The Gods of Dream: An Epic Fantasy

by Daniel Arenson

  Cade raised the bottle. His stare did not leave Phobetor. "I will toss it at you."

  Phobetor suddenly changed. A hundred insect legs sprouted from his back, and his mouth grew long, filled with fangs. His eyes became red slits dripping lava. He rose ten feet tall, and three tails flapped behind him, covered with thorns. Wings stretched from his back, churning the air.

  "You are too late!" rumbled the God of Nightmare, his voice shaking the palace. The monsters cowered and ran. "Dream has fallen. Your bottle is useless now."

  Cade stood before the fury of Phobetor, the wind blowing his hair back, flapping his clothes.

  "No," he called above the sound and the fury. "They still stand. For a breath longer."

  Moonmist glanced into the mirrors of Phobetor, and she whimpered. Yor stood before Eliven, as the demon held her Dreamblade above him. A breath longer, that is all.

  Phobetor raised his blade. His laughter was thunder, rumbling across the land, so loud that even in Dream, Eliven and Yor turned their heads toward the west. They heard it too.

  "You think you can toss the bottle and hit me?" Phobetor said, his voice like a thousand demons chanting together. "Toss it then! I will cleave your bottle with my Dreamblade. And then, Cade... then I will be the Lord of Dream and Nightmare, and torture the dreams of sleepers. Especially your sister, Cade." The mouth of fangs opened in a smile, dripping. "I will torture her the most."

  In the sudden silence that fell, Cade shook his head.

  "You won't have a chance."

  He tossed the bottle at Phobetor.

  Moonmist gasped.

  Phobetor swung his Dreamblade. He sliced the bottle. It crashed against the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces.

  "NO!!!" Moonmist screamed.

  Phobetor laughed. He came stepping toward Cade on a hundred insect legs, his tails swinging, his hundred claws raised. "All your quest in vain," boomed the God of Nightmare. The monsters howled and cheered.

  Phobetor loomed over Cade. The fallen god raised his blade. Fires burned around them.

  "Now," said the God of Nightmare, "you die."

  Tasha popped out of Cade's collar. The mouse stared at Phobetor. "Not so fast."

  Tasha leapt forward, holding another bottle.

  Moonmist gasped and cried. The real bottle! Of course!

  Tasha landed with the bottle on Phobetor's face. As Phobetor stood shocked, the mouse brought the bottle down onto the Lord of Nightmare.

  For a moment there was silence.

  Moonmist stared.

  Everything seemed frozen. Phobetor did not move, nor did Cade, and the monsters all stared, paralyzed.

  Then, so weak Moonmist was not sure it was real or imaginary, she heard a whistle like a kettle. The whistle grew to a buzz, and the bottle began to glow.

  "No," Phobetor whispered. "No, it can't be."

  The bottle trembled, and Tasha held on tight. Phobetor clawed at it, and Tasha leapt aside, but the bottle would not come free.

  "NO!" cried Phobetor, his face twisted in anguish, clawing at the bottle. "Moonmist!" he said, turning toward her. He looked like a man again, just a pale man, his eyes pleading, desperate. "Moonmist, my wife, please help me!"

  Moonmist stared, eyes wide, unable to speak. Phobetor fell to his knees as the bottle sucked in his cheek, then his nose, then his entire face. The monsters writhed and screamed, falling to the ground, melting into pools of hair and ooze. Soon Phobetor's head was gone into the bottle, and his scream reverberated in the chamber, shaking it. The ceiling cracked and boulders fell.

  "CADE!" came his final scream, and then his body was sucked into the bottle, and Phobetor, the God of Nightmare, was imprisoned.

  The bottle lay on the floor, still, and its glow faded.

  Silence filled the chamber.

  Tasha stepped toward the bottle and sealed it. She wiped her paws against each other with satisfaction.

  "Well," she said, "that showed him."

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Going Home

  Harmony laughed, and cried, and could not stop laughing as her tears fell.

  The monsters holding her crumbled into ash. All around her, the forces of Nightmare were screaming, melting, burning away. Queen Eliven shrieked, engulfed with flames that burned her, consuming her into nothingness until she disappeared. All of Nightmare crumbled.

  "Cade!" Harmony cried through her tears. "Cade and Tasha did it!"

  "Cade and Tasha!" Starlight echoed her cry, the wounds of Nightmare washed away from her flesh. "Cade and Tasha saved us!"

