by J E Mueller
“It would have to be.” Benz nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck. “There’re weird things going on here for sure. Maybe there’s a book that’ll help. If anyone knows anything it would be the Watch, but we’ve been out of contact recently.”
“The Watch?” Was there another alliance?
“Yeah, it’s formed of a combination of people from here to help protect the house, like the ultimate adventurers,” Benz replied vaguely.
Something came to mind though, a small dwelling raised well above the ground. There was only one set of stairs down and it was always the most dangerous at night. That was when the worst of the creatures emerged…
“Actually, I think I remember that,” I stated, surprised.
Benz also looked surprised. “You haven’t remembered anything in forever.”
Nodding, I thought about the creatures of the woods. The ones with the red eyes and the weird clicking noises they would make. “Of course, I remember the nightmare fuel but still don’t remember you or Clove. You’ve both been around long enough I should know you.”
“We knew each other before this.” He motioned vaguely to the room around us. “We were all Dreamers here. I’m not surprised we’d haunt this place as restless souls.”
“I wonder how I forgot all of this. I mean, there was the accident, but I’ve recovered all my other memories. Or so I thought. This whole thing makes me question that now.”
Benz gave a sad laugh. “I think this place is supposed to be forgotten, so don’t be upset about it.” He came into the room more and leaned on the counter.
“You’re probably right, but still. It’s not been fun trying to figure things out.” I shook my head. “Wait, you would know my abilities here then!”
Benz gave a bit louder of a laugh. “That’s the thing, as a Dreamer, those things can change and did change. I used to have a ranged weapon, and different types of magic, and now I’ve got a stupidly large sword. Nothing is set in stone until you are stuck here. I could give you a list of things, but that doesn’t make any of it true now.”
“Ah, so it’s just as much of a guess as ever.” I sighed. At least it was worth asking.
“Usually, it makes sense though once you get to know the person. So that might narrow it down?” Benz suggested.
I shrugged. What would fit me personally? Something with water maybe? I hadn’t a clue. Nothing actually felt right. We both turned as we heard the sound of static and a dozen tiny feet.
“Sounds like some Hedgeish.”
I raised an eyebrow at Benz. “Hedgeish?”
“About knee high hedgehogs with spikes that zap like lightning. They also have razor sharp teeth so…” Benz summoned his sword. “Easy enough to take.”
Sighing, I readied my bow. I could actually feel the arrow of light in my hand this time as I drew it back toward my ear. Steadying it, I let loose the second I saw the first creature appear in the doorway. It seemed to be enough of a hit – the thing didn’t get back up – but the screams of its comrades were suddenly terrifying.
Benz closed the small distance between them, and in one swoop, hit three into the wall. I watched as the bodies slowly faded into smoke, just in time for him to take down the final two.
“That really wasn’t a challenge for you.” I felt a bit surprised, and it must have shown on my face since Benz just laughed.
“After a few years, yeah. It isn’t. You build up some good strength here and just learn how to hit things just right.”
“They vanished,” I commented, gesturing that way. “The Agmon Clove and Mare took down didn’t.”
“They probably just disabled it. A sword through the head is the best way. It won’t get up for at least an hour.” Benz shrugged. “You can only kill it by removing its heart, which is no small task. It’s body is thick and difficult to pierce. Better to just get it down and continue on.”
I really didn’t like the sound of that but nodded my understanding.
“You don’t remember any of this, do you?” He sighed, frustration lining his face.
“Not really. Just apparently that random thing with the Watch.” I yawned, suddenly feeling tired. “I should probably try and get some sleep. No good reason to be up this early.” These dream meetings with the fog were not restful by any means.
“Time is an illusion.” Benz shrugged. “Souls don’t need nearly as much time to rest as we did in human form.”
“Technically, I’m still a Dreamer, so I might need more rest.” Did I? Probably.
“Probably.” He motioned to the hall the Hedgeish came from. “Ladies first.”
