Dreamwalker

by J. A. Culican

“I was no such thing,” Beru exploded. He stood and walked from me.

  “Then tell me why you are here?” I called out to him.

  “It doesn’t matter, Aria,” Beru yelled back at me.

  “It matters to me.”

  Beru stopped but didn’t turn back to me.

  I needed him to come back so I could figure out what to do. “Don’t you want your story told? Do you know how many people hate you because they think you worked for Dag'draath?” I wanted him to get mad at me.

  Beru turned back. “What do you think?”

  “You’re making me think I’m wrong now.”

  Beru came back to the fire and sat down. I waited for him to speak first.

  “I fought against Dag'draath and his men. I wasn’t one of them.” Beru stared at the fire.

  “How did you end up here?” I was confused as only Dag'draath’s people were imprisoned.

  “I wouldn’t turn on my men. So, they forced me here.”

  “They didn’t find your body, so people think you fought for Dag'draath.”

  “Well, this has become my life,” Beru said. “Scavenging for anything to eat. Because I will live forever.”

  “And your family? Did they know what had happened?” I hoped he could tell me as much as he knew.

  “My family’s long gone.”

  I wouldn’t push him on his family. I’d gotten my answers.

  I left Beru without telling him much. I needed to get to Gavin, and I didn’t have much time before I had to go back to my body.

  I found where Gavin was being held. There were only a few ur’gel that had stayed behind to protect the camp so speaking with him wouldn’t be difficult. I made myself invisible as I navigated the camp until I found him in one of the tents, laid out on a cot, badly beaten.

  I made myself visible and tied the tent door closed. Then I turned to Gavin and knelt at his side.

  “Gavin.” I prodded his side as I tried to wake him.

  “Aria,” he managed with a dry mouth.

  I noticed some water in a bucket off to the side, dipped my hand in, scooped some up, and brought it to his mouth.

  “Here. Don’t try to speak just yet.” I poured as much as I could into his mouth by hand.

  “Have you freed Beru?” Gavin asked with a glint of hope in his eye that he could be going home.

  “Not yet, but the plan is in place.” I looked over his poorly treated body. “What did they do to you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  I placed my finger to my lips as an ur’gel passed by the tent. The glow from the fire outside showed their shadows inside the tent. I glanced around for a potential place to hide if they decided to enter, but there was nowhere to go. I would have to become invisible in a moment of fear, which I hadn’t done before.

  After a few tense moments, they moved on.

  “I don’t understand. They agreed they’d treat you fair.” I held my hand over his stomach to try to heal some of his wounds.

  “No, don’t heal me. They’ll know you were here, and I’ll get in trouble again. It’s not the ur’gel.”

  “Was it the shadow mage?”

  “Just tell me you’re going to free Beru. I can’t take the beatings much longer.” Gavin broke out in tears.

  I leaned over as best I could without hurting him and hugged him. I fought back the urge to heal. I could sense he had broken ribs. I drew back from him and tried to act strong so as not to upset him anymore.

  “I’m going to free him. I need to know where to make the trade.” I sat back on my legs so I could be as close to him as possible.

  “There’s a lady. She’s dressed in red. She acts for the shadow mage,” Gavin revealed. “You can leave a message with her.”

  “Is the mage here?” I wanted a word with it.

  “No. He’s rarely here.”

  “Where can I find this woman?” I took his hand in mine and hoped it could offer him strength.

  “She’s in the large tent. She’s one of the nice ones. Make sure she is alone,” he added.

  “Okay, I’m going to go now, and I’ll be back before I leave.”

  “No, I can’t risk them knowing you were here to see me.” Gavin grabbed my hand.

  “I won’t come back. The next time you see me, you’ll be free.” I leaned over and kissed his forehead.

  As I turned to leave, he grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. “Don’t come back until I can be free.”

  I nodded and held back tears at the fright in my brother’s eyes. I stood and placed the blanket on top of him so he wouldn't be cold. As I walked to the door, I stopped to blow him a kiss.

