Dreamscape: Saving Alex (20 page)

The longer I stared, the clearer my vision became.
Bound
in a cage next to one of the thugs, three young girls, barely ten years old by
the looks of them, reached towards me with looks of desperation. Dirt stained
the rags that hung over their bodies, and small patches of red stained the
bandages from old wounds. Their faces hid under welts and bruises, masked by a
layer of dust. A stream of dried tears cleared a path down each cheek. The girl
in front screamed as a rod smashed into her knuckles.

I reached down to my side and tightened my grip on
the dagger hilt, hidden beneath my body. No one deserved to be treated this
way. Least of all, children.

“Now, now, pretties. Make room for a new friend,”
the bandit said, poking his spear into the cart, forcing the girls to the
opposite end. Then he turned back and faced me, digging the blunt tip of his
spear into the ground.

He yanked on my hair and dragged me across the
highway, dropping me on the ground at the base of the cage. Keys jingled above
me as he struggled to open the door.

“Don’t forget to mark her. We don’t want to lose
another,” the other man said.

“Good idea. Hand me your knife.”

I swallowed hard and forced my body limp as he
grabbed my hand. I needed more time to come up with a plan.
Under the cart, through the rickety spokes of the
wheels, clumps of dragon weed caught my attention. If only I could reach one of
them or a large rock.

White hot fire shot
through me as the blade sliced my palm. I screamed into my fist as the man went
back to unlocking the cage door. Blood collected in a warm pool around my arm.

The keys stopped
jingling above me, and I knew my time ran short.

“Time to join your
new friends,” he said, flipping me onto my back. A glimpse of red on my other
side caught my attention as he turned me over, and I dropped my left arm
nonchalantly in that direction. I closed my eyes and tightened my grip around
the flower.

Fire shot through
my arm as the prickles along the stem punctured my wound. I tightened my fist
and pulled it free from the ground as he lifted me up. The acid blistered my
palm, but I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t. This was my one chance at freedom. I
hadn’t died up to this point, and I wasn’t going to let some brute capture me.

His putrid breath
assaulted me as his lips scraped mine. “I’m looking forward to this.”

“Not as much as
me,” I growled, opening my eyes and smacking him across the cheek with the
dragon weed. His eyes widened, and he dropped me to cover his face.

Our screams rose
together in a fit of agony. I cradled my hand,
feeling
the blisters swell and burst. My palm slickened with
acid. I kicked him in the stomach and turned around in time to see the other
man approaching.

I didn’t have time
to think. Every inch of my body screamed as the toxins invaded my bloodstream
through the cut on my hand. It was unlike the small blisters I’d gotten before;
the acid raced up my left arm, throbbing in rhythm with my heart. My body
weakened. The dagger hilt slipped in my right hand, and my eyelids drooped.

The other man
lunged at me in slow motion, his face contorted as he screamed obscenities. I
clenched my fists together and leaned forward, feeling the impact as he hit me.
His eyes widened, and he paled as he clutched his abdomen. Blood seeped out
between his fingers. I stared at him blankly, watching him fall backwards to
the ground.

The pressure
against my hands relaxed, and I dropped them to my side. My head pulsed with
the beat of my heart, clouding my perception of everything.

I looked down at my
hands, sticky wetness dripping off my fingers. It stained my skin even after I
wiped them on my leggings. What had I done? The words screamed in my mind, but
I didn’t understand. Nothing made sense to me. I floated from one dull
sensation to another, lost in a nightmare that I knew was real.

I fell to the
ground, the cool dirt soothing me for a moment as it coated my open wounds.
Dark lines raced up my arm where the wet dust settled, hiding part of the red
web of poison. I bit my lower lip, feeling it tremble as a stray tear slid down
my cheek. This was it. What would happen when I died here?

Another voice
joined in my cries. Through my blurry vision, I saw an arm stretch out. Thick, red
blood stained her fingers. No, those were mine. I was imagining things. I
dropped my head and heard the voice again. This time when I opened my eyes, I
saw the wagon and the girls.

I wasn’t done. If I
was going to die here, it would be saving these girls.

My fingers screamed
as I dug them into the ground and pulled myself forward. It felt like ages,
sliding inch by inch forward. When my hands hit the spoke of the wheel, I cried
out.

