"Starlight!" she cried. "I'm flying down. They need me."
Her sister, leading a flock of magpies against a cloud of winged imps, nodded. Harmony tucked her wings close together and dived down. She landed by Galgev upon the cliffs, just beneath the Birthstone. The skies above swirled with the aerial battle, hiding the sun.
"Galgev!" she cried. Centipedes and cockroaches and slugs, each one several times her size, were swarming up the cliff sides. Galgev's wolves and bears bit and clawed, but they were falling fast. Galgev himself stood swinging his Dreamblade, a green crystal named the Treelife, hacking down the nightmares.
"Harmony," he said to her, but did not remove his eyes from the battle. "What can you see from the skies?"
"All fronts are falling!" Harmony cried. A centipede rose above her, its hundred legs twitching. Harmony leapt back as it slammed down, barely fleeing it. She scratched her claws, tearing into it, spurting yellow blood. It twitched and struggled, and Harmony flew up. She grabbed rocks from the cliff and dropped them, crushing the creature. Yet more were climbing.
"What do we do, Galgev?" she cried in anguish. He did not answer, and Harmony realized that there was no answer. From here upon the cliffs, she could see that the stream had been taken. The water monsters had eaten all the faeries, and were now dragging themselves across the forest floor, moving toward the cliffs. To the west, Niv's troops lay dead, and the balls of fat and mouths were tearing down trees as they advanced.
A beetle the size of a wolf, black and putrid, snapped its mandibles at her, and Harmony clawed, bit, and cried as she fought it. I'm going to die now, she realized. Not just me... all of us. All of Dream. The beetle knocked her down. She lay on the ground, and tried to rise, but a towering praying mantis pinned her down. The insects prepared to feast.
"Na ley ta, Eloria," Harmony whispered, eyes shut. "Gala ayende."
A great roar filled the air, deafening her, a roar that seemed to shake the cliffs. The insects were shoved off her, and air streamed over her. Harmony opened her eyes and cried with joy.
"The White Lioness!" Tears filled her eyes. "You have come to sound your roar!"
The White Lioness glowed as stars in the battle. She leapt across the cliffs, roaring, tossing the insects aside. She landed beside Harmony and gazed down upon her. Harmony struggled to her feet.
The White Lioness carried a twinkle in her eyes. "I had to come save a fellow cat."
Then, with a roar, the lioness leapt down the cliff, into the trees, into battle.
Harmony took a deep breath. Another cockroach scurried her way, and she flew up and pummeled it with rocks. Her spirits lifted. With the White Lioness here, surely there was hope. She was a mighty cat, and with her help, they could--
Fire roared in the valley, disrupting her thoughts. Flames shot up in a column, and a growl like thunder filled the world. Black lightning flashed, and great leathery wings flapped, sending rippling waves of bass. A darkness covered the land, and from flames, rose the demon Eliven, the Queen of Nightmare.
The demon's eyes burned, and flames shot from her fingertips. Like a dark shadow she stood within a column of fire, flapping her wings, and around her the forests burned. The forces of Dream fell dead under her gaze, burned with dark fire, and the clouds above turned black and rained ash.
Harmony winced. She could not help but cower against the cliff side. She had never felt such evil, such power.
"Kill them!" the Queen of Nightmare screeched, a screech so loud, Harmony screamed and covered her ears, and boulders crashed down the cliff. The Demon Queen held a jagged, spiked Dreamblade. From behind her emerged more demons, clad in chains, holding more Dreamblades--weapons to kill gods. Eliven's voice rose like the shriek of typhoons, deafening. "Kill all the gods of Dream."
The demons flowed across the valley, and Harmony watched in horror as animals and Elorians, all the forces of Dream, fell dead. The last trees were torn down, and the streams boiled away. Maninav and Alandria hurried up the cliff, and stood by Harmony and Galgev. Starlight and Windwhisper landed there too, and soon Niv joined them.
The last gods of Dream stood together upon the cliff. Endlessly around them spread the forces of Nightmare, millions of them, covering all of Dream.
Harmony hugged her sister.
"I love you, Starlight," she whispered.
"Na ley ta lom, Harmony," Starlight said as the forces of Nightmare began climbing the cliffs. Niv joined their embrace.
