The Gods of Dream: An Epic Fantasy

by Daniel Arenson

  But now it was all up to her, little Harmony. She had never felt so alone and frightened. She lowered her head to her chest in despair.

  * * * * *

  They walked for a long time in the tunnel. How long, Loor did not know. Time did not flow here, but bubbled, swirled, gushed and then paused before rushing again. They could have walked here for minutes, and it might have been years. The darkness caressed them, and only the eyes of the monsters burned with light.

  Loor remembered crawling here a thousand years ago, alone and filled with hatred and fear, leaving Dream behind to seek his brother, to seek Phobetor, whom he had only known of from legends. He licked his chops in the darkness. I'm coming home. He could not wait to meet his family again. And then we'll see who deserves pity.

  Soon he could see light ahead. It was just a soft glow, but suddenly the memories flowed back so strongly into Loor, that his heart missed a beat, and his step paused. He snarled. Yes, the light of Eloria. A hiss fled his lips. He had not seen sunlight in a thousand years, had not smelled the scent of growing things or the fresh salt of seas. "Dream!" He spat out the word in disgust. Let your hatred fill you. Hatred was better than sadness, a million times over. Hatred had saved him from sadness and despair so many times. Just feel the hatred.

  The light grew as they moved, and the monsters howled balefully, covering their eyes. Soon the walls of the tunnel began to glow. This was the glow of crystals, Loor remembered, the crystals of Dream from which Tam made Dreamblades. Loor caressed his own Dreamblade, Tearfall, made from the black crystals of Nightmare. He smiled when he imagined impaling Tam, this god of beauty and music, of all those things which hated Loor.

  The light grew stronger, and soon they were walking through tunnels of iridescent crystals, blue and purple and pink and white. The Crystal Caves. The crystals, glittering and beautiful, dimmed as Loor passed by, and gray tendrils spread through their innards. Fresh, glittering water streamed across the floors, streams of light. As Loor walked through it, the water turned gray and brackish and raised a stench.

  Crystals rotting around them, they thundered through the caves, snarling, until they burst into chambers adorned with artwork. Engravings of gods and nature covered the walls, and statues of animals sparkled. Hissing, the monsters smashed the statues, shattering them, and scratched the spirals of Nightmare across the walls. Soon their spit and ooze covered the place. Loor watched as they destroyed the chamber, eyes narrowed. "Hatred is better than sadness," he whispered to himself again and again. "A million times over."

  They thundered from chamber to chamber, destroying all in their path, until they emerged into a wide chamber and felt the fresh air of Dream ahead.

  Tam awaited them there.

  Loor recognized the god at once, though he had never met him. Niv had begotten this one after he, Loor, had already left Dream. How did that song go? Loor thought. That song we can hear even in Nightmare?

  Niv, daughter of Yor and Alandria

  bathed in the Enchanted Waterfall

  The water sparkled around her

  and placed a child in her womb

  And thus was conceived a new god of Dream

  the son of Niv and the Enchanted Waterfall

  Tam, she named him

  Tam, a god of music and art

  The young god stood with his Dreamblade drawn. Loor recognized the sword. Starshard, the first Dreamblade Tam made. Its crystal blade was silvery blue, its pommel and handguards carved of gold inlaid with silver stars.

  Tam's hair, made of flowing water, turned gray and stale in Loor's presence, but his eyes still burned. "Loor," he said, his Dreamblade glittering.

  Loor smiled and raised his own Dreamblade, Tearfall, its handguards studded with burning firegems, its black blade jagged and long, dwarfing Starshard. "You are Niv's boy, yes?" the Prince of Nightmare hissed. "I've heard of you. How is your mother? It's been a long time."

  "Not long enough," Tam replied. "Leave this place, Loor. Return to your master Phobetor. You are no longer welcome in Dream."

  Loor shook his head and took a step forward. Behind him, his five hundred monsters hissed and growled and sniggered. Spit dripped down their maws.

  "Dear boy," Loor said and tsked. "Is this truly the welcome I deserve, after all this time away? Dream's hospitality has diminished in the past thousand years."

