Dreamscape: Saving Alex (25 page)

“I am so sorry,” I
said, taking a moment to squeeze his hand.

“I escaped, but
only by luck. I’d been running around the forest all day, and he didn’t
recognize me under my soiled clothes. One of Elin’s maids hid me as Berkos went
on his rampage. Before he had a chance to detain me, I had run off. By the time
I made it to the outskirts of Flourin, the news had spread. Only a handful of
servants and villagers remained, and Berkos had claimed sovereignty.”

“What did you do
from there?”

“The only thing I
really could do. I rallied my men and found loyal supporters that were willing
to fight against Berkos’ tyranny. It’s been a long five years. Every day, I
recount that devastation and plan for our revival.”

“I have no doubt
you’ll succeed this time.”

“I don’t doubt it
either. Not with you here. You’ve brought back the hope that had dwindled.” I
saw the conflict in his eyes.

“I don’t know about
that.”

“I do. The moment
we heard you had arrived, the whole atmosphere in the Grove, in all of
Lockhorn, changed. Everyone knew that your appearance revolutionized
everything. One way or another, this’ll all be settled. Only with you here, our
fight doesn’t seem so futile.”

“I didn’t know
that,” I said, feeling even worse for the way I’d acted. I needed to change the
subject. “So, since this was your hideout, you must know what we’re looking at,
right?”

He smiled at the
redirection. “Uh-huh, you see that hill over there?”

I followed his
pointed finger to a set of jagged mountains and nodded.

“Well, I used to
hunt horned-bits in those foothills. The mountains beyond them separate the north
from the south. From here you can easily track the movement of any giants or
armies. That over there,” he said, pointing off another direction, “is the
Loude River. It passes right by Lindle and handles most of the trade.”

“You can really see
it all from up here,” I said. “What about…”

“Berkos’ castle?”
he asked. “Do you really want to know?”

“No, probably not,”
I said, shaking my head. “I’ll face it soon enough, and I don’t want to ruin
this. The rest of the view, it’s beautiful.”

We stood in silence,
watching the slow transition of the sky from sunset to twilight. Only the sharp
chirp of a bird and the pulsing hum of insects broke the silence.

Arrow looked at me
and then turned back to the forest. A sense of anxiety grew between us the
longer we stared at the view. I didn’t know how to articulate what I wanted to
say. Conversations like this baffled me. Too many raw emotions threatened to
take away my control.

I nudged him with my elbow, the friendliest
gesture I could make without trembling. “You wanted to talk?”

The sides of his mouth lifted, but he didn’t look
at me. He rubbed his forehead and picked at the leaves from the railing. “These
have been some of the longest days.”

“You’re telling me,” I said. “I can’t tell you how
much I am looking forward to a full night’s sleep.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish I could
give you that, but I’m afraid there are even more sleepless nights in our
future. I can give you a roll though.” He pulled a piece of bread and a couple
of strips of jerky out of one of his vest pockets.

“Do you just walk around with packages of food?” I
asked, though it didn’t stop me from taking one.

“Sometimes,” he said with a small smile. “It’s
seemed to work to my advantage recently.”

“I can’t help it if I’m hungry,” I said. “It’s not
like we haven’t crossed this entire kingdom in the last week.”

“I’m just giving you a hard time. Although I won’t
lie, it’s been nice coming to the rescue. Even if it’s just with food.”

I bit my cheek. What could I say to that?

“The real reason I brought you up here though,” he
said, exhaling deeply. “I wanted to tell you some things before they slipped
out again.”

“Like the whole prince thing?” I asked, raising an
eyebrow.

“Yeah.” He laughed. “Like that. I meant to tell
you. I really did.”

I looked at him. “Why didn’t you?”

He sighed and stared thoughtfully into the
distance. “When we met, it didn’t seem to matter. There were more important
things we needed to do, and then when you lied about being from the north…
well, I guess it seemed like our backgrounds weren’t significant.”

“I’m sorry about that,” I said, embarrassed. “I
didn’t know what to say at that point or what was really going on. You have to
see why I thought it would sound crazy.”

He gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s not a big
deal. In fact, after a while, I was happy you’d lied.”

“Really?”