"Ayendey, dear pets," the princess whispered. Goodbye.
As they were preparing to die, a hush fell over the land.
A beam of light pierced the clouds, golden and sparkling.
Harmony raised her head. She gasped in awe. Above her, the Birthstone stood gilded in good light. As Harmony watched, a figure stepped out onto the Birthstone, gazing upon Dream.
Yor had emerged.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Prince and Princess of the Wilderness
In a towering cavern of stone, Cade sat slumped in a cage, dangling over a pit of lava. Surrounding the pit, monsters stood on ledges of stone, cheering as the cage swung on its chain.
Cade struggled to rise to his knees. He could not stand up; the cage was too small. His body ached from where the Crunge had struck him, and blood dripped down his forehead. The cage dangled and his head spun. The lava gurgled below, painfully hot. Sweat covered Cade, and he felt ready to burst into flames.
"See what happens!" the Crunge cried above, flexing long, clawed fingers. Elorian slaves surrounded the Incubus, gazing into the pit of lava. "See, slaves, what happens to those of Dream who resist us."
The monsters cheered from the stone ledges, waving their fists. The light from the lava painted them red. The slaves gazed silently.
Cade shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. His mind was muzzy, and fear flowed thickly through his veins.
"Tash?" he whispered with cracked lips. He felt dried blood cover those lips. "Tash, are you all right?"
The mouse sat beside him. The cage was covered with chicken wire, thick enough to keep even the diminutive Tasha trapped inside. "Am I all right?" she asked. "Cade, we're about to be burned alive in a pit of lava. No, I am not all right!"
Standing above, the Crunge chanted a prayer in the tongue of Nightmare and thumped its chest. "A sacrifice to Phobetor!" it cried. "So shall happen to all who do not worship our Nightmare god."
With its dank hands, the Crunge grabbed a winch and began to spin it. The chain holding the cage moved. Cade and Tasha were being lowered into the pit.
Cade hammered against the cage walls, but could not move them. He rummaged through his pack and found the jeweled axe from Ral Badar. He swung it against the cage walls and tore open a hole.
"What are you doing, Cade?" Tasha shouted.
"Cutting a way out!"
"It's too late. Nowhere to escape to!"
Tasha was right. Holding the axe, sweat drenching him, Cade froze in horror. The cage was deep into the pit now, and the lava bubbled below. The winch kept turning, lowering the cage, as the monsters cheered.
I have to do something.
"Sons and daughters of Dream!" he shouted. "Hear me, people of the Begemmed City. I can defeat Phobetor! Help me, and I will free you!"
The monsters laughed, and the cage was lowered another foot, then another. The lava was so close now, Cade felt his skin turning red, and he shut his eyes in the terrible heat.
"Slaves of Phobetor!" he shouted. It hurt to speak. A bubble of lava burst below, and the droplets seared his skin. "I have the bottle! Free me, and I'll free you!"
The cage was lowered another foot, and the slaves above did not budge. Cade lowered his head. "Goodbye, Tasha," he whispered. The cage floor touched the lava, then began to melt. Cade clung to the ceiling of the cage and shut his eyes, ready to die.
* * * * *
"I will never be your bride!" Moonmist screamed, but Phobetor only smiled.
She lay chained to the floor, her a
rms and legs outstretched, candles burning around her. Monsters of Nightmare filled the chamber, singing, beating drums. Phobetor stood above her, chanting to their tune.
"In the name of Nightmare," he announced as the candles burned. "I make this girl my bride, to serve me forever, to become a demon of Kar."
"No!" Moonmist screamed, horror pulsing through her. She struggled madly against her bonds, but could not free herself. If Phobetor married her, his evil magic would infest her... she would become like Eliven, a demon of fire and nefariousness, cursed to serve her husband for eternity. "Cade will kill you, Phobetor!" she screamed.
He ignored her. "Here in the depths of Nightmare," he chanted. His voice rose to a shout above the din of singing monsters. "I make this princess my bride. Let the magic of Kar fill her, turn her to one of us."
The monsters howled and beat their drums, and Moonmist screamed, tugging the chains with all her might. "Cade, please!" she screamed.
Phobetor knelt by her and brought his fingers to her forehead. She screamed as his fingers burned her with cold fire. She trembled as she felt the evil flow through her, and flames burned in a halo around her brow.
