We Walk in Darkness

by Bill Hiatt

The other guys in Tal’s group, the ones I hadn’t met yet, weren’t here, but that made sense too, since I hadn’t met them. Shar, Gordy, and Khalid were here, so I tried the Carrie Winn question on them and got almost exactly the same response I had from Tal.

  Fake! Everything, everyone around me was fake!

  OK, I knew the truth, but now what? I tried willing myself to wake up, but nothing happened. I guessed if there was a spell on me, it would take more than just wishing to be awake to wake up. But what?

  I tried to remember every word I’d been told, but we hadn’t really talked about sleep spells, even though I’d seen one in action.

  What about Tal? There was a phony one in here with me, but he wouldn’t be any help. What about the real Tal though? He had been with me on the beach.

  I shuddered as a new dark thought popped up.

  What if he were dead?

  I tried to talk myself out of that idea. Bisavó had her faults, and she had been ready to kill the shadow assassin girl, but Tal had been trying to protect me, not kill me. Surely Bisavó couldn’t be that much of a monster…could she?

  I tried to think about Mestre Ribeiro’s advice. He had always said focus was the most important thing in capoeira, but often in life too. I needed to put my churning emotions in check and figure out what to do if I wanted to avoid being trapped in the Encante for the rest of my life.

  The most likely assumption was that Tal was still alive, just under a spell. I didn’t know how to break out of a magic dream like this, but he might…if he realized he was dreaming. What if his mind was running the same kind of scenario mine was? There would have been glitches in the way he saw Madisonville, because he had only seen a little of it, and that at night. However, if he were focused on watching me, he might not have noticed discrepancies. If he hadn’t noticed then, he certainly wouldn’t notice later, back in Santa Brígida, when his mind could have given him much greater realism.

  If I was still on that beach, if I hadn’t already been taken to the Encante, he was probably still near me physically. There wouldn’t really be any point in maintaining this dream once I was in the Encante and couldn’t get away, so I had to hope I was still on the beach or, at worst, being floated out to one of those watery doorways.

  OK, Tal was probably still nearby. So what, if he hadn’t realized he was locked in a dream? How could I get word to him?

  I was forgetting something! I knew I was, but I couldn’t make it come back. I was stuck.

  I tried to stay calm, and finally I remembered. Tal had mentioned being able to read minds, had apologized for picking up some of my thoughts while he was healing me. I knew being asleep and dreaming didn’t preclude magic; I myself had experienced visions of the future while asleep on one or two occasions. Tal wasn’t actively reading anyone’s mind, or he would already know he was in a dream, but he might still have the ability to read them.

  I knew the idea was crazy, but I kept thinking that if I could get myself to broadcast my thoughts to him, maybe I could get him to wake up. I had never tried anything like that, and maybe I couldn’t broadcast strongly enough to reach him, but what else did I have? Nothing. If the idea didn’t work, I was screwed.

  I tried to focus all my energy into one simple thought, Tal, you’re dreaming! If I could get him to hear that, he would realize what was happening. Worth a shot, anyway.

  I don’t know if what happened next was built into the spell or just coincidence, but people kept bugging me while I tried to concentrate, girls mostly, and I swore they were wearing less clothing each time. The adults seemed to have disappeared, and the house had turned into teenage party central. Yeah, definitely not real! I sighed.

  Not knowing what else to do, I ran outside and switched to high speed to get away from all the noise and distraction, hormonal and otherwise. Luckily, no one followed me. In real life, of course, someone would have, if only to make sure the shadows weren’t eating me.

  I put a few blocks of half-remembered Santa Barbara streets between me and the house. Then I sat down on the sidewalk and threw every brain cell I had into projecting that one message.

  I pushed until my head throbbed. I pushed until I felt like I would start bleeding out of my ears. I pushed until I had almost nothing left to push with.

  Then, very, very faintly, I heard Tal’s voice or probably his thoughts.

  “Lucas?”

  “It’s me!” I yelled. “I’m stuck in a dream. You must be too. Can you break us out?”