  I stuck my head out of the tent to see where the ur’gel lurked about. It was well past dark, and most were sleeping by now. I could easily get around the camp being visible.

  I crept toward the large tent and waited outside as I tried to listen to the voices inside. I retreated to the woods and waited for someone to leave.

  My eyes drooped as I became tired. Just as I was about to fall over from not sleeping, the woman in red left the tent and walked toward the stream. I waited a little bit to see if anyone would follow, and when they didn’t, I took my cue.

  I followed behind her at a safe distance until she had gone far enough away from the camp so we could talk. As I approached her from behind, she turned to look at me.

  “I had wondered if you fell asleep in the woods.” She smiled at me then turned back to the stream to fill her pot.

  “You knew I was there?”

  “Yes. I feel the energy of creatures through the ground.” She smiled again. “You came to see your brother.”

  “I came to leave a message for the shadow mage. I’m told you’re the best person to leave that with.”

  “Yes, that would be correct.” She stood there and waited for me to talk.

  “I’ll free Beru. I need a place and time for the exchange with Gavin.”

  “I’ll pass that along.” The woman nodded. It was difficult to believe a person so kind could work for the shadow mage, knowing what it could do.

  “Please take care of my brother. I beg of you.”

  “I try my best to protect him. It’s the ur’gel. They don’t listen so well.” The woman nodded. “You should be on your way. They’ll be back soon.”

  “Thank you,” I made my way back to the camp.

  I passed by Gavin’s tent and forced myself to walk past it. He was lying in there, not chained, and I was unable to take him. It angered me, and the terror in his voice was the only thing that stopped me from going back in his tent with him.

  Once everything settled, I would make sure the ur’gel that hurt Gavin would be dealt with.

  I grabbed my pack and filled it with anything that could act as a weapon. I had Svan’s servants gather up any weapons he had left before his scouting trip.

  “You can’t go.” Sade watched me as I packed my bag.

  I ignored her as I stuffed what I could in my almost full sack.

  “You’re acting on emotions right now.”

  “He’s trapped there, Sade. He wasn’t working for Dag'draath.”

  “You believe him?”

  “I do.” I stopped what I was doing for a moment to face her. “You don’t have to.”

  “Good, because I don’t. You’re a fool.” Sade grabbed my pack and challenged me.

  “I trust him. I can’t explain why. We’re connected somehow.” I tried one last time to get Sade on my side.

  “You can’t trust him. He’s not what you think he is.”

  “I’ll do anything to free him.” I grabbed my pack from Sade, but she wouldn’t let go. We stood there in a stare off.

  “It’s not up to me to make up your mind.” Sade got up and left the room.

  I closed my eyes for a moment and hoped that this would not be the last time I’d see Sade. She risked her life to save mine, and this was how I spoke to her.

  I grabbed my pack and my bow, t
hen left the room.

  As I opened the door, Sade and Iri stood in the front room.

  “You think you can leave without us?” Iri grumbled as Sade stood by his side, avoiding me.

  “If you’re going to be stupid, then we are coming along. For Gavin’s sake.” Sade shrugged as she looked toward the floor.

  “You’re sure about bringing Beru back?” Iri asked.

  “Yes. I’m sure. I’ve thought this through.”

  “Beru will lead the ur’gel?” Iri had a worried look on his face.

  “He’ll stop the attack, I’m certain.” I shuffled my bag on my shoulder.

  “I’ll grab my stuff.” Sade brushed past me to get to the bedroom.

  “I’m packed and ready to go. We’ll get your brother back.”

  I nodded grimly as I thought about what needed to be done for that to happen. While I had made up my mind, I still had questions for Beru. Questions I worried he wouldn’t answer.

  “It will be hard once he’s out. He’s been associated with Dag'draath for over two hundred years.” Iri reminded me.

  I nodded.

