Dreamer's Throne

Roaring their battle cry, Gorn led the Ghoul’s Tooth gang into battle, smashing into the back of the twenty attacking gang members. Everywhere he moved the Swamp Shark men fell into a morass, their movements slowing down as if they were tangled up with ropes. Gorn suffered no such restrictions and his dagger stabbed out repeatedly, each stroke reaping a life.

At the same time Henrick and Obe closed in on Warn, whose eyes were filled with absolute shock. No matter how nimble he was there was no way for him to escape with his wound, and Warn quickly fell. His brother followed soon after, and a scant two minutes after Henrick and Gorn had arrived the fight was over. The only casualty on the side of the Ghoul’s Tooth gang was the man who’d fallen earlier, and as the fight ended Reeve got up, his face pale.

Pushing his way over, Obe stared down at the body and swore quietly. Shaking his head, he patted Reeve on the shoulder and moved out of the way to make room for Henrick. Crouching, Henrick looked at the wound on the gang member’s neck and tutted. About to get up, he heard Gorn’s voice.

“Hey, what’s that in his pocket?”

When Reeve was trying to stop the flow of blood the gang member’s jacket had fallen open, revealing a small bag and the top of a letter. Normally that wouldn’t have caught anyone’s attention, but this piece of paper had half a broken wax seal on the top of it that stood out. Eyes narrowing, Henrick pulled out the letter, allowing the bag of coins that was with it to fall to the ground. Opening the letter, he glanced at it but found it incomprehensible. Handing it to Gorn, he opened up the bag, his expression freezing when a gold coin and a stack of silver fell into his palm.

“You think…”

“Shut up, Gorn,” Henrick said, standing up and fixing his lieutenant with a freezing glare. “We’ll deal with this later. We still have an enemy coming.”

“Enemy? What enemy?” Obe asked, his expression lost.

“Ruel. Of the Swamp Sharks,” Henrick said. “He should be arriving in a few minutes.”

Listening to the conversation through his connection to Gorn, Garrett’s expression was one of indecision. The current situation presented an opportunity for the Ghoul’s Teeth to take Ruel down, eliminating an enemy and further weakening the Swamp Sharks, but Garrett was loath to lose a three-flower dreamer. Especially one who was Awakened. Leaving Ruel alive was a risk, but if he could work it right, it could also be an opportunity.

Garrett was still coming to an understanding about how the influence portion of the Dream Flowers worked, but the more Awakened who fell under the sway of the flowers, the safer Garrett would be. Rapidly considering the pros and cons of the situation, he tried to weigh the situation as objectively as possible.

If I don’t interfere, there’s probably a seventy percent chance that Ruel dies. If he lives, the war between the Swamp Sharks and the Ghoul’s Tooth gangs will heat up. On the other hand, if he never engages, he’ll have to deal with the fact that he let the twins die. The best option is for him to live but not return to the Swamp Sharks. Let’s see if we can achieve that.

Making his choice, Garrett moved Observe the Dream over to Ruel, watching as he hurried through the twisting passages toward the crypt where the ambush had already concluded. There were ten gang members with him that Garrett knew they would have to get rid of if he was going to keep Ruel alive. Biting his lip, he hesitated for a moment. What he was about to do was tantamount to splitting with the Ghoul’s Tooth gang, and if Henrick ever found out Garrett would find himself on the sharp end of the gang boss’ cleaver in short order.

Rushing through the complex passages, Ruel checked his map again, making sure they were going in the right direction. They were only a few turns away from the room where they would ambush the Ghoul’s Tooth gang, and he was feeling confident in the plan he’d developed. Finding a spy to betray the Ghoul’s Tooth gang had been his plan from beginning to end, and once he’d successfully executed this mission he knew that Vic, the Swamp Shark’s boss, would have no choice but to make him the second in command.

Reveling in the future he was imagining, Ruel suddenly slowed down, his heart plunging into his stomach. The shift in feelings was intense and came over him in an instant, snapping him out of his fantasies. Dread seemed to crawl up his spine and the long shadows in the passage appeared to stretch, transforming into monsters that reached for their group. As quickly as they came the intense feelings were gone, eradicated by the energy from his soul spark.

Sitting on the Dreamer’s Throne, Garrett clutched his chest as the backlash from Ruel destroying the feelings he was projecting washed over him. Coughing, he ignored the pain and kept his attention focused on Ruel. A moment ago he had dumped as many emotions on the Awakened lieutenant as he could, focusing on conveying the feelings he’d experienced during his encounter with the Crimson Eye. Even though the influence was almost immediately destroyed by Ruel’s soul spark, Garrett’s objective had already been achieved. With a small smile curling at the corners of his lips, he whispered into the darkness.