  I didn’t get an immediate answer and was afraid he had sunk back into his dream or couldn’t break free. Then the “reality” around me shuddered, became unfocused. It snapped back after a few seconds, but at least I knew Tal was working on it.

  He gave the world I was trapped in several more jolts. Each time, it reasserted itself but a little fuzzier, a little less convincing. On the last hit, it dissolved, and I was blinking my eyes against the sun on the beach.

  “You can’t do this!” Bisavó said. At first, I thought she was talking to Tal.

  “Keep your eyes shut!” Tal’s thoughts boomed in my head. “Let me figure out what we’re dealing with before you do anything.”

  “You do nothing but talk about this brat!” said a deep male voice. “I’m sick of it! He comes back with us…now. Then you can pay some attention to me again!”

  “Vitor, I gave my word!” protested Bisavó. Unless this were some kind of act, I was being kidnapped again…but not by her this time.

  “There are three of them,” Tal thought to me, “and each has a fair amount of power. To keep from getting caught in another dream or illusion, I need you to attack them physically so their attention will be divided. Are you in condition to fight?”

  “Absolutely!” I thought back.

  “Now!” Tal thought. I opened my eyes and leaped up, ready to do battle with Vitor and his cronies. Tal was also up, and I felt him sending a major blast of power their way.

  Though the Encantados looked tough, kind of like thugs from some dubious neighborhood in Rio, they weren’t much of a match for Tal and me. I couldn’t escape the feeling they had never seen capoeira, and I had no trouble knocking them down like dominoes. Their magic might have been another matter, but with Tal—and, to my pleasant surprise, Bisavó—hitting them hard with enough mystic force to beat twice their number, it was only a few minutes before they fled into the ocean, became dolphins, and swam frantically for the exit door.

  Bisavó sighed loudly. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I thought Vitor was a different person from the one we saw today.”

  “People will do strange things for love,” Tal said, oddly understanding. “Vitor was trying to get himself out of second place.”

  “I’m afraid it was more lust than love with Vitor.” Bisavó eyed Tal as if she, too, were trying to figure out why he wasn’t more angry with her.

  “What you did, you did because you care about Lucas,” Tal said, answering that very question. Perhaps she had been thinking about it too loudly. “I have to give you credit for that. I’m not even going to point out that Vitor’s little stunt proves the Encante may not be as safe as you thought.”

  “I’m certainly glad you’re not going to bring that up,” Bisavó said, with just a hint of sarcasm…and a smile. Were these two actually starting to get along?

  “Of course,” she added, “I will expect to be consulted on all your plans for Lucas’s safety.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Tal’s face was totally deadpan. I wondered if he wouldn’t prefer that she just vanish into the Encante, never to return.

  Tal glanced at his watch. “Fortunately, we didn’t lose too much time on this little diversion. We should still be able to be back in Madisonville before dawn.”

  “Really?” I said, surprised. “I don’t know about you, but I dreamed a whole day’s worth of events.”

  “Yeah, but you took only a few minutes dreaming them,” said Tal. “Dreams—and some of the other worlds—are funny that way
.”

  As we prepared to leave, I said, “Tal, you guys were going to tell me something about Carrie Winn, and we never got back to that.”

  “We’ll bring you up to speed on everything in the next few days,” Tal said. “We probably shouldn’t take the time now.”

  My stomach twisted. Could this be yet another layer of dream? “I know this will sound strange, but I really need you to tell me about her now.”

  Tal shrugged. “Well, if you’ll settle for the short version, Carrie Winn isn’t a real person. That’s a fictitious identity created by Ceridwen as part of a plan to trap me. After we defeated her, one of our Lady-of-the-Lake allies, Vanora, took over the identity. Having someone rich and influential on our side has served us well many times, your dad’s new job opportunities being a good example. Is that enough for now? We really should be going.”

  “That was great!” I said, having verified that I was actually talking to the real Tal and not some half-baked dream.

  The first part of the real day went a little bit like my dream had, except that my mom slipped the invisible Tal food during breakfast, and my dad was still tense around Bisavó.

