Dreamcatcher

by Christian Rosnell

  He supposed he shouldn’t have been that surprised, however. His sister always did have that flair for the unexpected – she always tried to do the last thing people thought she was capable of attempting. The major difference Lyght could discern in this instance was that she was putting her energies towards what was arguably a very righteous and noble cause, rather than the usual troublemaking and attention-seeking she often gotten up to as a kid in Kona. Lyght had to say, he was proud of how far his sister had come just upon hearing this. His level of awe dramatically increased, however, as his sister went on with her story.

  Lyght tried hard not to jump in and interrupt her as she spoke about the crew’s decision to make land and search on Apathy based on some vague tip-off from the Dream Syndicate, of all people. Lyght would have thought she’d known not to trust those people, but he had to admit he wasn’t all that surprised about it either – Sky had always seemed to admire people who held a general disregard for the rules.

  No, what really shocked Lyght for the first time was hearing Sky describe her encounter with the object she called the Dreamcatcher. By the time this subject had come up, they were well into the capital city of Glory, for some reason heading towards – according to Sky – the tower of Triumph. Seth and Iri had split off from their group minutes ago, claiming they had to go “rescue” Lyn, whatever that meant. Lyght let them go, still not sure what the big hurry-up was about, or why they were headed to Triumph, or even what had happened to Lyn such that he needed saving. Could it have been part of a wider scale Dream Syndicate attack on the city, which Lyght and Mikael had already gotten involved in through the fight with their leaders? Lyght didn’t know, but he held his questions for the time being. He hoped Sky would get to that point as she went on.

  She was speaking now about her first encounter with this “Dreamcatcher” on the island of Apathy, “So when we finally get to the marked spot, it turns out to be a clearing atop a hill, which makes absolutely no sense as a place to hide treasure or valuable contraband, which we figured we would find. Not of that was there, but I did notice a small dark steel box on the ground – so of course I opened it. Inside was this ‘Dreamcatcher’ thing, or so it was called, with this note. Here, take a look.” Sky reached inside the pocket of the jacket she was wearing, pulling out a crumpled bit of paper and handing it to Lyght.

  He read: Behold the Dreamcatcher – Talisman of courage, Gatekeeper of the spirit, Weapon of the light.

  As Lyght read over the phrase a few times, Sky pulled another thing out of her coat pocket. Lyght looked up, seeing an odd object featuring a woven pattern inside a circle of sorts, with other similar designs and bits hanging off of it. The thing didn’t look too remarkable, although Lyght definitely hadn’t seen anything like it before. He took it from Sky, holding it up to inspect it closely. Sky confirmed his suspicions as she said, “Yeah, that’s it. The Dreamcatcher. The reason I kept it is because – and this may seem unbelievable, but I promise it’s true – when I grabbed it on the hill on that Dark night, it suddenly glowed this ultra-bright, electric blue and literally opened a hole in the Dark above us.”

  Lyght looked up sharply at this, wondering if he’d heard right, “You said it opened a hole in the Dark?” Sky nodded. Lyght looked down at the woven Dreamcatcher looped around his fingers, frowning. Lyght couldn’t help but remember another time, much earlier in his life, when he’d seen some sort of “hole”, or piercing, through the Dark above. It had always seemed to him that he’d caused it. And if this object made it happen as well… maybe the Dark could be destroyed after all. What if the object’s ability could be applied at a wider scale?

  Lyght looked up at his sister, “Sky? You said this opened a ‘hole’ in the Dark. Did you see anything… above the Dark, if that makes sense? Any white dots, or anything like that?”

  Sky looked around in surprise, frowning, “Yeah, that’s exactly what it was. How did you know?” Lyght sighed, looking down at the ground. He’d never told Mikael or Sky about this, and he wasn’t sure exactly how to put it. He decided to tell them, but to be brief about it.