My
palms
slipped along the bars of the cage as I hauled myself up and stumbled around to
the door. I twisted the keys and leaned into the door, falling through to the
floor of the cage.
My eyes swelled. I couldn’t
keep them open much longer.

The girls swarmed around me, their screams muffled
as they yelled through the strips of rags binding their mouths. They lifted me
back up to a sitting position. I understood their indecipherable moans
perfectly. Their outstretched arms trembled as they waited.

I tried to untie the restraints from their wrists.
My fingers fought against the demands of my mind as black crept in from all
sides of my vision. The ropes tore new holes in my blisters, and my left arm
began to tingle before numbing altogether. It became worthless. I bent over and
bit into the rope, tearing with my teeth until I remembered my dagger.

My hand shook as I reached to my belt, but it
wasn’t there. I stared at my blood-soaked hands, uncomprehending.

The tallest girl’s eyes widened as she poked me
and nodded behind me to where the spear rested. With my last burst of energy, I
pulled the rusted weapon inside the wagon and used the pointed tip to saw
through the cord.

She fell into my lap as the restraints broke.

“It’s done,” I said, smoothing her hair, letting
her dry her tears on my shirt. I leaned my head back against the bars and
closed my eyes. “I won’t let them hurt you again, neither of them. You’re safe.
I swear on the queen’s name, you’re safe.”

I held her until her sobs subsided, and then she
moved to help the other girls.

I fell forward and hit the wooden floor. Through
my swollen eyelids, I saw Arrow and his men walking along the highway. Arrow
removed my dagger from the bandit’s chest as Boris tied the acid-burned man to
one of the trees. Cale placed his hat over his heart and lowered his eyes. His
mouth moved, but I heard nothing.

I surrendered to darkness.

“Wake up, Alex,
we’re here.” Arrow shook my shoulder.

“What?” I jumped. I
didn’t remember falling asleep. One
glance
at Arrow’s heavy eyes and the girls sleeping a few feet over from me told me we
had traveled longer than I’d
thought
.

I rubbed my eyes.
“What happened?” My voice squeaked as I looked
down
at my arms, covered in vines and blood.

I tried to shake
off the vines, and noticed a pile of withered ones beside me. My face paled.
“Arrow, what happened?” I repeated more insistently.

He knelt by my
side, covering my hands with his. “Shhh…it’s all over now,” he said, helping me
untangle the vines.

I bit my lower lip,
but couldn’t stop the tears from welling up. “I…I…thought I was…” The words wouldn’t
come.

“I wouldn’t have
let that happen to you. You know that, right?” he asked, tilting my chin up.

I wiped the tears
with the back of my hand and nodded.

“When we saw the
welts racing up your arms, we
knew
the
acids in the dragon weed were in your bloodstream. We weren’t sure we’d be able
to heal you. How do they feel?” he asked, looking at my arms, then my face.
“You scared me,” he said, pulling me to his chest.

That was all I
needed to hear. I fell into his arms and wept. Tears ran unbidden down my
cheek. All my frustrations and fears blended together until every pain, sorrow,
and question I had felt for the past month flowed out of me. My tears knew no
discrimination, and I shed them until every ache that I held inside screamed at
its release.

“You’re going to be
all right, Alex, I promise you,” he whispered, brushing the hair off the back
of my neck.

I pulled back and
looked into his eyes, wanting to believe the sincerity staring back at me. I
nodded towards the vines. “Do you think you could help me with one more
wrapping?”

He reached behind
me to where a fresh pile lay. Seizing the moment, I wiped the tears away and
blew my cheeks dry.

“Does that feel any
better?” he asked, looking at me expectantly as he wound the vines up my left
arm. My arms soaked up the healing salve of the plant, and I relaxed.

I shook my hands
and pinched my skin, forcing a smile. Besides a faint tingling sensation in my
left arm and in my stomach, I
seemed
fine. I brushed the pile of vines out of the way to stand up. “I
don’t
think we collected enough.
”

“I don’t
think
the forest itself
would
be enough for you.” He laughed. The tight lines on his forehead eased
as he offered his hand for support.

“You’re right. I’ll
probably
have to live closer to the
Wounded Woods.” I matched his grin, and then my cheeks burned. What was I
saying? Had I already forgotten where my home was?

“I’m sorry you had
to fight those men on your own. I should’ve been there,” he said.

