The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults)

by Robert Scanlon

  Andreas was the first to break the heavy silence. “We still have one thing in our favour. Makthryg believes us dead, so if we act quickly we will retain the element of surprise. Let’s make sure he doesn’t discover the men are still alive.” He looked at Tomas. “How long before we can have say, three organised squads ready?”

  “No more than a few moments, if indeed they are not already assembled,” Tomas replied, “we are not lacking in enthusiasm and anger, Andreas.”

  “True,” said Andreas, pursing his lips, “but Makthryg has our women; and both he and Valkrog have strong powers. It may be a deadly battle.”

  “Why Andreas, you are already sounding beaten,” Tomas laughed, “you are forgetting we have the Orange Witch!”

  They both looked at Sarina, who didn’t quite know how to respond and squirmed in her seat. “I … er … you might be mistak—”

  Andreas held his hand up to interrupt and looked at Tomas. “We must be both swift and cautious. Any rash action could endanger our people.” He looked back again at Sarina and Nathan. “But maybe you are right. They would have no idea we have the fearsome ‘Orange Witch’,” he winked at Sarina, “right here in our midst. And we also know that Makthryg still needs the location of the blue substance. Perhaps we do still have some cards to play.”

  Nathan leapt up, sending his chair flying backwards. “Wait! I DO have an idea!”

  Andreas smiled up at him. “Then put words to it, Master Scientist.”

  Nathan picked his chair up and sat down, leaning in, and with animated gestures and tracing of fingers on the table, he outlined his plan.

  ~ 31 ~

  Caught

  They had been crawling on their stomachs through the damp and slimy undergrowth for some time, when something unidentifiable and wet wiped across Sarina’s face. “Ughhh!” she said. “Are we there yet?” Why had it chosen to rain just as they entered the forest at the bottom of the hill?

  Andreas, who was ahead of her, stopped crawling and looked back. His face was smeared with mud and he was lying flat with his chest pressed into the wet leaves.

  “I think we are close now,” he whispered, “no talking from here on, just use the signals Nathan suggested. Pass it on.”

  Sarina nodded and craned her head around to locate Paolo behind her. She unwound her filthy hand from a tenacious vine and held up a finger to her lips, thinking that as she did so, she had probably left a nice muddy line from her chin to her nose. Oh well.

  She pointed past Paolo and made a signal with her finger to indicate that he should tell Nathan.

  Paolo nodded. He looked through the dense forest they had crawled through and saw Nathan at his feet. He held his finger to his lips.

  Nathan nodded, and they recommenced the awkward process of elbowing themselves forward through the mud and leaves, trying to make as little noise as possible.

  Andreas stopped before the edge of the undergrowth and peered through the ferns in front of him to survey their next move. He ducked back down again and beckoned the others to bring their heads to his. He pointed to Sarina and held up his hand in a stop signal, then pointed a finger down to the ground. She nodded. She was to wait there, as planned, until she heard the commotion.

  Andreas then held up his finger and circled it to include himself, Paolo and Nathan. He indicated slightly to the left of where he had looked out, his fingers doing an imitation of a slow, quiet crouching walk. He pointed his index and middle fingers at his eyes, then turned them up to the sky.

  Paolo and Nathan nodded. That meant there were sentries up on the ramparts, but if they were quiet and kept an eye out above, they could creep out unseen.

  He tapped his chest to show he was referring to himself, and with both hands, extended them apart as if measuring a large distance, and held one hand palm down and lowered it. He pointed at Paolo and Nathan in turn, this time measuring progressively shorter distances with his hands. He held their eyes for a moment as confirmation flashed between them, then he nodded.

  The forest was still, with the exception of the occasional screech of bats and the constant chirping of frogs, drawn out by the rain.

  Andreas made one more gesture, to which they all nodded agreement, then he beckoned them to follow him, stopping for one last look at Sarina. He held her gaze in acknowledgement of her part in the plan, nodded once and crawled out of the undergrowth.

  Nathan followed Andreas and Paolo and whispered “Good luck” to Sarina as he passed.