“The ambush has failed. The intelligence was wrong and the Ghoul’s Tooth gang sent all their Awakened. The twins are already dead, and if you go in there you’ll be next. You need to escape.”

Unable to shake the chill that had coursed down his spine, Ruel was on edge, and when the thoughts that Garrett spoke sprang unbidden into his mind, he flinched. A moment earlier he had been completely confident of their victory, but now he was unsure. If the Ghoul’s Tooth gang had really sent all their Awakened over and counter-ambushed the twins, he would be walking into a deathtrap. Trying to reassure himself that nothing had happened to the twins, Ruel shook his head and led his forces forward.

But if anything did happen, I’m in a world of trouble. Vic will kill me if the twins are gone.

Grimacing, Ruel’s thoughts spun. He wasn’t so naive as to believe that nothing could go wrong for him, and the strange premonition he felt was throwing him off. Calling his gang members together, he glanced at the passage leading to the crypt.

I can send these guys in first. If something is wrong, I’ll still be able to escape.

His mind made up, he explained the modified plan and had everyone put out their torches. Immediately, the tunnels were plunged into darkness, with only the faint light from the crypt up ahead revealing the way.

“Remember, silence until I blow the whistle.”

Gesturing for his men to move, Ruel followed after them, his heart pounding loudly in his chest. They could hear the echo of voices up ahead, and the closer they got the brighter the torchlight became. When they were a few dozen feet from the entrance, Ruel lifted his whistle to his lips and let out a sharp blast. Lifting their weapons, the Swamp Shark gang members rushed forward, yelling out their battle cries. Following behind them, Ruel had only taken two steps when a terrible thought popped up in his head.

Lerk didn’t blow his whistle! Something’s wrong!

Stopping in place, Ruel’s face paled as his men rushed into the crypt, their weapons waving. The clash of steel and the shouts of the Ghoul’s Tooth gang overwhelmed the ten Swamp Shark gang members, reinforcing Ruel’s fear. What finally sealed it, however, was hearing Gorn’s voice above the din.

“Find Ruel! Don’t let him escape.”

The fear that Ruel had felt spiked and he retreated as fast as he could, turning and sprinting down the passage.

I need to hide! I can’t go back to Vic or he’ll kill me.

Driven by these thoughts, Ruel fled through the underground passages, quickly disappearing into the darkness. Back in the crypt, the last of the Swamp Shark gang members fell, their blood splashing across the stone floor. Frowning, Henrick stared at the quiet passage where Ruel should have appeared.

“The rat seems to have run,” he said, disappointment clear in his voice.

“On the upside, he probably won’t dare return to the Swamp Sharks,” Gorn said, shrugging. “Want me to go after him?”

“No, it’s not worth it,” Henrick replied. “Like you said, he isn’t going back to his gang, which means we’ve cut the Swamp Sharks down to two. Well done, everyone. Let’s get this mess cleaned up so we don’t scare our new business partners.”

Seeing everyone begin gathering up the dead bodies, Garrett couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh of relief. Switching his view to Ruel, he watched him run through the tunnels for a bit before letting Observe the Dream end. The warm light from the throne seeped into him as he opened his eyes. As his soul spark slowly refilled, Garrett reviewed everything that had just happened. His scheme had worked perfectly, though he wasn’t out of the forest quite yet. Yenis, the gang member who had died, had presented the perfect opportunity for Garrett to throw Henrick off of Reeve’s trail, and under the cover of the fight Garrett had directed Reeve to plant the cryptic letter and the money in Yenis’ coat.

He had yet to see if Henrick took the bait, but even if he didn’t, being able to preserve Ruel’s life was already a huge win for Garrett. If the misdirection with Yenis was successful, Garret would be in the best possible position, with two dedicated followers in the gang and another hiding outside. Though losing his agent inside the Swamp Shark gang was a setback, he was confident he could get another without much trouble. Pleased with how everything had turned out, Garrett set his mind to determining his next plan, occasionally jumping into Observe the Dream to check on both Ruel and Gorn.

It took nearly two hours for Garrett’s energy to replenish, which was slightly longer than the last time, indicating that his soul spark had grown in capacity, a fact that pleased him immensely. Once he was back to peak form, Garrett left the room to find someone who was asleep in the inn. Stepping into one of the rooms upstairs, he pulled his energy together and created a Dream Seed, implanting it into the sleeping visitor. A light touch on the man’s forehead sent him into his dream and a bit of soul spark energy allowed the seed to bloom with two flowers.

