Lucid (27 page)

I blinked. Guess Iven was more than a loony inventor obsessed with Lucids. I turned my attention back to Baz who was currently trying to pass through the protective barrier to retrieve his club. He slammed himself against the wall, but it wouldn't give way. I could hear the army of Nightmares shouting in the distance, but it sounded like they were laughing at Baz more than anything
.

Poor guy, I thought
, despite him trying to knock me out moments earlier. He was even considered a clown in the eyes of all hi
s other Nightmare brethren. Aille also seemed like a bit of an outcast compared to blood-thirsty Salik. I wondered if she and Baz might not believe in everything they fought for…

“Ha!” Aille screamed triumphantly after knocking Mitch to the ground. He fell on his back, and Reverie flew out of his hands
.

“Not again,” Mitch moaned, looking at his sword wistfully. He was only a few feet from me, and his sword laid at the edge of the shore, waves covering the blue blade
.

“Don't worry,” Aille said
, advancing closer. “I'm not ordered to kill you now. We will take you and the other champion to our Lord.”

I placed Hope on the ground next to me and started sneaking to Reverie
.

“Then what?” Mitch asked defiantly as he slowly scooted toward the shore
.

“Then you'll probably die.” Aille frowned as if she didn't agree with our fate
.

“But I will try to make it painless. I suppose I could grant you that one last favor
-
don't think about it!” Her eyes flashed to me as I tried getting up to reach Reverie
. Guess that wasn't going to work.

“Answer me this one question be
fore I take you hostage
.
” Aille glanced over to make sure Salik was still in heavy combat with Viv. When her eyes returned to look at me, I saw they were actually full of concern. “Why did you venture deeper into our lands?

“What?” Mitch stopped scooting backwards, completely caught off
-
guard
.

“You
r race live
s very short lives,” s
he explained. “You have your wars, but the conflicts never last longer than a few decades. We know, because we usually spark their beginnings. Still, it is nothing compared to what goes on here. We and the Dreamers are always engaged in a struggle for control. Like a scale, it must return to balance, but like the ocean, it cannot stop moving.” She crossed her arms and looked into the bay. “The tides of our world are much too strong for any human champions to survive in, much less change. I've seen stronger humans than you, try and fail
. So why are you here?”

Mi
tch and I exchanged glances. Aille wasn't asking us why we joined the Dreamers or why we came too close to a Nightmare camp. She was asking us why we became involved in their war when we could've rescued our friends and moved on. Unlike the voice that spoke to me in the Well, she wasn't trying to get us to stop so that the Nightmares might win. She sounded worried about us
.

“You're different,” I said, slowly approaching Aille
. I was certain she wasn't going to attack us. “Aren't you?”

“I despise the Dreamers, just like any of my kind
,
” Aille protested, standing strong. “But I understand the necessity for them in our lands… let's just say we're not all like Salik
—
”

“Yes,” said a voice behind Aille
, causing her to jump violently. “Some of you ar
e traitors!”

Aille
's reflexes saved her life. She ducked under Salik's sword and aimed a low kick at his shins. The tall Nightmare howled in pain, but he didn't fall. He'd also managed to incapacitate Viv by twisting both her arms behind her back and holding them tightly. Aille went to attack him, but quick as a flash, Salik had a knife to Viv's neck. The female Nightmare hesitated, which caused Salik to chuckle cruelly
.

“Despise Dreamers, do you?” h
e asked, arching an eyebrow. “Then why not attack me? I'll just kill this worthless Dreamer, but you'll be ab
le to save your human friends.”

“No, please, Aille
!” I called to her, surprising the Nightmares and myself
.

I knew I was no match for Salik, even with my power at full capacity, but I couldn't let him kill Viv
.

“You say you hate Dreamers but understand they also have a place in this world,” I continued, despite my voice shaking with fear. “Well, we're here for a reason, too. And we need Viv in order to fix things. You say you're different from Salik — prove it like you did back in Leona's fortress.”

“And back when you gave us a head start in the woods,” Mitch added. I gaped at him in horror as Aille fumed
.

