Dreamwalker

by J. A. Culican

  “Kill?”

  “Be a warrior. A good warrior.” I waited for her to release all her secrets

  “You don’t want to be like me.”

  “I need to fight better. I’ve practiced, but I need the strategy part. Will you teach me?” I leaned in as I hoped any part of my story would appeal to her.

  Sade stood quiet and, like always, was hard to get a read on.

  “This is your journey. You’ll get out of it what you want. I have no say in that.” Sade threw some gravel on our campfire to put it out. “You should have eaten.”

  She was right. It was my journey. I was a fighter, just not a particularly good one—yet. Being a warrior wasn’t meant to be fun or cool. That was the opposite of what it meant.

  I dug in my backpack and took out an apple to eat. Sade used some hay growing in the field and scrubbed her pot clean. No one spoke until every task was completed.

  “It’s time to go.” Sade walked back to the path we had come off before our break.

  I rushed to grab my things and followed her.

  “So, this ur’gel thing. They are following you?” Sade slowed her pace so I could keep up.

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “And the D’ahvol. Do you know much about them?”

  I bit my lip. I should know more. “I only know the rumors,” I uttered and waited for her to scold me.

  “There are a few cities there. Most are controlled by the D’ahvol, who as you should know, are half-human and half-elf. They are quite large and intelligent. It will be a different fight than the ur’gel.”

  “And they have no magic abilities?”

  “If they aren’t a mixed breed, no. But those creatures don’t tend to stay home.” Sade stopped as we came to a fork in the road. “Which way?”

  “What do you mean? You don’t know how to get there?”

  “Do you want me to teach you or not?” Sade hung her head back and sighed. “Look for the signs. Which way should we go?”

  I walked closer to each path, unsure of what I should be looking for. I tried to notice the differences between the paths.

  “This one.” I pointed to the path on the left.

  “Why?” Sade stepped to the left of me.

  “It’s broken down more. You mentioned they were large.”

  “Let’s go.” Sade took off on the left path.

  I guessed I had passed her test.

  “I picked the right one?”

  “We won’t know till we get there.”

  “So, you don’t know where we are going?”

  “It’s west. It works,” Sade said.

  We walked for a few miles without talking. I took note. The less we spoke, the slower she walked, so I took my hint.

  We came upon a spring, and Sade took off her pack. It was time for another break.

  “It’s quite breathtaking,” I said as I took in the waterfall.

  “We don’t need small talk, kid. Just enjoy it.”

  I wet myself down with the cool water to be refreshed.

  “I’m ready to fight too,” I broke the silence. This far in, she wouldn’t leave me if I annoyed her.

  “And to die?”

  “If it comes to that.”

  Sade scooped up a large handful of water and splashed her face. “It will.”

  “Then mentor me.” I left my perch and walked toward her. I squatted down a few feet from her.

  “You’re taking on too much too fast.” Sade continued to cool down in the water.

  “I have no choice. I need a backup plan if the ur’gel deceive me.”

  “The ur’gel are not the best way to do this.” Sade took a seat on a rock in the shade.

  “What do you mean?”

  “To get your brother back. Fighting the ur’gel didn’t work last time. I wouldn’t trust them enough to dreamwalk for them either. Those are your only two options.” Sade picked up a pear that had fallen off a tree.

  “You mean they could be tricking me?”

  “Or worse.” Sade looked off into the distance. Her eyebrows lowered.

  “What?”

  “Shhh....” Sade waved her arm at me to sit down. She made her way over to me and pointed to the path we had just left. “I think I heard something.”

  We both stayed in silence and watched for any movement in the trees. After a while, Sade stood.

  “I think we’re okay, but let’s not stick to a path. We aren’t in town anymore.” Sade went back and took another pear.

  I stayed on the ground, a little more cautious, and kept my eyes on the path just in case.

  “You need to get Gavin without fighting the ur’gel.”

  “How do I do that?” My eyes went between her and the path.

  “Figure it out.” Sade grabbed a third pear. She gathered another and threw it at me to eat.

  I missed the catch and received an eye roll from Sade.

  “I barter with dreamwalking. I could make up something to hold them off until I have Gavin.”

  “That’s a crappy plan, but at least you’re thinking.” Sade scooped some water up in her hands to drink.

  While her words may not be “emotional,” her heart was in the right place. In her own way, she was helping me become a great fighter.

  “You need more passion,” Sade offered with the least bit of passion in her voice.

  “Passion?” I was confused at her thought process.

  “Without passion, you will never be a great warrior. What’s your reasoning for being a fighter?”

  I sat back and thought for a moment. I guess I didn’t have one except for wanting to be one. “To be looked up to.”

  “Vanity. Try again.” Sade’s voice was jagged. “You need something more. What’s fighting mean to you?”

  “It would mean I’m confident, that I could protect people.”

  “Wrong.” Sade sighed. “Again.” She waved her hand in the air.

  “That I’m worth something,” I replied, unsure if I had said it out loud.

  Sade was quiet. No quick comments back. “Okay, listen. We will go to see this dreamwalker and get your questions answered. I’ll take you to Western March.” Sade took off to the left of path into the woods, back to the fork in the road.

