Scouring Majula (Ellen's Friends Book 3)

by Matthew Satterlee

  Sycamore interrupted her with a loud yawn. "If you don't want to help then just say so." He stood up, careful not to put any weight on his left ankle, then collapsed onto his bed. "I honestly don't know what strange chamber you're talking about, but if you're going to go exploring you should take someone with you. And by someone I don't mean me, because if there are any monsters around I'll just get in the way."

  Ellen wanted to yell at him, but something told her it wouldn't help. She'd failed to reach all of her friends. Their deaths would come soon, either by starvation or monster, and nothing she could do would make any difference.

  The white light swept over her. So did a wave of anger. She'd already lost one group of friends and now she was about to lose another. Worse yet, it was not even a monster causing her grief this time, it was a stupid yellow rock that seemed to have no other purpose but to make her miserable.

  Once the light faded, she grabbed her knife and turned to the mysterious stone. She wanted to stab it like she'd stabbed the axe wielding monster earlier. Her attacks probably wouldn't leave so much as a scratch, but at least she'd feel better afterwards.

  She took one step towards the stone, then remembered something: she'd yet to enter Alice's dream. It was a long shot, but getting beat down by Alice was far more appealing than sitting around and waiting for everyone to start dying off.

  She'd have to make her visit brief. Both the rapid tapping of feet beneath her and the pulpy pounding sounds coming from the chasm were getting louder.

  Ellen ran to Alice's side, dropped to her knees beside her and touched her arm. Once more the white light took her.

  And it didn't let go. Several seconds passed without any noticeable change.

  Her heart sped up. Did her power to enter her friends' dreams have a limit? Had the immunity she'd gained by escaping her own dream finally worn off? Or maybe she'd spent so much time basking in the stone's power that her mind was breaking down.

  "Are you just going to stand there?"

  Ellen spun around. Alice stood nearby, her knife in one hand, her golden sword in the other and her shield strapped to her back.

  The white light had faded, Ellen realized now, and she hadn't noticed because it'd left her atop a white plain that stretched out endlessly in all directions. The sky itself was white too, but there was a small, very faint band of gray on the horizon.

  "What is this place?" Ellen asked. She'd never seen such an alien looking dimension before. Even for a dream it was bizarre.

  "I'm not sure," Alice admitted. She looked weary, like she hated having company, which was exactly what Ellen had feared. "After we found that underground chamber, I blacked out and woke up in a strange village. It was a nice place, but, well-"

  "So many good things happened you couldn't believe it was real," Ellen said, and Alice's eyes opened wide.

  Ellen smiled. She wanted to knock herself in the head, but she held back. She'd been foolish to put off meeting Alice for so long. She should've gone to her first.

  "The same thing happened to me," she explained, "except when I realized I was dreaming, I woke back up in that chamber."

  A bolt of worry struck her. If Alice knew this world was fake, then why hadn't she woken up?

  Alice smiled at her. "Is that what this is? A dream world? And did you come here to save me?"

  "Yeah," Ellen said cautiously. "I tried to help the others first, but, well... I couldn't reach any of them."

  "Why did you wait so long to come here?" Alice asked, now looking neutral. Whether she was upset or grateful, her voice and her expression gave no hints.

  "Well, I-"

  Ellen lowered her head. She couldn't face Alice. She didn't want to face her. First she'd given her two undeserved beatings, one in the Brazen Dimension and another in Amadeo's castle, and then in this dimension, she'd almost left her behind to starve despite having made no attempt to save her. How could she be so cruel to one person?

  "You probably don't believe me," Ellen mumbled, "but I feel terrible about everything I put you through, and I was afraid of facing you."

  Alice stayed silent. She might be smiling or scowling or even cursing at her, but Ellen couldn't bring herself to look up.

  "But you did come here to save me," Alice said after a moment, "didn't you?"

  "Yeah," Ellen mumbled.

  Footsteps raced towards her. Before she could look up, something warm tackled her.