“It was my own
fault. I’m the one that ran ahead. But it’s over now, and at least I’ve proven
myself to your men.”

“You’ve nothing to
prove. We believe in you.”

“Tell that to
Cale,” I said. “Your men needed to see that I’m committed to them and to the
rebellion,” I said, scrunching my forehead.

“Yes, but to risk
your life—”

“You do it every
day.”

“Yeah, but I’m
their—”

“And I’m supposed
to be their hero,” I said. “This at least paves the ground for them to accept
me a bit more.”

He tilted his head
and looked at me thoughtfully before speaking again. “You’re different than you
were when you first arrived.”

I shrugged and
looked down, balling my fists so I didn’t see the faded specks of blood. As the
stupor that had clouded my mind wore off, I replayed my actions in my mind with
vivid clarity. I had changed, and processing the differences hurt.

“You did what you
had to do,” he said, cupping his hand over my shoulder. “You saved yourself and
those girls. Don’t doubt yourself.”

I nodded but looked
away. “I don’t want to talk about that right now,” I whispered.

He held out his hand
to help me stand. “What about something a bit more pleasant?”

“I’d like that.” I
smiled, taking his hand and stepping off the wagon, careful not to wake the
other girls. Without the terror behind their eyes they looked younger than I’d
first
thought
.

“Were those Berkos’
men back there?” I asked.

“
Probably
. This
seems
like
the sort of things he has been doing for the past few
years. Ever since he took control, our youth have disappeared—kidnapped, forced
into slavery, and worse.”

“Worse?” I
whispered. My heart overflowed with emotion as I looked longer at them. “I’m
glad they’re free now. Where’d everyone else go?” I asked, noticing that the
rest of Arrow’s men were nowhere to be seen.

“They’ve gone ahead
to camp. I wanted to make sure you and the girls rested.”

I arched an
eyebrow. “So you woke me up?”

“What can I say,
I’m impatient,” he said. “Come with me—I want to show you the camp.” He pulled
me away from the cart.

“What
about
the girls? We can’t just leave them out here alone.”

“Don’t worry. I
brought someone to watch them,” he said, pointing to a boy I hadn’t noticed
leaning against a tree at the edge of my vision. “Everything’s taken care of.
Now, let me show you the Grove.”

I glanced at him
curiously and then at the dark forest in front of us. The eagerness in his
voice intrigued me. Where exactly was he taking me?

“This time, I’ll
follow you,” I said, stepping to the side of the trail.

He winked back at
me. “Promise you’ll stay close.”

I crossed my
fingers and tucked my lips together. My earlier angst disappeared when he
smiled at me. He led me several hundred feet away from the cart, past where the
boy sat.

Wispy branches
intertwined and draped to the ground, creating a curtain of variegated greens.
Arrow pulled the screen of branches to the side and motioned for me to step
through ahead of him.

“May I present to
you my humble camp, the Grove.” He bowed and held his arm out flamboyantly,
letting the leaves fall behind him, blocking out the forest we had just hiked
through.

I stared at him,
and then back to the camp, and then back at him again. “A grove is a simple
gathering of trees. This…this…” I stumbled for the right words. My composure
slipped away, and my knees buckled.

He jumped to my
side and held me steady for support. “This…is my home.”

“Arrow,” I
whispered. “This is amazing.”

“Do you
like
it?” he asked.

“I’ve never seen
something so incredible,” I said, squeezing his hand.

He beamed, and I
knew I had said the right thing.

I wasn’t lying; I
hadn’t seen anything like it before.
Hidden within the forest, Arrow’s
camp blossomed in the shadows of the trees. Built around the base of each tree,
quaint cottages welcomed us. Worn by time, their white paint had begun to peel,
and moss grew in the small spaces between the wooden planks. Delicate flowers and
trailing vines cascaded over broken window boxes, and small rounded stones at
the doorsteps finished the charming entrances. On the rooftops, ladders
stretched high into the canopy above, where a suspended bridge system weaved
through the forest. My feet prickled with a desire to climb those branches.

He must have read
my mind. “Over here,” he said, leading me over to one of the houses.

“What are you
doing? You can’t just walk through someone’s house,” I said, resisting his
pull.

“Alex, your concern
is sweet, but this isn’t a house.”

