Dreamcatcher

by Christian Rosnell

  He couldn’t just take the stairs?

  Lyght jumped off anyway, the deep blue Legion cloak flying behind him. Despite himself, he felt a rush of adrenaline as he plummeted the few stories to the cobbled street below. Wrenching back his right hand a little harder than he needed to, Lyght reversed gravity for himself and Mikael as he fell below, slowing them to a manageable speed as they fell to the ground and hit it running.

  In their Legion cloaks and armor, it was pretty clear to the bystanders on the street that the pair of them were Dreamcasters, so they generally made a clear path for Lyght and Mikael as they ran headlong towards the sparkling diamond tower in the center of the city. Technically, they didn’t need to run, but Lyght could feel the same energy by now that he was sure Mikael was feeling. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he welcomed the heightened sense of focus and intensity that moving at this speed brought. He really did feel confident now – it wasn’t just words.

  Lyght looked up at the darkening sky as they neared Triumph, and noted with interest that a storm seemed to be coming. He didn’t think that would interfere with their mission, but then again he still didn’t know what they were going to be doing.

  Lyght knew he’d find out quickly enough, however, as they reached Triumph and headed towards the lifts as usual. This time, there was a Legend standing by the lift on the ground floor who was apparently waiting for them, for he nodded to them and escorted them into the lift, placing an odd black crystal on the button for floor ninety-seven, lighting it up. The doors slid shut and within seconds they began to rise rapidly.

  As the lift rose, Lyght tried to catch his breath and prepare for his second meeting with the King. Trying to straighten his dark hair, messed up by the wind outside, Lyght grasped at his belt for a second for his helm which was strapped at the small of his back. He decided against it, however. Would it be viewed as rude to wear that to a meeting with the King? He thought so, although the First Legend had worn a full helm during their meeting, so Lyght couldn’t be sure.

  The lift finally stopped after a minute, and the Legend stepped out, motioning for Lyght and Mikael to follow. They walked behind him through a rich hallway made of some deep reddish-brown wood Lyght didn’t recognize. Ornately decorated with rose gold veins cutting through the wood – in addition to gem-encrusted pillars that spiraled up to the ceiling a few dozen feet above – it was a display of grandeur like Lyght had never seen, in Glory or otherwise. This was, clearly, the hallway of a King.

  They took a left behind the Legend into a smaller hallway that contained a retinue of guards headed by a pair of Legends with tall, wicked-looking halberds that projected Lyght’s reflection back at him. They were the two biggest Legends he’d ever seen, outside of Lyn. As soon as they saw their comrade escorting Lyght and Mikael, they nodded at the regular guards to open a huge black double door into a room beyond. Lyght and Mikael entered as the doors were swung shut behind them.

  It didn’t take Lyght long to find the King standing off to the left, looking out of the floor-to-ceiling diamond wall doubling as a window. A quick glance around the comfy-looking room revealed it to be some kind of office, prominently featuring the same wood as out in the hallway, complete with a large, ancient-looking desk and massive collection of books on shelves all around.

  The King, hearing them and seeing their reflection, turned and spread his arms out, “Ah, Lyght and Mikael. Welcome to my study, where I spend much of my day when I am not out doing things in the city. Which, admittedly, is not so much anymore. But enough of that – have a seat, and we’ll get to business. I’ll try not to keep you long.”

  The King of the Dreamscape flexed his right hand and made a quick pulling motion with it, dragging out a pair of chairs from beside the desk over to Lyght and Mikael for them to sit in. Lyght glanced at the King with interest and sat down, waiting for the King to speak first.

  So he is a Dreamcaster…

  Lyght supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, the stories in villages like Kona were that the King had created Dreamcasting. Lyght didn’t know about that, but it seemed like a no-brainer that the most powerful person in the Dreamscape would have the long-revered power. The Legion, after all, did serve him. It made Lyght wonder just how powerful he was, especially with centuries to hone his skills.