“Sure. It meant I didn’t have to tell you who I
was. And for once it was nice having someone treat me like a normal person
without hidden agendas or expectations. Sometimes it’s just nice to disappear.”

I looked down at my green outfit and sighed. “I
can understand that.”

“Also, I wanted to tell you about my brother.”

“Arrow,
I’m
so sorry about Helio. I didn’t know that he… er… I mean, that to get me here,
he had to… I should have put it all together sooner, but I didn’t,” I
whispered.

He looked at me and half of his mouth curved up in
a sad smile. “I’m sorry too.” And then he took my hand, and the words poured
out of my mouth.

“Can you forgive me?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Forgive you? For
what?”

“For the way I acted in Flourin. I was childish
and selfish, and I’m sorry. If I could go back—”

“Shh,” he said, pressing a finger to my lips.
“Please, you came back. That’s apology enough. There’s no need for more. This
isn’t your fault. There’s no way you could have known.”

I
didn’t
understand it. If I were in his place, acceptance
would
be the last thing I offered.
“But—”

“I’ve already come to terms with this. It was his
choice, a
nd I have to
believe
that he understood the bigger picture when he made it.”

“How?”

“It’s my only
choice. Well, the only reasonable one. I
could
wallow but that just wastes time.” I followed his eyes as he looked
down towards camp. “We don’t have much of that anymore.”

His words pierced
me. In a simple statement, he’d made my last few months of arguing at home
seem
immature. I didn’t know what to say. A flash of light
caught my attention.

“Arrow, look! We’re
just in time for the fireworks!” I pointed to the open expanse behind him where
colors painted the sky. “They’re beautiful.”

“They are,” he
said, his voice deep with emotion as he traced his fingers down my forearm,
resting them on my wrist. When he pulled me towards him, the full force of his
longing hit me. “Alex, do you know what is real yet?”

I didn’t resist. I
couldn’t. At this point fighting the desire was like fighting myself, pointless
and counterproductive.

“You said before
that nothing’s more real than the things you can touch and the things that
touch you. I think I’m beginning to believe that.” I looked from his eyes to
his lips. My heart pounded as he leaned in closer. “Arrow, I’m not good at all
this stuff.”

“You fooled me,” he
said before pressing his lips against mine, first tenderly, then more
demandingly.
I pushed
my insecurities to
the side and gave in to his kisses, meeting his desire with my own. He traced
the outline of my face, from my ear to chin, sending a thrill
down
my spine. I melted into him, filling the curves of
his body with mine.

“I’m glad you
aren’t fighting me anymore,” he said, giving me a soft kiss on my forehead.

I twisted around so
that his arms surrounded me as we overlooked the fireworks. “I just had a hard
time believing that this was real, that I was ready for this adventure.”

His chuckle warmed my ear. “You weren’t sure if
you were ready for an adventure? I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, where I’m from, I’m hardly the hero,” I
admitted.

He rubbed my arms and kissed the back of my head.
“I guess here we see adventure a bit differently.”

“How’s that?” I asked, glancing up at him.

“We don’t see it as something that happens to you,
but as a way of living, without fear of what’s to come.”

“That’s beautiful. I’ve never heard it quite that
way,” I said, pulling his arms tighter around me.

“It’s not really something we think about, just a
standard that we’ve learned to live with. Whatever we know one day may change
the next. You can call it adventure, but we just call it life. We’ve had to
learn the hard way sometimes that you can’t be present if you’re too busy
holding on to the past.” He looked off into the distance. “When we first
entered the Grove, I told you that you’d changed. I think that’s the
difference. You weren’t really here before...not until you came down and saved
us in the wetlands.”

“I can’t deny that. I don’t think I was fully
committed, to you or to Lockhorn, before that moment. I felt like I had to
choose a side: this world or my home.”

“And what did you choose?” he asked.

I exhaled deeply and shrugged. “I chose to not
worry about it anymore. Whether I’m there or here, I’m still me, and that’s
what I ultimately have to be true to.”

“But if you had to choose?”

“If I had to choose, then right now, I’m here.”
The truth released a weight that I didn’t know I had been carrying.

“And I’m right here with you,” he said, tilting my
chin up for a kiss.

Fireworks popped, and bursts of light streaked the
sky, but I hardly noticed.

“So what do we do now?” I asked, knowing that as
nice as the moment was, it wouldn’t last.