  “We were going the wrong way? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I want to help you now,” Sade yelled back to me.

  I forced myself to remain calm. I needed Sade to take me to the dreamwalker, so I could learn how to dreamwalk properly. Somehow the man in my dreams was connected to all of this, but I couldn’t figure out how.

  He was there, a few feet in front of me, alone while he cooked a rat carcass over the fire. A tattered white bandage was wrapped around his hand where he had been injured the last time I saw him. The first time I knew I had dreamwalked. I approached, but he didn’t glance my way.

  “Hello,” I called toward him.

  He never flinched. It was as if he couldn’t see or hear me.

  I walked toward his camp. I could hear him whispering to himself, some sort of chant or prayer, but couldn’t make out the words. I paused a few feet away from him and thought of how I could reach him. There was a seat on the opposite side of the fire from him, so I used it as my perch.

  The man’s gaze slipped from the fire as he methodically surveyed his surroundings. Then he sniffed the air. Perhaps he could sense me.

  I leaned in closer as his attention returned to his meal, yet his eyes remained on guard, twitching from side to side.

  “Can you hear me?” I said, my voice a little choppy. I half hoped he couldn’t.

  He didn’t move.

  I had to get through to him. I didn’t know when I would see him again. I glanced around as I searched for something I could use to communicate with him. I leaned down to pick up a stick with the intention of throwing it in the fire. I decided against that. If he couldn’t see or hear me, that would just frighten him. I’d use that as a last resort.
/>   Then it came to me. I’d use healing. I closed my eyes and tried to garner enough energy to make myself visible to him. I stood and placed my hands out in front of me as I tried to holster energy from around me. My fingers trembled as energy filled my body.

  Just as soon as I gathered the energy, I abruptly lost it, almost toppling over from dizziness. Why didn’t I listen to those magic teachings? I glanced back at the man, now eating his carefully charred rat. My hand flew to my mouth at the crunching sounds, which made me ill.

  I took my place back on the log and tried to think of something I could use to communicate with him.

  I noticed a patch of sand and hoped he could read. I grabbed a stick and wrote a message. The man jumped back from his log and grunted as his head swung from side to side. I needed to write the message faster.

  I’ve been called to help you.

  The man yelled in another language I could not understand. He shielded himself with his arm over his face, then he came forth to read my message.

  I tried again to harness energy from Lynia, to show myself to him, and after a few minutes of deep concentration and the help of the fool’s rock my brother had given me, I began to appear in form.

  “Witch!” the man yelled at me as he grabbed his knife and held it up. He lunged, but I was quicker.

  “I’m a healer.”

  His eyes were wild and darted back and forth.

  I held my hands out to him to show I was no threat.

  “I’m here to help you.”

  “Where have you come from?” The man held up his knife in my direction.

  What would happen, if he killed me while dreamwalking?

  “I’m from Low Forest. I’m a healer, and I have been sent here to help you,” I said very fast as I tried to see any signs of reasoning on his face.

  “By whom?” He moved to the left.

  I quickly countered, ensuring the same distance remained between us.

  “The ur’gel.” I hoped this dance would end and we could talk. I didn’t have much time left.

  He appeared to be calmer, his body less tense. “You can’t free me. You’re on a suicide mission.”

  My eyes wandered back to him as he sat back down on his log to eat. The knife remained within hand’s reach.

  “How long have you been here?” I sat across from him again.

  “Two hundred and fifty years. Abouts.” He spit bone out of the side of his mouth.

  I remembered my father telling me stories about the Dark War. This man had been in jail since then?

  “What’s your name?” I needed to know more about the man I was supposed to save.

  He sat back, and his eyes roamed my body,

  I became increasingly aware of my surroundings and had to force my leg from bouncing. I was still as I could be as I waited to see if he would respond.

  “Yours first.” He stuck another dead rat on the end of his stick and hung it out over the fire.

  “Aria Trevil,” I said, wary of his next move.

  “Trevil.” He glanced up from his cooking and nodded his head in respect.

  When I didn’t react, he hung his head low. “You don’t even know of your people.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Trevils were good fighters. Trustworthy.” His body relaxed a little bit.

  “And your name?” I hoped he would offer it up this time.

  “Beru Halsted.”

  I sucked in a breath at the mention of Beru. The ur’gel had burned this name within my very soul.

  “I’m here to get you out of this place. I don’t have a plan yet, but I will.”

  “I’ve been here for two-hundred-and-fifty-years, little girl. Don’t you think if there were a way to escape, I’d have found it?”

  “I’ll find a way.” I wasn’t about to let this monster ruin my plans to save my brother. He would get on board.

  “What are you doing working for the ur’gel?” He sat back.

  “You’re not a very gracious host,” I blurted out, feeling uncomfortable in his company. I didn’t know who he was or what he had done to be stuck here.

  “They are making you do this.” He sat back and laughed. “Of all the people to send. A little girl.