"Soon," Phobetor whispered and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Soon you will be my demon wife, sweetness."
She cried and shook her head. She saw her skin turn dark red. Claws sprouted from her fingers, and she felt wings grow from her back, leathery and wide. She shut her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. "No," she whimpered. "Please."
The monsters howled. "Hail Queen Moonmist, a demon of Nightmare! Hail the second queen."
"Cade!" Moonmist cried. "Cade, please!"
Phobetor caressed her cheek, and she felt his lips upon her neck. "Your friend is destroyed now, as is his bottle. And now... it is time to consummate the marriage."
As his claws ran over her, she prayed.
* * * * *
Cade shut his eyes as the lava began to eat the cage floor. He clung to the top as the lava bubbled below. The monsters cheered.
Above their cheers, came a sudden clear voice.
"Cade! I will free you!"
It was a girl's voice, speaking with an Elorian accent. Cade looked up and his mouth dropped open. Candlelit! The girl from the subways has been captured too! As Cade watched, the Elorian girl slammed herself into the Crunge.
The Crunge howled in rage, then plummeted into the pit. Lava splashed as the Crunge screamed and burned into nothingness.
Candlelit spun the winch hurriedly, and Cade's cage began to rise from the pit.
"Watch out!" Cade cried.
Monsters were advancing toward her, outreaching their claws. Cade gasped. Candlelit leapt into the pit. She hit Cade's cage and swung on it. Her impact pulled the cage to the far side of the wall, away from the monsters. The cage hit a ledge beneath a gaping tunnel.
"Run, Cade!" she cried.
Cade slammed at the cage with the axe, tearing an opening. He and Tasha ran onto the ledge of stone. On the opposite ledge across the pit, the monsters were howling. The monsters pulled a lever, and a bridge fell across the pit, raising a cloud of dust.
"Into the tunnel!" Candlelit cried.
As the monsters leapt onto the bridge, racing toward Cade, he ran into the tunnel. Candlelit and Tasha ran beside him.
The tunnel was dark and craggy, and the monsters raced behind them, howling. They were coming closer.
"Quickly, Cade!" Tasha shouted.
Cade had never run so fast. The tunnel seemed endless. Arrows zoomed by them, clanging against the walls.
"Great," Tasha said.
Another volley of arrows flew. One scratched Cade's ear. He grunted in pain but did not stop running. Two arrows hit Candlelit, and he saw her fall.
"Candlelit!"
He knelt by her. He placed his arms under her, holding her head up. Blood poured from her. Suddenly an image flashed through Cade's mind, an image of the first time Tasha had tried to kill herself, blood pouring from her wrists, pooling on the floor as she gazed at him silently. It is for Tasha that I came here, Cade remembered. To save Dream, our place.
"Leave me," Candlelit whispered. "Go now. For Dream."
"I won't leave you," Cade said. The monsters were only feet away. He could see their burning eyes and sharp claws. He lifted Candlelit, slung her over his back, and kept running.
"Which way to Phobetor?" he called over the howling monsters.
"Turn left ahead!" Candlelit said. "We're almost at his chamber."
Cade ran left, the monsters following, blood roaring in his ears. The tunnel rose steeply, as if leading into the sky, zigzagging like a bolt of lightning. It seemed forever before Cade burst into a hallway of gold and jewels. He saw before him gilded doors set with rubies.
"Is this the place?" he asked urgently. The monsters still roared behind. "Candlelit, is this his chamber?"
But Candlelit would not answer, and when Cade placed her down, he lowered his head.
She was dead.
* * * * *
A beam of light fell upon the Birthstone. Out onto the jutting ledge of rock, overlooking Hidden Valley Ridge, stepped Yor, King of Dream.
The elk's step was silent, graceful, yet his commanding nobility overcame Harmony. So noble he seemed, that even in the battle, she knelt before him. The light glistened on his fur and antlers. Harmony had rarely seen the great stag before, and she had never seen him like now. He truly is the greatest god.
Starlight knelt too, Harmony saw. The entire battle seemed to die, as all the gods of Dream knelt before their king. Even some of the monsters of Nightmare, overcome or perhaps terrified, bent the knee and bowed before the might and wisdom of Yor.