“I don’t want to think about it tonight,” he said,
pulling me closer as another firework burst. “I want to know more about you.”

“About me? There’s not much to tell.” I laughed
and bit my lower lip. “I’m just a normal girl.”

“I wouldn’t say you’re normal.” He leaned in and
tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Well, pretty normal. I’m an artist.”

“That explains your interest in the boxes and in
the statues at Baron Marix’s.”

“Don’t remind me,” I said, trying to forget the
trouble that I’d gotten us into.

“What else?” he asked, turning me around to face
him.

My mind raced, trying to find something else
interesting to tell him. There had to be more to me than art. Only one other
thing defined me at the moment.

“We’re moving,” I blurted out. Why did I think
that was interesting?

“It sounds like adventure follows you everywhere,”
he said, cupping the side of my face in his palm.

“I wouldn’t call it an adventure, necessarily,” I
whispered, feeling my breath slow in anticipation.

“Everything can be an adventure, if you look at it
the right way.”

“I wish I could see things from your eyes.”

He framed my face with his hands. “I’ll show you
how. Trust me, before you leave here, you’ll embrace adventure.”

The
pounding of my heart matched the booms of the fireworks.
I didn’t want
to think about that. Leaving was the furthest thing from my mind. Not now that
I had opened my heart to him. I’d finally found my place, and it was here by
his side.
I leaned in for another
kiss.

We strolled down from Arrow’s hideout. No longer
in a hurry, he kept his arm around my shoulder and pointed out the small
details I had overlooked, like the way vines spiraled up the trunks for
sunlight and the strange calls of the blackbirds. Arrow knew every detail of
the Grove, and I devoured his knowledge. This place sung to me in a way the
rest of Lockhorn hadn’t. Maybe it was the apparent lack of danger or the new
friendships I’d found, but it felt right. Peace settled over me for the first
time in a long time.

As we descended, I knew that the feeling couldn’t
last. When we got close to camp, the silence that had shrouded us above gave
way to disorder.

“Arrow, what’s going on? Is this normal?” I asked,
watching the people below us run through the streets in all directions.

He frowned. “Let’s go.” He dropped his arm from my
shoulder, pulling on my hand instead. The bridges swayed with our frantic pace.
When we reached the wooden archway, he let my hand go and slid down the ladder,
not bothering to use the steps.

I followed more carefully, finding the right spots
for my feet as the ladder swung violently. By the time I landed, a swarm of
villagers filled the gap between us. Between heads, I caught quick glimpses of
alarm on Arrow’s face.

“What’s going on?” he demanded.

Melody pushed her way through the crowd at the
same time I did. A scowl knotted her forehead, and her fingers tapped at her
hip. She glared at her cousin. “Where have you been?” she asked.

“Why does that matter?”

“While you were missing, everything fell apart!”
she opened her arms, gesturing to the chaos around us.

“We were up on the bridge, watching the
fireworks,” he said. “Last I heard, we weren’t letting Berkos steal those
moments from us.”

Her mouth dropped. His words must have stung. She
arched a brow and looked at me but answered Arrow demurely. “You’re right, my
lord. We’re to enjoy the moments when they come. But right now, there’s no time
for that. We have serious business.”

“What did I miss?”

“I feel like I should be asking the same question,”
Melody said, glancing between us.

My face felt hot, but Arrow didn’t miss a beat.
“Forget about it. If you don’t want to tell me what’s gone on, I’ll ask someone
else.”

“There’s not much to tell right now, but let me
show you,” she said, her voice softening.

She elbowed through the crowd, dragging him
forward and pointing to the people frozen, staring at the sky.

“Melody, they’re entranced by the fireworks.
There’s nothing new about that.”

“Wait,” she said, straightening her arm to stop
us. “Didn’t you see the fireworks?”

I looked at the ground.

“What were you…no, never mind. I warned you,” she
said, shaking her head. “I thought you would have been smarter about this.”

I stared at my new friend and then back down at my
feet.

“Now just wait a minute. She’s done nothing wrong,
and you know that,” Arrow exclaimed.

“Except distract you from knowing when the enemy’s
declared war!” she yelled, pointing back to the sky.

“What are you talking about? I’m not distracted.”

