Dreamer (The Dream World Chronicles Book 1)

by Camille Peters

  Had that been the sole reason the Council had acted against Mother, or was there more to the story? Trinity was the only one who knew the truth. The fact that she knew Mother intimately indicated they’d been quite close, and despite the fact that she’d been suspended, I wanted to believe that anyone Mother trusted was worthy of my own trust.

  I took a wavering breath. “Mother is the Weaver who disappeared after the Council suspended her, isn’t she?”

  Trinity paused in flipping through the notebook. She was silent for a long moment, during which I silently pleaded for her to deny my suspicions. She slowly looked up. “The Council is afraid of any magic different than their own, especially when it’s of far greater power. Which is why it’s imperative you keep your own powers secret unless you want to suffer the same fate.”

  Fear cinched my chest. It was the same warning Stardust had given me. “What can I do?” I asked, each word a struggle past my dry throat. “My position in the Dream World is already precarious even without the Council learning of my connection to Mother. If they ever find out—”

  Trinity’s lips curled into a smirk. “You can begin by doing more than you’re currently doing. I know of your failed experiments in using your dream abilities, a foolish way to use such a rare gift.”

  My heart pounded. How had she learned about my failed dream experiments? It took me a moment to find my voice. “I only want to help maintain the balance.”

  She snorted. “The balance has always been in danger. Light and darkness cannot coexist. One day one will eclipse the other. Your efforts would be better served elsewhere.” Her gaze became penetrating. “Your Mother was never afraid to develop her extraordinary powers, yet you seem determined to squander your own unique abilities. If you could learn to use your power to your advantage, it could be the key that would allow you to remain in our world forever.”

  Her words tantalized my thoughts with unquenchable yearning. “But how could my ability to enter dreams possibly help me?”

  “I have a theory that your abilities would allow you to take the one thing found in dreams which is impossible to cultivate—a Mortal’s emotions. Weaving emotion directly into a dream—rather than relying on whatever meager amount that’s produced by the Mortal—would yield unbelievable amounts of dream dust. You would be unstoppable. Can you imagine?” Her eyes glistened at the prospect.

  To be able to win every Weaving…the idea was intoxicating. For a moment, I allowed myself to explore the possibility of weaving dreams more incredible than even the masterpieces I’d stolen glimpses of over the years. My imagination came to life—I could feel the weight of my bulging dream locket resting beneath my collar, see the Council’s approving smiles as they invited me to live here forever, and especially imagine Darius’s continuous crestfallen expression as he lost every single night. Though I knew the distance we’d put between ourselves was necessary, it still hurt. The longer it went on, the more I feared I’d exaggerated the memory of how kind he’d been after the festival. The larger these fears grew, the harder it was to hold on to the trust I’d developed for him. Perhaps part of me still resented his skill, because the idea of defeating him so soundly tempted me, making the vision Trinity presented alluring…a bit too alluring.

  It took great effort to shake my head. “But it’s cheating.”

  “It’s not cheating,” Trinity said. “You’d only be using an unconventional method to receive the dream dust you so justly deserve. You’re already at an unfair disadvantage because you didn’t attend the Academy, not to mention you’ve been paired with a Weaver who graduated top of his class. It’s almost as if the Council set you up to fail. Of course, if you don’t want to win…”

  “But I do!” The words tumbled out before I could suppress them. “More than anything.”

  Trinity leaned closer with a hard, blazing look. “Then prove it. You’ve been blessed with a gift previously unheard of, and what do you do? You ignore it, content to barely scrape by, just to be fair to that pompous partner of yours. You could win every Weaving and finally give that conceited Nightmare what he so rightly deserves. Don’t you want to prove to the Council you belong here? I can read the answer in your heart; you’d do anything to stay here.”

  She was reading the feelings I’d buried deep, my secret wishes and temptations I tried so desperately to hide, even from myself.

  “I’ll think about it,” I finally managed.

  She smirked, and I knew she’d read both of the forbidden fantasies filling my heart. “Don’t take too long; we both know you don’t have much time.”

