Dreamwalker

by J. A. Culican

Sade stopped responding and picked up her speed. I tried to keep up as best as I could, but with the ur’gel around, there was no way to continue with our conversation. We marched on and kept on guard as we advanced through the woods.

  After what seemed like significant progress, Sade veered off course, and we found a spot to take a break, much to my liking. We stopped by a stream to get cleaned up and drank as much as we could.

  “I needed this break.” I tried my best to relax before Sade wanted to get back into the woods.

  Sade headed over to the stream, and at first, I thought she hadn’t heard me, but the twisted look of her lips told me she had.

  “It’s not much longer.” Sade soaked her socks in the water and rang them out. “Think you can get back by yourself?”

  Her comment stunned me. I hadn’t thought about getting back home. I had assumed she would be heading home after our little trip.

  “Yes.” I wanted to sound certain and confident, but I was anything but. I didn’t have any adventure training. We had always relied on Skyra or someone else from Council Three.

  “I’m not sure about what your plan is.” Sade had seemed distant ever since I had told her about my dream, and it was getting on my last nerve to know why already.

  “My only plan is to rescue Gavin.” I tried to keep my composure.

  “He may be dead already. I know you don’t want to hear that, but I think you should be ready.”

  “I’m ready for anything.” I shook my shirt hard and took her comment out on it.

  “I don’t see this ending well.” Sade put her socks and shoes back on.

  “Thanks,” I muttered with my head down. I would rather she be quiet than to talk like this.

  “May not seem like it, but I’m just looking out for you,” Sade said. “This kind of magic isn’t one I would even mess with.”

  “If you had a family, you would understand.” The words tumbled out, and I regretted them as soon as my lips closed. “I’m sorry. I’m upset and didn’t mean to say that to you.” I wouldn’t blame Sade if she left me where I lay.

  Sade didn’t bother to say anything back to me. Why did I have to be such a jerk sometimes? She took off to the trail, and I made sure to follow her so she couldn’t lose me.

  Again, we walked in silence, but this time, Sade kicked her feet on the ground and made more noise than before. Her recklessness made me nervous as the ur’gel had marched this way.

  “Shouldn’t we be quieter?” I looked around us.

  “You already have a death wish, may as well get it over with,” Sade replied.

  I yanked on her arm to get her to turn back to me.

  “Don’t you think this is childish? Okay, I said something stupid. I’m sorry. I swear it will never happen again.”

  Sade grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me back into the brush. She fell on top of me. About to fight her off, she placed her hand over my mouth and put her finger to her lips, her eyes wide. At first their voices were faint. Then they became louder as the ur’gel marched toward us.

  They passed on the path we just walked on. A slight movement and they would see us. I closed my eyes and laid my head back. We waited as a hundred of them passed by us. As their footsteps grew softer, Sade fell off me to my side.

  “Ok. I think we are good.” Sade spit dirt out from her mouth.

  “That’s too close.” I sat up and stretched my back.

  “A little too close.” Sade got up and peeked out on the path. “We could continue, but it’ll be difficult with them in front of us. If we stick to the woods, we’ll make more noise.”

  The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance, and sprinkles of rain began to fall.

  “There’s no caves near, and it’s too dangerous to camp on the paths.” Sade craned her neck and looked in each direction.

  “What do we do?” The rain fell harder and soaked my clothes.

  “Follow me.” Sade ran.

  I tried my best to keep up with her, even though she’d taken me on the path ur’gel were just seen on.

  “There is a path just up here that brings us to an abandoned shed.”

  We kept as quiet as we could, thankful for the rain covering any noise we made. Then the rain lessened.

  We could smell fire, so we drifted off the path and made our way closer to the smell by the woods. We came upon the ur’gel campsite. We hid behind some shrubs and studied the layout of their camp. Where they slept, ate, and played.

  “They are the ones from town, that attacked us.” I recognized a few of the monsters.

  “It doesn’t look like they did any raiding.”

