by E. J. Krause
"You guys had to say something," Ben said.
"Get the map out, Lee," Mom said. "Let's try to get out of here as quick as we can."
"I think you're right." Dad pulled out the map and flipped it open. There was a clearing on the other side of a bank of trees, and a trail led to their goal. A huge cliff stood between them and the doorway, but the way would make itself clear once they reached it. Hopefully.
They hustled to the clearing and were halfway through when Ben froze. Everyone stopped and looked to the left where his gaze pointed. Only Andi could feel that his blood had run cold. Out of the trees stepped a huge monster, easily twenty feet tall. It resembled an enormous ape, sort of like King Kong, but it had the head of a wolf, with teeth made for ripping and tearing.
Andi shifted as far into a dragon as she could and stepped towards it.
"No, Andi," Dad said. "We run."
She returned to her human form, and they took off towards the pathway. The thing pushed out of the trees and rumbled after them. Though it was big, it wasn't fast, and she bet it couldn't maneuver well. If she and Dad could be their full dragon selves, they'd make mince-meat out of this thing. She wasn't quite sure why they were running now. The four of them were strong enough to beat any one beast.
Ben gripped her forearm as they ran. "This thing's stronger than you're giving it credit for, sweetie."
She scoffed, but kept running. Even with its superior stride, they kept ahead of the beast, though it looked to be gradually gaining ground. She saw how far they had to run, and though it wasn't the distance they covered in the desert, it was too far to outrace this monster.
"Did anyone else notice the cave system between here and the exit when we looked at the map?" Ben asked.
She didn't, but Dad obviously had.
"I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully we'll get the cover we need."
"Why don't we fight it?" Andi said. "What makes it tougher than anything else we've tackled?"
Mom answered as they continued running. "It's a nightmare, Andi, both figuratively and literally. We'll fight it if necessary, but there's nothing wrong with running. If you and your father could get to full strength, things might be different, but…" She let her words trail off, but Andi wasn't done.
"Whose nightmare is it? I've had dreams of being chased by a big baddie, but hasn't everyone?"
Ben grabbed her elbow, and they all dodged left through a big line of trees. The caves he and Dad talked about were in front of them, and they looked plenty big enough to hide in. She thought at first they were a big outcropping of rocks, like in the desert, but as they got closer, she realized the system was actually part of a ginormous petrified tree. It had to be a whole grove of petrified trees, but, no, it was just one.
They took cover in a cave a few feet off the ground. How deep did it go? Without a flashlight or candle or something, there was no way to know. They stayed at the entrance to better watch the monster and make sure they were safe. They could always scurry down deeper if it became necessary and hope nothing already occupied the space.
The monster smashed through the nearby trees, knocking them unceremoniously to the ground. It stopped, sniffed the air, and looked left and right. Andi held her breath, as everyone else did likewise. After a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, the thing turned and lumbered off deeper into the forest.
"That was close," Ben murmured, but they all stayed where they were for the time being, just in case.
"To answer your question, Alexandria, yes, I'm sure we've all had the dream of being chased by a terror," Dad said. "Which means the nightmare this world was built around hasn't yet shown up. Wouldn't you rather get out of here before it does, rather than pick a fight with that oversized beast?"
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"Let's get out of here, then," Mom said. "I think it's gone."
Dad pulled out the map. "The cliff looks to be right on the other side of those trees." He pointed ahead to where the path ended.
"I wonder how we'll get down there" Ben said. "Must be a pretty steep path."
It was a good question. According to the map, it was a sheer drop. But there had to be a way; they'd have to figure it out.
As they approached the end of the forest, Andi couldn't help but wonder whose nightmare this was. She had a pretty good idea what the Realm of Nightmares would throw at her, and this wasn't it. Take away that huge wolf-faced ape, and this was such a pretty and peaceful place. She'd love to explore it further, though, of course, under different circumstances.