  She handed me Mother’s notebook and turned to leave, but paused when she caught sight of the dark leaves from my nightmare flower sticking out of my bag. Before I could hide it, she snatched it and held it by its prickly stem, questions in her shining, knowing eyes when she turned back to me.

  “I found—” I started, but she interrupted with a trilling laugh. I stiffened as I felt the slithering, searching feeling of her powers return to probe my insides and uncover the truth.

  “No, you created it.” Delight filled her tone. “However did you manage it?”

  “I don’t know.” I could barely force the words out. “You’re a Cultivator. Do you have any idea how I could have done so?”

  She thoughtfully twirled the nightmare flower by its stem. “Hmm, I have a theory…but I’m not sure you’re quite ready to hear it.”

  My heart flared to life. “What do you mean?”

  “My powers extend to also sensing feelings one is unaware of. Sometimes the heart keeps secrets even from ourselves.”

  She returned my flower and unhooked the gate, and without another word she slipped into the Nightmare Realm, leaving me alone with my swirling, fearful thoughts.

  Chapter 31

  “We really shouldn’t be here right now, especially when you’re on probation.” Stardust’s gaze darted back and forth, as if she expected the Council to be lurking in the surrounding trees. “The Council is already suspicious of the previous times you snuck to Earth. If they catch you…”

  “They won’t,” I said. “We won’t be long.”

  Stardust floated gracefully above the forest surrounding my old village, lightly brushing the treetops caressed with soft golden dawn. Despite the risks, I couldn’t help but repeatedly return here, drawn to this place despite it never having felt like home.

  “Why are you risking suspension? Haven’t you bottled enough dreams?”

  “I’m interested in more than capturing them.”

  I clutched my dream locket, bursting with fresh dream dust. Last night I’d managed another win, my fourth this week, an event so unusual I half wondered if Darius was still letting me win on purpose in order to appease the Council. I finally had enough magic to explore the possibilities that had filled my mind ever since Trinity had suggested them—to break away from the dreaming Mortal’s consciousness and explore their dream.

  Although I couldn’t deny that the thought of increasing my powers was tantalizing, I had another, far greater motivation: if I could succeed in finding a more powerful way to create dreams, then I could help other Dreamers, a gesture that could both counter the frequent dream dust thefts and restore the tipping balance.

  Stardust gnawed her lip. “Only view one, two at most, so we can leave before the Council detects your presence. You’re in no position to be caught doing anything suspicious, not to mention I have a detective reputation to uphold.”

  The balance was of far greater importance than any consequence that could potentially befall me. “Stop worrying, everything will be fine.” I couldn’t afford for it not to be.

  We landed in the top bough of my dream-watching tree. I maneuvered my way easily through the familiar branches to my usual perch directly above the village. I peered through the leaves to the villagers below setting up their booths.

  I squinted at this morning’s offerings. Dozens of different dreams bobbed amongst the droopy-eyed villagers, but hardl
y any color shone amidst the floating grey nightmares that hovered near their viewers like shadows.

  I frowned. “That’s strange.”

  “Mmm?” Stardust didn’t even look up from the coloring book she’d already pulled out.

  “There are a lot more nightmares than usual. Typically the number of dreams and nightmares is fairly balanced.”

  Stardust gasped and squished beside me to peer through the leaves. She sighed. “If only I could see them myself. Count them for me and I’ll take notes.”

  My heart sank as I did; there were more nightmares than I’d initially thought. “There are twenty-one total, eight dreams and thirteen nightmares.”

  Stardust rapidly jotted the information down. “That’s almost three-fourths nightmares. What is it normally?”

  “Roughly fifty-fifty.”

  Her frown deepened. “That’s what it should be when the Universe is in proper balance. This proves that the warning from the flying colors was more than a threat—the balance is tipping dramatically in the Nightmare Realm’s favor.”

  Despite the warm breeze blowing through the surrounding branches I shivered. “Is there any way to stop it?”