  We watched as they milled about their camp until dusk set. Sade pulled me back and pointed toward the back of the camp. It was Gavin, chained to a chair.

  Sade’s hand covered my mouth. “Don’t say anything stupid.”

  I nodded my head, yes, and she removed her hand.

  “He’s alive,” I whispered to myself because I hadn’t believed he would be. I was certain once they had left that they would have murdered him.

  “He’s surrounded by about two hundred ur’gel.” Sade’s tone of voice brought me back to reality. Even though he was right in front of my eyes, I still couldn’t save him.

  We both sat down in the shrubs in silence.

  “I’m going to save him.”

  “How did I know you were going to say that?” Sade cracked her neck.

  “I won’t have to save Beru if I can get Gavin tonight.” I grabbed Sade’s arm, but she brushed me off.

  “And you will have some fast monsters after you as soon as you step out. You’ll both be dead.”

  I had noticed she hadn’t included herself in that analogy.

  “Will you help me?” I held my breath.

  “No. It’s a bad idea. I’m not down for this.” Sade reached into her backpack and pulled out a knife and handed it to me. “The tip is poisoned for one cut.”

  “You’re leaving?” I felt queasy at the thought of carrying on this journey alone. My hand reached out to grab her arm. I regretted it as she turned to me and plucked my hand right off her.

  “I told you that if you’re going to make a stupid choice, I’m not going to stick around.” Sade turned back to finish gathering her things.

  I sat back on the ground and wrapped my arms around my waist, rocking back on my heels. I had to decide if I was going to carry on with Sade and save Gavin later, or take my chance now and try to remember how to get back with Gavin, who couldn’t walk. The choice seemed obvious. However, I couldn’t leave Gavin behind.

  Sade looked back at me one last time. “So, what’s it going to be? Continue or die?”

  I could appreciate Sade’s humor, but I had a hard time believing if Sade were in my shoes, she would just walk away.

  “I’m going to get my brother,” I said without hesitation. My heart couldn’t leave him there. He needed me.

  Sade stood there and looked toward the ground.

  I hoped she felt conflicted and would stay, but I couldn’t ask her to do that. She was right. I very well could be walking into a death trap.

  “Wait till it’s at its darkest. They will be drunk and slower. Enter from behind. You have one chance to do this.” Sade picked up the last of her things and turned to head out.

  I watched as she walked away and hoped she would turn back and say, “Got ya!” and stay with me. Soon, however, I was alone. I had to dig deep, but all my insecurities shone. My feet froze to the ground, and I had little energy to move.

  I still had time to tame these butterflies. I would wait till complete darkness, and enter their camp and take Gavin.

  After a few moments, the queasy feeling left me as I was ready to deal with the task at hand. I crawled on my knees to a better vantage point. I found the best spot to keep track of Gavin and planted myself in the woods. I barely took my eyes off him.

  The same ur’gel guarded him. They mustn’t have thought of him to be much of a threat as he couldn�
��t walk, which I’d use to my advantage. As I sat there and scoped out Gavin’s location, I felt more at ease. My energy was in the right place, and I was ready to fight if I had to.

  With fewer ur’gel around him, I might be able to do this. My hand drifted to the sheath the knife Sade gave me was in. One ur’gel, one poisoned tip.

  Deep in thought, I almost hadn’t noticed when the ur’gel that guarded Gavin left him and walked toward the party. No one came to replace him. I sprinted as fast as I could to get to Gavin.

  “Aria. What are you doing here?” Gavin said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m getting you out of here.” I tried to loosen his hands from the rope the ur’gel had tied him to a tree with. The knot was very tight, and for a moment, my head began to spin and my hands shook. I lost all confidence.

  “Pull on the top,” Gavin instructed.

  I did as he said as my mind went blank, and the knot loosened.

  “How did you know?” I worked on the ropes.

  “I’ve had some time to think about getting out of here,” he said sarcastically. “I may not be able to walk, but I’m not an invalid.”

  I ignored his sass, and I focused on freeing him.