  “I know because… on the night me and my dad were attacked by that unknown armed group – killing him of course, and almost killing me – he had me try Dreamcasting for the first time. He didn’t think I’d be able to do it, but I surprised him and showed that I actually was a Dreamcaster. Well, I kept going even after he’d rather I stopped, and the hardest thing he had me do was try to heat the air through spirit manipulation. That’s easy now of course, but back then… anyway, when I used this technique on the air, it actually tore a hole in the Dark sky above – just like this Dreamcatcher object. I don’t understand the connection between what I did that night and this object, but it would seem we saw the same result, Sky. A flat black canvas above, not twisting and moving like the Dark, and not as heavy. And laid on top of that, a blanket of these odd shining white dots. Am I right?” Sky nodded, looking at him thoughtfully, as if she was trying to decide something.

  Before she could respond, Mikael spoke up, “What? That really happened? So you’re telling me that you two, separately, have both at some point managed to destroy a portion of the Dark, and actually see what was above it?”

  Lyght nodded, “I’m not sure destroyed is the right word, but I definitely drove it away. I’m not sure if that’s connected with what Sky did, but…”, he trailed off, wondering if there was any connection between the time this had happened with him, over ten years ago, and the recent occurrence with Sky. He couldn’t see how it could be a coincidence; there had to be some reason for it all, he thought. There had to be.

  Lyght looked down; this was exactly the sort of thing he had the instinct to ask his dad about, but that obviously wasn’t an option. It had been ten years since his father’s death, and it was much rarer now that Lyght ran into situations where he felt like he needed his father’s advice. Now certainly felt like one of those times, though.

  Sky, who’d been walking in silence for the past minute or so, finally looked back over to Lyght. “I do have a theory on this, actually”, she began tentatively. Lyght nodded to her, urging her on, “Well”, she started, “this is definitely open for interpretation, but if you read the note, I really think the Dreamcatcher is intended for you to use. And not anyone who happens to find it, I mean you specifically, Lyght. You’re the one meant to use it. To destroy – or drive away – the Dark, that is.”

  Lyght opened his mouth to object but Sky held up a hand “OK, look. The ‘talisman of courage’ part is kind of ambiguous, I know. I noticed though, maybe because you’re my brother, that the last two parts could be referring to you. ‘Gatekeeper of the spirit’ clearly implies this object is connected with a Dreamcaster, and I tend to interpret ‘Weapon of the light’ literally. The note even has a different spelling of your name in it! And now that you’ve told me that you were actually able to drive away the Dark before, I can’t help but believe that you were meant to use this Dreamcatcher as a ‘weapon’ of sorts to destroy the Dark – in the apex of the tower of Triumph, of course. And…”

  Lyght had to cut her off there, as he was getting more and more confused as she kept speaking, “Woah, woah, hold up. I see your point about the note, but don’t you think you might be jumping to conclusions? I mean, I know my name is a different spelling of the word ‘light’, but that doesn’t mean I’m connected to any instance of the regular word. As for ‘spirit’, that also has multiple meanings; it doesn’t only refer to Dreamcasting capacity. And then what’s all this about the tower of Triumph? I don’t see how you’re leaping to all these conclusions.”

  Sky frowned, looking back and forth between Lyght and Mikael, “What, haven’t Seth and Iri filled you in on what’s begin going on since we found the Dreamcatcher? You’ve had the conversation with them about who they really are, right?” Lyght frowned and this and looked at Mikael, who just shook his head. Mikael spoke up this time, “No, they haven’t. What do you mean, ‘who they really are’? What
do we need to know that we’re not getting?”

  Sky opened her mouth suddenly, and closed it. She seemed unsure of what to say. She brought a hand to the back of her neck, laughing awkwardly, “Ah. Well, it wasn’t really supposed to be my job to tell you all this. Seth and Iri were supposed to let you know when they thought you were ready. You’re sure they didn’t…?”, she trailed off questioningly, and Lyght shook his head.

  “To be honest, with all the craziness we haven’t had much time to talk to those guys lately”, Lyght admitted. “How do you know who they are anyway, and how’d you run into them? What’s going on?”