  It was Alice. She was hugging her tightly.

  "I thought-" Alice said, her voice racing. "All this time I thought you... Well, it doesn't matter what I thought. What matters is that you came here to save me."

  Ellen made an attempt to hug her back, but the shock had yet to wear off. She couldn't believe was Alice hugging her. Was this really the same Alice she'd traveled around Majula with for the last week? She seemed like a completely different person.

  "This is a dream," Ellen said, trying not to sound worried. "You can wake up anytime. The chamber isn't safe-"

  "I'll wake up in a second," Alice promised. She let go of Ellen and started backpedaling away. "I want to show you something. Ever since I left that dream village and came here, I've been practicing."

  "Did you learn how to create a magic weapon?" Ellen asked, feeling a tinge of excitement.

  Her excitement didn't last. Even if her or Alice could use magic here in the dream world, their power wouldn't carry over into the waking world.

  Alice smiled. "You could say that." She raised her sword high into the air. "We'll save our friends first, then we'll save the whole world! With the power I found here, I know we can do it!"

  Thick waves of violet energy approached her from all directions. They moved with such force Ellen had trouble keeping her footing. The energy swirled around Alice, forming a fierce whirlwind that reached high into the air.

  Two clusters of weapons appeared above Alice's head. One was full of knives and the other swords. They looked exactly like the weapons Alice wielded, which meant she had done it. She'd created a magic weapon.

  Hundreds of them. Both clusters grew startlingly large, then they changed forms. The knives took the shape of a giant knife and the swords a colossal sword.

  Alice smiled. "I can summon a living weapon! Two of them! I've become stronger than Brendon and L.L.!"

  Ellen wanted to ask her how she'd learned to conjure up so much power in such a short period of time, but all the words were caught in her throat.

  "My shield is completely gone now," Alice said, sounding sad, "but these weapons easily make up for it."

  "We can't stay here any longer," Ellen said. "The chamber-"

  Alice's smile persisted. "I know I said I forgave you, but I still remember all the horrible things you did to me back in my castle." Her weapons moved forward. "This is just a dream. No matter what happens here, you'll be alright when you wake up."

  She was going to sick her weapons on her, Ellen realized. She couldn't blame her for wanting payback, but they had more important issues to focus on right now.

  Ellen raised her buckler. Her shield could keep the living weapons away, but Alice might attack her directly.

  She summoned her shield, or rather, she tried to. It didn't surround her body like it usually did, instead it appeared around her buckler, taking a round, flat shape. It was taller than her and wide enough to protect three or four people.

  Even more startling than its new form was that it didn't vanish as she moved her arm. Left, right, up or down, her shield remained imbued into her buckler.

  How it had changed forms she couldn't fathom, but she'd have to worry about it later. Alice's living weapons were close enough to strike.

  The giant golden sword pulled back first then the knife. Ellen raised her buckler and subsequently her shield to them and waited.

  She expected to see her shield vanish, which would be followed by her waking up back in the underground chamber, but even as Alice's weapons crashed down onto it, it persisted. The two giant weapons burst int
o their individual weapons and scattered across the white plains.

  Ellen lowered her buckler. She was still too surprised to speak. What exactly had happened to her shield? How had it become imbued into her buckler like that? It couldn't have been the buckler's doing, it was just an ordinary shield she'd stolen from a dead monster. Could it be the dream world that had caused the change? That was much more likely, but it still made little sense. She'd never dreamed about her shield taking this form. And then there was the fact that Alice had summoned not just two separate types of weapons, but two living weapons. How was all of this possible?

  She shook her head. This was all just a dream. When she woke up, her shield would be back to normal and Alice's newfound power would disappear.

  "You're just full of surprises," Alice said, smiling. "Aren't you, Ellen?" The remnants of her living weapons dropped to the ground and lay still. "Let's go back."

