Dreamthief

by Tamara Grantham

Forty

  Fan’twar’s voice came to me, but not from my dream. I opened my eyes. I lay in the dragon caves. Sunlight streamed through the huge, cathedral windows and fell in patches over the rug-strewn stone floors. Kull sat by me also, with his chin resting in his hands.

  I felt the strange sensation of dragon magic tingling where my stab wound had been. I glanced at my chest and saw that I wore a white nightshirt. Beneath it, my stab wound had been dressed in white cloth. I gingerly touched the fabric covering the gash. The greenish glow of dragon magic hummed beneath my fingertips. Only a dull ache remained where the wound had been.

  “You healed me?” I asked Fan’twar as he loomed over me.

  “Yes,” he answered.

  I sat up, trying to piece together the past several hours, but the images were blurred. At least I was pretty sure I had rescued Jeremiah.

  “My godson?” I asked.

  “He is safe,” Fan’twar answered. “As is his sister. They have found a new babysitter. Dragons are quite fond of tending humans, as you have found out.” I stared past Fan’twar to see Jeremiah. He stood with his silly grin, hands behind his back.

  I wanted to hug him tightly but only managed a small embrace. Jeremiah handed me a bouquet of red fairy mushrooms. Tiny fairies peeked from the windows.

  “They’re beautiful.”

  “I think if you keep them in water, the fairies won’t fly away.”

  “That’s right.”

  His face grew serious. “Olive, can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “Have you ever had a bad dream? Like something really bad? But you couldn’t remember what it was about?”

  My heart missed a beat. “Sometimes that happens.”

  “Has it happened to you?”

  I wasn’t sure how to answer. “Yes, a few times. But the best thing to do is try to fill your mind with happy things, and then pretty soon you won’t even remember the scary stuff.”

  “What kind of happy things?”

  “Well—”

  “Like toys and playing and that kind of stuff?”

  “Yes, like that.”

  “All right. Then maybe I should go play? The dragons are teaching me how to catch nobbinflies.”

  “I think that would be a great idea. You’re a very smart boy, Jeremiah. And a very brave one, too.”

  He gave me another smile. “You think so?”

  “Yes. I know so.”

  He hugged me. His skin felt warm and soft, the way I remembered him. “I love you, Olive,” he said softly.

  “I love you, too.”

  He turned and skipped out of the room without another word.

  Fan’twar watched him go. As soon as Jeremiah disappeared, I turned to my stepfather.

  “You erased his memories, didn’t you?” I asked.

  “I thought it would be best. Although I’ve taken his memories, I cannot erase the emotions he felt while in the dreamstate. It is fortunate that he has you as his guardian.”

  “I’ll watch over him. When his suppressed memories start to bother him, I’ll be ready.”

  Although I felt glad that the sky king had removed Jeremiah’s memories, I knew the boy still had a long road ahead of him.

  Sissy entered the room and walked to me with guarded footsteps. She looked different. Maybe it was the defiance that was missing.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hi, Sissy.”

  When she got to me, she exhaled, as if she had a lot on her chest that she wanted to get off. “I wanted to tell you…” she started, “about Mrs. Dickinson. I tried.”

  “You knew who she was?”

  She nodded, her eyes pressed closed. Tears leaked from the corners. “I didn’t know what to say. I knew everybody would think I was crazy.”

  “You can tell me now.”

  She nodded. “I found her in my brother’s bedroom a while back. She’d done something to him. He looked different, like all the life had burned out of his eyes. Then he started acting different. He wouldn’t play anymore, wouldn’t talk to anyone. I knew something weird was going on.”

  “What did you do about it?”

  “I tried to tell people, but nobody listened. That’s when I found my foster mom using a mirror. She’d disappear and then come back. It scared me. I didn’t know what to think, what to do.” She sniffled.

  I grabbed her hand. “You can keep going.”

  “Jer kept getting worse, so I thought I’d find out what my foster mom was doing. I went to her mirror. Next thing I know, I’m holding that dream catcher. I must’ve come here, but I don’t remember anything.”