  "You will find no welcome here for a servant of Nightmare," Tam said, not flinching as the monsters stepped forward, snapping their razorlike teeth. "You lost all welcome the moment you betrayed us."

  Loor laughed--a sharp, cruel laugh. Behind him, the monsters laughed too. The crystals turned gray and swollen around them.

  "You speak as if you own Dream. You and your King Ælor, whom you call Yor." Loor spat. "Too long have the stag and his henchmen ruled this land unjustly. Who crowned Ælor and made him king? Was it Panda? No. The bear cannot speak, would not even recognize Ælor if he saw him. Who gave Ælor the right to banish Winived, my queen? My queen is old, perhaps even older than Ælor himself. Who gave the elk the right to choose who should govern, and who should be cast aside? Yes, too long has the Twig Eater ruled this place. Too long. But his reign is ending, Tam. The end begins now."

  Tam did not move. "You will have to pass me first."

  Loor nodded slightly, a smile playing on his fox lips. "It will be my pleasure."

  He took three steps back, and the monsters rushed forth.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cloverfoot

  Cade wandered the caves for hours, overcome by despair. Starlight--kidnapped. Harmony--disappeared. Cade had not felt such hopelessness since his quest began.

  He stumbled through the dark tunnels, lost and dazed. Moisture dripped down the walls, and the wail of spirits had disappeared; the ghosts were gone now, gone with the pegacats. Cade covered his eyes with his hand. Starlight and Harmony had been his closest companions and guides in Dream. How would he continue without them? Was there nothing he could do to save them?

  Tasha seemed to read his mind. "We can't wait for the spirits to return. The best help we can give the pegacats now is to complete our quest." The mouse sniffed. "I smell fresh air from the right, high above. It's a faint scent, still far, but let's move that way."

  They traveled through the tunnels, Tasha's nose guiding them, until they saw light ahead. They climbed up slippery slopes and found themselves in a wide chamber. Moonlight shone through a hole in the wall, casting a white beam. Cade climbed the wall, squeezed himself through the hole, and found himself on a moonlit hill.

  He lay on his back, exhausted. "I wish we had never entered these caves," he said, and a lump filled his throat.

  Tasha climbed onto his chest. "We did the right thing. If we hadn't entered the caves, we'd all be dead now. Come now, Cade. The pegacats are not dead. We might yet see them again. Let's have some hope."

  Cade nodded, when a gleam caught his eye, and he turned around. He gasped.

  Before him, in the night sky, the stars shone brilliantly, brighter than he had ever seen them. Nebulas swirled, and two dozen planets hovered in the deep blue like Christmas lights. He knew those planets. There was Mars, red and spinning, and there was Neptune, glowing blue. And there were others, planets he did not know--purple ones that swirled, and green ones, large and small. Stardust glowed among them, and a million stars spilled liquid light across the heavens. Space hung before him in the deep blue and purple, more alive, vast, and unfiltered than he had ever seen it.

  On Earth, I've been hidden from this. But here is the true universe. It filled him with beauty and horror.

  He spun around, unable to withstand that feeling of space, of distance. He felt as if he could fall into the sky. He stood facing the cave, which was dug into the wall of stone, but he beheld there another sight that overwhelmed him.

  Two men sat upon the cliff in a hollowed out bench of stone, dressed in black. Yet half men they were, and half sky, for stars and planets were embedded into their heads and faces
, like jewels are embedded into a chalice. Coated with the skies they were--green and blue planets, glowing, and stars that glistened. Creatures of great beauty they were, but of fear and ugliness too, for they were diseased and infected with the lights of the firmaments.

  "Do not look upon us, Earthling!" one said and snarled. He was an old man, grizzled, bent over and cantankerous.

  "Am I in Dream, or in Nightmare already?" Cade asked. "I don't know, because you are beautiful, but also terrifying."

  The old man of the universe spat. "You dare insult us. Come here, Earthling, come to this cliff and I will teach you to respect us."

  Cade felt tempted. Did the old man want to fight? So be it! Suddenly he felt his anger flame, and he knew it was unlike him, knew it was not his own anger. It is the flame of the stars that burns within me.

  "Cade!" Tasha whispered in horror. "Look, your arm!"