  “How did you find me?” Gavin kept guard on the group of partying ur’gel.

  “Sade Lemm. We were on our way to Western March, and we came upon the camp.” I tried to keep my concentration on the task at hand instead of on the large group of ur’gel a few feet away.

  “Sade Lemm helped you?” Gavin appeared shocked Sade would help. Any reasonable person would be. I wanted to ask about the extent of Gavin and Sade’s relationship. He had gone to her when he needed help, which made me mad he didn’t come to me.

  “That doesn’t matter now.” I pulled on the last part of the knot, and Gavin was freed. I let out a quick sigh then tried to lift him, but he was weak and dead weight.

  “Have they been feeding you?” His arms had already lost some muscle weight, and my hands rubbed against his ribs as I lifted him.

  “They weren’t very interested in my needs.” Gavin clasped his hands together around my neck.

  “I’ll fix that as soon as we are safe.” I glanced back at the ur’gel that had been guarding Gavin. He was getting rather drunk and had no interest in his guard duty.

  “He won’t be back for a while. Sometimes he forgets about me till morning.”

  “Did they tell you why they took you?” The loudness of the party rattled me. It would be hard to hear if anyone approached. They organized battles between each other. Many were bloodied, but all were laughing.

  “They don’t seem the sharing type.” Gavin pointed to a black blanket. “Grab that. I’ll drape it over my back so they don’t see us.”

  I did as he said and took note of other provisions the ur’gel had in their camp. I grabbed food, fire starters, and a coffee pot. For a brief moment, my mind shifted to the coffee pot Sade threw away. I grabbed a pack by Gavin’s bed and stuffed everything in it, including the coffee pot.

  “Can you hold this while on my back?” I handed him the bag to test the weight.

  “I’ll try my best.” He nodded, and we got to work.

  I balanced Gavin on my back as I leaned forward and hung on to his arms that were wrapped around my neck. We had about twenty feet to the forest. Once there, I would run as fast I could for as long as I could. Maybe we could catch up to Sade if she had headed back. I used that thought as my motivation to move faster.

  “Hurry,” Gavin whispered in my ear. He hung on to the bag just fine, but I immediately regretted the coffee pot, not thinking the bag could be dropped. I grabbed a piece of the bag with my teeth for added measure.

  He was much heavier than I had anticipated, and his lack of control in his legs made his balance difficult to regulate. He was also taller than I, so I had to contend with his feet as they dragged on the ground. The only other option was to take the chair the ur’gel had fashioned for him and wheel him out, but that would be slow and noisy.

  I did my best as I dragged him. I focused on one spot in the woods and moved as fast as I was able to. We were going to make it. Phase one almost complete.

  “Almost there. You’re doing it,” Gavin said in my ear as he encouraged me.

  A rope lassoed us and pulled us backward. We fell on the grass and Gavin yelled in pain. I rolled over and yanked on the rope to loosen it as the ur’gel who had attacked our house and taken Gavin stood over us with a scowl on his face.

  The ur’gel had his followers restrain Gavin and me. They took us to what appeared to be the main tent. They bound our hands behind our backs and pushed me into a sitting position. They brought Gavin’s chair in for him to sit.

  We sat in front of a fire and waited. I glanced toward Gavin, and one of the ur’gel stepped forward. I turned back to the fire.

  The main ur’gel entered the tent and took his place in an ornate wooden chair with intricate carvings on the arms and legs. It was covered in plush leather. However, I did not recognize the animal. It must have been rare. This ur’gel must have been someone important in his community.

  “The dreamwalker and the invalid.” The ur’gel spoke as a woman, a human, served him a drink.

  I bit my tongue since we were outnumbered. I was in his house.

  “You don’t speak?” He directed his comment to me as he waved his followers away.

  The ur’gel approached us, and to my surprise, they unbound our hands. One of the ur’gel brought over a chair for me to sit at next to the table.

  “My apologies for the rough treatment. You caused quite a stir with your arrival.” The ur’gel stated as his human remained by his side, ready to serve him.

