The Gods of Dream: An Epic Fantasy

by Daniel Arenson

  "Look, Cade," Tasha said. "Light ahead. And... and...." The mouse sniffed, whispers twitching. "I can smell something good. Something like Dream."

  Cade smiled. "See? It was good to come here. Maybe we'll find allies."

  A red light glowed ahead. Cade walked toward it and found an archway leading into a chamber. Cries, grunts, and squeals came from inside. Cade crept along the stone floor, placed himself against the wall, and peeked into the chamber.

  Inside, great wheels--twenty feet tall--spun on ropes, while tracks moved, pumps pumped, tubes sucked and spewed liquid, and giant mechanical hammers rose and fell. Cauldrons boiled, sprockets creaked, and ovens burned.

  "They're making armor, swords, spears, chariots, tools for an army," Cade whispered.

  Slimy white creatures patrolled the factory. They looked like eels, but had arms and legs, and walked straight and naked. Thin and grim, they stared with black eyes and held whips. Those whips were busy, landing on the backs of slaves who worked the machines. The slaves were beings of Dream--Elorians with feathery heads, animals, even faeries. They were all chained, haggard, and scarred from beatings.

  "It's terrible," Tasha whispered, covering her eyes. "Cade, let's get out of here."

  Cade nodded slowly. "I think that might be a good idea."

  He turned away, back toward the stairwell, and found himself facing three of the slimy slave drivers.

  "A spy!" they hissed, showing rows of long thin teeth. Their black eyes blazed, and they grabbed Cade's shoulders. Electricity shot from their fingertips, crackling, lighting the room, and Cade screamed.

  His body convulsed, then fell limply to the floor.

  * * * * *

  Weary and bored, Harmony lay upon a gargoyle, flicking her tail.

  She was well hidden between the gargoyles, upon this black fortress of the Afterlife. For many days she had lain here, watching the ghosts stream by, and she had never felt more alone.

  "Oof! Will those wraiths never leave?" she whispered, blowing out her breath in frustration. She was sick of lying here in the shadows, hiding. She crept along the gargoyle and glanced up, to the crest of the tower. Starlight's cage still hung there, the wraiths guarding it.

  Starlight! Harmony thought hard. Starlight, look at me. I'm here! Harmony furrowed her brow, trying with all her strength to transfer her thoughts into Starlight's mind. Yet Starlight seemed not to notice, and did not look down toward her. The black pegacat just lay on the floor of her cage, curled up.

  I wish she knew I was here, Harmony thought. It would make her feel better. I wish I could hug her.

  Harmony rolled onto her back, tail flicking. She had been here for so long. How long has it been? Harmony did not know. There was no day or night here, no light or darkness, just forever gray and cloud. There was no food, no drink, yet there was never hunger nor thirst. There was no cold, no warmth, just numbness. Sometimes Harmony wondered if, in the world of the dead, she was becoming dead herself. Was she turning into a ghost?

  I have to get out of here, she knew. With Starlight. If only the wraiths would leave, she could free her sister, yet the ghoulish crones kept a constant vigil around the cage, dancing in circles. The sky around the fortress swarmed with more wraiths, horrible arch-ghosts, the guardians and enforcers of the Afterlife. Here was their home. This fortress was their domain. Since arriving in this place, Harmony had seen hundreds of wraiths visit the tower, each more decayed and horrible than the other.

  "Maybe, with my brain, I can make the wraiths leave," she said to herself. If she was unable to transfer thoughts to Starlight, maybe the ghosts would be more receptive.

  She furrowed her brow, tightened her lips, held her breath, and thought hard. Leave this place! Go away, wraiths. Go away. Leave, leave!

  She peeked toward the wraiths. Still there. Harmony took a deep breath, shut her eyes, tightened every muscle, and forced all her willpower toward the wraiths. Leave! she thought. Go away, wraiths. Leave Starlight's cage. She had never concentrated so hard in her life.

  A booming voice flowed across the world, shaking the fortress. "Wraiths of Afterlife!"

  Harmony clutched the gargoyle for fear she'd fall. The trembling spun her around, and she clung to the gargoyle from beneath it. She peeked, and her blood froze.

  Through the clouds of Afterlife, not a ghost, but of flesh and ichor, floated Loor.

