Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (47 page)

His
thoughts ceased as he pulled another rock away from the wall, making a great
change to their situation.  His eyes widened.  He licked his dry lips.

“H-hey,”
he started, hardly able to get more words out for the excitement of it. “I’ve
got light, mates!”

This
was only a small portion of light, but it was easily visible in the darkness. 
Mach could faintly taste the fresh air outside.  The others stopped their own
work immediately and made their way there, peering through the small, doubloon-sized
hole.

“We’re
almost there,” Finn said, tasting dirt when his lips moved.

Then,
without the movement of their own hands, another rock was peeled away from the
outside
,
letting in a bit more light.  It was shocking at first, each boy scrambling
away for fear that the loosened rocks were going to collapse upon them, but it
was not long afterward that they heard a voice.

“
Can
anyone hear me?  Sly, are you down there
?”

Sly’s
ears perked up at the sound.  He moved back to the hole swiftly with the others
behind him.

“We’re
here, Calico,” he said, reaching up through the hole.  On the other side, her
hand grasped his.

“Is
anyone hurt?” she asked.

“We’d
just like to get out, is all,” Finn chimed in.  “No rush or anything.”

“We’ve
been digging in from this side,” Calico said.  “We followed your trail.”

“
We
?”
inquired Toss, but not loudly enough so that she could hear.  She had turned
her attention to something behind her.  After a short moment, her hands were
within the hole, blocking the light.

“Take
this, Toss,” she instructed.  What she offered to him was a rope.  “Everyone
get back as far as you can, and give it all you’ve got.”

Toss
looked down at the rope questioningly, but if it was going to help them get out,
there was no need for inquiries.  They did as they were told, backing as far
into the cave as they could possibly get.  Their hearts all thudded with
anticipation. 
Freedom!
  Toss gripped the rope securely.  First giving
slack, he pulled back as firmly as he could.

The
rocks were loosed from one another, crashing down and flipping a bit before
they stopped moving.  On the other end of that rope – on the outside where the
air was fresh – was the large hammer Toss had wielded, and the leverage against
the rocks had broken the way.  As soon as the rocks had stilled, the boys
dashed out, as if the mouth would once again close on them.

Moving
out, Sly caught Calico in his arms.

“I
didn’t want you to come,” he said, but he couldn’t keep the smile from his
mouth.

“But
you knew I would,” she countered.

He
kissed her out of desperation – for truly not knowing if he would live or die. 
There was always a probable future, but nothing was ever definite.  She smiled
at him, and even though he could not see it with his eyes, he knew it was there
and he knew it was beautiful, despite her bruises. 

The
others are standing about…

Sly
raised his face from her, suddenly aware of another presence among them.  His
brothers were talking to someone else, thanking him for his help, expressing
their pleasure to see them.  He was giving them back their equipment and
weapons.  He was tall.  He had one eye.

Nix.
Yes, Nix.

“Here
he is, Sly.”  Finn’s voice.  “Nix was able to help us after all.  You were
wrong.”

Wrong? 
No, not wrong. 

“It
seems that I was,” Sly gave, but he could not free his mind from it.

Nix
looked at Sly for a long moment, and the blind boy gazed back at him.  When it
became obvious that Sly was not going to speak, Nix did so himself – to the
others.

“Did
any of you see Rifter?” he asked.

“No,
but Sly said that he took Wren,” Toss told him.

“Then
we have the need to see him now.”

Without
any more than that, Nix began to walk away.  He could not have known where he
was going, but his resolve was apparent and admirable.  None of them
protested.  The other boys, Calico with them, followed him without question.

1

It
was the careless sound of chuckling pirates that led them to the cave.  It
wasn’t very far from where the group had started out to look for Wren, and it
was Sly who brought up that someone had likely wanted them to find it easily.

With
very little effort, the two pirates waiting outside received a slash at each of
their throats, and then the group of six moved deeper inside, keeping as quiet
as they had been when they’d started out.  Their thoughts were too blurred for
conversation.

The
sound of more laughter within led them cautiously further down until they found
themselves in the open cavern.  The sea had moved into it, opening up somewhere
a good distance away from them.  In the area lit faintly by torches, they found
what they’d only
half
expected to see.

They
found Wren, tied by the wrists between two rocks.  But the other thing they
found – that was both unexpected and unwelcome – was the one who stood there as
her captor.  How long had it been since any of them had seen him?  Too long for
them to remember, and he was something new to their senses.

The
white hair, the fiery eyes, and he was wearing a pirate’s coat.  The whole
group was restless and shocked and angry, but they held back near the spot they
had entered.  After they had all finally acknowledged what they were seeing,
their faces twisted and they stared in horror.

“You
came after all,” Rifter addressed them, his voice full of silken pleasure. 
“Wren was waiting for you.”

The
boy peeled off the pirate’s coat, revealing the clothes of stitched hide.

“I
have to say, I’m surprised you got out of the cave, but this is alright –
unexpected
. 
No matter.  That keeps things exciting.”

“This
is your big
plan
?” Finn shouted, clearly enraged.  “To become the Scourge?”

“What
the hell is this!” Mach demanded.

“Charade,
charade!  That’s what it is!” Rifter cried.  “I’ll be you, you’ll be me; we’ll
play this game and see who comes out on top!  This is a world where anything is
possible, is it not?  At least, that was why it roused
my
interest.”

His
eyes cut across them, landing on one in particular, and the smile fell from his
face.

“
You
,”
he growled.  “I certainly didn’t expect to see you here.”