"Twig Eater," Harmony whispered, tears in her eyes.
In the silence, as Yor overlooked the battle from above, Eliven unfurled her wings and rose from the valley, a figure of fire. Her hands rose, and her voice screeched like storms, and those monsters that knelt burst into flame. She raised her Dreamblade.
"Kill them all," her voice came from the fire. "But leave the elk for me."
As Eliven and her army rushed forth, Dream and Nightmare finally saw the might of Yor. The Father Elk glowed like the sun, leaping between the cliffs, a figure of brilliance. He banged his antlers into demons, tossing them aside like rag dolls.
Vigor filled Harmony. "For Yor!" she shouted and leapt into the battle, scratching and biting.
"For Yor!" the other gods repeated and rejoined the fray.
There was no hope for victory, Harmony knew. Not in this sea of Nightmare. Not with the rest of Dream fallen. But we will put on a final stand, and go down fighting, and that gave comfort to Harmony. She would die fighting by the Father Elk, by her sister and friends. Tears filled her eyes as she fought, for she thought of dreamers on earth, and how Phobetor would drive them to madness and death. And she thought of Dream, the home she loved, soon to be but a memory.
She fought as Eliven's forces divided them. She fought as demons sliced into Galgev with Dreamblades, and he lay bleeding, dying. She fought as the forces of Nightmare swarmed over Queen Alandria and her daughter, Niv, knocking them down, raining blows upon them. She fought as the monsters set fire to Maninav, the goddess of flowers, and she fought as arrows pierced Starlight, plucking her from the sky.
She fought as they lost their final battle.
Thus Hidden Valley Ridge falls.
Creatures of many maws and eyes grabbed her with hairy fists. They squeezed her, and she cried in pain, and she felt their claws dig into her flesh. Held in their grip, she saw Yor upon the cliffs, cornered by demons.
The Elk King, the slayer of many monsters, stood still. Queen Eliven approached him, her Dreamblade drawn and crackling with black flame.
"Now," said the demon queen, "does King Ælor fall, and Dream becomes Nightmare."
She raised the blade above him.
* * * * *
Phobetor lowered himself above Moonmist, and his claws ran along her cheeks, and fire fil
led his eyes. His white skin reflected the candlelight, and the monsters howled around them, banging drums.
"Now we become one," he whispered to her, his lips icy against her ear.
Her tears flowed down her cheeks, and she felt the demon force flow through her veins, the evil filling her, struggling against her will, banishing the old Moonmist to make her soul monstrous. Her claws scratched against the stone floor, digging into it, while her wings flapped weakly beneath her back.
"My... my husband...." The words slipped past her lips, her voice deep, demonic. No! her own voice cried deep within her. Resist it! Resist his magic. You will not become a demon! Yet her own voice was drowning.
He smiled. "It is me, my wife, my beloved." They flowed together in a kiss.
Suddenly a hush fell over the monsters. Their drumbeat stilled and their cheering died, and Moonmist heard them gasp. Phobetor froze, then turned his head, and he whispered, "You!"
Chained to the floor, Moonmist raised her head and gasped. Tears filled her eyes and a great sob escaped her lips.
Cade.
Cade stood at the doorway.
"Cade!" she cried and shed tears. "Cade, Cade!"
His eyes met hers, and she saw shock fill them. "Moonmist," he whispered. Ash and blood covered him. He wore a ragged cloak. He looked thin, haggard, yet Moonmist saw strength in him too.
Phobetor rose to his feet. He stood over Moonmist, staring at Cade. For a moment, she thought he'd explode in rage, but only a small smile crept to his lips.
"Well played," he whispered, nodding slowly. "Well played indeed, mortal."
Cade raised his hand. He held a small bottle there. His eyes were cold.
"It's over, Phobetor," he said. "Your reign ends now."
Phobetor drew his Dreamblade, a towering thing of jagged spikes. It screamed and shone with black light, sucking in the air around it. He laughed.
"The bottle Ælor made? The one that could trap me?" He laughed again. "Ælor, the all powerful! He--and you--forgot one thing. For the bottle to work, it must touch me. How do you expect to do that? Do you expect to live if you take another step?"
The Gods of Dream: An Epic Fantasy Page 33