  As the monsters crumbled into nothing but ash, blowing away in the wind, the pegacats crashed against each other in an embrace. Laughing and crying, they flew in circles and crashed against Yor, so strong they knocked the great elk to the ground.

  For a moment, Harmony feared Yor would be mad, and she winced. But the great elk only laughed, a soft deep laughter like rain in the forest, and Harmony was filled with more love than she had ever known, love that overflowed her and brought fresh tears to her eyes. She and Harmony jumped over King Yor, kissing him, laughing with him.

  The other gods joined their embrace. Princess Niv, of Butterfly Valley, the Half-Elk, her head alight with a halo of fireflies. Galgev, of the Enchanted Garden, the forest god with the head of a fox. Maninav, Galgev's wife from the Tropical Canopy, a goddess woven of flowers and leaves. Windwhisper, the hawk, the Eyes of Eloria. Queen Alandria, the sylvan from Caterpillar Meadow.

  The gods of Dream laughed together, embraced.

  "Cade saved us," Harmony said to Yor.

  He nodded, and Harmony smiled and nuzzled against him. "I always knew he would," she said.

  She became still and silent when she saw the White Lioness approach. The great cat padded forward silently and stood before the gods of Dream. Harmony stared at the White Lioness in wonder, for she bore a beauty of far off lands and mysterious things.

  Yor rose to his feet. He bowed his head to her. Thank you, his eyes said.

  The White Lioness nodded. She let her eyes lay upon the gods, then swished her tail. "My boulder and trees await me," she said. She leapt onto the cliffs, then disappeared into the trees.

  "Goodbye," Harmony whispered, and wondered if she'd ever see the lioness again. Then Starlight leapt onto her again, and the pegacats rolled around in the grass, laughing as Dream began to bloom.

  * * * * *

  As Phobetor's chamber crumbled around them, its columns and walls collapsing, Cade knelt by Moonmist. She gazed up at him, eyes hazy. He held her.

  "Moonmist," he whispered, eyes moist. Phobetor's magic had turned her into a demon of claws, dark red skin, and wings. A boulder fell from the ceiling, missing them by a foot. After all this... I can't lose Moonmist, or everything is lost to me.

  "Cade," Moonmist whispered, "he... he made me his demon bride."

  "No," Tasha said, clinging to the bottle. "He never consummated it."

  Cade looked down at Moonmist. Her lips were full and deep red, her chest rose and fell, and tears filled her eyes. She was as beautiful as ever to him, even as her hair crackled with flame and leathery wings feebly moved beneath her, even if evil now filled her. You will always be beautiful and good to me. I love you, Moonmist.

  He closed his eyes, leaned over the princess, and kissed her lips. She gasped. Her left arm broke free from its chains, and her claws dug into his back. Cade winced with pain, feeling his blood trickle, but he would not let go. She struggled against him, hissing, hair crackling. He slid his hands beneath the small of her back, holding her against him, refusing to release her, kissing her even as her fangs bit his lip. She groaned and hissed, locked in his kiss, her claws scratching down his back. I won't let you go.

  Then suddenly her hands were in his hair, her fingers soft, no claws growing from them. She kissed him back with soft lips, and her body relaxed, melting into his embrace. She trembled, and Cade leaned back to see the evil leaving her. Her skin turned pink again, her claws and wing
s vanished, and her chains turned to rust.

  Cade breathed out shakily. "Moonmist." His voice was like a sob, and tears filled his eyes.

  "Now let's get out of here!" Tasha cried as the ceiling rained stones.

  Cade grabbed the bottle, and they ran from the chamber as it collapsed into heaps of rock and dust. Everything was crumbling, dust raining as they ran. They shot out into the plains just before the entire palace caved in.

  Dust covered everything, painting them black and gray. Cade turned to stare at the collapsed heap.

  "I feel like I just woke up from a nightmare," he said.

  Tasha sat on his shoulder. "In a way, Cade, you did."

  The earth suddenly shook wildly and cracks ran along the ground. The sky seemed to tremble and the horizons burned.

  "All of Nightmare is collapsing!" Moonmist cried.

  The earth shook so wildly, they fell to their knees. Boulders jutted from the earth and caverns collapsed into the ground.

  "All this," Tasha said, "to finally die...."

  "Die, lady mouse?" cried a deep voice from behind them. "I think not!"

  They turned to look.

  "Eclipse!" Cade cried. The horse from the Begemmed City looked back at him, the wind blowing his mane.

  "Climb onto my back," said the horse, "and I will run!"