  “Do you know my brother has barely eaten since you captured him?” I stared at the ur’gel as it was the only thing I could do at the moment without getting us killed.

  “No, I did not know this.” The ur’gel turned his head toward his followers. “Is this true?”

  The ur’gel lowered their heads and didn’t meet his scrutiny.

  “Then you must bring him food now, and our guest.” The ur’gel nodded, and his two followers scurried out of the tent. “My apologies. They are sometimes thick in the head. I assure you that a starved prisoner is not my intent.”

  “Thank you.” I sat back in the chair a little looser now. I didn’t trust the ur’gel. However, he was much calmer and agreeable than in past meetings.

  “I admire you, Aria, if I may call you that.”

  I nodded yes.

  “You may call me Xagu.”

  He smiled and clapped his hands, as his followers returned with a feast of food and drink. The food was placed on a table, and once it was arranged, Xagu joined us. I stood to wheel Gavin over, but Xagu lifted his hand up to stop me. He nodded to one of his men, and he wheeled Gavin over and placed him beside me, while Xagu sat across from us.

  “You must tell me, Aria, how it is that you found us. I am most intrigued by your attempt to save your brother in my camp.” Xagu began to eat and didn’t seem bothered at all by my attempted rescue of my brother.

  “I’d do anything for my family.” I kept my head toward my plate, uncomfortable with his question. I dreaded where this conversation could lead as I eyed the ropes that were just on my wrists.

  Gavin took my lead and kept his head down as he shoveled food in his mouth.

  “Do you understand the agreement that we have?” Xagu replied in a calm, creepy voice. His eyes were on me as I ate.

  “You want me to get to Beru.” I used his name to shock Xagu. I wanted him to think that Beru had told me more than he did.

  “You’ve spoken to him since we last met. He’s told you his name,” Xagu said as he sat back and placed his utensils on the table.

  “Briefly.” I continued eating the meat that was on my plate.

  “I have to say, Aria, I am surprised at this and very happy with how far you have come as a dreamwalker so quick.” Xagu raised his glass in my direction an
d then drank.

  I dug my fork into my potatoes and shoved them in my mouth, enabling me to not respond.

  “We have followed many dreamwalkers. You showed the most potential.”

  “What are your intentions with holding Gavin?” I asked as soon as my mouth was empty. If he wanted answers, so did I.

  “I give you my word that he will be taken care of, and I will see to it personally that it is done right.” Xagu waved his hand toward the door. His human walked over to fill his cup. She was aware of his every need.

  “She will be your primary caretaker from now on, Gavin. I hope you can forgive your treatment thus far?” Xagu held up his drink in Gavin’s direction.

  Gavin nodded, then Xagu drank from his glass.

  “Will you tell me how Beru is doing?” Xagu changed the subject.

  “He’s been attacked in some kind of prison.” I hoped by answering his questions, Gavin and I would make it out of this tent alive.

  “Yes. You are unaware of the circumstances?”

  “Yes. As I mentioned, we didn’t have much time together. But he is weak.” I drank from my cup.

  “I expected they wouldn’t be treated as just,” Xagu said somewhat under his breath.

  “I want you to let my brother go now. I’ll still help you.” I asked the unreasonable as I was the only connection between him and Beru.

  “We both know that I am unable to do that. Getting to Beru is something bigger than either of us. This camp and its people exist because of Beru.” Xagu settled back into his meal.

  “What do I need to do now that I have made contact with Beru?” My face flushed with redness, something I couldn’t control.

  “You must free Beru, and in return, I will free Gavin.” Xagu nodded his head toward me.

  “How can I free him, I don’t even know how to get to him without dreaming.” My voice raised at the impossible task he asked of me.

  “I will help you.” Xagu took another drink and emptied his glass. He placed it on the edge of the table, and his human practically tripped over herself to refill it.

  “You need another dreamwalker. I barely know anything about it,” I said, frustrated at him for not letting us go.