The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams (18 page)

“That creature. I’ve seen it in my own dreams before. When I was barely out of the nest. At the Aviary, the older birds called it the nightflyer. They told stories about how it would catch fledglings in their sleep. Pluck their feathers one by one before swallowing them whole. Just the thought of it makes me shudder.”

“Then stop thinking about it,” the remwalker said. “More than anything, these monsters of the forest smell weakness.”

Skylar attempted to gather herself, to regain her usual calm. But the sound of scratching and scraping could be heard against the outside of the boulder. It was clear she was still shaken.

“Dreams, especially the bad ones, have a way of haunting us,” the remwalker said. “And because they reoccur, sometimes over and over, they can feel more real than your waking life.”

The nightflyer tore the door open with its claws, splintering the boulder and exposing the four huddled inside. The remwalker reached into her satchel and pulled out a blowgun. She lifted it to her mouth, pursed her lips around one end, and fired. A capsule of powder struck the giant owl in the face, exploding into a spray of blinding sand. The beast let out a screech and retreated. But the nightflyer’s cry alerted all the other creatures of the dark that there was an enemy in their midst.

The group fled from the broken boulder, taking off at top speed. Aldwyn had never seen Skylar move quite so fast before. A gelatinous blob lunged out from a hole in the ground, attempting to swallow Gilbert, but the tree frog hopped behind a rock just in time. More monsters began charging from all around, everything from giant wolves to skeletal dragons.

“You may not like what I’m about to do,” the remwalker stated. “But no harm will come of it.”

She stuck out her foot and tripped a passing dreamer, causing him to stumble and fall. The boy’s eyes went wide with terror, and all the monsters converged on him, allowing the remwalker and the familiars to run away.

Aldwyn looked back, wanting to help.

“Don’t be a fool,” the remwalker said. “I already told you, those who visit the Dreamworld in their sleep can’t be harmed. You, however, can be killed.”

It pained Aldwyn to hear the boy’s cries, but he knew the remwalker was right.

They arrived at the end of the jungle and exited the brush to find that they were closer to the mountains than Aldwyn thought possible, especially since they hadn’t been heading in that direction at all. From here he could see the carved door to Elzzup’s tunnel. It couldn’t have been more than a mile away. Of course, what appeared to be a mile in this world could be anything but.

“Guys, look over there!” Gilbert exclaimed.

His excitement wasn’t due to the fact that they had escaped that terrible forest. It was because of what he saw up ahead: Anura swimming in a pool of maggots.

Gilbert was hopping as fast as his legs would carry him.

“Anura!” he shouted.

The golden toad turned to him. “Gilbert, have you come to swim?”

“I’m not dreaming,” Gilbert said. “I’m really here. Aldwyn and Skylar, too.”

Anura looked over to see them.

“I must have dozed off while sitting at the queen’s bedside,” Anura said.

“How is she?” Gilbert asked.

“Getting weaker by the hour. My good luck is failing her.” As she spoke, the maggots in the pool began to drain away. “I fear that I’m waking. Is there anything I can do?”

“Just let her know that she’s going to be okay,” Gilbert said. “Tell her we won’t let her down.”

The last maggots disappeared from the pool, leaving an empty ditch. Anura vanished a moment later. Gilbert returned to his companions’ sides.

“We won’t let her down,” Gilbert repeated. “Will we?”

“We’ve always come through before,” Aldwyn said.

Just then, a charge of wand-wielding wizards dressed in Turnbuckle Academy uniforms emerged from the forest. They each had yarn from a rug tied around their wrists. The group was led by a pair of remwalkers, who stepped aside upon seeing the cat, bird, and frog.

“I knew our loyals would be overpowered sooner or later,” Aldwyn said. “But if they’ve hurt Jack, they’ll be sorry.”

“We could run for the mountain door,” the remwalker said, “but Elzzup will have a test for you. Something to challenge your wits. You’ll have no hope of passing it if you’re under attack from those wizards.”

“So what do you suggest?” Aldwyn asked.

“Stand your ground. Face them head-on.”

The Turnbuckle students were getting closer, crossing the empty pool of maggots.

“We’re outnumbered, and I fear our magic can’t be counted on in the Dreamworld,” Skylar said.

“Surely you’ve relied on talents other than your magic in the past,” the remwalker said.

For Aldwyn, it wasn’t so long ago that other talents were
all
he had to rely on. He thought back to what he did to survive on the streets of Bridgetower. He had to be clever. Use the elements he had around him to tip the odds in his favor. Aldwyn scanned his surroundings and his eyes landed on a metal post similar to the one that had tethered the cloud holding the tracker’s house. He looked closely and saw that it, too, had a translucent string attached to it, stretching high up into the clouds.

The Turnbuckle students were aiming their wands and were well within striking distance.

“You can either come back willingly or suffer the consequences of not coming back at all,” one of the students warned.

Aldwyn turned to Skylar and Gilbert.

“Run toward them,” he said. “Then scramble. Around their legs, between them. Don’t waste your time attacking. And whatever you do, don’t get caught.”

“We’re facing death and capture, and you suggest a glorified game of tag?” Skylar asked.

“Just trust me,” Aldwyn replied.

He sprinted for the oncoming wizards. Gilbert and Skylar went in different directions. The Turnbuckle spellcasters were unprepared for this counterintuitive tactic. They began chasing the animals, but the familiars were running circles around them. Two of the young wizards pursued Aldwyn.