  After a moment of thought, Decimader Vuruman turned from his contemplation of the city below to look back at Lyght and Mikael. He smiled, glancing at their armor and weapons, “Looking good, guys. This is your first mission, I know, but once you join the Legion, things like this will become routine. You’ll get over the nervousness of it all, and it will be exciting even.”

  Lyght just knew Mikael was going to break in here, and of course he did, “I’m not nervous! I’m ready to do it, whatever it is.” The King raised his eyebrows, “Confidence is good. And while I’m sure you two will be fine on this mission, talented as you are, you’ll still want to be careful to execute it exactly as ordered. This mission isn’t extremely difficult, but it is actually important, even by Legion standards. I…”

  Somewhat to Lyght’s chagrin, Mikael cut the King off again, “How come you’re selecting us to do this mission, then? Didn’t you say in that note you gave me at our meeting that only Lyght and I could complete this mission? If it’s really important, why have amateurs do it? And if it’s not that hard, how can it be as important to the Dreamscape as you claim?” Lyght frowned as he listened to his friend speak. Mikael did make some good points.

  Lyght was, however, relieved to see that the King didn’t look angered by Mikael’s interruption. Decimader Vuruman smiled at Mikael, “All good questions. And now I will explain the mission to you – the details, the importance of it, the rationale, and everything I know. Hopefully that will answer all your questions.” Lyght was thankful to see Mikael nod, content to listen. The King nodded to himself, glancing toward the window, “Hmmm… where to begin?”

  “Well, like I said in that invitation I gave you, this mission is of the utmost importance to the Dreamscape. Here’s why – simply put, what I’m going to do is ask you to capture and bring to me two very significant individuals; likely Dreamcasters like you two. I have, just a few hours ago, obtained a… source which has allowed me to discover these individuals’ specific location, and funnily enough, it’s right near Glory. Lucky, right?”

  “Anyway, the reason I don’t think this will be all that dangerous for you guys is that you’re both very skilled right now for your age level, and what I’d like you to do is fairly easy to execute if done right. I’d like you to set up an ambush in a location where these two individuals believe they will be meeting with other colleagues of theirs. Their guard will be down for the most part, and they will be expecting pleasant company, not attack. It should not be overly difficult to catch them by surprise, knock them out and bring them back here. They should be alone. Now…”

  The King strode over to his cluttered desk, unearthing a yellowish map of Glory and the surrounding area. He grabbed a pen and drew a star on the map, “This location here is what we call the ‘first spire’ of the Central Bridge. It is, simply enough, the first and closest to Glory of the soaring towers that dot the bridge every few miles or so, all the way across the channel. It should be easy enough for you two to head on over there after this, and set up an ambush in the tower for the approaching two targets. They are supposed to arrive at midnight, so you should have a couple hours to set up your plan and prepare yourself once you arrive.”

  “Essentially, they believe they will be meeting their colleagues on the bridge below there at exactly midnight. So you spring your trap, knock them out – however you need to do it – and bring them to me. You cannot, and I emphasize this point to the highest degree, you cannot kill them. If you absolutely have to, flee and we will train you up more to defeat them later. It’s the only way. You should be fine though – I believe in you.”

  Lyght felt a swoosh of elation at this compliment from the King,
but he couldn’t help but wonder about something. Mikael voiced the concern, “But again, why us? Why can’t you have other Legion members, more experienced than us, take them out? You said these individuals are a huge threat to the Dreamscape, right?”

  The King nodded slowly, then walked over to look out the window, standing there for so long that Lyght almost thought he didn’t want to talk to them anymore. Finally, however, he turned back to look at the pair of them, “Alright. I’ll tell you the details, because you deserve to know. The names of these two individuals are Troy and Kiara. They are none other than two of the leaders of the Dream Syndicate, a highly criminal organization who the Legion has worked to destroy since they popped up about five years ago. This organization wants to destroy the Dreamscape, and they need to be stopped. It’s complicated; but just know that the first two Dreamcasters out of Hope – you guys – this is what you were foretold to destroy. They’re a huge threat to the survival Dreamscape, and I’ve finally tracked their location down for the first time ever.”