It
was not hard for them to tell that his focus was on Nix, who stood out in front
of them.  The two of them glared, each intent on melting the other.  In a
flash, Rifter drew his sword, and as a counter action, Nix drew his own just as
swiftly.  The others stepped back, touching their own weapons in case they
should have to step in.  Rifter smiled at that, but made no move.

“Did
you see that?” he asked them.  “You saw it, didn’t you?  When faced with a
challenge, he instinctively reached for his
sword
– not his gun.”

None
of them spoke.  He stepped in front of the boys and the Tribal huntress, pacing
before them, examining them all.  They wore angry, ferocious expressions – for
him
. 
He had betrayed them, had he?  Did they not see?  Out of all their anger,
however, two of them who stood there did not seem so surprised.

“You’re
all clever, but you still don’t see it, do you?  Not even when it’s been
standing right in front of you?”

The
demon stood directly in front of Nix, challenging him with glowing eyes.

 “Do
you mean that you honestly didn’t tell them?  Not even Wren?” the tanned boy
asked, his eyes burning into the one cold eye of the other.  “Not that I mind. 
It played into my plans quite well.”

“I
knew it…” Sly whispered to himself.  However, the demon boy managed to pick it
up with his keen ears.

“Then
would you like to tell them, Sly?” the mock Rifter asked hatefully.  He looked
back toward the one they knew as Nix, who glared at him furiously.  “Or would
you like
Rifter
to tell you himself?”

Silence
fell upon the area.  What had this one just said?  Could they have understood
it properly – after the few seconds it took for their brains to wrap around it
– that while this strange demon-boy was looking at Nix, he had renounced that
name and claimed Nix to be
Rifter
? 

In
that moment, it was as if a fog had lifted from their minds – a cowl that had
been serving to block out the features of the one they should have recognized
all along.  When they’d looked at him, they’d seen what he’d meant for them to,
but now, they saw him for who he was, and their memories cleared.

The
others looked back and forth between them, and they were suddenly keen to the
clear difference between the two, as if they should have been able to see it
all along.  They had forgotten about everything but the one in the fox skin
coat, and several among the number remembered the truth about the past.

There
had been a fight between Rifter and Nix.  Nix had ruined Rifter’s eye.  Rifter
had cut Nix’s arm.  In the end, it was the Rifter – the one with the horrible
scar on his face – who’d knelt down to the ground, clutching his bleeding eye. 
But there was another odd thing about it.  Yes, a very odd thing.  The
strange-looking boy that had stripped himself of the pirate clothes…  He had
certainly been the one fighting Rifter that day!

The
lot of them stood there, anxious, confused and angry, but the tall boy in the
fox skin coat did not say a word.  Did he not deny it?  Could he claim that he
had not lied this whole time when he had answered to Nix’s name?

As
if he could read their minds, the white-haired boy with slit pupils smiled
wider as he looked at them, pleased with their bafflement, whether or not it
suited his plans.  It was worth it to see the look on their faces.

“Who
are you then?” demanded Mach of the false Rifter.

The
floating boy took great pleasure in smiling in his enemy’s face, grinning with
those glowing eyes.

“I
think he should be the one to explain all that.  Meanwhile, you have your girl,
and I have other business.  But mark my words: it isn’t over.  Not for any of
you.”

With
little effort, the demon pulled himself off the ground and flew deeper into the
cave as if he were blessed, moving over the water until he was gone.  None of
them could go after him – because they could not fly and because they hadn’t
the will.  They dismissed him as soon as he was gone, considering him to be a
lesser concern.  Together, they closed in on the one who had lied to them.

“How
could you do this?” Mach demanded of the one-eyed imposter.  “How could you
lie?”

“You
made us come all this way for
nothing
!” Finn accused.

“Answer
us!”

Their
words fell on deaf ears; their voices, indistinguishable.  All the while, the
accused could do nothing but stare at Wren.  The others seemed to have
forgotten about her, tied up between the rocks.  She stared at Rifter as intently
as he stared at her.  He saw the tear glisten and roll down her cheek – saw the
hurt and confusion in her eyes.

“All
this and you have nothing to say?” Calico rose up, shattering those thoughts.

“Yeah,
say
something!” Mach demanded, shoving Rifter in the chest.  He rocked
back, but did not fall.  And he did not say a word.

“You
all need to calm down,” Sly said forcefully, drawing their attention.

He
had moved away from them to assist Wren, who was completely bewildered.  She
did not even seem to notice when he cut her down.  Sly wrapped his arms around
her, pulling her face into his shoulder as if encouraging her not to look at a
horrible monster.

“You
mean to tell me that you’re not upset about this?” Finn inquired of Sly.  “And
this is what you thought back when we were inside the cave?”

“It
is,” Sly admitted, “but I did not know for sure until he was in my presence. 
Looking at him with
eyes,
however, I’m not sure I would have known – as
the rest of you did not.”

“And
we are to just forgive him?” Calico demanded.  It was the first time Sly could
remember that she’d ever raised her voice at him.

“That
is for you to decide,” he said easily.  “But you are too hostile to hear the
truth just now.  A little walk will cool you down.”

“As
if we could stop and have a walk while he’s standing right–!”

But
the accused was not standing there.  He was gone.  They all looked around, but
there was absolutely no trace.  Seemingly, he had vanished, but he had merely
slipped away when their attention had been averted.

“You
let him get away!” Mach yelled, pointing a harsh finger at Sly.  Sly did not
take kindly to it, but he found no need to shout his return.