  Unable to smile, she watched them leave, then reached down into the small canvas bag she’d been clutching and pulled out the two items inside, discarded the bag and waited. Waited, alone and wet, her heart beating loud enough to wake the entire fortress.

  She didn’t have to wait long.

  Shouts came from high up in the ramparts. She heard the sound of men running—away from her—on top of the massive stone wall of the fortress. She waited a little longer, straining to hear.

  Thud … thud … thud … crash … squawk. There it was! The plan was working as Nathan had suggested. They had collected small rocks on the last part of their crawl through the woods, and with each of them stationed as close as possible to the base of the ramparts, they were throwing them hard back into the forest, causing crashing noises in the trees and arousing the animal-life.

  Late at night, and cleverly orchestrated from three different spots, they were creating an impression of an advancing party of men on the attack, carelessly disturbing the woods and calling attention to themselves.

  Their advantage was surprise. According to Paolo’s information, gained when he was imprisoned in the cage, Makthryg and his men would now expect all the townsmen to be dead from the gas.

  The guards would not be expecting an attack and the sudden noises would stir panic and cause a distraction.

  She listened for the commotion to build-up as planned, and when it came, she sprang out of her hiding place and sprinted away from the noise and across to the side of the fortress adjoining the newly built stockade.

  She arrived at the wall of the wooden stockade breathless and tired, but driven by adrenalin to play the most important role in the rescue. In her hands she clutched the jar of white paint and the brush from the bag. She dipped the brush in the white paint and began painting rapidly and precisely on the side of the stockade, constructing a doorway large enough for people to escape two at a time.

  She had only painted one side of the door when an intense pain shot down her left side and she fell to the floor, her brush falling from her hand.

  She twisted around to find the cause of her agony and saw a lattice of blue vine-like tendrils sparking and spitting, stuck to her left side. Each time she tried to move they sent searing shocks through her body.

  She stopped moving to reduce the pain and only using her eyes, she followed the electric lattice down. It joined a single, thicker cable-like plant root, held by someone at the other end, like a rope in a tug-of-war.

  She looked further along to the end of the root—and directly into the beady eyes of Valkrog.

  “So, Orange Witch, what will you do now?” The bird-creature cackled and tugged on the cable to pull Sarina in.

  “Ouch!” She cried in pain as she was dragged stumbling away from the stockade wall.

  “So this is your ‘Orange Witch’?” Makthryg appeared from behind the bird-man. He walked around Sarina and looked her up and down with contempt. “Rather small in the flesh, isn’t she?”

  “And no threat to us now,” Valkrog said, jerking the cable and sending sparks flying.

  “Oww! Will you stop that!” Sarina glared at the creature.

  “Or what?” said Makthryg, smiling and leaning his face in close to hers. “You’ll set your friends on us?”

  “Yes! I’ll have you know I have some very powerful fr—” She stopped in shock.

  “‘Friends’?” Makthryg sneered, rubbing his hands together.

  Her face fell as she saw a downcast Paolo, Nathan an
d Andreas being pushed and shoved towards them by an ugly, shaved-headed soldier, surrounded by archers. They came to a stop in front of Makthryg and looked over at Sarina, their expressions all telling the same story. Failure.

  “Oh, don’t be concerned. Your friends will be of particular use to you and the women and children.” He leaned in close to Sarina again. “And that’s because this one, who I see has regained his voice,” he pointed behind him to Paolo, while still looking into Sarina’s eyes, “this one will keep you all alive.”

  He turned to look directly at Paolo. “That is, of course, if he does as he is told.”

  Paolo stared back at Makthryg and spoke to Sarina without breaking his gaze from the sorcerer. “I’m sorry, Sarina. I’m sorry we talked you into this.” His voice became harder. “I will do your bidding, Makthryg, but I’m only doing it to save our women and children, before you kill any more of them. The townsmen have already died at your hands.”

  “Oh, we haven’t touched a hair on the heads of your women and children … yet.” Makthryg leered. “Contrary to your belief, none of them have been harmed. And the gas we sent to the township?” he whipped around and looked sharply at Sarina, “The one your witch so cleverly neutralised? Whoever you used to spy on us was misinformed.”