  “So, you understand, it’s got to be you guys. Believe me; it seems crazy to me that, with the whole Legion and me here, a pair of unproven eighteen-year-old Dreamcasters were the ones always destined to perform such a heroic feat for the whole Dreamscape. But there you have it – it’s you guys. It always has been. Are you ready?”

  Lyght sat there simmering inside as the King revealed all this, remembering his conversations with Seth and Lyn. Apparently he’d been misled about the Dream Syndicate. He’d never really believed in them anyway, had he? He’d always known it was them anyway, them that…

  He shook his head. No time to think about that now. Lyght glanced over at Mikael, who was already looking at him. They exchanged a nod, and Lyght looked up into his King’s eyes.

  “We’re ready, sir. We won’t let you down.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Silence reigned for a few moments as Seth stared at the screen with Troy and Kiara’s faces on it, set in front of a background of the massive Central Bridge that spanned the entire channel. Rain sprinkled where Troy and Kiara were, but did not reach far enough south to affect Seth and Iri’s location in Glory. It did look like it was going to storm soon here in the massive capital city, but that was not what Seth was most concerned about at the moment. He couldn’t help but cross his room behind him, over to his window to open the drapes, ensuring no one was coming outside. He also looked through the peephole of his locked door down the hallway. It didn’t seem like anyone was coming for them. Yet.

  Seth could see Iri looked just as worried as he felt, for Troy had just broken the terrible news to them. Lyn, the longtime friend of the Dream Syndicate and informer from inside the Legion itself, possibly the most passionate person in the Dreamscape about wanting to see the Dark destroyed, had been captured by Decimader Vuruman. Seth couldn’t see how the King had discovered that the Academy teacher was a double agent, or how he’d actually been able to capture the powerful Dreamcaster. Seth thought he must’ve tricked him – Lyn was bound to heed the King’s call as his servant in the Legion. Maybe the King had overwhelmed Lyn and captured him that way.

  Whatever had happened, all Seth knew was that the mission was in serious danger now. What if the plan was given away? How would they ever get that Dreamcatcher object to the Heirs? If the King found out there was not one, but two Heirs in his capital city, they would never live to see the light of day again. And the mission of the Dream Syndicate – to destroy the Dark once and for all – would be finished. There would be no end in sight to Decimader Vuruman’s reign.

  Before either of them could say anything, Kiara jumped in, “No, we don’t know how he was captured. The news it shocked us too. I know that the King capturing Lyn in particular seems like a huge coincidence, but it doesn’t seem like Decimader actually knows who Lyn is. Or so Lyn has told us, anyway.”

  Seth breathed a huge sigh of relief – it would be a complete disaster if the King did know Lyn’s real identity, though it seemed hard to believe Decimader would elect to capture him if he didn’t understand the real connection. But maybe the King had somehow uncovered a line of communication between the Dream Syndicate leaders and Lyn, or somehow otherwise discovered that Lyn was a double agent working in conjunction with the Dream Syndicate. It made a world of difference whether the King took him on that general premise, or whether he had real suspicions about the Heirs (or single Heir, as he thought) and thought Lyn was involved with that whole issue. If not, Lyn was a good deal safer, as Seth couldn’t see how Decimader could get that information out of Lyn, considering who he was. Who both of them were.

  The King would still, in the best case scenario, try to investigate Lyn to determine where his Dream Syndicate connections where hiding, in the hope of finding and eliminating them. Seth, Iri, Troy, and Kiara would just have to stay a step ahead of them. Seth’s hand flexed in anticipation as he looked forward to wrapping this conversation up and leaving the capital city. It wasn’t really safe for them both to be here anymore.