  Stardust didn’t answer. My worry escalated before my determination eclipsed it. I refused to allow the balance to tip any further, not when I might have a way to stop it. Which meant I had a dream to enter.

  I nestled more comfortably on the branch to select a dream, several of which were already faded and forgotten. After much failed searching, I’d almost resigned myself to returning another day when Alice emerged from the baker’s, a cheerful sunshine dream floating above her head. I smiled. Even with the strange Nightmare events and her suspicions that Blaze was cheating, I could always count on Angel to pull off a win.

  I took a deep breath. It was time to put Trinity’s theory to the test. I made sure I was secure enough in the tree that I wouldn’t fall out before I focused on the dream and tumbled inside.

  I was immersed in a world made entirely of sweets. Edible flora lined the magenta river twisting through a forest of giant lollipops. Candy sprouted from licorice grass—bubblegum flowers, peppermint sticks, asteroid pops, nebula cream, and star fruit. Even the gentle breeze blowing through the tangerine sky laced with cotton candy clouds was sweet, carrying with it a symphonic mixture of sugary flavors that tickled my nose and tongue.

  I barely had a chance to admire my surroundings before Alice tugged my consciousness along her explorations, her emotions of wonder and delight so palpable they seemed part of the fruity air itself. She explored the fields of taffy and marshmallow sprouts before plopping beside a clump of gumdrop bushes covered with chocolate fruit growing along the bank of the pink river. She began sampling the different flora, each treat dancing with every tasty bite.

  I’d never entered a dream so vivid and magical. Even if Blaze had cheated by using every flower from the Ebony Market, I doubted any nightmare could have beaten this. I was tempted to just lie in the grass and enjoy the sweets caressing my taste buds until the dream ended, and attempt Trinity’s suggestion on another dream. But if there was any dream worth exploring, it was this one.

  I concentrated on trying to sever my connection to Alice. Nothing happened. Under her consciousness, I had no control of my body and limited control of my mind, and the candy she ate—currently a chocolate-covered raspberry—was extremely distracting.

  I tugged and tugged, but I seemed to be connected to Alice’s consciousness with unbreakable chains. Even summoning my magic proved impossible, as if my power’s flow was blocked by an invisible dam.

  As Alice gorged on more chocolate, gumdrops, sweet cream, and licorice grass, I yanked, pulled, and heaved. Still nothing. Aggravating. With each sweet Alice devoured, I sensed the dream’s approaching conclusion. Soon it would be too late.

  Just as I was about to give up, an idea tantalized my thoughts. I stopped struggling and slowed my breath. In the calm stillness I explored within myself, searching until I found my magical spark of power. The warm magic stirred at my concentration. I hooked my thoughts on this thread and tugged as hard as I could.

  I stumbled into the lemonade river with an icy splash. Sticky liquid washed over me, filling my lungs and burning my eyes. I struggled to the surface, burst through, and clambered to shore, spitting out mouthfuls of lemonade. Coughing, I glanced behind me and froze.

  Alice sat on the bank in a lace-trimmed nightgown, her lap bursting with sweets that she seemed content to keep eating with chocolate-stained fingers. She didn’t even glance at me, entirely unaware of my near-death experience only a few yards away.

  I warily watched her as I rung out my lilac hair, which clung together in sticky, syrupy strands. At any moment I expected her to notice me, but she never looked over, not even when I tentatively called her name. Though it was clear she was entirely unaware of me, my gaze still lingered on her until I’d ducked into the lollipop forest. Once safely hidden within the rainbow-swirled trees, I explored the rest of the dream.

  I felt as if I were dreaming myself. The freedom was exhilarating, the extraordinary details imaginative and painstakingly creative. It was hard to believe such a wondrous place had been created with only some details and thread. I tried to piece together which flowers Angel had used and the stitches she’d connected them with, but the dream was practically seamless. Occasionally, a few tiny gaps added a surreal quality to the dream, but otherwise it was flawless, probably even up to Darius’s scrutiny.