  The school day seemed to drag, maybe partly because it felt like a rerun, though, naturally, all the details were different from the dream. The real Tal cautioned me against telling my friends I was leaving until my dad told me. I agreed with the wisdom of that advice, though it made the day relatively emotional at first. It was hard thinking that I might not be able to say good-bye to the people who were important to me. Fortunately, in contrast to the dream, Dad called about the middle of the day. All he wanted to do was ask me to come home right after school, but I pressed him, and he told me about the move to Santa Brígida, freeing me to say a proper good-bye.

  Later that day, while I was packing for the move, I was alone with Tal for a few minutes, and I shared my concern about whether or not he could make the trip. Unlike the dream, he had been eating, but he had also had to use quite a bit of magic fighting off Vitor and company.

  “Considering you didn’t know anything about magic a day ago, you’re a quick study.” Tal gave me a pat on the back. “Yeah, being invisible and flying for a five-hour trip, let alone what’s happened earlier, is a pretty big drain. That’s why I’ll have some help. Actually, let me introduce you.” He then proceeded to expend even more energy, opening a portal and disappearing into it for a minute. When he returned, he had Khalid right behind him. The kid gave me a big hug, even though he hardly knew me. Right behind him was someone I hadn’t met yet.

  The new guy was dressed incongruously in the armor of an ancient Greek warrior, though I knew an ordinary human would probably see what he was wearing as street clothes. He was muscular but not especially good-looking.

  “Khalid you know, of course. Lucas, this is Alex.”

  We shook hands.

  “I was thinking the very same thing you were,” Tal continued, “and I knew I needed backup. Khalid can become invisibly naturally, and his armor allows him to fly, as you’ve seen. Alex has…well, Alex, why don’t you show him?”

  Alex seemed to levitate right off the floor. Looking more closely I noticed his sandals had rapidly flapping wings.

  “An extra pair Hermes had lying around,” said Alex, as if what he was saying wasn’t completely incredible.

  I looked at Tal quizzically.

  “It is, as Gordy would say, a long story,” he replied to my unspoken question. “Don’t worry, though; we’ll fill you in on everything when we have the time. As you can see, Alex can fly on his own, though I will have to use some magic to keep him invisible. The three of us will be flying above you during the trip, and, if I get too tired, Celtic magic has several ways for people to share energy, so they can lend me some and keep me going. Besides, in the unlikely event that there is an attack, three of us would be a far better defense than one.”

  I wanted to press for the story behind the winged sandals, but Dad yelled to find out if I was ready to go yet. I yelled my yes back, grabbed the one bag I’d packed, and started to leave.

  “We’ll be above by the time you guys get loaded into the car,” said Tal. “If you spot something that might be a problem, think about it as hard as you can, and I’ll hear you.”

  I thanked him and headed downstairs.

  In another variation from the dream, my dad was not at all happy with Bisavó going with us, but he clearly couldn’t think of any remotely polite way to avoid it. She seemed to be on her best behavior, so I figured he might become more reconciled to it on the car ride down.

  The first part of the trip was uneventful. Dad talked a little about the strangely sudden offer that had the firm scrambling to get him to Santa Brígida as soon as possible. He seemed to be buying it and was excited to be participating in an architectural renaissance in Santa Barbara, but I also had the feeling he was more or less flying on autopilot; his brain hadn’t really caught up yet. Mom asked a few questions but seemed nervous. Bisavó made a point of saying little. Eventually even my dad’s conversation faded away, and we rode on for a while in silence.

  Dad had initially entertained the idea of having a late dinner in Santa Brígida, but traffic was heavier than we thought, and he finally suggested having dinner in San Luis Obispo, which we did, in a nice place relatively close to the coast. When I saw the place, I was glad he’d decided to take I-5 and US-101 instead of the much further inland CA-99S route, even though it was a little shorter.

  When we sat down, I was shocked to see Tal, Alex and Khalid sitting in a booth across the restaurant.