They stepped through the final line of trees and gasped. There was nothing in front of them but blue sky. The ground went out about ten more feet, and then stopped at the cliff edge. They stepped out towards it, all sure there'd be a way down they couldn't yet see. Andi imagined a steep, narrow path they'd have to pick their way down carefully to avoid tumbling to their deaths. Dangerous and scary, but doable.
Before they made it to the edge, Mom stopped. Andi had never seen her mother look so horrified, so terrified. Dad grabbed her in a tight embrace.
"You can do this, Cassandra. It's a few feet further, and then we'll find a way down. Stay strong for me, for Alexandria, for Benjamin."
Mom mumbled something into Dad's shoulder that Andi couldn't make out. Ben flashed a questioning look, but Andi could only shrug. So this was Mom's nightmare? What, heights? But she'd been on rollercoasters, to the top of the tallest buildings, and even rode on Dad's back high in the sky. She never seemed scared then, so why now?
She was about to ask when rumblings came from the forest. Uh-oh, the wolf-headed ape was back. Mom spun out of Dad's arms and drew her short swords, while Ben readied his own sword and shield. She and Dad transformed into half-dragons, and they all waited to meet the beast's charge.
"You wanted a fight," Ben said. She made sure he felt her mental eye roll.
The thing burst out of the trees at top speed and headed right for them. Its wide eyes showed it saw its mistake too late. It toppled over the four of them and flipped off the edge. That might have been a good thing except for the fact that it smacked each of them over the cliff with it.
Chapter 20
They dropped about twenty feet before slamming hard onto a rocky shelf. The wolf-headed ape fell further out, hit the edge, and tumbled off. Andi and Ben sprinted over and watched it fall. It plummeted further and further down, not hitting the ground. In fact, they couldn't see the bottom, just the side of the sheer cliff and empty air. After a couple of minutes, the huge beast went from a tiny dot miles below to nothing. Would it fall forever? Ben looked over at her and shrugged.
There was no stairway leading down, no ramp, nothing. The sides looked too smooth to scale. They couldn't even get back up to the lush forest. They were stuck. But there had to be a way, right?
"Not that I can see," Ben said, answering her thoughts. "Don't worry, we'll find a way."
"It still freaks me out when you read my mind so clearly without headaches," she said, smiling at him.
"Please, you do it way more than I do, so don't get all huffy with me."
She allowed herself a quick giggle, and then took a deep breath. Okay, this was serious. Focus. She turned back to Mom and Dad to see if they'd already figured it out, but froze. They hadn't done anything. Mom stood there, pale as freshly fallen snow, and trembled like they were in one heck of an earthquake. What was going on? Mom always pulled herself together when faced with danger.
Dad looked up at them and mouthed, "Anything?" Both shook their heads, as neither wanted to speak up and upset Mom anymore.
At that moment, a loud crack jolted everyone. A piece of the shelf crumbled and fell into the nothingness. Their already small space had grown smaller by a quarter. Mom let out the most pitiful moan Andi had ever heard.
"The only nightmares she's ever woken me with have been falling dreams," Dad said, stroking Mom's hair.
"But she's never been afraid of heights," Andi said. "She's done a ton
of stuff that should bring on panic attacks."
"I've always been with her," Dad said. "She knew I could transform and fly her to safety. Since the two of us can only change into half of our dragon forms, that safety net has been snatched from her."
Andi took a step back and tried pushing herself into full dragon form, but again couldn't get there. She'd learned over the years how to stop here, with claws, long neck, dragon head, and her hard blue scales, but it felt so strange to not be able to go any further. With her wings, getting off this ledge and down to the gateway would be a breeze. She couldn't do anything about it now but change back to her human form and shake her head at Dad.
"It was worth a shot," Ben said. "I have no ideas."
Andi didn't have anything, either, and Dad's grunt proved he was as stumped as them. She was about to start a brainstorming session when another section of the ledge splintered off, leaving them with half of what they started with. Mom freaked out more, trying to lunge out of Dad's arms to get closer to the wall. Who knew what she'd do then, but Dad held her tight so no one had to find out.