  “What did you do with the dream catcher?”

  Her chest rose and fell. “What I told you about those LEGOs, it wasn’t the whole story. I was mad at him, and I wanted to get back at him. I didn’t know what that dream catcher did. Honest. I was only trying to scare him. I left it on his pillow for him to find, but when he touched it, that’s when he passed out.” Her grip tightened. Her body shuddered with sobs, and I pulled her close.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered.

  “It was my fault.”

  “It was never your fault, Sissy. Your foster mom was an evil person. She used her magic to taint something that had been intended for nobler purposes. It was her intention for you to give him the dream catcher. You can’t blame yourself.”

  Her sobs continued. Kull looked on. He gave me a weak smile, as if to say, it’s okay. After her crying quieted, Sissy pulled away.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “You don’t have to be.”

  “But I am. I’m sorry for what I put you through. I’m taking Jer back home. Dr. Hill is helping us find a new family. I’m not gonna run anymore. I can’t. I have to be strong.” She swallowed. “For Jer.”

  I patted her hand.

  She glanced at Fan’twar and then back to me. He gave a slight nod, hinting at some unspoken communication between the two of them.

  “Can I tell you something else?” she asked me.

  “Go ahead.”

  “My mom told me something before she died. She said she was sending a guardian angel to watch over us. Every night after she died, I looked out my window, wondering why my guardian angel wasn’t flying down from Heaven to watch over me. But now I know that my guardian angel didn’t have wings. Now I know who she was talking about. Thank you, Olive. I don’t think I ever mentioned it before.”

  Her gratitude had me at a loss for words. I’d always worried she’d turn out like her mom, but now, I didn’t have to worry about her. She was growing into a beautiful young woman, someone who could inspire the world for good if she put her mind to it.

  “I gotta get back to Jer.” She gave me a quick hug. “Thank you again,” she whispered and then left the room.

  Kull cleared his throat. I glanced at him. I had the uncomfortable problem of thanking him for saving my life. I wasn’t sure how to say it. Words didn’t seem like enough. I turned to Fan’twar instead.

  “You have done great good for many people,” he said.

  “Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

  “Your godson’s sister owes a great debt to you.”

  “I’m not sure what I did. I thought she hated me.”

  “You allowed her to make mistakes, to understand her consequences. It is what any good parent would have done.”

  A good parent. Great. I’d always thought I’d make a lousy parent. I didn’t want to ponder it, so I changed the subject. “Were you able to help the other dragons?” I asked him.

  My stepfather’s face grew grim. “I never made it to the outer islands.”

  “Why not?”

  “I was stopped by the Regaymor. The goblins were not the only species interested in Theht’s return. The Regaymor were attempting to infiltrate our planet. I stopped them before they were able to obtain the island’s magic, though I fear it will not be long before they find a way to return.”

 
; “Who are they, exactly?”

  “They are beings from another reality. I was not able to learn any more than that.”

  “Did you kill them?”

  “I sent them away. They are not capable of death as we are familiar with it.” The image of the Dreamthief’s mirror popped into my mind. I’d seen a place with twisted trees and a dark moor. Could that be where they were from? If so, where was it? There were still many places in Faythander yet to be discovered. Still, I wondered why my stepfather didn’t know much more about them.

  I glanced at Kull again. He seemed cryptically quiet. I decided it was time for a change in subject.

  “You came roaring to my rescue on the back of an enchanted T-Rex, even after I asked you not to help me.”

  “To the contrary, you asked me not to help where the pixies were concerned. And so I didn’t. However, I refused to stay away from you after that. I could think of no better way to rescue you than on the back of an enchanted ancient dragon. It had quite the dramatic effect, don’t you think?”

  I stifled a laugh. Same old Kull. Despite his cockiness, his voice took me off guard. Listening to him was like watching flowers grow after a long, brutal winter. I decided not to mention it to him. Warrior voices aren’t supposed to remind people of flowers.

  “How did you manage to steal the T-Rex?” I asked.

  “Euralysia owed me a favor.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “A favor?”

