“Why?” Amanda snorted. “What’s it going to do to me?
Without a good answer, Cole shrugged.
Amanda huffed. “Not interested. I was just trying to do you a favor. The worst of them aren’t on your trail yet—the mud people, the Blind Ones, the flying squid-faced monsters.”
“We’ll come,” Mira said.
Amanda started sliding.
“You sure?” Jace asked.
“Sure enough,” Mira said, swinging into the slide and disappearing. The Shaper’s Flail slithered in after her. Jace followed, then Twitch.
Mango darted over to Cole, alighting on a bar near him. “Where are you going?”
“I think we found help,” Cole said. “We’ll be back.”
CHAPTER
28
AMANDA
Not wanting to get left behind, Cole slung himself into the slide. The metal tunnel circled down, down, down, until he emerged in an underground room lit by a naked blue bulb. The others were waiting for him.
“Electricity?” Cole asked, looking at the bulb.
“He faked it,” Amanda said. “The bulb doesn’t have wires. But it never goes out. This way.”
She led them through an obstacle course of cramped tunnels, funhouse mirrors, and pivoting panels. All of it was underground. She kept scolding them to go faster. Occasionally they would see where other slides from the playground above gave access. At last they reached a wide empty sandbox. Amanda stood in the corner and started sinking.
“Quicksand box,” she explained before her head disappeared.
Mira stepped forward, but Jace pushed ahead. “Let me check it out.”
He sank as quickly as Amanda. “I think it’s all right,” Jace said when he was down to his chest. “No pain. I can feel space beneath me.” The sand was at his neck. Then his head was gone.
Mira went next, followed by Twitch. Cole heard clattering on the slides and in the tunnels behind him. It had to be skeletons.
He stepped onto the sand and started sinking steadily. The parts of his body beneath the surface experienced no wetness. By the time he was down to his waist, he could feel his feet poking through the bottom of the sand. Holding his breath as his face slid under, Cole endured the smothering sensation of sinking through grainy matter for a few seconds before he dropped into a new room, landing on a padded floor.
Cole tried to brush off his hair but was surprised to find no sand there.
“Don’t bother,” Twitch told him. “We came through clean.”
Gymnastics pads covered the floor and walls of the otherwise bare room. Light came from glowing cubes in the corners. A smooth square of sand in the ceiling showed how he had entered the room.
“Come on,” Amanda said, showing that one of the pads in the wall swiveled when pressed. “Stop wasting time.” They followed her through a maze of halls and secret doors until they reached a bright room full of couches, stuffed animals, and beanbag chairs. “We’re safe here.”
“Do you hide here all the time?” Mira asked.
“I move around,” Amanda said. “It gets boring without Brady.”
“What happened to him?” Jace wondered.
A flash of grief distorted Amanda’s features, but she shook it off. “They got him. He couldn’t stop making up bad guys. I tried to help him. He made me to help him.”
“How old was he?” Jace asked.
“Six,” Amanda said. “He was so good at making things here in Dreamland.”
“You think this is a dream?” Mira asked.
“He did,” Amanda said. “He said he got here by dreaming. He was always waiting to wake up. I thought he must be right until they got him and the dream kept going.”
“He was making real things,” Mira said. “We call it shaping. The living things are semblances and the nonliving are renderings.”
“Whatever,” Amanda said, apparently not too interested. “I’ve been here alone a long time. Nothing changes. I don’t get older. I can’t leave. I’ve tried. So I just hide out. I’ve learned how to survive pretty good. Much better than when Brady was with me.”
“Did he slow you down?” Cole asked.
“Not really,” Amanda said. “We would find ways to avoid the bad stuff he made, but then he’d dream up new creatures that were smarter or had new skills. He couldn’t help it. Once he was gone, the monsters stopped improving, and my job got easier.”
“Are there others like you here?” Mira asked. “Good semblances?”
“He made a few heroes, but they eventually got killed,” Amanda said. “They were too bold. There’s nobody left on my side. But it looked like you guys needed help, and he made me to watch over little kids.”
“We’re not little,” Jace protested, earning an elbow to his side from Twitch.
“Play along,” Twitch murmured softly.
“No kids think they’re little,” Amanda said. “I’m fifteen. That’s when you’re finally big.”
“Are we stuck here?” Mira asked.
“I am,” Amanda said. “I can’t cross the border of Dreamland. You guys aren’t. I’ll teach you a trick that’ll let you walk right out of here. But first: Anybody want some popcorn?”
“Some what now?” Twitch asked.
“Yes,” Cole said. “Popcorn is good.”
Amanda walked into a neighboring room. “You four came from outside Dreamland?”
“Yeah,” Cole said.
“What’s out there?”
“Other weird stuff,” Cole said.
Amanda returned with four bowls, two in her hands, two on her forearms. “You don’t think we’re part of a dream?”