  Sarina watched Paolo and saw his eyes widen momentarily at his mistake. She risked a glance at Andreas. Would their plan still work? He hadn’t reacted, so she assumed so.

  Makthryg continued. “The gas was never intended to kill them, merely designed to knock them out for a few hours to allow their capture. There will be those among them who will gladly take up positions in my new world, so why would I wish to kill them? They will all wake up in good time, mostly unharmed,” he shrugged, “though a few of the weaker ones may not survive.

  “In any case, even your women, children and so-called wise elders will sing a different song when they see the magnificent world I will build for them with the new energy-force. No, I have no desire to kill ALL of them. For those who desire, there is a place for them in the new empire,” he curled his lip, “but hear me well. I will kill precisely as many as needed to get you to do my bidding. And now, enough talk.”

  He turned to his men. “Hursk!”

  Shaved-head jumped to attention. “Yes, Sire?”

  “Bring a selection of women and children and assemble them ready for a march through the forest and to the lake. Make sure you have flares. And you”—he pointed to the captain of the archer squad—“bring your men and plenty of arrows”—he looked at Paolo—“in case this one is stubborn.”

  Valkrog pulled on the electric vine and Sarina gasped. “Your Greatness, what will you have me do with this one?”

  Makthryg eyed Sarina. “Now that she knows of the consequences, I doubt she is any threat. Release her from the vine and rope her together with the other three. Bring them along as well. They may as well witness the transformation of the valley into a rich new world.”

  Andreas spat on the ground.

  “Too late my courageous friend, too late,” Makthryg said shaking his head as he walked away.

  “I am not your friend,” Andreas said through gritted teeth, his eyes burning bright.

  ~ 32 ~

  The Orange Witch

  Weary from the long march, Sarina, still roped to the others, followed Paolo and Nathan in single file. They stumbled out of the trail and into the clearing where Makthryg and Valkrog were waiting, flanked by archers ready to shoot if they attempted escape.

  Behind her came Andreas, then the remaining guards, their swords readied.

  Makthryg eyed the prisoners. “We await your women and children. In the meantime, you,” he pointed at Paolo, “will get your bearings and instruct the commander here in which direction we will proceed. Is that clear?”

  Paolo nodded. He saw Makthryg was excited, his eyes bright with desire. He hoped for all their sake that the blue glow was what Makthryg was looking for, yet at the same time, he knew that once the substance was in the sorcerer’s possession, their world would change forever. He sighed and looked at the commander for instruction, who beckoned Paolo over. Reluctantly he moved to the shaved-head brute and began pointing out the paths, while the commander marked out the angle and route to take past the lake.

  The sound of footsteps and crying and sobbing broke the silence. A small party of guards arrived from the trail, leading a group of pale-looking women and children, frightened and tired from the march. The leader of the guards stopped and saluted Valkrog, and waited for instructions.

  Paolo risked a glance at the group, holding his breath. Was that her? Then he saw the small boy, with a thatch of curly hair and a familiar countenance. Lucio? He looked at the woman next to the boy, who returned his look with a brief flicker of a smile and a tiny nod of the head. He lingered on her face for as long as he dare; drinking it in; her strong cheekbones; her gentle eyes. How had he come to forget such beauty? The boy was staring at him, and he quickly turned away, lest he betray them.

  But Makthryg was watching him with a twisted smile. “Oh yes. There’s no use trying to hide it from me. It’s your mother. You should have guessed she would volunteer. Stubbornness is a family trait I believe. But I brought along the boy too, just to make sure you both comply.”

  Paolo could only look at the sorcerer in dismay.

  “Line them up over there,” Valkrog ordered, “and assemble the archers.”

  Some of the women wailed and protested as they faced the archers. Sarina and Nathan were watching them and Sarina looked away, unable to watch, her head in her hands.

  Makthryg signalled the commander who stood to attention and pushed Paolo forward. Makthryg looked at Paolo and aimed his words at the commander. “Hursk, has the boy provided you with sufficient direction and a description of what we are to find?”