"Cassandra, you're not doing yourself or us any good. Calm down. I won't let go of you, but you need to stop struggling."
Andi stepped towards them to help with Mom, while Ben knelt a few feet away and closed his eyes. Every time he went into one of these trances, good things happened. She had to have faith that trend would continue.
She and Dad managed to both quiet and still Mom, even if they couldn't entirely calm her. It was a start. Ben, without breaking from his trance, stood and stepped closer to them and the wall. The piece of ledge he'd been on broke off and disappeared down into the nether, leaving only the small section they stood on. Mom didn't make a sound at that, but she vibrated so violently that Dad almost couldn't keep his balance. Andi steadied him and went back to comforting Mom.
Ben opened his eyes and looked at them.
"Well?" Dad asked.
"Nothing," he said. "I couldn't find an answer, but…" He looked confused, but Andi couldn't help but feel the calm pouring off of him. With just that small sliver of the ledge left, this would be a perfect time to panic, and yet she had no desire to do so. Would his magic kick in when needed? He didn't know, that was clear, but he knew something. What?
Before she could grill him, the rest of the ledge snapped and teetered. Mom screamed, while Dad let out a strange mewling moan. She looked at Ben, and he gave her a half-smile and shrug. She opened her mouth to ask him what in the hell he knew when the ledge gave way. They hung there in mid-air, like cartoon characters, and then plummeted into a freefall.
Andi couldn't even scream.
*****
They rushed towards the ground at terminal velocity. At least that's what it felt like. Andi couldn't see the ground, and the face of the cliff was so smooth, like a mirror that didn't reflect, that she couldn't time their descent. But the way the wind whistled up past them proved they were falling fast.
She maneuvered herself through the air to grab Ben. She gripped him in a tight embrace and willed tears not to fall.
"I love you, Ben," she whispered into his ear. "More than anything."
"I love you, too. More than is even possible." He guided his mouth to hers, and they shared a quick but passionate kiss. "But don't worry. We'll get through this."
"How? You said you didn't see a way, and now we're falling at a million miles an hour to our doom."
"I don't think so. About the falling, anyway. And even if we were, it definitely wouldn't be at a million miles an hour."
She swatted his shoulder. "Smart ass."
He winked and gently pushed out of her embrace.
"Lee, can I see the map?" he called to her dad, who held Mom tight. She looked like she'd passed out, but was still shaking harder than if she were lying on a vibrating bed gone mad.
Dad dug in his pocket, though that took some doing with Mom clutched on him so tight, and pulled out the map. He held it up, said, "Catch," and tossed it over to Ben. Andi held her breath as it floated through the air, though there was no need to worry. Dad and Ben made the action look easy.
Ben flipped it open and pointed to their icons. "See? We're not getting any closer to the doorway. It's an illusion of falling."
"Did you hear that, Mom?" Andi yelled. "We're not really falling." It didn't have any effect.
"Cassandra," Dad tried. "We need to figure this out, and we can't do that if you don't snap out of this."
"Try communicating telepathically, Lee," Ben said. It was a good suggestion. The two of them had used that technique before to get through to the other when nothing else would work.
Dad grimaced in pain, and Mom let out a shrill shriek, but she didn't come to. Before Dad could say anything, Ben swam through the air towards them, put his hands on her temples, and closed his eyes. Andi felt some sort of energy blossom from him, and then it snapped, as if it were a rubber band breaking after being pulled past its limit. Mom opened her eyes and glanced around.
"What happened?"
"The nightmare gripped you mentally and wouldn't let go," Ben said. "Something similar happened to me when we were rescuing the Demon of Dream's statue."
"Thank you, Benjamin," Dad said. "I didn't know what else to do."
"Duh, I should have realized that," Andi said. Ben had been draped on top of her in the labyrinth when that happened, after all.
"So what do we do now?" Mom asked. She still looked way too pale, and she kept glancing around, but at least she was back to the (mostly) fearless mom Andi was used to.