  “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “I may have learned something about her that she’d rather keep secret. I used it to my advantage.”

  “You blackmailed the elven princess?”

  A small smile lit his face. “Blackmail? I would do no such thing! I negotiated for a worthy cause. As it turns out, the skeleton was not as hard to remove as you thought.”

  “You made Euralysia steal the skeleton for you?”

  “Apparently. As you know, I have no memory of it.”

  I wondered what bit of information he’d learned about her. For a time, I’d suspected her of being the Dreamthief.

  “Olive, there is something I must tell you.”

  And here we go. Was Kull ready to confess what Mr. Green had hinted at?

  “You don’t have to tell me. I think I already know.”

  “You do?”

  “Were you helping Mr. Green?”

  He knitted his eyebrows.

  “Because I understand completely. I forgive you. I know how it must be sometimes, to support a cause you believe in but—”

  “No,” he cut me off. “That is not at all what I meant to say. I never met Mr. Green until I found him in the tower with you. I had meant to tell you something else.”

  “Oh,” I stopped. “What?”

  “I—” He glanced up at Fan’twar. My stepfather cleared his throat, then mumbled something about checking on my godson and left the room, all six tons of scales and teeth.

  What was going on? What did Kull have to say that he couldn’t say in front of the sky king?

  “I have decided not to marry the princess,” he said.

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Marrying her will not stop the war. In fact, the war is already started. My marriage would have only delayed the inevitable.”

  “What does Euralysia think about this?”

  He hesitated. “She agreed. Under the circumstances.”

  “Was this part of the blackmail?”

  A small smile creased his mouth. “It may have been.” His face turned serious. “Euralysia agreed to help me free you, but she could do nothing to stop the war. The goblins have organized. My own sister has joined them.”

  This actually made sense. It had been Heidel who’d sabotaged us, not Kull. “But why would she do it?”

  “Because she fell in love with Geth.”

  “What? How did that happen?”

  “Do you remember the scars on her hands?”

  “Yes, I remember.”

  “They were put there by goblins—by Geth—when she met him in his true form almost three years ago. She was on a scouting expedition near the goblin lands when her troop was attacked. She was captured by creatures who she thought were elves. She managed to lure their leader, Geth, into a sense of security. Unfortunately, he fell in love with her, though I will never understand how she came to love him. She learned that Geth was actually a goblin and the leader of the Caxon. They have since vowed to stay in their elven forms, although they were forbidden by the elves to do so.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “This seems so ridiculous sometimes. Where is Heidel now?”

  His face grew grim. “She has left us to join the Caxon. Although I’ve rescued you, the Caxon are still very much a threat. Their quest to summon Theht has only begun. Mr. Green was the leader of one faction, but with him gone, Geth will have the ability to take control of all the Caxon—and of the entire goblin nation.”

  Through the window, a thin trail of smoke snaked into the sky. From this far up, the smoke could have come from miles away. Drums beat in the distance, the drums of a battle.

  For the first time in a thousand years, war had come to Faythander. My stomach sank as the drumbeat continued.

  “Will you fight?” I asked Kull.

  Dumb question. Of course he would fight.

  “I will not join my father in the resistance. Not yet. I have something much more important to do first.”

  “Like what?” My heart sped up. What was he saying? Was he hinting at something? Did it have to do with me? Was this the real reason he’d dumped Euralysia? Maybe this was finally the moment I’d been waiting for. Or dreading. I couldn’t decide which.

  “I must find my sister first.”

  His sister? Yes, of course. His sister. What was I, delusional? I tried to rearrange my thoughts. He didn’t even remember what had happened on Earth. In his mind, we were still close acquaintances and nothing else. It didn’t matter anyway. I still had a boyfriend back home. I’m sure I could make things work with Brent. Assuming I wanted to try. Thinking of choosing Brent over Kull made my heart turn to a lead weight in my chest. I did my best to push the heartache away and instead focused on what Kull was saying.

  “Do you think your sister wants to come back?” I asked.