“Feels that way sometimes,” Mira said. “Especially this place. But it’s all real.”
“Don’t all dream people think they’re real?” Amanda asked. “How can characters in a dream tell how real they are? Brady thought he was the dreamer. I couldn’t argue with him since he made me. He used lots of good details. I can remember what it was like to be awake, even though I’ve never woken. I started to wonder if he was dreaming inside of somebody else’s dream. That would make me a dream of a dream.”
“You’re hurting my brain,” Twitch said.
Amanda gave a brash laugh. “I know how you feel! Don’t worry, if you think you’re real, who am I to contradict you? I don’t care how real you are. It’s nice to find anyone that isn’t trying to kill me.”
“You mentioned we could walk out of here,” Mira said. “Were you serious?”
Amanda narrowed her eyes. “You’re not spies, are you? Did th
e bad guys send you to learn my secrets?”
“You said there haven’t been new enemies here since Brady left,” Cole reminded her.
“True,” Amanda said. “After Brady left, this place stopped changing. Maybe you are real! The only other people who’ve come from outside were grown-ups. If they can’t outsmart a dinosaur, that’s their problem.”
“How can we walk out of here?” Mira asked.
“Easy,” Amanda said, leaving the room for a moment. She returned with plastic skeleton masks. “Wear these.”
“Are you kidding?” Jace exclaimed. “They followed us when we were in our autocoach. That hid us way better than a mask!”
“If you’re so smart, maybe I’m wrong,” Amanda said. “Maybe these masks haven’t worked perfectly for years and years.”
“You’re a semblance,” Jace pointed out. “They probably don’t chase you whether or not you have a mask.”
“They didn’t chase Bertram,” Cole added.
“I don’t know Bertram,” Amanda said. “Maybe Brady didn’t make him. Brady made me as a companion. His nightmares always chased me. They still chase me if I don’t wear a mask. But when I have a mask on, they do nothing. None of them. We came up with the idea right before the Blind Ones got Brady. He thought it would work, so it did. It’s his Dreamland after all. And then he wasn’t around to make any of the bad guys outsmart the trick.”
“We just wear plastic skull masks and walk out of here?” Cole checked.
“Yep,” Amanda said. “But first try some popcorn.”
Cole emerged from the metal tunnel cautiously. Despite Amanda’s assurances, it seemed ridiculous that anything would be fooled by him wearing a plastic skeleton mask and his regular clothes. Ready to dash back to the tube, he advanced cautiously, Jumping Sword in hand.
The tunnel had deposited him on ground level at the edge of the elaborate playground. Skeletons wandered around at random. No horns blew. The organization they had shown when converging earlier was gone. One skeleton wearing a shabby monk’s robe came near enough for Cole to reach out and touch it. Cole held still, trying to look more casual than he felt. The skeleton walked right past him.
Mira, Jace, and Twitch joined Cole. Behind them, Amanda watched from the tunnel, a mask covering her face as well. After they had filled up on hot buttered popcorn and cool lemonade, she had assured them that they could do whatever they wanted, including talk, as long as they kept the masks on.
Mango swooped down and landed on Mira’s shoulder. The cockatiel pecked gently at one of her hairpins. “Don’t tell me those masks actually work!” the bird squawked.
“Looks that way,” Mira whispered. “We should be able to stroll out of here.”
Cole kept watching the skeletons. Mira’s conversation with Mango didn’t seem to attract any notice.
“I told Bertram to wait for us past the edge of Brady’s Wilderness,” Mira said. “Think you could guide us to him?”
“The road winds a lot,” Mango said. “If you use your renderings, I might be able to help you catch him before he gets there.”
Mira turned to Cole. “What do you think?”
He felt flattered that she consulted him. “We don’t want to be too conspicuous. It would be bad if moving fast made our masks come off.”
“Let’s stay on the ground unless we need to dodge a random dinosaur,” Twitch said. Amanda had warned that there was still the chance of getting in the way of a large monster through bad luck. Sometimes skeletons got squished by accident.
“Fine with me,” Jace said. “I still can’t believe we might survive this. I had every intention of getting away, but it would have been rough.”
“We’ll just walk,” Mira said.
“I’ll lead you,” the bird said, flying forward.
Cole walked along, sword in hand, watching the skeletons ignore him. Some skeletons wore the remains of burial wrappings. Some wore filthy military uniforms. Many wore nothing. Of those that wore nothing, some were more polished and in better repair than others. Most carried some sort of weapon.
The Shaper’s Flail followed along behind them, links clinking softly. The skeletons paid it no attention.
They passed many wonders. A three-level carousel rotated to calliope music, ornate statues of horses pumping up and down on their brass poles. A herd of massive Brachiosaurs waded through swampy terrain, tearing long strands of string cheese off white trees. A banana split the height of an office building threw long shadows as chocolate syrup and caramel seeped down creamy slopes.
