Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 156

Chapter 156: Hope
Trace gritted his teeth and tried to soften his tone as he spoke to Emily again.

“In reality, I am somewhere, hundreds of feet above your head. I am looking for you. When I wake, I will continue to look for you. I’m asking for your help, and I find your lack of enthusiasm somewhat disheartening.”

She blinked at him, slowly absorbing the information. “You’re… nearby?”

“The range of my ability to reach other people’s dreams is not all that far,” Trace told her. “I believe I’m nearly directly over you, more or less, but I haven’t yet found the cave entrance. When I do, I can plan your liberation.”

Emily looked up at the ceiling above her, concentrating.

“From this room, they always come from that direction,” She stood and took him to a doorway that suddenly appeared through the rock, pointing. “When they first brought me, it was several minutes of walking before they put me here, with twists and turns along the way. I do not know if there are other passages.”

“The men you’ve seen, are they armed?” Trace pressed.

“Daggers.” Emily nodded.

Trace wondered if the passages grew too narrow in places to make swords practicable, or if they just didn’t have any large weapons.

“Have you been anywhere else in the cavern? Have you seen the tree?” The farmer wanted to gauge the size of the place if he could, how much deeper it went.

“Tree? I’ve only been here,” Emily seemed confused.

“Anything else you can tell me at all?” Trace urged. He didn’t know how long he had before one of them woke.

“There was some commotion a few days ago,” Emily closed her eyes. “Voices, in the passage. New ones.”

“What kind of voices?” Trace pressed.

“A child crying,” Emily pursed her lips. “Women, and men.”

“How many?” He gulped.

“It is hard to say, the cave echoes so even two people can sound like many,” The magical woman closed her eyes. “But at least two children, and some adults.”

“Thank you,” Trace smiled briefly, but his heart raced. More prisoners likely meant more guards. It might be far more difficult to rescue anyone than he’d thought.

Who was being held here? Would Oakdown force children to take on magical powers from the tree and then raise them in a way that would bend them to his will? That might be easier than trying to control independently-minded adults.

Maybe they were going to sleep by now. The evening must be wearing on, and he could perhaps find out more about them…

“I must go,” He told Emily, “We will come to rescue you, soon.”

“Have we met?” She asked suddenly, puzzling him.

“Pardon me?”

“I can whisper to people I’ve met, but I’ve never had anyone come into a dream before. Does this mean we’ve met, Trace?”

“I don’t know,” He blinked at her. “I suppose we’ll find out when you try to talk to me after waking up. Sanders told me you whisper to him all the time.”

“I did not expect him to be listening, after all this time.” Emily’s eyes filled with tears. “I thought he abandoned me.”

Trace’s heart broke for the woman. “Don’t give up. I have to go now. I have more investigating to do.”

“But when–” Emily began, her eyes growing larger.

“I do not know when I can rescue you, but it will be soon. I promise, we will not abandon you.”

She nodded, and Trace retreated from the dream, looking around in all directions. Far above him, it seemed that little Ewan was napping.

Nearby, however, he saw a new nebulous orb coming into being. Who was falling asleep? A guard? Another captive?

Trace took a deep breath, stepping up to the translucent bubble. He didn’t think it was a child, like Emily had mentioned.

He laid his hand on the edge, and felt intense anxiety, and anger. That wasn’t terribly informative. A guard or a hostage might have those emotions. There wasn’t much else he could do besides step into the dream to find out more.

It was strange how a year ago, he hadn’t looked at another person’s dreams since he was a child. Since then, it seemed like he spent barely any time in his own dreams, limited though they were. Rebuilding his world was taking time.

Through the translucent barrier, he found himself lost in a dense crowd of people in a close imitation of the capital city. There were faces all around, some in sharp detail, others blurry and indistinct.

He took a deep breath and moved towards the center, where the dreamer likely was. Dreams like this weren’t terribly common, but they did happen. He would have to look carefully without being noticed.

He frowned. There were so many people here, all looking busy and anxious as they went on their ways. Behind him, one figure stood out as having particularly strong emotion surrounding him.

Trace turned, and watched a man with sandy hair and green eyes wind his way through the crowd. He was following someone. Trace looked ahead, and saw a couple moving through the streets. The fear surrounding them was palpable as they avoided their pursuer.

But who was the dreamer?

Following the man, Trace felt trepidation mixed with hope. He had an inkling who the couple might be. If the dreamer was this guard, then it was entirely possible he was angry and anxious because the people escaped from him.

Trace hoped that was the case. The chase intensified. The couple glanced over their shoulders, and the stalker quickened his pace until he was running through the streets. The noise of the crowd crescendoed, adding to the chaos of the dream, and the anger in it.

There was fear, too, but was it fear of being caught, or fear of what would happen if the quarry got away?

The dreamwalker hurried to catch up with them, just as the woman tripped and fell, holding her stomach, and the man stopped to defend her, only to be tackled by the chaser.

The rest of the dream faded away as Trace stared into the dreamer’s face.