  Iri raised her head and asked a question that Seth hadn’t thought about, “Wait. You said ‘Or so Lyn has told us’. Do you somehow have contact with him, even though he’s been captured?” Troy spoke up this time, running a hand through his long brown hair and looking frustrated, confused, and tired at the same time. He still kept his usual air of command though as he looked at Iri through the shimmering screen, violet eyes looking worried and determined all at once.

  “Well, sorry about this, but this wasn’t something I was supposed to talk about unless the worst happened, which it now has. Years ago, Lyn came to me and handed me a rolled-up scroll. He had me place my hand on it and channel my unique spirit fingerprint into the seal, preserving it under a kind of ‘lock’ that apparently only I can open. He told me to only open the scroll if he was somehow captured or killed by the King – which he did say back then was highly unlikely, but… well, as you know, our sources in Glory alerted us today that it had happened. That he’s been captured. It’s funny, it’s almost like he knew this would happen…”

  Troy trailed off for a few moments before shaking his head, “Sorry, got distracted. I really need to catch up on sleep. Well, anyway…” Troy took a deep breath, and exhaled, “I opened the scroll, and it told me a lot of stuff we didn’t know before. Crucial information Lyn had to leave us if he was somehow captured or killed. Here”, Troy held up a scroll with tiny black handwriting scrawled across its face, “I’ll read it to you guys. You should know what it says. He’d want you to know.” Troy flipped the paper around and began to read in a heavy voice.

  Troy,

  If you’re reading this, I’m sure it’s because I’ve been captured or killed, unfortunately. If I’ve been killed, well, it was great knowing you all, but I’m not going to get all sentimental here, because it seems highly unlikely to me that the ‘King’ would have found a way to kill me. Almost impossible, even. But things happen. If I’ve been captured, don’t try to free me. It’s too dangerous. I have ways to do it on my own if need be. You guys have more important stuff to be working on.

  Which brings me to the main subject of this letter. Due to the realities of what could happen were this information to fall into the wrong hands – if one of you were to be captured, that is – I have been forced to leave out some of what I know concerning how to destroy the Dark. I speak of this in this letter since I’m not around, for the time being, to guide you. I think you may very well need the assistance.

  First of all – if you’re still searching for the ‘scared object’ I talked about, find it. None of this can be accomplished without it. That should be the first objective.

  Second of all, if you do have the object, and you do know where the Heirs are by now, then remember I’ve told you all we need to do is unite the object with the Heirs and let them do the rest of the work. This is not the whole truth. This needs to happen in an exact location as well – specifically, in the ‘apex’ of the tower of Triumph in Glory. You s
ee, the Dark is actually focused there, and so that is the point to destroy its source and cut off the flow. Without the constant flow, the Dark will eventually dissipate.

  Unfortunately, I don’t exactly know what you need to do up there in Triumph to destroy the Dark, but I do know in theory that the object plus the Heirs are prerequisites to destroying it. I’ll have to leave it up to your bravery and intuition to figure it out. I trust that you, Kiara, Seth, and Iri can do it.

  So the apex, above the top floor of the tower, is the place to go. I’ve never gotten up there – no one has outside of the King, probably – but I trust you all to find a way.

  That’s all I can do at this point, right? Trust you? I think I’ll do that.

  Good luck, I believe in you guys,

  Lyn

  Troy finished reading and looked up, “So, there you have it. We need to get the Dreamcatcher to the Heirs on top of the tower of Triumph. If ever I’ve heard of a tall order, that’s it. We were planning to meet Lyn at the first spire at midnight tonight – and we should still reach that point about on time – but obviously that’s not going to happen. So we’ll have to meet up with you guys first, and then we’ll definitely need your help to track down the Heirs.”

  Iri nodded, “Unfortunately, it might be a bit difficult to find them right now. I know they’re supposed to go on some weird ‘mission’ or something for the King soon, although they won’t talk about it much. Hopefully they won’t have left yet, because we really do need to find them. It’s dangerous to be in this city as it is right now. But apparently we need to stay at least until we can get into Triumph…”