  As the white light swept through the area, Ellen breathed a sigh of relief. Four of her friends were still trapped in their dreams, but at least she'd saved Alice. The two of them together could probably think up a way to reach the others.

  Before the light took her away, something on the horizon caught her attention. It looked sort of like a castle, or maybe a palace. It was so white it almost blended in with the landscape. Long strands of glowing threads stretched from its domed tower tops up into the sky.

  "What do you think that is?" Ellen asked.

  "I noticed that earlier," Alice said, "but it's hard to tell from here. And look." She pointed up into the sky, where several small objects encased in translucent spheres floated through empty space. "I have no idea what those are."

  Ellen had no idea either. The objects were so far above her she couldn't get a good look at them. They sort of looked like land, but land didn't typically float in empty space. "There are so many things we don't know about the world."

  The light brought her back to the underground chamber. She opened her eyes and gasped. Another beak-faced, axe wielding monster was staring down at her, standing so close its front most set of stubby legs were brushing against her feet. She didn't have time to escape. It was going to cut her down and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

  Chapter 17

  The beak-faced monster raised its axes into the air. Ellen closed her eyes and waited. She felt only frustration. She'd come so far and gone through so much, but it was all going to end because of that stupid yellow stone.

  Something exploded nearby. It was a wet and meaty pop with the cracking of what sounded like bone mixed into it.

  Ellen opened her eyes, half expecting to see Alice dead beside her, but it was the monster that'd been struck. Its head, neck and the upper part of its torso had been split in two by a golden sword exactly like Alice's sword, but she was not the one wielding it.

  The sword pulled back, and a man stepped out from behind the monster's still body. "Are you alright?" he asked Ellen.

  Ellen recognized him from her dream. He was the older man who'd been uncomfortably intimate with Alice. But unlike his dream self, his real self was not wearing a shirt, which left his abs and his arms plainly visible. Her eyes bounced back and forth between them, unsure which was the more pleasing sight.

  "A-are you Amadeo?" Ellen stammered.

  Amadeo nodded, then set his sword down and offered her his hand. "We... we met once before," he said timidly.

  For someone so tall, strong and powerful, he was surprisingly sheepish. Ellen took his hand and stood up. "When was that?"

  A memory came back to her. He was the shadow, the mindless, decaying monster forced back to life by a different mysterious stone, who'd cut her hand off then stabbed her through the chest.

  She retreated back a few steps. Her heart raced. A moment ago she'd considered him handsome, but now he looked downright terrifying. "I remember now," Ellen said. "You-"

  Amadeo looked away. "Sorry," he said, sounding pitiful. "If I had been myself back then, I never would've done that to you." He paused. "You followed the same path as me after I... I hope you understand that I never wanted to hurt you."

  She understood perfectly, but Amadeo's presence still made her uncomfortable. It also caused her wrist to throb with pain. "Just don't do anything like that again," Ellen said.

  "I won't," Amadeo promised. He scooped his sword up then looked to Alice, who still lay flat on her back. "Is she alright?"

  As if given a cue, Alice opened her eyes. She yawned, stretched, then looked up at Amadeo. "Is that really you, Amadeo?"

  "The one and only," Amadeo said warmly.

  Alice leapt to her feet, lunged forward and hugged Amadeo. Amadeo hugged her back. They latched onto each other so tight even a monster would have trouble separating them.

  Hugging was as far as they went, and Ellen was very grateful for that.

  But there was one thing she couldn't forget. "In my dream," she started. Amadeo and Alice both glanced at her. "You were... And he was the-" She didn't want to say it. Instead, Ellen pointed first to Alice then to her stomach.

  "That was just a dream!" Alice blurted out. "W-whatever you saw, it wasn't real! Just forget it!"

  She was awfully defensive over something that was supposedly nothing more than a dream, but Ellen didn't press the issue.

  "What happened?" Amadeo asked, sounding confused. He let go Alice and took a step back. "What's she talking about?"