  Harmony could hardly breathe. Loor! The son of Galgev and Maninav, the Prince of Nightmare, here in the Afterlife! Harmony shook her head in disbelief. She had not seen the Sad God in a thousand years, not since he'd left Dream in search of his brother Phobetor.

  What was he doing here? Could he be dead? No. His cloaks were black and heavy, his skin gray and furless, his fox eyes small and yellow. He lived.

  "Guardians of the Afterlife," he called. "Follow me now. You are needed in Dream."

  One of the wraiths outside Starlight's cage--the wizened sister of Winived, her hair wild and her teeth long--hissed at the Sad God. "We owe no fealty to Nightmare, Son of Flowers."

  Son of Flowers. Harmony shook her head sadly; Loor hated that name more than any other. Yes, Loor was the son of Maninav, the flowery goddess of the Tropical Canopy, and yet all flowers wilted around him.

  "But you owe fealty to your sister, the Queen Mother of Nightmare," Loor spat back, eyes burning. "Follow me to Dream, and you will have the spirit of Niv to torment for eternity, alongside the soul of Tam which I have given you."

  The wraiths' eyes lit up like beacons in the fog. "Niv! You mean to kill the Half-Elk!" They rubbed their wizened hands and drool dripped down their fangs. "We will follow."

  Loor turned and floated away, moving as fast as Windwhisper through a clear sky. The wraiths howled and followed him, a train of sickly gray wisps. "Niv, Niv, we'll bring you here," they chanted as they streamed forward. More and more wraiths joined them, and soon hundreds were following Loor, draining out of the fortress. "Niv, Niv, a goddess for us!"

  Harmony slunk under the gargoyle, making herself as small as possible. Nobody saw her. She could not believe it--all the wraiths were leaving. It worked! I made them leave with my brain. I really do have mental powers!

  But with her joy lived worry. They were going to kill Niv. I must save her.

  Creeping along the gargoyle, Harmony peeked and saw that only a single wraith remained. The wraith, a crone of wispy hair and foot-long fingernails, floated in vigil outside Starlight's cage.

  Well, this is as good a chance as I'm going to get, Harmony thought. She took a deep breath and tightened her lips.

  "For Starlight," she whispered.

  She glanced around, saw no one, and leapt off the gargoyle. Lips tightened, she flew toward the tower top, where hung the cage. The wraith floated there, staring around with yellow eyes, but Harmony flew skillfully from cloud to cloud. Finally she was only a few feet away, so close that she could hear Starlight's breath.

  Harmony darted toward the tower, flattened herself against the wall, and crept slowly up. The wraith did not notice her yet... but any moment now, those evil yellow eyes would turn toward her.

  Harmony drew her claws, leapt off the wall, and crashed into a small cloud.

  "Hey you!" she cried, and the wraith spun around. Harmony flapped her wings, tossing wisps of cloud into the wraith's eyes.

  The wraith howled, a sound that shattered the tower windows, like claws on a chalkboard. Harmony shot forward like an arrow, claws sparkling, and tore into the wraith's face.

  "Starlight!" she cried. "I'm here for you!"

  "Harmony!" her sister answered.

  The wraith flapped her arms, and Harmony felt blows like icy wind piercing her. She clawed again and felt the wraith's essence give way. The wraith felt halfway between smoke and cotton candy, barely tangible.

  A mortal would not be able to hurt a wraith, but Harmony, small and innocent though she was, was still a goddess of Dream. She was still a child of Yor. Her claws had some strength in them, and she had some
magic to her.

  "Leave--" She slashed her claws. "--Starlight--" She bit and scratched with a fury. "--Alone!" The wraith screamed, and Harmony kept scratching like a propeller, until the wraith's head was torn into wisps of fog that floated away. Harmony grabbed the wraith's keys just as the creature dispersed into the wind.

  Harmony crashed against the cage, shivering in cold, but also in excitement. Those blows had hurt, but she did not care. She cared only about Starlight.

  "Hiyo, Starlight," she said, clinging to the cage bars.

  Inside the cage, Starlight stared with wide eyes, her jaw unhinged. "Harmony!" The black pegacat rubbed her eyes, then laughed. "Fancy meeting you here! I thought I'd never see you again."

  Harmony was already working at the cage's lock. She tried one key at a time, until the lock clicked. The cage door swung open.