  “Be cool,” Tal thought to me, “Your dad doesn’t know who we are and won’t remember seeing us when we meet him officially later on. It’s just harder to order food when you’re invisible.” Well, I couldn’t argue with that or begrudge them dinner after they were going so far out of their way to keep me safe.

  I had really juicy pork chops, and they were excellent. By the time we finished, the sun had already set. By itself that wouldn’t have spooked me, but the parking lot looked darker than it should have. The lights hadn’t come on yet, even though I was sure it was more than dark enough to activate whatever lighting there was.

  As we stepped out of the restaurant, I saw the broken glass in the parking lot.

  Even more alarming, my dad suddenly slumped beside me, unconscious. The guys were coming out just behind us, and Alex caught him before he hit the ground.

  “Sorry,” Tal said.

  “You did that?” I asked, uncertain how to react.

  “Couldn’t take the chance. We can’t afford to have him see too much. You noticed the glass, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Company?”

  “Lots of it, I’m afraid. Looks as if they’re waiting for us to step away from the light of the restaurant.”

  “Ma’am,” said Tal, “there aren’t too many people in the restaurant right now. Can you keep them occupied so they don’t see anything?” Bisavó nodded and started to weave an illusion of some kind so that the customers and staff would see only an empty parking lot without battles to the death or supernatural fireworks.

  “How did they find us?” I asked, noticing a little movement in the darkness around us.

  “Dude, they must really, really want you,” Tal said. “They’ve got to have had someone watching from every shadow between Madisonville and here. Tough to do, but if they put enough manpower into it, possible.”

  “The car’s headlights are smashed too,” said Alex, pointing with his sword.

  “We can’t drive off that way, and we can’t exactly call the Auto Club at this point.” Tal turned to my mom. “I’ll open a portal big enough for the car, and you’ll drive it through while we cover you.”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes,” said Mom. Bisavó must have told her enough to know that this was no ordinary sixteen-year-old giving her orders.

  “I need to make some arrangements, though,” Tal continued. “We can’t have the car suddenly appear
in Santa Brígida if there are witnesses around. I’ll have to check the other side of the portal first.”

  “Do we have the time?” asked Mom worriedly.

  “I think so, but just in case, can you and Lucas’s…grandmother hold your husband? Khalid, Alex, can you take Lucas and fly him a little overhead? Keep him out of range until I get back. I just need a minute.”

  Without really waiting for a response, Tal opened a portal and stepped through it. Bisavó took Dad out of Alex’s hands, and Alex and Khalid each grabbed one of mine. Then, making it look easy, they flew me into the air.

  I felt a little like I had somehow drifted into a Peter Pan movie…well, except that Peter was looking for his shadow, and I was hoping to stay as far away from shadows as possible.

  That would have worked a lot better if the shadows hadn’t been able to fly.

  The unnatural darkness flowed toward us. The problem was how to respond in our relatively awkward position. Khalid couldn’t fire with at least one hand holding me up, and Alex could swing his sword clumsily at best. I wasn’t exactly poised for any decent capoeira move either.

  The guys made the only play they could. They landed. Alex, suddenly looking like a much more adept sword fighter, started swinging, and Khalid started shooting. Khalid’s was the more effective tactic in this case, since each arrow hit generated one of those light producing explosions, but every shadow hit by Alex’s sword vanished with a shriek. The shadows pressed closer though, and I knew it was only a matter of time before someone got stabbed and poisoned.

  Tal popped back through the portal and looked at us in disbelief.

  “They can fly!” shouted Khalid.

  “We’re abandoning the car, then,” said Tal, drawing his sword in a flaming arc and using its blasts to push back the shadows. “Everyone through now! I’ll cover you.”

  Tal was obviously a good strategist, and his plan might have worked too, except for one thing.

  We had been assuming the shadows were all from human beings.

  We were wrong.

  As we moved toward the portal, a massive wave of shadow smashed into Tal’s fire and pushed it back with such force that he only barely managed to avoid having all of us get roasted by the back blast.