  "It's nothing!" Alice insisted. "She had a weird dream. That's it. There's nothing to worry about." Before Amadeo could respond, she said: "We've been looking for you for over a week now. I lost track of how many times I almost died since I came to this dimension. Where were you all this time?"

  Amadeo shrugged. "Around."

  "Tell me where you were!" Alice demanded, then she kicked Amadeo in the shin.

  "What was that for?" Amadeo complained. "Did you already forget how I gave you my castle? And I saved you from that monster just now. Is kicking me how you show your gratitude?"

  "Your castle is a dump. You probably gave it to me because no one else would take it. I didn't even bother hanging on to that crown."

  Despite the nasty things she was saying, there was still a playful tone in her voice. Ellen had trouble believing this was the same Alice who'd spent the last week responding to everyone with bitter coldness, or who'd threatened to stab L.L. in the neck. Had their meeting inside Alice's dream really affected her that much, or was it Amadeo's presence that'd brought her pleasant side out into the open?

  Amadeo's mouth dropped open. "My castle wasn't in great shape, but that's no reason to throw my crown away. Do you know how much history it has behind it? I might go back for it once we're done here."

  "It's just a crown," Alice said. "You should forget about it and move on with your life," she added, glancing at Ellen. "Clinging to the past is just going to get you into trouble."

  One part of their journey was finished, they'd found Amadeo, but both him and Alice seemed to have forgotten the real issue they were facing. "We still need to save the others from their dreams," Ellen said.

  "Oh, right!" Alice said. "I was too busy thinking about-" Her face flushed red. "How are we going to save them?"

  "Well..." Ellen lowered her head. She'd already tried and failed to reach the others. Even with Alice and Amadeo helping her, she couldn't imagine things going any differently.

  "I was put into a dream on my way down here," Amadeo said.

  "Were you really?" Alice asked, surprised. "What was it like?"

  "Another time," Amadeo told her, then he looked to Ellen. "Everything started off feeling real enough, but as the days went by, it all became so fantastical that I couldn't believe it was real. That's when I woke up."

  "That's what happened to me," Ellen said.

  "If you had a way to communicate with your friends, then we might-"

  "I can go into their dreams by touching them."

  Amadeo looked surprised. "You two are an odd duo." He paused. "If you can go in
to your friends' dreams and make them experience something so outlandish they start doubting the reality around them, that should wake them up. I've never met your other friends, so I don't know where you'd start, but I'll keep the monsters away while you figure something out."

  "And I'll help!" Alice said eagerly.

  "You should stay-" Amadeo paused. "I forgot about your shield. Just stick close to me. We'll need all the shields we can get when the monsters lurking outside this chamber realize we're here."

  "I don't have my shield anymore," Alice said, still sounding eager despite her loss. "But I have these now."

  She was talking about her living weapons. That had all been a dream, Ellen wanted to say, but before she could speak a word, a heavy whirlwind of violet energy started gathering around Alice. It was even thicker than it had been inside the dream world. Even Amadeo, despite his strong stature, had trouble keeping his footing.

  Both of Alice's living weapons appeared above her head. They were just as large now as they had been in her dream, maybe even larger. Their individual weapons flowed through their bodies, filling the air with soft metallic scraping sounds.

  Amadeo looked up at them in awe. "When did you learn how to make those? Last time I saw you, you were running around sticking things with that little knife of yours."

  How could Alice's dream have bled into the waking world like this? It made no sense. Ellen scooped up her buckler, then studied it cautiously. If Alice was still able to create her living weapons, then maybe-

  She summoned her shield. It didn't appear around her body, instead it became imbued into her buckler again, taking the same round, flat shape as it had in Alice's dream.

  Despite the evidence staring her in the face, she couldn't believe the power she'd gained inside the dream world had followed her into the waking world. It made zero sense. That had all been a fantasy world and nothing more. How could her dream, or rather, Alice's dream, have become real?

  Ellen shook her head. The mysterious stone must've put her back to sleep. It was the only explanation that made sense.