  Cade looked and felt himself pale. A small, swirling planet clung to his arm, like a barnacle growing. He ripped it off hurriedly and tossed it to the ground.

  "You're becoming one of them!" Tasha said. "Let's get out of here."

  Cade looked back to the sky and felt his tears gather. He fell to his knees. "But Tasha," he wept. "It's so beautiful."

  Tasha leapt onto his ear and bit hard. Cade cried out. The pain shot through him, and his mind cleared.

  "Let's go!" he said and ran, the starlight in his eyes. The nebulas swirled in the skies.

  "Come back here, Earthling," the old men cried. "Come back and become one with the universe!"

  Tasha bit again, and Cade ran through the darkness, until the light faded behind him, and the stars and planets were but a faint glow in the distance.

  He fell to his knees in the grass.

  "What were those things?" he asked shakily.

  Tasha shivered. "I don't know. I don't think I want to know."

  Cade nodded and shut his eyes. Weariness overcame him, and he fell into deep sleep.

  * * * * *

  Tam's blade moved like lightning in a storm. It struck in all directions, brilliant, sending sparks. The monsters howled and flew and fluttered around the god. Their teeth bit, their claws sliced, their wings flapped. They laughed as they fought. Blood flowed down Tam's arms, his body, his head, and still he swung his Dreamblade.

  The bodies of monsters piled up. Five were dead, soon ten, then twenty. Tam leapt from beast to beast, severing limbs and heads, splashing black blood against the walls.

  After an hour, with thirty monsters dead, they pushed him back into the next chamber. Bleeding and sweating, Tam kept fighting, the fire never leaving his eyes. As Loor watched, the monsters kept biting and clawing and swinging their Dreamblades. More wounds covered Tam, and his ichor covered the floor. And still he does not flee, Loor thought. The honorable often die young. That is why Dream is weak.

  Tam fell back another chamber. Ahead, through a wide opening, Loor saw the rolling landscapes of Dream. The light fell upon him.

  "Stop!" he called to the monsters. They froze, hissing, ichor dripping down their fangs. Tam stood among them, chest heaving, lacerations covering him.

  Loor stared at the wounded god. "Stop this, Tam," he said softly. "You cannot win. Join us or you will die."

  Tam responded by raising Starshard, crying out, and rushing back into the fray.

  Soon only a hundred monsters remained, but Tam was tired, so tired that he moved sluggishly, could barely raise his Dreamblade, and the monsters toyed with him by tossing him to and fro like a rag doll.

  "Stop," Loor said again. It was only a quiet command, but the monsters all froze. Tam stood among them, bent, barely able to stand. Loor stepped toward him, the black and jagged Tearfall in hand, its firegems flaming. "He is mine."

  Blood staining the frayed edges of his black robes, Loor raised Tearfall and struck down. With surprising strength, Tam raised his own Dreamblade and blocked the blow.

  Loor stepped back, snarled, and swung Tearfall with all his strength. Bleeding and weary, Tam blocked the blow again... and sent a sword thrust of his own.

  Snarling, Loor parried and began to attack in earnest. Tearfall flew like demons.

  "You will die now," Loor growled, "and we will take Dream."

  "Not while there is still life in me," Tam said. "And if I must die, then I die protecting my king."

  "Your king will die next!" Loor swung Tearfall, snapping Tam's blade in half. Sparks and shards filled the cave and Tam cried in pain.

  Loor smiled and thrust again, and Tam parried with his shattered blade... but he was tired, so tired that when Loor struck again, Tam fell to his knees. With a third swing of Tearfall, Loor sliced off Tam's right hand.

  The hand, and the shattered Dreamblade still gripped in it, flew to the floor. Tam screamed, but managed to raise his eyes and stare at Loor balefully.

  Loor stepped forward.

  "Any last words?" he asked the fallen god.

  Tam opened his mouth to speak, but Loor changed his mind; he did not want to hear. He placed his foot against Tam's chest and pushed, skewering Tam against a crystal that grew from the floor.

  Ichor spilled, and the light left Tam's eyes.

  Loor smiled. He turned to face his monsters. "A crystal from the Caves, just like a Dreamblade, can kill a god of Dream."