“It’s not?” I asked
with a raised eyebrow, looking over at the flowers and welcome mat. “You expect
me to believe this is what, a store?”

“No,” he said,
amused. “I just expect you to believe me.”

“I, uh, I’m sorry.
You’re right,” I stammered, feeling the blush rise in my cheeks.

He laughed and
opened the door beside him. “You can see for yourself, it’s empty.”

“No, I believe
you,” I said, but the dark room behind him eased my fears.

“Now, come on.
Trust me. There’s so much I want to show you.”

“Up there?” I
asked, trying to hide my confusion.

“Alex, when are you
going to trust me?”

I didn’t know how
to answer him. Didn’t he already know I trusted him? I pursed my lips and
frowned. “Right now,” I said.

His footsteps
sounded behind me as I climbed the rough ladder. Twine and vines twisted
together and wound around long sticks, creating a crude stairway. The ropes
creaked under my weight, swinging through the narrow opening in the ceiling.

I propped myself up
and paused as I breached the opening. My hands slipped along the moss growing
on top of the wooden roof, and I fell backwards.

“Whoa,” he said,
grabbing my waist, pressing my legs onto the small edge of the ladder. “You
okay?” he asked.

I looked down at
his arms encircling my waist and suppressed the butterflies flitting inside me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I murmured, unable to speak above a whisper.

Everything seemed
heightened here—every emotion, thought, and touch. My gaze lingered on his hand
before I pulled myself back through the ceiling and onto the roof. I wished I
could pass it off as an ordinary slip, but it was more than that. Maybe it was
what had happened with the girls, maybe it was the beauty of the Grove, but
everything I saw threw me off center. The simplicity of the game-world I knew
from home had disappeared, replaced by something as real and complex as
anything I’d known before.

“This is the only
way to see the Grove properly,” he said, gliding across the wooden planks to an
archway of tangled branches. Beyond the threshold stood a wooden bridge
suspended above the ground, a walkway through the trees.

“I see what you
mean.” Walking past him, I grabbed ahold of the vine railing. My palms slid
over the slick vines, and the wooden planks creaked with our movements. I looked
skeptically at the old strips of wood holding the bridge together and the
gnarled limbs and branches that twisted to make a railing. Despite Arrow’s
confidence, I wasn’t sure I trusted the strength of the vines and branches.

“This gives you a
better idea of the camp without getting lost in the details,” he said, leaning
over the edge of the railing. “I forget that sometimes.”

His words struck
me. I let go of the railing and furrowed my brow as I stared at him. That was
exactly why I loved climbing so much, but I never knew someone else would feel
the same way. I took a step closer to him and noticed the people wandering
around below us. I let out a happy sigh and met his grin. “Show me more,” I
said.

I found myself
matching his enthusiasm as we walked along the bridge. The creaking faded away
when we moved deeper into the Grove, replaced only by the soft rustling of
leaves. The trees thickened, and larger branches held the bridge in place.

As we moved closer
to the center of the village, I noticed streams of braided fabric flowing
through the air, tied to the largest branches and to the supports of the
bridges. Waves of purple and blue turned the Grove into a blossoming garden of
color.

Arrow pointed out
the buildings and tents as we walked—homes, shops, and medical huts. The camp
had everything they needed to survive. He even pointed out the training fields,
where I saw the familiar faces of his men mixed in with strangers. I picked out
Cale from the crowd immediately. I couldn’t ignore him if I wanted to. Smoke
rings encircled him like a bull’s-eye.

It seemed
everything had been accounted for, even the mobs of people. Without notice, the
s
implicity of the quiet homes exploded into a flurry of activity, men
racing through the camp below.

“
I don’t understand.
How is this
all
here?” I spun around,
watching men weave in and out of buildings and tents, their arms full of
supplies. “How does a village
like
this
stay hidden in the middle of the forest? Not just a village, but an army?” I
listened to the rhythmic pounding of a blacksmith forging armor and the
clanking of metal as swords and shields were stacked along the outer edge of
the longest building.

Arrow shrugged. “It
had to, I suppose. Necessity forced us to rise to the occasion. Do you remember
what I told you about Flourin?”

I thought for a
moment and nodded. “About it being the capital, or Berkos destroying it?”

“Both. You see,
after Berkos burned down Flourin, most of the people had nowhere to go. They
were afraid to regroup in the big cities, so we offered refuge here.”