“If you weren’t distracted, you would’ve seen
that!” She pointed to the faint trails of smoke in the sky, outlining a dragon.

“What is that?” I asked, stepping closer to
Arrow’s side.

“A symbol of the enemy intermixed in our
celebration,” Melody huffed. “I don’t believe this.”

“Look, it’s just a firework. I’m sure it meant
nothing,” Arrow said.

“Meant nothing?” Melody said. “What are you
talking about? You know exactly what this means. Don’t belittle it because you
weren’t here watching.”

“What does it mean?” I asked softly.

Melody tightened her lips. “War. It looks like
we’re going to need you sooner than we thought.”

Or sooner than I’d hoped. I looked around at the
people, some paralyzed in fear as they stared at the sky, others rushing about
in a chaotic frenzy.

“It’s not like we didn’t know this day was
coming,” he said. “It’s been a countdown since Alex got here. There’s no more
wondering. It’s time to act. If he’s declared war, all the better.”

I looked between the two, unable to settle my gaze
on either.

“You’re incredible,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“If you’re not worried about that, what about him?” She pointed to the edge of
the field where General Tanner tended to a wounded man who moaned, laid out
over a bed of hay bales. I could hear him from where we stood. Bloodied
bandages littered the ground, and fresh red droplets slid down the ragged edges
of the hay. His skin a pale shade of gray, he hung limp over the edge. A faded
design caught my attention.

I burst through the crowd, skidding to the ground
next to him, twisting his arm to look at the inside of his wrist. Under dark
bruises and smudged dirt, traces of the Great Oak peeked out at me. His cold
hand fell from my grasp.

“The symbol…he’s one of us,” I said to no one in
particular. The words sounded hollow. I found Arrow watching me with concern.

I shook out of my reverie and looked over at
General Tanner, who patiently tied a new set of vines around his legs. “There’s
got to be some way to help him.”

General Tanner shook his head.

“He’s not…is he…?”

“No, not dead,” he said grimly. “Not yet. Come,
let us walk for a moment.” He grabbed my hand and helped me up, leading me back
towards the spot where Arrow and Melody waited.

“Is it bad news, then?” Arrow asked with a
clenched jaw.

“I’m afraid it looks that way,” the general
answered, rubbing his forehead.

“Who is he?” Melody asked. “Has he said anything
yet?”

“Nothing yet. He surprised us all when he stumbled
in through the gates. We got him to lie down, but the spasms didn’t stop until
just a few minutes ago. I’m afraid he’s in a lot of pain.”

“Can’t we heal him?” Melody asked. “There’s got to
be a way to save him. He’s one of us.”

“Nothing I’ve tried seems to be working. It
doesn’t look good. Frankly, it’s a miracle he made it here all by himself. If
he had gone south first, for vines, he would’ve had better luck. I’m afraid it
may be too late for him now.”

Arrow narrowed his gaze on the wounded man. “What
happened? Do you know?”

“That I’m afraid is a mystery. None of the usual
signs of torture are present, just a couple of strange puncture marks hidden
beneath blackened skin. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was burned, but his
skin…I can’t explain it.”

“Did you say puncture marks?” I asked, paling.
Only one thing made puncture marks in Dreamscape.

“Do you know what they are?” General Tanner asked.

“I think so. Can you show me?”

The general nodded and led me back to the man,
carefully lifting his torn shirt, revealing an emaciated ribcage and two round
holes in his abdomen. I gasped and lowered his shirt. Even if I hadn’t seen the
wounds, I would know this man had suffered. Dark bruises swelled along his arms
and cheeks, and above the puncture wounds, charred skin had begun to scab over.

All of them stared at me while I wiped my forehead
with the back of my hand.

“Well?” Melody asked. “Do you know what happened?”

I nodded and glanced back to the dying man.
“There’s only one thing that could’ve done this. I hate to say I told you so,
but…those whips were bad news.” Anger tightened my words.

“Whips? Are you sure?” Arrow asked.

“I’ve never been more sure. On the edge of each
whip is a lever. When you push the button up, it turns into a taser for close
contact attacks. This poor man probably didn’t know what hit him until it was
too late.”

“What can we do for him?” Melody asked.