“WHA
T
?
” Salik shouted, causing Aille to back away
.

He threw Viv to the ground as he advanced on the Nightmare. Viv immediately bounced to her feet but hesitated before attacking Salik. The Nightmares had started circling each other, forgetting about everyone else on the shore
.

Baz had stopped trying to get his club, his eyes fixed on the fight with the anticipation of watching a great show. The Nightmares beyond the barrier seemed to have vanished. Maybe they thought Salik and the others had us subdued and were waiting for further orders. Even Kyle and Iven had stopped working on the bracelet to see what was going to happen
.

Aille closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. When she opened then again, I saw she looked more determined than before.

“I did,” s
he admitted to Salik. “I gave the humans a head start in the woods. They're not meant to be in our custody. Whether we like it or not, we can never fully control this world. We'd consume it and our world will go black before we even realize our fault. True, we are a dominating race who craves control, but we cannot be k
ings and q
ueens of everything.”

“Do you understand what you're saying
?
” Salik actually looked a bit worried. “To
me
? Aille
, I am our Lord's eyes in this operation. You alone knew this.” He covered his face as if he wanted to shield his eyes from the traitor
.

“Yes
.
” Aille
's voice dropped to a whisper. “You trusted me with this information, and I repaid you with betrayal. You saw this coming, Salik, do not deny it. I'm… I'm not who you think I am, and I don't be
lieve in your virtues anymore.”

Salik removed his clawed hands from his face. With that, he removed all sadness from his expression. A mask of hatred re
placed it, and he locked on Aille with such intense rage, I almost wanted to bury myself in the sand
.

“Then it is settled.” Salik held his knife aloft. “You are a traitor, and you must be put to death.”

“Seems we disagree again
.
” Aille
, surprisingly, laughed. “You may be Phobio's eye, but that doesn't make you any stronger.”

“
We'll see!” Salik lunged at Aille
.

Viv and Mitch watched in horror as the Nightmares tore at each other with enough intensity to shred each other apart. Sand flew in a whirlwind around the fig
hters, but neither Salik nor Aille cared about their surroundings anymore; they only wanted the other to die. They jumped to the side, and almost took me out but a small, strong arm pulled me back.

“Come on
.
” Hope was up, her purple eyes fixed on the Nightmares in horror. “They're completely distracted right now. Sometimes I think Nightmares hate each other more than they hate us.”

“But we're still trapped
,
” I said
. I wanted to help Aille
; she'd saved us thrice now.

“Not for long!” Kyle called from the surf. “Bracelet's on, let's go!”

I turned to the shoreline and saw a huge pirate ship waiting for us
.

“Again?” I asked my brother, caught off
-
guard by seeing the ship again.

“Why change perfectio
n?” Kyle grinned. “All aboard!”

We ran to the ship, Mitch scooping up Reverie before sprinting up one of the ladders that rolled out from the deck above. As soon as we were on our ladders, the ship started moving
.

While clinging to my ladder, I stole a glance back at the shore. From this distance, I saw that the Nightmare army hadn't retreated back to their camp. They were waiting with anticipation behind Viv's barrier as Salik and Aille continued fighting. They were both giving it their all, but I knew sooner or later one would prevail. It took some effort, but I finally tore myself away from the sight and climbed the rest of the rope ladder.

When I climbed onto the deck I saw the others still watching the fight.

“Why is your barrier still up?” Iven asked, looking at Viv curiously. She was frowning in confusion at the fight on shore that was shrinking from our sight with each second. Her red hair whipped in the wind, her eyes as silver as the moons above.

“For this
.
” Viv closed her eyes. The magenta light shone brightly, pushing the Nightmare army back to their camps, temporarily stunning them. Salik looked in confusion, which gave Aille the chance to knock him back into the crashing waves. One large wave covered them both. When it retreated, only Salik remained
.

“What
?
” I ga
sped, scanning the scene for Aille
. At this distance, and with Viv's barrier no longer giving off light, I could only see the dark figures of Salik and Baz retreating to their camp.