"I don't know," Andi said. "This would be easy if Dad and I could fly, but since that's out of the question, I'm stumped."
"We need to think of something," Dad said. "A quick, crashing death will look like a luxury compared to floating up here and slowly dying of starvation and dehydration."
"Maybe we could walk down the cliff face," Andi said. "We're defying physics now by hanging here, so why not make that plane our ground base?"
"Sounds good to me," Mom said. "My wish would be to walk down rather than fall."
A lightbulb flicked on in Ben's head. Andi practically saw it form above him.
"Wish," he mumbled, and then looked up at them. "That's it." He closed his eyes and said, "I wish I was at the doorway." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he rocketed down, much faster than terminal velocity.
Andi let out a scream as she watched him plummet out of sight. She thought about changing to her half-dragon form so she could talk to him, but it was too late. He was well out of range. Instead she floated there in the windy air, half-expecting to die at any moment. Mom obviously felt the same way as she swam over to Andi and grasped her in a tight hug.
All at once, Ben's emotions muted in her head. She could sense he was okay, but that was about it. She felt empty without knowing what he was feeling. Had he crossed over into another dream realm? Before she could ask Mom and Dad, his misty image appeared in front of them.
"Hey, guys. Wish to be at the gate, and you'll be there."
When none of them answered — Andi knew there was no way she could find her tongue at the moment — Ben continued.
"I don't know how long I can do this, so let me know if you understand. All you have to do is wish to be there."
"Understood," Dad said, and Ben's misty figure vanished.
"How did he do that?" Andi said at the same time Mom asked, "What in the world?"
Dad grunted. "Let's worry about getting down from here. Alexandria, you first. Do like he says and wish to be down by the gateway."
Andi nodded. She needed to get to Ben, not just to hold him in her arms, but to get the feeling of him, his emotions, back in her head. She felt empty, lost, without them. Without him. She chuckled. All that loss in less than a minute. She couldn't imagine being separated from him for any length of time.
"I wish to be at the gateway," she said, and dropped, leaving her stomach up by Mom and Dad. She moved so fast that everything aroun
d her blurred. Not that there was anything to see, but if anything interesting popped up between the top and bottom, she missed it. Then, as quick as it had begun, her descent stopped, and she found herself in front of a doorway. The bottom of this chasm proved as uninteresting as the top where they'd been suspended, unlike the gorgeous forest on the other side of the cliff. This was more smooth rock that led off to more nothing, as if this setting was unimportant. Or as of yet undreamed. She didn't waste any more time and stepped through the door.
The atmosphere turned dark and slightly damp as she found herself back at the beginning of the dirt path in the dark forest where they originally entered the Realm of Nightmares. But, more importantly, Ben stood right in front of her. He pulsed with excitement at seeing her.
"Andi, you did it!"
She zipped into his arms, and their mouths met in a kiss that lasted until Mom and Dad popped into the forest.
"I would have rather stayed up there than fall like that," Mom said with a shudder.
Dad stepped up to Ben, both wonder and confusion in his eyes. "What did you do?"
Chapter 21
"Benjamin, how did you figure it out? You said your powers didn't tell you the answer. And I've never seen an astral projection like that. It was…it was…"
"It was pretty cool," Cassie said, and gave him a wink.
Lee shrugged and nodded. "Yes. Cool covers it."
"Though you could have done it without freaking me out," Andi said.
What could he say? How did he do most of the stuff he did?
"I told you, I don't know. When I went into my trance, I knew everything would turn out fine. Plus, the phrase 'I wish to find it' kept popping up, but I didn't know what it meant. But when Cassie mentioned something about a wish, it clicked in my mind. I tried, and it worked. When I got to this side, I wanted to tell Andi how to do it, but I didn't know how." He shrugged. "So I made it happen."
Lee sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You made it happen. When this is all over, we really should find someone to help you get past the point of making this up as you go along."