  Moonmist and Cade on his back, Eclipse galloped across the dying lands of Nightmare. Cade wrapped his arms around Moonmist, who sat before him. Tasha sat on his shoulder.

  "You found a way around the wall!" Tasha said. "Didn't you, Eclipse?"

  "Indeed I did, my lady. Indeed I did. I told you I would catch up."

  As Eclipse galloped, Cade shut his eyes. "We did it, Sunflower," he whispered to his sister. Dream was safe. Our place, where everything is good. "It's all over now."

  Tasha smiled and leaned against his cheek. "Did you ever doubt it, Talon? We are, after all, prince and princess of the wilderness." She said nothing more, and when Cade looked, he saw that she was crying.

  Eclipse never tired, galloping as the fires, black boulders, and red clay of Nightmare faded away, and grass came to grow upon the earth, and trees bloomed, and the dark clouds dispersed to reveal blue skies. Around them, the slaves of Nightmare were traveling back to Dream, and the cursed animals, corrupted by Loor, shook off their evil.

  "We go to Hidden Valley Ridge," said Eclipse as they galloped out of Nightmare.

  All of Dream bloomed around them. In Fox Fort, grass and flowers grew again, and foxes ran across the ground. A million sunflowers grew in Sunflower Corner, and dandelions swayed upon Dandelion Hill by the mulberry tree. Butterflies fluttered between bluebells and goldenrods in Butterfly Valley, where Niv sang upon a boulder rising from clover and lamb's-ears. Caterpillars crawled over trilliums and bindweed in Caterpillar Corner, plump and parti-colored, as Queen Alandria smiled upon them. Giraffes ran along the grassy swards above Beluga Beach, while whales filled the water, trumpeting as Cade rode by. In the Begemmed City, Elorians lined the walls, cheering, waving banners of blue and gold. Little Star, from inside the whale, stood waving upon the city walls. Parrots and waterfalls sang in Tropical Canopy, where Maninav wove her flowers. Galgev's Enchanted Garden bloomed, full of basins of flowers, statues bedecked with ivy, and old stone fountains. Pines shaded the Enchanted Waterfall, where mist rose, and the pegacats lived in their cave, hidden behind a curtain of seashells.

  Cade smiled sadly. "I wish Tam, and Cloverfoot, and all the others who died could have lived to see this."

  "Maybe they do see," Tasha said. "Maybe they do."

  That night, as they camped in a field of raspberries, Cade and Moonmist walked alone, holding hands. Leaving Tasha and Eclipse behind (the two were busy arguing about what was tastier, oats or cheese), they gazed at the night sky. A million stars glowed there, the constellations of Dream, as comets flew.

  "The sky is so beautiful now," Moonmist whispered. "And look! The lightdragons."

  Cade smiled as the beings of gentle light appeared in the night sky, gliding, flowing, singing the Dreamsong. New words they sang, the story of Cade and Moonmist and the liberation of Dream.

  Cade reached into his pack. He pulled out the star from Beluga Beach, which the fishermen had drawn from the sparkling sea. Moonmist gasped when she saw it.

  "A star," she breathed. "Where did you find it?"

  "It glistened on the water, and a pair of gnomes caught it for me. I never knew what to do with it. Every other gift I've received here helped me somehow. But now, Moonmist, I know what this star is for."

  As she watched with wide eyes, smiling, Cade tossed the star into the sky. It flew past the lightdragons and settled, bluish-silver, in the sky and winked down upon them.

  "I give this star to you," he told Moonmist, taking her hands. "Let its glow forever light Dream's nights."

  From the camp, came the raised voice of Tasha. "And I tell you, Golden Delicious are better!"

  Eclipse roared. "No, the best apples are Granny Smiths!"

  * * * * *

  In the crisp morning, a mist hovering between the pines, Cade and Moonmist walked upon a pebbly path between cliffs of chalk bedecked with ivy. Princess Moonmist wore a gown of blue cotton, and a wreath of jasmines bloomed atop her head. A string of sapphires lay upon her throat, and her mane of golden feathers shone in the dawn. Cade, dressed in his woodsman clothes, his diamond shield shining, took her hand. She looked at him and smiled. Tasha sat on the princess's shoulder, dressed in a diminutive vest of blue and gold Moonmist had sewn her.

  "I've never been to Hidden Valley Ridge," the princess said softly, watching a flock of sparrows fly across the sky. Cade thought he could see Windwhisper flying at their lead.

  "Nor have I," he said. "I'm glad I have a chance to see it before going home."