With a few whispered words, light entered the dreamer’s eyes and Garrett saw the notification he’d been waiting for.

A dreamer has experienced their first lucid dream. You have gained 1 EXP.

A dreamer has explored a new location: Personal Dream. You have gained 1 EXP.

EXP: 18/40

For the rest of the night, Garrett was busy. He could grow five Dream Seeds before he had to go back to recharge his soul spark, and by the time the sun was hovering just under the horizon, he had managed to collect another eleven experience points, bringing his total up to twenty-nine. He could have probably gotten a few more, but there were no other people sleeping in the inn he could plant Dream Seeds into. With only eleven more experience points needed until he leveled up, Garrett was confident one more night was all he would need to hit level three. Feeling a heaviness around his eyes, Garret realized he’d stayed up all night, and with a yawn he fell out of the Dream, falling asleep in his bed almost immediately.

To his dismay, Ryn woke him up a few hours later to bring him to breakfast. Full of energy, she was clearly excited about something but was trying to hold herself back as she bullied Garrett into getting up and climbing into his wheelchair. Wanting nothing more than to go back to bed, Garrett yawned as Ryn pushed him into the great room. The tables were largely empty, though Garrett immediately recognized most of the people present, largely because they all carried the Dream Flowers he’d planted the night before.

“You should ask me about my letters,” Ryn said, shoving a large spoonful of porridge into her mouth.

“Oh? Do you feel like you’ve memorized them?”

“I had a dream that I was practicing them, and I learned them all. In my dream, I had those cards you were talking about. The fletch cards?”

“Flash?”

“Yeah! The flashcards. For two nights now I’ve been working on them, and I think I have all the letters and their sounds memorized.”

Raising his eyebrows, Garrett looked at Ryn in surprise. He’d created the flashcards in her dream on a whim, without expecting that they would serve as more than a distraction, but clearly they were working. Listening as she launched into a recitation of the alphabet and the sounds for each letter, he couldn’t help but wonder if this could be replicated. Ryn was highly motivated to learn to read, which could be seen from the way she’d thrown herself into her studies during the day, so adding studying in her dreams had doubled the effectiveness of her learning.

“That’s really impressive. It’s only been two days since you started learning. Today let’s practice sounding out words. At the same time, we’ll start creating some vocab lists.”

“What’s a vocab list?” Ryn asked, her eyes shining.

“It’s just a list of words for you to memorize,” Garrett said. “It’s not as exciting as you’re imagining. I don’t see Gorn and the others. Do you know how things went last night?”

Shaking her head, Ryn looked around at the empty tables.

“No, I’m not sure.”

Just then, the door banged open and Henrick, Gorn, and Obe walked in, leading the rest of the gang. Seeing that Reeve was still present, and was actually walking close to Obe, Garrett smiled. Catching sight of Garrett and Ryn at the table, Henrick walked over and sat down in one of the empty seats. Though his face was impassive, it wasn’t hard to tell that the gang’s boss was in a great mood. A small sack landed on the table with a thud, and Henrick slid it in front of Garrett.

“That was the smoothest operation I’ve ever been a part of. Plus, we caught the spy.”

Feigning shock, Garrett’s eyes darted to the group, widening when he didn’t spot Yenis. Watching him carefully, Henrick saw the shift in his expression and his lips parted in a tight grin.

“The spy was Yenis,” Henrick stated, matter-of-factly.

“How did you find out?” Garrett asked, his voice equal parts relieved and frustrated.

“He was silenced by the Swamp Sharks. He’d gone with Obe and they targeted him first. No doubt to get rid of any evidence. But we found this in his coat,” Henrick said, sliding a letter across the table to Garrett.

“Hmm. On the one hand, it’s a shame since we won’t be able to use him, but getting rid of the spy is good too,” Garrett replied, opening up the letter and frowning when he saw the code.

“Exactly. And we traded one spy for two Awakened. A pretty good deal, if I do say so myself.”

“Two? What happened?”

“Lose the long face,” Henrick said, slapping Garrett on the shoulder. “We took down the Shark twins, and killed everyone but Ruel. He’s going to have to go into hiding to avoid losing his head to Vic, so it’s as good as having killed him. Whew, it’s been a long night, so I’m going to bed. This is a bit of something to express our appreciation for your planning. Keep up the good work.”

With a nod to Ryn, Henrick got up and walked away, leaving Garrett to look at the small pouch curiously. Untying the cord that bound it, he flipped it over and watched with appreciation as two gold and a small pile of silver tumbled out onto the table.