  Sky sighed, “Damn. Well, I’ll have to explain this fast, ‘cause we’re going to be at the tower in five minutes. To put it bluntly – Seth and Iri are members of the Dream Syndicate. Two of its leaders, actually. The crew and I sought out the Dream Syndicate in the North once we’d found the Dreamcatcher, because we knew the Dream Syndicate’s main mission was to destroy the Dark – just like us. We thought the Syndicate could help us understand the Dreamcatcher and even put it to use. In a very lucky series of circumstances that I won’t go into right now, we finally found a headquarters of the Syndicate in Southern Fear, just past what they call the ‘Great Gate’. And by some wild coincidence, two of the Dream Syndicate leaders – Troy and Kiara, twins actually – were there.” Lyght felt a sudden, sinking feeling in his stomach as he heard this.

  Huh? Them!? What’s going on? Lyght exchanged glances with Mikael, who looked just as confused and startled as he was.

  Sky continued speaking, heedless of Lyght’s reaction, “We showed them the Dreamcatcher, and it turned out that it’s actually a very important object they’d been searching for themselves; one that could apparently destroy the Dark once and for all. And so Troy and Kiara talked to Seth and Iri through this weird Dreamcasting technique I don’t understand, and discussed this whole background that I don’t have time to go into. The point was though, and I can explain this more in-depth later, you and Mikael are actually meant to use this Dreamcatcher to destroy the Dark. It was something for you two to do all along! Believe me, it’s true. And the fact that it’s been something you guys always wanted to do makes it that much more believable to me.”

  Sky took a deep breath, “To wrap it up, shortly after arriving in Fear the crew and I left again to head south with Troy and Kiara to protect the Dreamcatcher, and pass it along to you guys. However, we heard on the way there – not too long ago, actually – that Lyn, the main source for the Dream Syndicate in Glory, had been captured by the King. Not only that, but Seth and Iri had been rounded up as well. So at that point, Troy opened a letter from Lyn in the event this ever happened, and it described to us how the source of the Dark is at the apex of the tower of Triumph, which I can see from here does look like it’s heavily clouded with Dark. You can’t see through the diamond at all.”

  Sky looked back and forth at Lyght and Mikael, “So, that’s pretty much the abridged version of what happened. Troy and Kiara needed someone to rescue Seth and Iri from the tower of Triumph where they were imprisoned, and so I volunteered to do it myself. After I snuck into Triumph and freed them from the underground prisons, I ran ahead and came here, hoping to track you guys down and hand off the Dreamcatcher – with a little help from someone I met, of course.” Sky smiled a little bit, obviously proud of herself. “So, what do you guys think? Ready to destroy the Dark once and for all, like you always talked about doing back in Kona?”

  Lyght froze, hesitant. It wasn’t the same now as it had been back then. He and Mikael had already chosen to try to join the Legion, not pursue their original mission of trying to destroy the Dark. And, according to the King, the Dream Syndicate was the sworn enemy of the Legion; a criminal group that was actually trying to destroy the Dreamscape. Lyght had always had something of a hatred for the Syndicate… for his own reasons.

  But now he was finding out that not only had Sky fallen in line with them, but Seth and Iri had been two of their leaders the whole time? That was highly confusing; as was the claim by Sky that the real intention of the Dream Syndicate was to destroy the Dark. Decimader’s account conflicted with that; he said they were trying to outright destroy the Dreamscape. What if… the two were really the same thing? Lyght wanted to find out more, but he was sure who to believe anymore.

  There was something else that had to be said at the moment, however…

  Lyght put a hand on Sky’s shoulder, “Listen, Sky. I’ll tell you briefly what’s been going on with us as well. After training for months at the Legion Academy, the King met with us personally and offered us direct induction into the Legion if we underwent a mission that he believed we were somehow ‘chosen’ to do, somehow. I’m skeptical of that, myself, but he told us to ambush these two Dream Syndicate leaders – Troy and Kiara – at the first spire of the Central Bridge. The King told us that the Dream Syndicate was trying to destroy the Dreamscape, and that the Legion was committed to fighting them. So of course we took the mission on, but Troy and Kiara beat us… badly. I almost died, actually. The injuries you healed me of came from them. But before Troy could finish me off, a Legend we don’t know came and saved us, carried me off the bridge, then took off.

  Sky walked alongside them, suddenly pale, “So Troy and Kiara are…?” Lyght nodded, looking down.

  “Dead.”