“Hold your fire,” one shouted to the other, lowering his wand. “An errant blast could take off a hand, or worse.”

He wasn’t the only one taking precautions. His fellow students were being just as careful.

“Aldwyn, care to share your brilliant plan anytime soon?” Skylar asked.

But Aldwyn didn’t need to answer. A Turnbuckle pupil tripped over the dreaming rug yarn of another, setting off a chain reaction. One young wizard after another fell, until they were all in a heap. Aldwyn used his telekinesis to untie the translucent string attached to the metal post and retie it to the ball of yarn entangling the students. When the next strong breeze blew in, the cloud above—no longer tethered to the metal post—began to drift away, tugging the entire crumpled mess of fallen wizards and yarn along with it.

Some tried to tear themselves free. Others sent bolts from their wands. But Aldwyn, Skylar, Gilbert, and the remwalker merely watched as Turnbuckle’s finest floated off into the distance. The wizards were still in sight when the entire knotty ball of them vanished instantly, leaving the translucent string and cloud flying freely.

“What just happened?” Gilbert asked.

“I’m not sure,” the remwalker replied.

“Perhaps they entered this world in their sleep,” Skylar said.

“They wouldn’t have been carrying their dreaming rug yarn if that was the case,” the remwalker said.

The four stood there, dumbfounded for the moment.

“Congratulations,” a voice called out from behind them. “You interest me.”

The group turned to see a possum, not much bigger than Aldwyn. He had gray fur, coal-black eyes, and a long pink tail. A slender necklace hung around his neck, with a cube of silver dangling from it.

“Elzzup,” the remwalker said. “We were coming to see you.”

“I know. That’s why I challenged you with that first puzzle. Needless to say, those students weren’t real. The attack was just a little brainteaser to get you warmed up.”

“An illusion?” Skylar asked.

“No, different than that,” Elzzup replied. “This cube I wear around my neck is a piece taken from the Dreamworld’s creation stone. It’s the last of its kind. With it, I have the power to conjure into existence whatever I please.”

“Sounds like you just enjoy tormenting people,” Aldwyn said.

“You should be happy,” Elzzup continued. “Those who don’t pass my first test never even see the inside of my castle. That’s where the real fun begins.”

Elzzup headed for the great door carved into the mountainside. The familiars kept pace behind.

“Should you succeed in the tasks ahead, your journey to the Palace of Dreams will continue on the other side of my castle walls. But if you fail, you will be my prisoners. To have the Prophesized Three as my prize, what could be sweeter?”

“Sounds like an expensive toll,” Aldwyn said.

“Well, I make the rules of this game,” Elzzup said. “If you want to play, follow me.”

Elzzup entered into the torch-lit tunnel beyond the door. Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert paused before the threshold. They looked to the remwalker.

“You never mentioned anything about imprisonment,” Skylar said.

“If you truly want to reach the Palace of Dreams, this passage is your only hope,” the remwalker replied.

The familiars considered her words, then marched forward into Elzzup’s lair.

A
s the giant doors closed behind Aldwyn, Skylar, Gilbert, and the remwalker, the light cast from the moon quickly disappeared, leaving only the flickering glow from the torches on the wall to guide them forward. Elzzup was leading the way, waddling ahead without so much as a glance back at his guests.

Drops were falling from above, landing on Aldwyn’s fur, but he couldn’t make out the source in the dark.

“What is that?” Aldwyn asked.

“Feels like some kind of dew,” Gilbert replied.

Upon passing the next torch, Aldwyn was able to see more clearly overhead.

“That’s not water, Gilbert,” he said. “That’s bat drool!”

Hundreds of cave bats hung from the ceiling, with mouths open and goo dripping from their fangs. Aldwyn shook his fur but the slime wouldn’t come off that easily.

The tunnel sloped downward, and the temperature cooled as they descended. Dark eyes glared out from every corner. It was impossible to tell what each creature was, but the sound of growling stomachs made Aldwyn less than eager to find out.

“Don’t worry about them,” Elzzup said. “They don’t feed until after midnight.”

The familiars hurried, and it wasn’t long before they were entering a cavern large enough to house a small city. Rising up from the ground were limestone stalagmites that had been hollowed out and carved into a series of buildings connected by rope bridges. Even more dramatic were the stalactites that hung from the cave ceiling. Both top and bottom seemed to be inhabited. Together, the structures from above and below formed a castle of unfathomable beauty.

“You said something about a game,” Aldwyn remarked. “When can we start?”

“How can you be so sure that the game hasn’t already begun?” Elzzup asked.

Aldwyn hated to be toyed with, but they were at the mercy of the possum’s whims. Elzzup walked through the castle door and closed it before the others had a chance to enter behind him.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Skylar asked. “Let us in.”

“I will only open it after you answer me this. When is a door not a door?” Elzzup called out from inside.

“When it’s in pieces!” Gilbert shouted. “Which is exactly what it’s going to be if you don’t open it right now.”

A mocking snicker could be heard from the other side.

“Gilbert, I’ve never seen you lose your temper like that,” Aldwyn said.

“I’m not myself on an empty stomach,” Gilbert replied.

“Fitting, given the possum’s riddle,” Skylar said. “When is a door not itself?”

“When it’s hungry?” Gilbert asked.

“What else could a door be used for?” Skylar asked. “You can put legs on it and make it a table.” She addressed Elzzup through the closed door. “When it’s a table.”

This time only silence greeted them.