  He took a deep breath. The air smelled of earth, clear water, trees. In the distance, he could hear the Enchanted Waterfall where the pegacats lived. An overwhelming sadness filled him, a sadness greater than he had ever felt, and for the first time in his quest, Cade felt a certain helplessness overcome him. I'll miss Dream, he thought. I've seen such pain and horror here, but beauty too, and found good friends.

  He lowered his head. The time to go home had come, but did he dare leave Dream? What remains at home for me? Home had been a place of painful memories, of sadness, a place where they survived the days until at nights they could visit Dream. Is there a place for me there?

  Cade looked at his sister. She smiled. He had never seen her so happy, and he realized: Yes, that is our home, for good or bad. He lowered his head. We came here to save Dream, but I think... I think we actually came here to save our home. To save ourselves.

  He looked up to the sky, where Windwhisper flew, and he felt tears at the corners of his eyes. Is that why you chose us, friend? Did you know all along?

  He looked at his sister, and she looked back at him, black eyes large and moist. She was thinking the same thing. He could tell, the way he could always tell what she was thinking. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Maybe we don't need Talon and Sunflower anymore. Maybe now we can just be Cade and Tasha.

  He turned to look at Moonmist, who walked beside him, her feathers strewn with flowers, her jewels alight. But I'm not returning empty handed.

  Moonmist lowered her eyes. "Do you think I will like Earth, Cade? You've told me much about it, but I can't imagine what it's like."

  He stared forward, at the snaking path shaded by pines that grew from the cliffs. In the distance, veiled with mist, he could see deer and wolves walk toward the Ridge.

  "If you chose to stay here," he said softly, "I'd understand."

  She shook her head. "The Begemmed City is beautiful again, but Cade...." She looked at him, her eyes large and moist. "It still holds pain for me. It is no longer my home. I can't forget what happened there." She lowered her eyes. "I come with you."

  He kissed her cheek. "We'll always have our dreams."

  When they st
epped into Hidden Valley Ridge, the others were already there, standing upon the cliffs beneath the Birthstone. Galgev and Maninav stood beneath a pine, holding hands. Princess Niv stood by them, the pegacats at her sides, Windwhisper upon her shoulder. Cade, Moonmist, and Tasha joined them silently. Niv smiled at them, and they all raised their eyes toward the Birthstone. Below in the valley, the pines shading them, the animals of Dream gazed up.

  As Cade watched, King Yor, the Father Elk, stepped onto the Birthstone, and with him walked his wife, Queen Alandria the sylvan. Dream bowed to them.

  "Rise, my friends," said Yor, his voice deep, smooth, a voice of the forest. "In the beauty of Dream, we gather to share joy, the depths of the forests and the endless rolling plains, the clear skies and blue waters. Eloria remembers, too, the fallen, those we mourn." He looked across the valley, and Cade saw that seven tombstones had appeared upon a cliff there, shaded by pines.

  Queen Alandria spoke, her head aglow with a halo of fireflies. "One stone remembers Tam, our grandson, the son of Niv and the Enchanted Waterfall. Another stone remembers Loor, our lost child. A third stone we have raised for the Hippo King. A fourth for Cloverfoot the fox. A fifth for Candlelit. A sixth for the King and Queen of the Begemmed City. A seventh stone remembers the unknown fallen, the souls who fought and fell for Eloria. Seven stones forever in memory."

  The King and Queen of Dream lowered their heads and shut their eyes, as did everyone below, and they stood in silence.

  Finally Yor spoke again. "Come forth, Cade and Tasha of Earth. And come stand with them, Princess Moonmist of the Begemmed City."

  Holding hands, Cade and Moonmist made their way up a pebbly path, under sunbeams, toward the Birthstone. Tasha rode on Moonmist's shoulder. The holiness and antiquity filled Cade as he walked onto the heart of Dream and stood before Yor and Alandria.

  The great stag, his antlers wide and strong, smiled upon Cade and his sister.

  "Tasha, our heroine," Yor said, a twinkle in his eyes. "You sneaked into dream in disguise, without us knowing, but we are blessed that you did. Without you, Dream would have fallen." The great elk gently kissed the mouse. "Take your wooden ring, with the laceleaf magic, back to Earth. Let it be a gift to you from Dream. It will watch over you during your days, and bring you peace and comfort. Wear it as a medallion, Sunflower, and we will be with you. Remember that, our beloved child. We will be with you always, even in your darkest hours."