  "Well, out you go, Starlight," Harmony said. Starlight moved slowly. Her muscles seemed stiff and cramped, but her face glowed. Once she was out of her cage, she crashed into Harmony with a crushing hug.

  "Thank you, Harmony!" she said, and her eyes sparkled with tears. "You saved my life. It was the first time I was away from you, and I couldn't bear it."

  Harmony too felt her eyes moisten. She hugged her sister, overcome with emotion. "Of course I couldn't leave you, Starlight. Of course I'd follow you to the Afterlife and back. I love you so much."

  Starlight laughed and cried, then rubbed her eyes. "Did you hear Loor? Niv is in trouble. Let's go!"

  Harmony nodded, her eyes blurry and her throat choking up with love for her sister. Together again, the two pegacats spread their butterfly wings and took flight, following the wraiths through the endless, cloudy skies of the Afterlife.

  They flew for a long time, the fogs swirling around them, white and gray and cobalt. All the while, worry for Niv, and love for Starlight, swirled through Harmony like the clouds. She shuddered. Had war come to Dream? Dream had never known open war, and yet now Loor and the wraiths were heading there, and they wanted to kill Niv. Harmony swallowed the fear that grew as a lump in her throat.

  Finally they saw a glowing darkness ahead. Harmony had never imagined that darkness could glow, but here before her glimmered a black stain in the sky. Loor and the wraiths flew into the black patch and, with sparks of lightning, vanished.

  "A portal back home," Starlight said.

  The last of the wraiths vanished into the portal. Starlight and Harmony approached the black stain. It buzzed with the whispers of demons and crackled and trembled like a dying star.

  "It's going to close," Harmony cried. "Faster!"

  They flapped their wings with all their might, shooting forward, as the portal began to collapse. Lightning flashed through the portal and thunder boomed. It shrank and shrank, and soon was only a yard wide. Harmony and Starlight shot forward, squeezing through the portal just before it collapsed.

  They found themselves in darkness, flapped their wings to slow down, and thudded into a stone wall. They fell together and hit a stone floor with an "oof!".

  For a moment the pegacats lay in silence, dazed. Harmony felt for her sister in the darkness.

  "Where are we?" she whispered.

  Starlight's eyes glowed in the darkness. "A cave. It might be the same place where I was kidnapped."

  I wonder if Cade is here, Harmony thought. But it had been weeks since she'd seen him, maybe even months. He must be far away now, on his way to Nightmare. Maybe he was already in Nightmare. She shivered.

  From far above came a horrible shriek. The wraiths. Harmony could also hear shouting men, clanging steel, and the cries of Loor, too distant to make out. Even fainter, she thought she could hear a familiar voice shouting....

  "Niv!" Harmony cried.

  "Let's go." Starlight began racing through the darkness. Harmony followed. She could barely see a thing, but gradually a sickly gray light began filling the caves. Crystals grew in the walls, dim and twisted, diseased. The pegacats moved from chamber to chamber. Gray veins covered the crystals and their light hurt Harmony's eyes.

  She recognized this place. The Crystal Caves--but not as they had once been, beautiful and full of healing light. No. Loor had walked through this place, and had brought his disease here.

  Suddenly Harmony had the terrible sense, more than ever before, that the world was changing, that her days of gamboling and innocence were ending, that life had become forever more solemn and sad. She hung her head.

  In the last few chambers of the caves, blood stained the floor, both the black blood of demons and the ichor of a god. Tam fought here. Evil symbols of Nightmare were smeared into the walls. Harmony saw the Fang of Kar, the Mountain of Despair, the Beast of Darkness, and the deep purple spiral that made her shiver.

  They reached the last chamber, which was drenched in blood, and burst out onto the mountainside.

  There Harmony saw a sight that froze her blood. She cried in horror.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  In the Belly of the Whale

  Crackling pain shocked Cade, waking him up, making him grimace and grunt. The pain vanished, and Cade took a ragged breath and opened his eyes. He lay on the floor, fettered, as eelmen stood above him.

  "What do--" he began, when one eelman grabbed him. Electricity crackled, and Cade screamed. The eelman stepped back, and Cade breathed and coughed.