“She escaped
,
” Viv said, though I heard a hint of doubt in her voice. “The ocean is deadly for Nightmares, as well, but she is strong. I never met a Nightmare who'd willingly save a Dreamer.”

“She's different.” Mitch nodded, backing away from the railing. “And she believes in us. I hope we can prove our worth.”

****

The return trip was just as uneventful as our first time sailing across the bay. I guess that was a good thing, since we all needed some rest, but it gave us time to think about our encounters in Fantasm and what happened afterwards
.

Kyle and Iven kept busy by making small talk about my brother's shipbuilding talents, but I could tell even they were a little more distracted than usual. Viv descended down into the galley, which Kyle designed to look like a hi-tech arcade. I doubt she was playing any games, though. Mitch stayed on the upper deck near the stern and passed the time practicing swinging Reverie. Judging by the look on his face, I had a feeling he was imagining slashing Salik with the blue blade
.

Hope stayed near the bow with me. For once I didn't feel uncomfortable being around her. I was glad she'd woken up to witness the fight between Salik and Aille
. Hope also saw the historic scenes in the Lucid Well. Now we knew that there was another side to the dream world's past
.

Finally, Kyle's ship hit a sand bar and we waded through the shallow water to the shore. I started to feel what Viv had said about the ocean being a source of chaotic power; it pulled on me like it wanted nothing more than to sweep all of us away into its nothingness. Aille was right — in order to fight against the tides of this world, we had to be strong
.

“There you are!” Austera was waiting for us by the edge of the road. She reclined against the wheels of her carriage with one boot propped against the axle. “I hope you know it is past dark, and Sophia is
very worried.”

“We got back, didn't we?” Viv asked, wringing her blouse to get rid of the excess water
.

“You had trouble doing something we accomplished as children?” A dark figure appeared from the other side of the carriage. Elis folded his arms and smirked at Viv. “Maybe I
should have accompanied you
.
”

“Elis?” Viv blinked in surprise, watching as he stood by Austera
.

“He decided to accompany me
.
” Austera shrugged, though she was carefully scanning Viv's face to see her reaction. For a split second, the red-haired Dreamer's eyes narrowed, but she soon recovered and shrugged
.

“I am glad you came, Elis,” s
he said, though she didn't look him in the eye. “You should check on your sister to make sure she is okay
.”

“I'm fine!” Hope shouted
, peeking from her hiding place behind Kyle
.

Elis made a noise that was halfway between a cry of anger and relief as he approached his sister. Though he tried looking stern, his mouth twitched with a hidden smile of relief to find his sister wasn't in bad shape
.

“You know you're supposed to stay within the village!” Elis scolded, bringing his sister into a rough hug.

“What's the fun in that
?
” Hope snapped, wriggling out of his grasp. “You and Father tell me that doing my studies is so important. Well, what good is studying if I never get to apply myself
?
”

“You could've died
—
”

“Actually, she saved our lives
.
” Iven quietly cut in. He returned Elis' glare. I had a feeling he wasn't happy that Elis had accompanied Austera on her journey to pick us up
.

“Without me, and Devon
—
” Hope nodded to me, causing my stomach to do a little backflip
, “
—w
e'd be buried somewhere in Fantasm with the book your little
gang needs so desperately. You're welcome.” She crossed her arms and smirked up at her brother
.

Elis looked at all of us questioningly but apparently thought better than asking questions in front of Austera
.

“Fine
.
” He sighed. “Let's just go back to headquarters. I'll tell our parents you are with us, Hope.”

“Does this mean I can join Deem?” Hope asked, changing her tone completely
.

“I thought we were just a little gang.” Elis raised an eyebrow.

“Not if I join!”

“Heh, I like this kid more with each minute,” Kyle muttered.

“We will discuss it when we get back.” Elis, told Hope
.

“I'm a hero now, so I can hold you to it
,
” Hope said
, climbing into Austera's carriage
.

“Let me hear the story first, dear sister.” Elis chuckled, following his sister into the carriage
.