“What? You’re going to follow me back?”
“More like make sure you get back. You probably don’t remember it all just yet.”
“Way to call me out.” I gave a tired sigh, “It’s vaguely in that direction.” I waved whereabouts I thought it was.
“Yeah, no. I’ll lead.” Benz waved for me to follow as he set off.
“Shouldn’t you not be helping me? Aren’t you completely mad at Clove?”
Benz shrugged. “Are you actually on her team or are you just following your gut on where to stay for now and will likely change as time goes on?”
I wasn’t sure how to reply, but it was true I was mostly taking things in at this moment.
Benz nodded, never looking back at me once. “Exactly my point. While you may not remember everything Remilia, I remember you, and what I remember best is you didn’t have a side per say. You did whatever you could to help those around you no matter what. So while I would rather you be helping my group, you’re clearly with them for a reason, and when the time comes, I’m sure you’ll be equally as helpful to my needful team.”
“I think Canton would rather stab me through the chest before that moment.” I shook my head. How did one change teams with people like Canton around?
“And what do you propose to do about someone like him?” Benz mused as we continued.
“I’ve no idea… yet. Something needs to be done though.” I really wished I had a better idea. I wasn’t up for murdering him, but he was a handful.
“Exactly. It’s a tough one.”
“So, what were you doing up anyway?” I asked once more, changing the topic.
“For months I’ve been having weird dreams, and I usually get up sometime in the middle of the night and wander a bit. Sometimes there’s newcomers or Dreamers about so it’s not usually dull,” Benz replied truthfully.
I wondered if he dreamed of the fog creature, but then again that particular weirdness might just be me. I considered the bracelet for a moment and how I heard voices because of having it, and whatever it meant to be receptive.
“Is it because of the Creators being gone? Could that impact dreams?”
Benz gave a tired chuckle. “If only. These particular dreams are from the last few months, but the weird dreams started years ago. It’s hasn’t been unusual for me to be up around now for quite some time.”
Maybe the fog dreams were just me. Maybe not. It was hard to gauge. I’d hold that information for now.
“Did you really just need to get up?” he asked as we were nearly back to the safe zone.
“Yeah. After dreaming of my sister I needed to get up and moving for a bit. I’ve no idea if she survived everything.” I truly didn’t know. Who knew what part of that whole mess was real. I never mentioned Kegan here, so maybe, just maybe it was.
“That’s fair. This whole dead, maybe not dead is a bit weird to shake. Rest well.” Benz turned toward me, nodded, and headed back the way we came.
The painting was within sight now, I couldn’t possibly be that daft to get lost, but I wondered what Benz was really dreaming. Maybe I’d ask next time around. I doubted the nights would be good enough to let me completely rest anytime soon.
Morning, much like usual, came too quickly. I could make out someone calling chipperly to me to get up. My response was to pull the blankets over my head in hopes of drowning out everyt
hing. Of course, that never worked when I was fully up and alive, so why now?
The blanket was quickly yanked off me and the pillow pulled off my head as Mare’s voice became bright and somehow even louder than before. “Wakey-wakey!”
“What for?” I grumbled, still half asleep.
“We’ve got lives to save!”
How did one save someone who was already dead? “Fine, what’s going on?” I started to rub the sand from my eyes.
“Leta got a nasty bite while helping with a quest. Clove and a few others are getting one of the harder ingredients from the fourth floor to make up a brew that’ll save her. We need to get something from the gardens outside.”
I stared at Mare like she was crazy, taking my time getting out of bed. “So us, you and me… we’re going outside where things are usually more dangerous.” She nodded a bit too cheerfully. “I’m hardly any help! We’ll die!” I didn’t bother to hide my shock.
“We’ve got help enough for this. It’ll be fine. Come along.” She beamed and headed out of the room.
I took a deep breath. I wasn’t dead yet, so technically if I died I probably wouldn’t be dead dead anyway. That didn’t really make me feel any better, but I followed Mare anyway.