  “I know Heidel. She wears many masks, but she cannot conceal the truth from me. She is loyal to her family. And to me. I will convince her to come back, even if I have to kill the entire goblin race to prove it.”

  “Will you go alone?” Despite my attempt to rearrange my thought process, my heart only felt heavier. I didn’t want to let him go. He’d saved me from the Dreamthief. Surely he cared for me on some level, even if it was as a friend. But the truth was—I’d fallen in love with him.

  My throat tightened. I didn’t want to hear his answer.

  “Is something the matter?” he asked me.

  “No.” I forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just very tired. You should probably prepare for the journey to find your sister.”

  I turned away from him to face the window. The ash-scented air turned the sky a dull gray. I crossed my arms as a chill seeped in through the open window.

  “Olive.” He spoke my name softly, though in his deep, commanding voice. Placing a finger under my chin, he turned my head toward his. His penetrating blue eyes stared straight through me. I couldn’t look away if I’d wanted to.

  “You never told me the truth of what happened in Earth Kingdom.”

  I swallowed. “I didn’t?” My voice came out as a breathless whisper.

  “Whatever happened, it does not matter.”

  “Why not?”

  He took my hands in his and knelt beside me. “Because I am in love with you.”

  I blinked. Did I hear him correctly?

  “I have not been honest with you. I have admired you ever since you broke down that door. Since then, my feelings for you have grown. I admire the magic you wield. I am attracted to your sarcasm and your humor. You beauty is enchanting, even if you
don’t see it. If you do not feel the same way, I understand. I realize you have attachments to someone else—someone far below my merit. Yet, if you choose him over me, I will understand, and I will not bother you any longer.”

  “Someone below your merit, huh?”

  “Far below, I believe, were my exact words.”

  “And you feel that you’d make a better match for me?”

  “I am certain of it.” He leaned so close I felt his breath on my cheeks. I quietly inhaled the heady scent of his skin and hair, which smelled of sandalwood and spruce. “I can prove it to you, if you ask nicely.”

  I swallowed. I’d never felt so alive, so nervous, so invigorated. I stood on the edge of a cliff, ready to soar to a place so breathtaking I could only imagine it. All I had to do was say yes.

  He leaned closer until his lips pressed to my ear. “Say yes, Olive. Please.”

  A shiver ran through my body. The greatest of all Wult warriors, the mad brute who defied death, the hero of Faythander, knelt at my bedside and begged me to love him. I was dreaming. There was no other explanation.

  I took his face in my hands. His stubble felt soft under my fingertips. I held his face inches from mine. “You’re asking nicely?” I whispered.

  “I’m begging you.” His eyes were fierce and wild, lit with a deep forcefulness that drove me mad with desire. I leaned forward, just enough to let my chest press against his. I felt his warmth through the thin layer of gauze.

  “Kull,” I breathed. “Yes. My answer is yes.”

  His lips found mine. He kissed me softly at first, his lips caressing mine with slow, gentle movements. His hands moved to my hair, cupping the back of my head. Deepening the kiss, he made my lips open wider. The taste was intoxicating. I forgot to breathe. Liquid warmth ignited through my body.

  The kiss in my apartment had been a tease compared to this. I would never be the same again.

  When he pulled away, a wildfire lit his eyes. My chest rose and fell against his. I ran my finger along his jaw line. He grabbed my fingers and kissed them gently.

  “Will you come with me on the quest to find my sister?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes. Under one circumstance.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “No more dinosaurs.”

  His smile caught me off guard. He leaned in and kissed my forehead. When he pulled away, a twinkle lit his eye. “But you must admit, my rescue was much more dramatic with Kitten.”

  “Kitten? You gave it a name?”

  He kissed me again, I think mostly to shut me up. It felt good to be alive. A gentle breeze blew through the open window. Birds chirped in the distance. The sunlight penetrated through the low-lying clouds and warmed my skin.

  Kull had saved me. I hadn’t asked him to. He’d seemed so determined to marry the princess. Logically, I should’ve been dead right now. How was it that I’d miraculously survived?

  Bill offered me an explanation. It’s called karma.