  “Ready.” Sade walked out of the bedroom with her pack, bow, and spear. “Let’s go, kids.”

  Sade walked past us as she smiled. She lived for fighting.

  Iri gestured for me to go ahead of him, and I obliged. As we exited, we turned left and made our way down the mountain.

  “Wait for me!” someone yelled from behind us. As we turned around, we saw Astor as he ran toward us.

  “Astor?” I yelled, surprised to see him.

  “I’m coming with you.” Astor proclaimed as he caught up to us.

  “Astor, I can’t ask that of you. I’m not sure how this is going to turn out.”

  “You’re not asking. I’m telling you I’m coming.” Astor struggled to keep up with Iri’s stride. “Besides, if I can take out a sorcerer, how interesting would I be?”

  Leave it to Astor to still find comedy in a dire situation.

  “What about Idok? Surely, he needs you.”

  “He’s rather happy to see me in danger.... I’m trying not to take it personally,” Astor replied with a goofy smile on his face.

  “You’ll have to beat Iri to him.” Sade slapped Iri in the chest.

  “I don’t need any help getting rid of the Sorcerer,” Iri said in his gruff, rough voice.

  As I walked out of the Western March with the friends I had made on this journey, I was ready for the biggest fight of my life, and I couldn’t be prouder of who I’d become because of these people.

  “This way. We’ll skip around the front and avoid the ur’gel and D'ahvol.” Sade veered off into the brush. “Make minimal noise. We aren’t equipped to fight a battle.”

  “So, no road, then,” Astor called from behind Sade.

  Sade turned back and gave one of her signature looks.

  Sade led with Iri behind her, cutting back the brush with his knife, making it easier for Astor and me. The wind picked up and made it more difficult to make our way through without getting nicks and cuts from the branches.

  “We’ll pace ourselves. We want to make it there when it’s dark,” Sade asserted as she led us out into a small clearing.

  We cut through thick brush for a good part of the day before we decided to stop for a rest.

  “No fires here,” Iri said to Astor as he collected wood.

  “It’s too close to the front line,” Sade added.

  After we dropped our bags and weapons, we took our boots off to get comfortable. My legs were full of scrapes and bruises from the trek.

  “There’s enough for everyone.” Sade passed around dry bread to fill our bellies.

  Astor murmured a thank you while Iri inhaled his piece.

  “Well, get your last few minutes of sunrays. We should be heading out soon.” Sade packed up the rest of the food.

  “We’ll stop along the way at a farm and get some horses. They will suit us if we have to leave quickly too.” Iri jumped to his feet.

  We hit the brush again and took a path around the ur’gel. As we got closer to their camp, we took to the woods. Breaking through the brush was the safest route, but it was loud.

  Sade dropped to the ground and flagged her arms at us to do the same. She pointed to the north, and we waited for something to happen.

  Silence. Had she been mistaken?

  Iri crawled slowly a few feet to where Sade had crouched down, and they whispered something to each other. Iri turned back to me and Astor and motioned for us to take cover next to the tree that was closest to us.

  We moved slowly to not make any noise with the items we carried. I removed my pack from my back and placed it on the ground behind the tree and got as low to the ground as I could.

  Soon we heard them coming. It wasn’t a drill. The sound of horse hooves as they hit the ground rumbled toward us.

  They screamed and howled as they passed by us. The sound of the branches as they broke reminded me of a hurricane. I held my head down on the ground and hoped they would pass us by.

  “Keep going,” I heard an ur’gel. Through the woods I’d seen his horse’s hooves as they stood still as others ran past.

  Why had he stopped?

  The rumbling of hooves as they passed by seemed to last forever. Finally, they’d all passed. However, the one remained.

  Sade looked back at me and began to rise, but I waved her back down and pointed to the lone ur’gel.

  His feet landed on the ground with a thud, and then he walked toward us.

  I held my breath.

  He stopped only a few feet in front of me.

  Silence.