  As the monsters stared hungrily, Loor sliced off Tam's head and tossed it to the monsters.

  "Stick it outside," he said. "Stick it on the tallest pike you can build. Let Dream see. Then you may eat his body."

  The monsters howled joyously and swarmed to do his bidding. Loor raised his fist among them. "The Crystal Caves belong to Nightmare! And soon will all of Dream."

  * * * * *

  Dawn rose cold and gray. The sun hid behind the clouds, a pale smudge. Cade walked across vast barren landscapes, a bleak land of stone. The skies were white, colorless, and empty. A cold breeze blew and the hidden sun brought no warmth.

  Cade missed the pegacats' company, but knew they were beyond his reach now. He knew he must complete his quest.

  He sighed. "We've traveled for so long, so far. We might never find the way back to Dream."

  "Back to Dream?" Tasha said. "So have we left Dream? Are we in Nightmare now?"

  They looked around. The gray pall covered the sky, and they could no longer discern the sun. The land stretched lifeless and endless, hard and gray as concrete. They walked through eternal bleakness.

  "I don't know," Cade said. He thought for a moment. "No. I don't think we're in Nightmare yet. But this isn't really Dream. Maybe we're in Deep Sleep, that empty place beyond wakefulness and dreaming."

  There were no landmarks. They walked in the direction the compass pointed them. The light never left the sky, as though night did not exist here. They walked for days, it seemed, and darkness never fell. They covered their eyes with cloth to sleep. The sun no longer existed, merely a gray sky shining its own stark light.

  Every day, their magical breadbox seemed less capable of producing fine meals. One day, the vegetables were overcooked and the bread dry. A few days later, the box quit producing vegetables altogether. Two weeks into Deep Sleep, and it gave them only bread and cheese. The wineskin no longer produced wine, only water.

  "I miss the apples," Tasha said. "This cheese tastes like the ropes I chewed on the bridge."

  "We must be far from Dream if this magic is failing," Cade said.

  His shield and helmet, however, seemed strong as ever, and Sunclaw still gleamed under the light. That's good. I have a feeling I'll need them again before this ends.

  When finally night fell, after at least three weeks of light, it would not end. Cade held the gems from the pegacats' cave, lighting his way. They shone only softly in the darkness, but there was little to see anyway, only endless gray landscape stretching into the horizons. The air smelled like ash.

  "I hate this place," Tasha said.

  Cade hated it too.

  Three weeks later, daylight returned. Cade saw
that during the long night, the landscape had changed. The earth had become black, the sky full of white and gray swirls. Thunder grumbled in the distance, and mountains rose before them, only a day's journey away. They loomed dark gray and stony, lifeless, like mausoleums for gods.

  "I miss the green lands of Dream," Tasha said. "I can't eat this moldy cheese anymore." The mouse looked tired and thin.

  "Things will get worse before they get better," Cade said. He thought about the pegacats. They had seemed able to bring cheer to any bleakness, especially Harmony. He missed them.

  The next morning, he was hiking across the mountains, boulders jutting around them, shiny and black as jet. Pebbles cascaded under his feet, and wisps of fog floated around him.

  Tasha suddenly sniffed. "Monsters near!" she whispered. She sniffed the air again, whiskers twitching. "Below in the valleys to the east."

  Cade hunched among the boulders and peered to the east. He gasped.

  Strange creatures roamed there. They looked like shaggy rotting bears, with thin legs as long as stilts. They stood two dozen feet tall. Cade guessed there were about two hundred of them. He had never seen a force of Nightmare so strong.

  "They are moving toward where we came from," Tasha observed.

  "They are hosts of Nightmare advancing upon Dream," Cade said. "I wish we could somehow warn Dream, but we would serve Dream better by moving forward on our quest."

  "I almost think that I should return to Dream alone, to warn them," Tasha said.

  Cade looked at the bears. "They're moving fast, faster than you or I. They would reach Dream before we could ever warn them. No. We should continue together."

  A movement below caught his eye. A speck of dark gray tore away from the host of monsters and, leaping like a grasshopper, came bounding up the mountainside. It had shiny yellow eyes, Cade saw, and it was moving toward them.

  "A scout," Tasha said. "Coming our way."