Once in the common area, Mare motioned to a guy, around my age, maybe just a bit older. “This is Ze. Ze, Remi.” She nodded back and forth to us as she spoke. “Ze can use illusion magic, basically making us temporarily invisible.”
“Oh, that’s useful.” I gave an approving nod. “I’m surprised Clove didn’t want him on her team.” I directed the comment toward Mare.
Ze gave a small laugh. “It’s very temporary. I can’t keep this up for long term, so, we need a game plan and can’t really deviate from it. Lots of ducking and dodging behind things to recharge and stay out of sight. The gardens shouldn’t be a huge issue. Just navigating the hedge maze they are in will be annoying.”
Ah, that did make sense then.
“Sounds like a good enough plan then.” I looked at Mare for further direction before remembering Ze probably had another gift. “What else can you do?”
Ze shrugged. “I have a sword, but I really, really suck at using it. I’ve just been here about three weeks.” He looked at Mare for confirmation.
“Three weeks sounds about right.” She shrugged and turned to me. “He really isn’t a swordsman by any means yet. At least you have some range.”
“Yeah, bow sounds neat. Mare was explaining about your magic situation before you got you up,” Ze explained.
“At least she gave me time to sleep I guess.” I eyed her tiredly, still not exactly ready for an adventure.
“Let’s head out then. We only really have about five hours before they need that plant back,” Mare stated as she moved toward the painting.
“What flower?” I clearly wasn’t around this this specific part.
“Purple flower, deep red thorns. There’s a huge supply in the back garden, but it’s a bit of a pain to get to,” Mare replied before vanishing through the painting.
Ze followed quickly behind and I gave the jelly-like substance a hard stare before pushing through to the other side. Once over, Mare continued on.
As we walked I decided to at least try and understand this illusion thing. “So Ze, how does this magic thing of yours work? Can you only cast them on items, or creatures, or maybe people?”
Ze’s eyes lit up. He was more than happy to talk about this gift. “Sort of both. It’s really the environment. I can even pick and choose who it affects. Want to see?”
Oh no, this would be terrible. “Yes,” I replied excitedly. Curiosity had the better of me.
“What’s something you don’t like but aren’t full out afraid of?” Ze asked.
That was a nice consideration. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. “Hmmm, maybe moths. They kind of weird me out, but they aren’t scary at all. I can handle them.”
Mare stopped, halting the group. “Well, go on, let’s get this fun bit out of the way.” Mare seemed more amused than anything, likely having seen some of this before.
Ze smirked and closed his eyes for a moment. Opening his eyes he nodded at my hand. I watched as a moth landed on it. I could feel it walk around. The life-like feel it had was crazy. Another appeared and fluttered in front of my face before landing on my nose. It instantly made my nose need to be scratched and I swatted it away. Wait, it wasn’t even there and I needed to swat it away.
“That’s really good,” I said shaking the other one off my hand.
He laughed and just as easily as they appeared they were both gone. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Part of me swore I knew him somehow. Maybe a recent dream? It would have had to have been since he had only been here three weeks. If it was important, I’m sure it would come to me. Things were coming back to me much better now, even if it was slow and just one thing at a time, so that was a good sign. I hoped more bits and pieces would come together soon.
As I followed Mare, I realized we had never passed by the back door before. Seeing it was not terribly far from the safe zone, I was surprised. It led out to spacious outdoor seating area, and a chill ran through me. An image of running full force from the woods and barely making it inside as something slammed hard into the doors came to mind.
Maybe I didn’t need to remember everything…
Mare carefully opened the door. “Inside and outside are too different,” she whispered. “I have to be outside to sense where things are.”
After looking around for a few moments she took a step outside. Magic sparkled around her hands more than normal as she started to see what there was, likely reaching as far as the magic would allow. A few moments more and she was satisfied, waving for us to follow. I summoned my bow without hesitating. It surprised me how quickly it came to me this time, but the threat of death and danger was greater here. Better to be ready now than sorry later. Ze looked equally on guard.