  “Yes, my Lord, he has.” The commander bowed and shoved Paolo to do the same. Paolo resisted and shot a defiant look back at him.

  “Boy!” Makthryg commanded Paolo’s attention. “Is the information you have given correct?”

  “Yes.” Paolo refused to use ‘sire’ or ‘lord’. This man was no sire or lord. He played too casually with the lives of women and children to command anyone’s respect.

  Makthryg lowered his voice and waved his arm in the direction of the women and children cowering before the archers. “You understand the very personal penalty if you are lying?”

  “Yes,” Paolo said softly, unable to look at the man.

  “Good.” Makthryg’s triumph was clear in his expression. He turned to the commander. “Lead us to where the boy has indicated,” and turning now to Valkrog, continued, “bring the prisoners and the women and children. We will take no chances. Until the Xtrium is found, we will consider all lives forfeit.”

  Andreas’s eyes narrowed and Nathan drew in a sharp breath.

  ~~~

  The party, now quite spread out, started to arrive at the clearing past the lake. Sarina saw the weariness written on the faces of the women, and the fear on the faces of the children. She sighed and tried to concentrate her energies for what felt like the millionth time. She would be no use to anyone if she succumbed to tiredness at a crucial moment.

  Makthryg, Valkrog and the commander were at the front, looking over at the side of the clearing, pointing and talking and occasionally looking back to check if the entire group had arrived.

  When the last of the stragglers had made it into the clearing, Makthryg motioned the men to surround the women, children, Paolo, Sarina, Nathan and Andreas.

  “It seems the boy has told the truth,” Makthryg said, and Sarina could see relief visible in the women’s faces, “now he will lead me and a few men over to the exact spot. The rest of you will remain here under guard. Anyone who moves will face”—he emphasised his next words—“painful consequences.”

  Sarina peered over to the small area of ground that Makthryg had pointed to. She risked a glance at Paolo, who nodded imperceptibly. Then it w
as true, this was the place with the old log and the blue glow. She steeled herself, throwing another quick glance over at Nathan, who looked back at her with his eyes dancing in anticipation. That boy had too much excitement in his life. He should settle down and learn to paint, it would be good for his stress levels.

  Stress levels? Who was she to recommend lowering stress levels? She watched Paolo lead Makthryg and Valkrog to the site accompanied by a few men carrying shovels. The men stopped and some leaned on their shovels and waited while Paolo pointed to several areas on the ground, close to and under the log. She saw that Makthryg and Valkrog were squatting and sampling the earth. Just looking at the bird-man in the flesh made her shiver.

  Makthryg sent the commander back to join the archers and called for the men with shovels, indicating an area to dig. The men began to excavate a small hole and shovel out clods of faintly-glowing blue earth as the hole increased in size.

  As soon as Makthryg and Valkrog were preoccupied and looking down at the ground at the increasing glow, Andreas stretched his arms up as if to yawn, and stopped when the archers raised their crossbows directly at him. “What?” he said innocently, “Are you not tired from the march too?” He continued stretching and some of the archers, bored by the lack of activity, lowered their bows.

  Andreas yawned again, brought one hand to his mouth to cover his yawn and let out a loud sigh that became a clear, long, hooting, ‘ooooohhhhhh’.

  Hursk stepped forward in front of Andreas, “You! Stop tha—”

  He had no chance to finish his sentence, his eyes opening wide in surprise as he clutched at the arrow protruding from his chest. He twisted and fell to the ground.

  The air was filled with a loud battle roar as hundreds of townsmen ran out from positions on the edge of the forest, firing arrows as they ran.

  The archers all turned to face the incoming townsmen and dropped to their knees with their crossbows aimed up and firing.

  “Down to the ground!” Andreas yelled at the women and children. “Lay flat and close to each other. Wait for my signal to run.” He bent down and retrieved the dead commander’s sword and moved to the first archer, where he pressed the tip of the sword into his shoulder. “You. Drop your bow now, and fall to the ground.”