  I relaxed at the sound of him relieving himself. He hadn’t seen us.

  He jumped back on his horse and took off in the direction of the other ur’gel.

  “He’s the last one.” Sade got up from the ground and brushed herself off.

  “Let’s keep going.” Iri walked off into the woods.

  “Do you still want to do this?” I asked Astor.

  “No going back.” Astor walked past me to follow Iri.

  Sade led us to the farm Iri suggested, and he secured us several horses.

  “There is a shallow bowl of hills not far from here. We’ll have the best vantage point from there,” Iri spoke as he loaded our packs on the horses.

  We left by horse and made it to our destination before sundown. We rounded up the horses and hid them as best as we could.

  “Now what?” Iri asked as we waited for the exchange.

  “I have to connect with the shadow mage to set up the exchange,” I said, unsure of how exactly to do that.

  “Did you say mage?” Astor asked.

  “Yes, I have to call them somehow.” I looked through my pack for anything I could use to siphon energy with.

  “I may be of some help,” Astor offered. “I’ll need some assistance.”

  Astor collected rocks and formed a circle with them on the ground. “This is a boundary so the shadow mage can only appear in this circle when called.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Sade started gathering more rocks.

  “What can I do?” Iri stood next to the circle Astor had started.

  “I’ll need some bird feathers,” Astor called out to him, still collecting rocks.

  “Get in the trees.” Iri called to us as he ran toward the woods.

  We dropped everything and followed him. We all crouched together in a little cave and hid.

  “More ur’gel,” Iri said as he peeked out of our hiding place. “They’re at the circle.”

  Iri jerked back as if one had seen him. He put his finger to his lips.

  I mouthed the word bow to Sade, and she pointed to where we had just been.

  I was in a better position to see what the ur’gel were doing, I lifted my head to see them as they inspected our belongings and the circle we had just worked on.

  They stayed at our site until almost dark. We waited a while before Sade felt we were
alone. She then left our cave and scouted our camp to make sure it was safe.

  We all crawled out, wary the ur’gel were still close.

  “What can I get?” I needed to keep busy as my nerves ramped up.

  “Wait.” Astor hit his head with his hand repeatedly. “Dandelions, no! Buttercups! Yes!”

  Astor appeared pale as he continued to prepare for his spell.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, away from the others.

  “Yes, Yes,” he stuttered as he looked down at his pile of rocks.

  “I believe in you.” I reached for his arm.

  Astor nodded as he placed his hand on mine, then walked past me on his way to grab more items that he needed.

  “Are you sure you want him to help?” Sade dropped the items she had collected beside me.

  “We just need to support him.”

  As I searched for buttercups, I also searched for more ur’gel. That was the second group we had come across. Iri caught my eye as he looked down the hill.

  “Everything all right?” I followed his gaze.

  “Some lone ur’gel hiding in the woods.” Iri nodded his head to the tree line at the bottom of the hill.

  “They’ve seen us?”

  “Yes. Been watching us since we came out of the cave.”

  “I’ll go tell Sade and Astor.”

  Iri grabbed my arm. “Let Astor prepare. He needs his concentration. I’ll keep watch.”

  “Are you sure? What if....”

  “There won’t be much to do if they decide to attack.”

  Guilt hit me hard at the thought of my friends being massacred in order to maybe save my brother. “I’m sorry if this all goes wrong.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about.” Iri grabbed one side of my neck with his large hand. “We sometimes fight for no reason. It’s respectable to battle for good.”

  “What are they doing?” Sade interrupted our moment.

  The ur’gel had come out from the woods and were now at the bottom of the hill. They stood shoulder to shoulder, a good fifty of them in the line. They all faced us but didn’t attempt to climb.

  “You said freeing Beru would stop this?” Iri reached for his sword.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m ready!” Astor yelled from behind us, oblivious to the nearby threat.

  “You both go. I’ll stay here.” Iri waved us toward Astor. “Don’t let him know.”