  Sky clinched her fists and stared at the ground, clearly trying to hold back her emotions. It wasn’t entirely working – a tear ran down the right side of her face, shining a bit in the city lights amidst the darkness. Lyght didn’t have the slightest clue what was going on – and he was just realizing that. He decided to wait and not pick sides for the moment, to better understand who he should really align himself with. Dream Syndicate, or Legion? Who was in the right? Lyght couldn’t tell as long as all this information was conflicting. And there were still unsolved mysteries, like the unknown Legend on the bridge. He didn’t know what to make of that one. Lyght looked over at Sky; he could say for sure he felt bad at her distress. He was just glad that they hadn’t been the ones to kill Troy and Kiara; his sister seemed pretty upset about it.

  Lyght took a deep breath, frustrated, “So I don’t really know what’s going on, either, but it seems like we’ve been fighting each other without knowing it. To be honest… I don’t even know who to believe anymore.”

  Lyght put a hand on his sister’s shoulder, “But I’ll come with you up to this… apex or whatever atop the tower of Triumph. I want to see what this Dreamcatcher does before I judge it. The Dream Syndicate, and the Legion… I want to know who’s in the right. I’ll come with you, but we have to be as careful as possible not to be found. I can guarantee the King would not approve of this.”

  Sky nodded. They were approaching the base of the tower now, and Lyght saw Sky look into a shadowy alley, nodding to something he couldn’t see. At this signal, a figure emerged that Lyght definitely hadn’t expected to see right now. But then again he wasn’t sure what to expect anymore.

  Lyaness stepped out into the light, “Ready to break into the King’s stronghold, guys?” Nods when around, and Lyaness turned to face the shining diamond tower shooting into the Dark sky, “Follow me, and do what I say. I think you’ll be surprised at what we find.”

  “You’ve really got to see it to believe it.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  BOOM…. BOOM….

  The thunderous chorus rang out in consistent, perfect time, the lifeblood of the dark, empty tower of Triumph. Lyght, Mikael, and Sky followed cautiously behind Lyaness, who apparently had connections to the Dream Syndicate as well (like everyone else, it seemed) and had been enlisted by Troy and Kiara to help Sky break into Triumph and free Seth and Iri from the prisons below. Lyght had to admit, it did seem like no one in Glory was who Lyght had thought they were – there was another side to the story of seemingly every individual he’d known for the last few months. It made it hard to know who to trust.

  He crept along no
w behind Lyaness, feeling more than listening to the ominous pulsing that seemed to be coming from the building itself. Lyght had noticed it as soon as he’d stepped inside the soaring diamond tower – a deep, reverberating pulse that made Lyght feel like he was deep in the belly of some slumbering beast.

  And he certainly could have been for all the activity he saw inside. None, that is – the massive foyer of the tower of Triumph, usually bustling with workers and visitors, was dimly lit, completely silent, and eerily unoccupied. That seemed strange to Lyght; shouldn’t there have been Legends there guarding the lifts, even if it was Dark time? And anyway, if four kids could just walk on in, how could something like the Dark be funneled through here as its source? Even if that claim made sense – which it didn’t – Lyght would have found the curious lack of security, if nothing else, to be a big red flag.

  In addition to that, Lyght had always understood the Dark to be a part of the natural world, even if he’d always felt that the pulsing black mass seemed somehow unnatural and out of place. How could a part of the night itself, for all intents and purposes, be sourced from a building on the ground? It was like claiming that a river actually began in the sky. It made no sense.

  As they crept towards the lifts, Lyaness in the lead wearing all black with her hood up as usual, Lyght lowered his head and whispered to his sister next to him, “Hey, Sky? I was just wondering, what –” Lyaness spun around at the sound of his voice and put a finger to her lips, not speaking, but with a look in her eyes that clearly said, “Shut up!” Lyght gave her a slightly annoyed look, but straightened up and fell silent. He had to admit, the emptiness of the wide space was more than a bit eerie. Maybe it was good idea just to stay silent. Lyaness had vastly more experience with Triumph, and she could remain awake in the Dark just like Sky. Lyght would have to trust her judgment on this one.