  “I will save you from here, not because you don’t deserve to spend the rest of your life in here but because I’m a professional.” I stood and tried to remain calm, but he rattled my nerves.

  Beru raised and threw off his wolf fur. His muscles gleamed as the moon hit them. With one leap, he jumped over the fire, and he was mere inches from me. His head a good two feet above mine as he stared down at me, into my soul. I closed my eyes for fear he could hear my thoughts, then his hand cupped my chin and lifted it. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry. I’d never hurt a child.”

  “Be quiet.” A hand shook me as I opened my eyes, and Sade knelt over me.

  “Where am I?” I sat up and looked around for Beru.

  “In the woods, where else would you be?” Sade sat back down beside me. “Practically yelling for the ur’gel to come and get us.”

  “The ur’gel?”

  “I’ve been scouting them since you fell asleep. They marched north early this morning down the path.” Sade didn’t hide her annoyance with me.

  “I’m sorry, I was dreamwalking. Not quite sure how.” I wrapped my arms around my knees. Beru’s musk still strong in my nostrils.

  “If you end up in a coma, I’ll leave you here.” Sade rolled up her blanket and that was my cue to pack up camp.

  “I know.” I rolled my eyes and flopped back on the bed I had made from grass last night. I closed my eyes and sank into a daydream of his hand touching my face. There was something so familiar about him.

  “Don’t move.” Sade hung low to the ground and looked down the hill.

  I turned my head, unable to see anything, but I heard them.

  “Biggest group yet, about fifty to sixty,” Sade whispered.

  We stayed still for quite some time until they all passed. It gave me time to memorize my encounter with Beru. Was he still thinking about me? What was he doing? I was addicted to wanting to know him more.

  “I think that’s it.” Sade stood and stretched her neck out in the direction of the trails.

  “What do you think they are doing?”

  “Going home. They live in the desert next to the Western March.” Sade knelt to finish packing up. “Are you just going to sleep while I do all the work?”

  I took her hint and got up to disassemble the homemade bedding we prepared the night before. It was important not to leave any indications we had been here.

  “Did you see him again?” Sade asked from behind me.

  “I did,” I replied, still uncertain as to how much I wanted to tell her.

  “And?”

  “At first he couldn’t see me.” I took the last bit of grass and threw it in the woods. “But I figured out how to communicate with him.

  “Can he help get Gavin back?”

  “He’s been in prison for two hundred and fifty years.” I half laughed.

  “Since the Dark War.” Her tone was serious.

  My smile left my face as I figured it wasn’t something to laugh about.

  “I didn’t expect that.”

  “Me either.”

  “Does he look two-hundred-and-fifty-years-old?” Sade poked at me and surprised me with a grin.

  “No. He’s rugged.”

  “Do I detect a crush?” Sade raised one eyebrow.

  “Of course not.” The thought of him and I made me gag. Sure, he was okay on the eyes, but any good qualities were lost to his know-it-all attitude.

  “So, you have thought about it.” Sade nudged my arm.

  “No.” I turned my head to hide my red cheeks from her.

  “So, what else happened? Come on, amuse me.” Sade finished the last bit of camp break down.

  “This isn’t for your amusement.” I walked over to a fruit tree and filled
my bag. If only I could take these to Beru.

  “We have miles to cover, kid. We have to have some fun.” Sade tossed an apple at my pack with a chuckle.

  “He was eating rat.” I put one more fruit in my bag.

  “Yummy.” Sade smiled over her shoulder.

  “He murmured something under his breath, but I couldn’t make it out. It wasn’t in our language.” I hoped she would have some insight.

  “Well, he roamed the earth long ago. Do you remember any words?”

  “No. Even if I did, I would be able to pronounce it.”

  Sade didn’t turn her head back this time to reply. Instead, she walked along the path a little faster.

  “He kept saying it over and over, almost like a prayer just before he ate,” I said a little louder.

  “Many people pray....” Sade’s voice drifted off.

  “Yes. His body language was different, and his mood—”

  “I hope we don’t see any more ur’gel,” Sade cut me off. It was a legit concern, but it seemed to be the wrong timing.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Sade stopped and turned toward me. “No, why would there be?”

  I nodded and walked beside her.

  “Oh, he told me his name,” I said

  Sade didn’t reply and maintained one step in front of me.

  “Did you hear me?” I pulled at her arm to stop.

  “Yes, I’m not deaf,” Sade replied.

  “Do you want to know it?” I asked, confused at how this conversation was going. Only a few moments ago, she had wanted to know everything.

  Sade shrugged.

  “Beru Halsted.” I half expected her to tell me all about him. Well, I had hoped she would.

  “That’s a horrible name for a prisoner.” Sade turned and kept walking, faster.

  Had I just seen that correctly? Did Sade’s eyes appear to be watering?

  “Do you know him?” I jogged a few steps to catch up with her.

  “Do I look ancient?” she called back over her shoulder, managing to still walk faster than my jog. Something was off.

  “We need to make it another few miles, then we’ll camp in the caves. It’s going to rain tonight,” Sade said.

  My eyes drifted toward the sky. It was clear and light blue, no clouds in sight.