  "You will be silent," the eelman commanded. His voice was deep, bubbly, like a creature speaking underwater. "If you talk, there will be pain. If you even think of escape, there will be pain. You are ours now. Stand up."

  The eelmen tugged his chains, pulling him up, like a marionette on strings.

  "Now move." They jabbed him with pointed sticks, goading him down a hall. Tasha was nowhere to be seen.

  Fear filled Cade. Tasha was gone! Cade would never forgive himself if anything happened to his sister. It's all my fault. Tasha never wanted to come here. I led her into this danger. At least the eelmen had left his pockets and pack untouched. Cade breathed in relief. The compass still hung around his neck, and he could feel the bottle in his pocket.

  So long as I have those, my quest is not over. He tightened his lips. Somehow I must escape this place and find Tasha.

  The eelmen shoved him into a chamber where a hundred slaves pulled on winches. The winches turned great wooden Archimedes Screws, pumping oil from a pool into tubes that ran into the walls. More eelmen patrolled the chamber, whipping the slaves and squealing in the harsh language of Nightmare.

  One slave lay bloody on the floor, whipped to death. As Cade watched, two eelmen lifted the body and tossed it into the oil, where it fizzed away into nothing. Nausea filled Cade, and he gagged.

  "I said silence," said one of the eels who led him, and shocked him again. Cade clenched his teeth.

  "Now get to work," the eelman said, shoving Cade toward where the dead slave had stood. Blood still covered the floor. "Grab that handle and pull. If you are too slow, there will be pain."

  Cade grabbed the winch and began to pull, spinning it, pumping oil from the pool into the Archimedes Screw, until it reached a tube and flowed out of the chamber. The eelmen watched behind. The winch was large, and Cade's arms soon ached.

  Worry filled him. Where was Tasha? Had they killed her? Cade dared not ask. Since that day that left them orphaned, he had never been away from his sister for more than a day or two. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to her.

  "Work faster." The whip hit his back.

  As he moved the winch, Cade glanced to his sides. Elorian slaves worked around him. Some appeared to have been here long; they were thin and weary with travail, and hope had abandoned their eyes. Together, maybe we can escape. I have to escape somehow, otherwise Phobetor has won.

  "Hey," he whispered to the slave beside him. "What's your name?"

  The whips fell upon both of them, and the eelman grabbed Cade and spun him around. Electricity crackled, and Cade grimaced.

  "This is your last warning," growled the
eel. "You cause trouble once more, and you die."

  Smoke was rising from Cade. Finally the eelman let go, and Cade fell to his knees.

  "To work, now."

  Cade struggled to his feet and continued to work. Time passed, hours perhaps, and his muscles were screaming by the time the eelmen blew horns, and the slaves dropped their arms and took ragged breaths. One eel turned to leave the room, and the slaves lined up behind him and followed.

  Cade walked with the slaves, who were rubbing their arms and staring at their feet. The eel led them into a mess hall, where hundreds of slaves sat at trestle tables. The towering hall was built of metal, and torches burned along the walls. Moving like automatons, the slaves lined up to collect bowls, then to fill them with gruel. When Cade had his bowl filled, he began searching for a table to sit at. Eelmen patrolled the room.

  "Hey, Cade!" came a whisper from one table, and Cade looked, and joy filled him, sweeping away his pain and fear. Tasha sat upon the table, eating from a small dish.

  "Tasha!" Cade whispered. He had never felt more relief and love for his sister. Tasha is alive! Thank God.

  He walked toward the table and sat by the mouse. Tasha looked at him, and seemed about to speak, but two eelmen walked down the aisle between the tables. The mouse waited until they were gone.

  "Nasty creatures, aren't they?" Tasha whispered.

  Cade nodded. "They have you working too?"

  "Yeah. Putting together chain mail, a billion rings of metal. They've got all the mice, faeries, sparrows, and other tiny creatures working on it. You?"

  An eel shout came from across the room. "No talking!"

  Cade and Tasha lowered their heads toward their bowls. For a moment they ate in silence. The gruel tasted like wet sand, but Cade was famished and ate it quickly, wrinkling his nose at the taste. He drank from a cup of brackish water.

  Finally he glanced around, waiting until the eels were not watching, and whispered again. "We have to escape, Tash. We can't wait another day. They're building armies here, and this bottle won't work once Dream falls."