I shook my head. “At this point? Nothing. General
Tanner’s right; he’s going to die. That’s why I hate them so much. If you get
hit, you’re dead, now or later. The electricity is too much. Maybe if he had
been healed right away.”

The man groaned and turned over, falling off the
makeshift bed of hay. “Prince,” he croaked, reaching towards Arrow.

Arrow ran to his side, covering the man’s bloody
hand with his own. He spared a quick glance at the general and another man,
nodding for them to help him. The three of them carefully lifted him back onto
the hay.

“Brave man, what is your name?” Arrow asked,
forcing a strained smile.

“Not…import…ant…” he said raggedly, wheezing with
each breath.

“General, can’t we do anything more?” Arrow
pleaded. “He’s in pain.”

“We’ve given him all we can. It’s just a matter of
waiting now.” The general frowned and coiled a pile of excess vines.

Arrow knelt by the man’s side, adjusting the vines
to cover the wounds on his forearm and neck. “Tell me more. If your name’s not
important, what is? What brought you here?”

“Qu…Queen Elin,” he stuttered. “She’s in…danger.”
He exhaled and closed his eyes.

Arrow and Melody exchanged a look, and she quickly
moved the rest of the crowd back, away from the man. One look at her fierce
expression cautioned anyone from breaking through her barrier.

“What about the queen?” Arrow asked. “We can help
her if we know.”

I saw the fear coursing through him.

“All of them… dead…” he said, cringing.

“Who?” Arrow demanded. He softened his voice as he
repeated his question. “Who is dead?”

“All of them…the queen’s
friends…servants…cousins…they’re gone.” He flopped onto his side, coughing in
fits. A drop of blood slipped out from the side of his mouth.

Arrow glanced back at me, and I ran to his side. I
grabbed the man’s shoulder, poised to move him when his eyes widened and he
focused on me. “It’s true,” he said.

“What’s true?” I asked.

“Berkos said the…time had come. I didn’t
understand…” He struggled to move his hand to his forehead in salute.

“You don’t need to do that,” I assured him, moving
his arm back to rest at his side. “Yes, I’m here. The time has come for all of
this to be decided, once and for all. What you know may help me. What happened
to the queen?”

“Berkos…since Helio’s execution, he’s been
parading…” he stopped to cough up more blood. His voice grew stronger. “He’s
taken the queen hostage. Forcing her to choose sides. She has to either pledge
loyalty to him or…he executes someone in front of her.” He closed his eyes.

“But the queen?” Arrow asked.

“She’s…not broken yet. I’m not sure how much more
she can resist…without the king…”

Arrow blinked back tears. “We’ll get her, my brave
man. You just rest. We’ll find her and save her.”

“When the guards found out about me…too late…save
her…” he pleaded, tightening his grasp around Arrow’s hands before falling back
a final time.

“What does this mean?” I asked, struggling to keep
my voice steady as the general checked the man’s wrist for a pulse.

Arrow tightened his jaw and spoke only loud enough
for the inner circle to hear. “This means that our time has run out. Even if
Berkos hadn’t declared his intentions with the fireworks, we’d be declaring
ours now. It’s war.”

A loud boom rattled the ground around us. I looked
at the quaking trees and then at the sky. I covered my mouth.

I wasn’t the only one who saw it. The village
cried out in alarm and pointed to the colors streaking the sky. A new
firework stained the
sky. Berkos had taken the rebellion’s symbol and twisted it.

Instead of
explosive bursts of color, a dragon burned above us. The chilling message came
through clearly.

I stood and brushed
the hay off my leggings before running to Arrow and Melody.

“It’s like the
others?” I asked.

She nodded and
stared at the sky. “It seems that times are changing.”

I jumped as another
boom shook the Grove. Arrow met my gaze and squeezed my hand before I could say
anything. I squeezed his back and gave him a small smile.

Cale forced his way
through the crowd, cursing at the top of his voice. He stood in front of Arrow
and packed the end of his pipe. “What would you have us do?” He lit the pipe
while Arrow contemplated his answer. Smoke rings shrouded the image fading in
the sky.

“It’s time to act.
You
all
know
what we’ve planned, what is at stake.” Arrow looked
at me. “We have a chance now.” His message rang out loud and
clear
. Everyone
knew
what he meant and looked in my direction.

I swallowed hard
and nodded. It was time to save the queen.