  I kept my eyes peeled for any flickering sign of Alice’s emotions so I could try to capture them like Trinity had suggested, but much like the weaving threads that constructed the dream, they had become an intricate part of it, and were thus impossible to find.

  The path opened into a vast clearing. Growing from the dappled lawn was a grove of peppermint-stick trees laden with candy apples dangling from the striped boughs like glistening ornaments. Trinity had been correct—I’d been able to break away from the Mortal and explore their dream independently. Would her other theory that I could remove objects from the dream also prove to be true?

  I reached to pluck a sprinkle-coated apple, but before my fingers even grazed the tantalizing fruit, the dream surrounding me suddenly vanished as it drew to its conclusion. I felt the familiar yank and found myself once again perched in my dream-watching tree beside Stardust.

  I blinked in the bright morning light as I readjusted to the ordinary surroundings of the non-dream world. Stardust immediately smothered me with a fluffy hug. “Where were you? Are you hurt?”

  I barely heard her, my attention elsewhere. “The dream!”

  Alice’s dream still glistened invitingly above her as she hovered outside the bakery, making eyes at Mason. It wasn’t too late. I snatched an empty jar and summoned my magic. It enveloped the dream in a cloud of lilac dust, and with a surprisingly gentle and effortless tug, I pulled the entire thing towards me and enclosed it in the jar.

  For a moment I sat there, slightly dazed, before I raised the captured dream to eye level. It was heavy and pulsed with golden light, and when I peered inside, I caught glimpses of the land of candy I’d just explored.

  My excitement swelled. “I did it!” I waved the jar in front of Stardust’s unamused expression. “I’ve finally captured a complete dream, and what a dream it was, a world made entirely from candy…”

  Stardust wrinkled her nose as she looked me up and down. “Is that why you’re covered in it and smell so sweet?”

  I felt my hair, clumpy with lemonade, and glanced down at my dress, now stained pink; most of the glitter on my arms and legs had been washed away. I tentatively licked my sticky, strawberry-flavored fingers. “I fell into the river inside the dream. Why is the real me covered in lemonade?”

  Stardust’s eyes widened. “Is that where you disappeared, you were actually inside the dream? At first you were in your usual trance, but then you suddenly vanished…”

  The implications were mind-blowing. “The re
al me must have been pulled into the dream, which allowed me to explore it on my own.” So Trinity’s theory had been correct after all; dreams were entire worlds. Perhaps I could use my unique abilities to help the Dream World after all.

  Stardust stared, her mouth agape. “You mean you became a part of the dream rather than a mere observer?”

  “It was amazing.” Humming, I put the captured dream in my bag and took out another jar. “Next, I want to see if I can take something from a dream.”

  “You can’t do that,” Stardust said. “This is all untested magic with potentially dangerous consequences. You shouldn’t enter or influence any more dreams until I, Detective Stardust, can research this further.”

  She sounded like the Council. “I’m only entering dreams that have already happened, so they can’t possibly affect the Mortal. Alice couldn’t even see me. What’s the harm?”

  Stardust frowned, unconvinced. “What happens if the Council finds out about this? I doubt they’ll dismiss it simply because you don’t see any harm.”

  She didn’t understand; I wasn’t doing this for myself, but to help the Dream World. I ignored her disapproving frown and peered through the branches to choose another dream, but before I could find one, I felt the familiar sensation of my neck prickling. I searched the surrounding trees, my heart pounding.

  “What is it?” Stardust asked.

  “Someone’s watching me.” And I had no doubt who it was.

  “Is it the Council?” Before I could answer, Stardust morphed into a bird and soared around to investigate. I quickly shoved my empty jar into my bag and scrambled down from the tree.

  “Aha!” Stardust exclaimed. “I knew I smelled a Nightmare.” Sure enough, camouflaged within the dark branches of a nearby tree was the shadowy figure of a young man, emerald gaze narrowed at me. My stomach tightened. He was worse than the Council.