Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 360

Chapter 360: A familiar presence
Ford walked slowly forward, up the cliffside. Part of him knew how silly it was to leave the others behind in the cave when his powers weren’t working, but the illogic of his decision didn’t quite reach his mind.

He pressed onward, up, climbing the shelves ahead of him through the blinding sheets of rain.

Whatever was at the top, he needed it. Badly.

Lightning struck all around with increasing frequency and intensity, but he ignored it, plodding upward.

The air crackled with magic. Palpable magic. As the lightning struck the ground, Ford felt he could reach out and touch it. Restore his abilities, for they were gone at the moment.

Shelf after shelf, he climbed through the cascading waterfalls that flooded down the cliffside, as if he were scaling a riverbed.

At the top, he could not know what waited. Below…

Well, there was only darkness below. Each level disappeared after his feet left it behind.

He did not dwell on this curious occurrence, opting to press ever upward.

It seemed ages, an eternal struggle up the slick, chalky surface. The lightning was almost a solid, strobing presence around him, illuminating his way.

His eyes were heavy, movements growing sluggish. Why was he here? What was he doing?

At long last, his right hand gripped what he hoped was the top of the cliff.

Pulling his other arm alongside and lifting himself up until he could peek over the edge, his muscles strained, but did not give out.

The white-scaled monsters, great and powerful, all stood perfectly still on the plateau at the top of the cliff. Jaws open wide, they seemed to stare at the heavens… to catch the rain in their mouths?

No, no that couldn’t be right, could it?

As the lightning struck, the beasts hissed with delight. Ford watched with fascinated horror as the bolts directly hit monster after monster.

None of them reacted with anything other than muted, statuesque joy. Unmoving, unchanging, but clearly deriving something from the bizarre display.

Their scales seemed to possess a soft luminescence here, or perhaps the unceasing strobe of the sky only made it appear so.

Slowly, Ford let his gaze be drawn to the far side of the group of massive beasts with wide-open jaws. There stood a copse of trees, and a strange cave with an entrance seemingly made of wood.

It was as if multiple evergreens had twisted together to form a tunnel that plowed into the rock of a mountain. With an odd absence of fear, Ford began winding his way between the motionless reptiles. The flashes did not deter him, nor the booms of thunder.

He was focused on the trees, and whatever was drawing him there.

Only once did one of the creatures move to snap at him, but it quickly fell still once more before taking any part of him as a bite.

There was something, there, in the tunnel. A vague silhouette. Nothing else mattered.

As he neared, it grew in size–no, it was simply standing up–the form of a man.

A familiar man.

Brown, loose hair draped across fervent blue eyes. They pierced Ford with a sharp look, one full of pain and sorrow.

“Trace!”

Ford had only seen this man once or twice, but recognition seemed based on something entirely other than his appearance. Deeper.

“I don’t know who this dream will reach,” Trace looked at him steadily, “but I had to send it out, buried in the storm of magic. I don’t even know what you’ll dream about when you see me… or if you’ll remember once you wake. But please, listen as closely as you can.”

Ford shook his head as the man paused. This was a dream? The next clap of thunder shook the ground, and the image Trace grimaced.

“Please, hold onto the dream as long as you can. I don’t know if I’ll get another chance. Whoever you are, find Anaisa. Find my wife. Tell her I love her. My father, my brother, they are probably determined to come and find me. They won’t listen if you tell them to turn back, but, please tell them to be careful. The wights do not want intruders. They cast one out, a man named Martin who tried to tunnel into their caves.”

Ford was momentarily befuddled. Martin? Martin was dead. Nothing about this all made sense. Why was he here? Was this really a dream, or something else? The thunder shook the world again, and Trace’s words became faster, tumbling out as if he were running out of time.

“Tell my brother, Seth, to find Martin. The man knows a lot about the caves, and how to get in. He failed, but he knows a way to avoid most of the dangers. I’ve told my captors of my family, and I don’t think they’ll be harmed, but they won’t be protected, either, from the other things in the caves. I need to talk to my family.

“I’m being held here, prisoner, to keep the Wight Emperor’s dreams from destroying the world. I have enough power to control them, for now, but I need help stopping them for good. I’m letting this one out as a message, but if they found out I did this on purpose, I don’t know what would happen.”

Ford’s eyes widened. “What? Wights?”

“The emperor is old. I overheard the scouts say an army of humans is on the way. If you’re with that army, please… turn back. Go home. You cannot beat them, and will only provoke them. You cannot defeat this by force.”

“Defeat what???” Ford grew alarmed, but it was as if the man before him couldn’t hear a word he said.

“I have to go. Please, remember as much as you can. Determine now that you will remember, recite everything I’ve said, if you can. It will help cement it. Whatever images you have, put my words against them, link them together. Please remember.”

“How could I forget??” Ford demanded harshly, confused by the request.

“Tell Anaisa, Trace loves her,” The image before Ford’s eyes began to waver, a little like Daniel’s images. “She already knows, but tell her anyway. And my sons… they should know, too.”

Ford gasped out loud as he was thrust from the comfort of sleep and back into the darkened white cave.

“What was that??”