Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 189

Chapter 189: Intense struggle
Trace desperately pulled the supernaturally strong soldier into a headlock, hoping to choke him unconscious. He was easily thrown off.

“Please, stop me–kill me if you need to!” The man begged, continuing his efforts at the wall.

His comrades in arms, seeing the desperation of the situation, tried to accommodate him, trying to impale him with a spear.

But of course, dying would get in the way of the command, and so the compelled soldier blocked the blow before continuing to rip at the entrance.

Trace had thought strength was a great asset. If the cave-in had failed to properly trigger, their new friend could have pushed the boulders manually into place and held them there.

He had not anticipated this scenario. He had been a fool.

“EMILY!” Sanders screamed from behind him. “WHERE IS EMILY?”

“I’m–I’m here!” She cried softly from the shadows, stepping forward.

“I… I need you right now, Sister,” Sanders held out his hand, tears coming to his eyes as he looked at her. “Did you see Count Oakdown? When he was in here?”

“No, I was hiding,” Emily shrank back timidly, though she took her brother’s hand.

“I’m so sorry to ask this of you,” He looked into her eyes, “but please. Wait beside me until you see the man trapped in there. As soon as you’ve seen his face, as soon as you’ve met him, I need you to run. Run as fast as you can, as deep as you need to, into the cave.”

“Oh… No, Sanders…!” Anaisa interrupted. “You can’t! Emily is…”

“Perhaps our only hope.” Sanders turned to the woman. “He is close to being out of commands for now, but that will change when he gets free and approaches the tree… Emily, when you get closer to the tree, I need you to start screaming into his brain. Kill him from the inside.”

“What–” Emily’s eyes went round and vulnerable.

“She’s not a killer, this wasn’t her purpose here–” Trace tried to intervene.

“To kill this one person will save us all,” Sanders said seriously.

“Don’t make her–” Anaisa put in.

“Do you have a better plan, or was this the end of your contingencies?” Sanders turned with desperate eyes, “Because your strong friend is going to have Oakdown out in a matter of moments.”

Trace’s heart froze with grief as Emily’s face flooded with tears.

She wasn’t a killer. It had eaten her up inside that she’d almost accidentally killed Martin. She wasn’t meant for this.

Yet, he had no better plan to offer at this point.

“Father, once she’s seen him, delay Oakdown as long as possible,” Trace turned to his father. “Run now so that he cannot command you to stop. Take Mother and Calvin with you. Emily, let him know with a whisper when he should start.”

The hope that his mother would be able to muffle the Count’s words below the level at which they could be heard, and thus impeding his commands, turned out to not be effective, so Trace wanted her as far away as possible from danger.

The first trio fled, and Sanders tightened an arm around his sister.

“Be brave,” He whispered. “I’m here.”

Tears poured from Emily’s eyes. She desperately wiped them away as she watched intently. The strong soldier continued to pull boulders away from the entry, though his hands bled and his muscles, even magically augmented, had to be screaming with the exertion.

“One minute,” The second soldier whispered. “Until everyone’s emotions spike.”

Trace blinked, and nodded. “Less than a minute, Emily. Get ready to run.”

The second soldier pursed his lips and then ran towards the mouth of the cave to rejoin his comrades. Trace didn’t stop him, understanding that duty to the king and his commander was greater than his use here.

The king’s men could also use the encouragement to hurry the monarch as far away as possible to break Oakdown’s hold.

They had time to get back to the city and call off the wedding before Denholm grew suspicious and did something drastic.

Trace braced himself, and Anaisa moved to his side.

“Go, Quickly,” He urged her.

“I will, after Emily,” His wife looked at him. “I would only get in her way and slow her down.”

He glanced down. He remembered how she’d limped into the cave, and his face morphed into a mask of anger.

“What he did to you—”

“Can be healed by the doctor,” She broke in. “What did he just say about one minute?”

“That’s a long story, but get ready,” He crouched low, torn between throwing himself at Oakdown in the hopes of knocking the man out as soon as he was visible, and grabbing his wife and carrying her as quickly away from danger as he could.

“I’m ready, as long as I’m with you,” She answered, and he spared her a brief smile.

Facing things together put her in more danger than he wanted, but being by her side was far better than being separated.

The soldier finished pulling the last boulder aside. The glow of the fake jewels delicately lit the inside of the room as the burly man collapsed to the ground, looking nearly dead with exhaustion. The command which had compelled him must have used a huge amount of Oakdown’s power, but now that it was completed… that left Oakdown with at least one command to spare.

The Count sneered as he stepped back through the opening.

Trace lunged at him.

“Protect me,” The Count turned on the half-dead soldier, with a deep and warbling voice. The unwitting man leapt to his feet and knocked Trace aside with his inhuman strength.

The farmer hit the middle of his back against the cave wall. Pain flashed across his vision, blinding him for a moment. As his eyes cleared, out of the corner of his periphery he saw Emily run. He hoped she was fast enough.

“You closed the exit,” Oakdown’s tone was mildly impressed. “And got rid of the witnesses… well, most of them. I suppose we’ll get rid of the rest at that convenient bottomless pit on the way down to the tree. You’ll have the duration of the walk down to make your goodbyes to each other.”