Cole didn’t feel like talking. Neither did the others, apparently. They just followed Mango and tried to stay out of the paths of the aimless skeletons.
The cockatiel led them well. The only monsters they encountered were skeletons, which roamed in such ridiculous numbers that they were unavoidable. Plastic dinosaurs could occasionally be seen in the distance. Cole glimpsed far-off flying creatures a couple of times, and once he saw some shambling mounds moving across a remote field. Otherwise the long march was uneventful.
Late in the day, Cole tore a piece from a glazed doughnut that was larger than a tractor tire. The others claimed handfuls as well, carefully eating the morsels under their masks. None of the skeletons showed interest.
As the sun sank, they reconnected with a path and shortly came upon the autocoach, waiting just off the path near a stream. Mask still in place, Mira led the way inside. Cole found his bow where he had left it.
“You kids shouldn’t wander off like that,” Bertram scolded warmly. “We have places to go. Still bound for Middlebranch?”
“Yes,” Mira said.
“We’ll arrive late tomorrow morning,” Bertram said. “Off we go.”
The autocoach started rolling forward. They took off their masks. Body scraped and bruised, feet sore, eyes drooping, Cole found the coach much more comfortable than the night before.
CHAPTER
29
MIDDLEBRANCH
Middlebranch was a larger town than Cole expected. The bustling community made him realize he hadn’t seen a real town since coming to the Outskirts—just Skyport, Declan’s hidden castle, and the empty country where the slave caravan had traveled.
The typical buildings in Middlebranch had stone foundations that stuck up above ground level to support wooden walls. Several main streets crisscrossed the town. Not including the outlying farms they had passed in the last hour before reaching the town, Middlebranch had dozens of buildings, maybe hundreds, some of them four stories tall.
They reached a stone-paved street featuring several mansions with gated grounds. Cole craned to view the impressive homes. The strangest one of them boasted many turrets and gables, and was partly constructed from glossy black stone, partly from bricks of various shades of blue, and partly from golden-hued wood. The end result was quirky and visually confusing, not helped by the spacious quartz fountain out front.
“Look at that crazy house,” Cole said.
“Probably belongs to the lead shaper,” Mira guessed. “Only shapers would build so eccentrically.”
“I kind of like it,” Twitch said. “It’s original.”
“Should we talk to the lead shaper?” Cole asked.
“Usually the lead shaper is tight with the local government,” Mira said. “That often equals being tight with my father. This street is probably all government officials. We should look for Gerta the herb woman. Bertram? Could you take us to the town’s main inn?”
“There are two of significant popularity,” Bertram replied.
“How about the one the local officials visit least often?” Mira said.
“That would be Spinner’s Lodge,” he said.
“Let’s go there,” Mira said.
Jace was rooting around in the storage space under his seat. He looked up, a brown sack in his hand. “This is full of ringers,” he said.
“They told us they gave us money,” Mira said.
“I remember,” Jace explained. �
�But this is full! Copper ringers, silver, gold, even platinum. We could buy a ranch and have money to spare. We could buy one of those mansions.”
“We have to be careful not to show it,” Mira said. “Nothing draws trouble quicker than flashing money around.”
Grinning, Jace started sliding simple rings of equal size onto one end of a leather cord. “I’m free and I have money.”
“That’s too much,” Mira scolded. “No gold. Certainly no platinum. Use mostly copper, and a couple silver if you must.”
“I won’t show it off,” Jace promised. “I just want an emergency fund. We already almost lost the coach once.”
“Your coins are rings?” Cole asked.
“Most people in the five kingdoms use ringers,” Mira said. “They’re officially called ringaroles. I guess it’s new to you. Ten coppers in a silver, five silvers in a gold, ten gold in a platinum. There are also copper bits, worth a quarter of a copper, and silver bits, worth half a silver. Those are smaller and square.”
“No bits in here,” Twitch said, adding ringers to his own cord.
“It’s against the law to shape ringers,” Mira said. “Some shapers are employed to check if ringers are authentic. My guess is Declan shaped these, and I suspect nobody would be able to tell.”
“I should grab some,” Cole said. “You know, in case of emergencies.”
“Don’t get caught with too much on you,” Mira warned. “They’ll think you robbed a money house.” She claimed a small handful and began threading a cord through them.
Cole took a short cord from the bag, loaded it with gold and platinum ringers, then tied it around his leg inside of his sock. Satisfied, he started loading a longer cord with mostly copper ringers to wear around his neck.
“You’ll jingle,” Twitch said.
“What?” Cole asked.
“The ringers on your leg will jingle,” Twitch said. “It won’t fool anyone.”
“How should I do it?” Cole asked.
“Use less and spread them out,” Twitch said. “A few ringers in one boot, a few in the other. A couple inside your belt. Use knots to separate some on a cord and bind that around your leg.”