“Be ready to muffle our steps,” Mare said to Ze, who just nodded as we slowly started to move.
No part of me remembered where the gardens were so I had to carefully follow Mare toward the side of the house while also keeping an eye on every other thing near us. The wind was blowing gently, rustling the leaves on trees just enough to make my stomach twist. I couldn’t remember what types of creatures could be near us. Part of me didn’t know if I wanted to know what monsters awaited. That bit of a memory was unsettling enough.
When Mare finally stopped, I held my breath. She stood motionless as the seconds seemed to tick on and on and on. Then quickly, she turned toward Ze. Surprised, he pointed to himself and waited for her nod before I saw his hands glow. A blue purple light gently crossed his fingertips and was gone. Mare looked over at me and then at Ze putting one finger up to her lips signalling silence before motioning a bit in the distance.
None of us dared move or say a word. Just near the entrance to what I guessed was the garden maze, I saw something. It was large and hunched over, a huge, tattered and worn cloak covering most of it. There was no mistake, it had spider like legs. The cloak couldn’t cover the six of them. It scurried over to the entrance and seemed to peer in before turning around and heading into the nearby forest. It was still several more moments before Mare nodded that we were in the clear and could more on again.
We had taken a few steps when suddenly we heard a scream that froze us in place. Someone came running out of the forest toward us. Even from this distance I could tell they were worse for wear. Tired and bloody, they were making a beeline right for us.
Ahead, I could see two stone columns with ivy spiraling up them. The garden maze was surrounded by a decent sized stone wall. It was just a bit taller than me and every bit as built to be a maze as you’d expect for this death filled land. That was closer to where they were. Why didn’t they run for cover there? Maybe they thought we could help?
The creature we recently saw enter the woods appeared hot on their trail. My hands tensed for a mo
ment around my bow.
“It’s just a Dreamer,” Mare stated, sounding slightly annoyed.
I had already readied my bow. “Doesn’t matter to me.” I loosed an arrow, piercing the creature on its shoulder.
With a screech so horrible we had to cover our ears, it paused its running. It slowly raised its arms to lower the hood over its head, and I realized this was probably a mistake. I had no idea what that thing was, but a clay creature come-to-life and gone horribly wrong came to mind. Its face was sorely misshapen. One eye was set much higher than the other, and was far larger than it should have been. The mouth was very two-faced. One side was frowned down, and the other all I could see were horribly sharpened teeth.
The Dreamer never stopped running for us, but the creature’s eyes weren’t on him anymore. Instead, they were focused solely on me.
“Can we beat this thing?” I frantically readied another arrow, hoping for a good answer.
“Us? Fuck no,” Mare stated, voice shaky. “We might be able to hide from it.”
“On it,” Ze declared with a far calmer tone than I expected.
“And the Dreamer,” I stated. Otherwise this would all be for nothing.
“No problem.” Ze nodded as he took in a deep breath, exhaling and releasing a strong wave of magic.
I aimed another shot and hoped to catch the thing in the throat so it couldn’t scream again. I missed and nailed it in the forehead. I hoped breathlessly for a moment it would collapse as the Dreamer joined us. Instead, it shrieked and rushed toward us for a moment before stopping. Ze tapped my arm and pressed his fingers to his lips. The Dreamer was breathing heavily at Mare’s side.
“Shhhh,” she urged him before carefully motioning for us to take steps away from where we were.
I tried to walk as softly as possible. The Dreamer still couldn’t catch his breath and the creature seemed to have a lock on us. It slowly started moving toward us again. With nothing to lose, I took a few more steps back and aimed another arrow. This time I struck it right below its throat. That had to at least hurt.
The creature paused and looked my way. Staying put, I waited. Not being able to pick up on where I was, it continued to follow the sound of the Dreamer.
