Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 394

Chapter 394: Keep calm and carry on
Ford didn’t panic. The group was invisible, though that seemed redundant in the darkness. His shielding, he knew, also kept the group from being heard.

But as to the other senses… he could obviously be touched, as he’d learned several times over.

From the memory of his kiss with Mia, he could recall the alluring scent of her hair, and the taste of her lips.

So if this animal, a creature of darkness and fear, hunted by smell…

Mia began to move strangely. He couldn’t tell what she was signaling at all. Did they need to run? Hide? Flee?

Fight?

Striking while invisible would give them an edge, but the creature before them was so massive that they still had little hope of defeating it.

It raised one of its large, terrifying feet, as if preparing to crush the humans with one titanic blow of its ten-toed clawed appendages… and then flailed it back and forth lightly.

It was… waving?

Mia moved again, and Ford felt a second hand join hers on him. A large hand, it squeezed twice, and firmly.

Ford hesitated, but dropped his magic. As soon as he did, the cave was reilluminated by the lamp and torch, and Ford saw Grandpa holding his arm and grinning.

“Like him? I’m gonna call him Webster.”

“Like him?” Ford repeated dully, looking over the creature with new eyes.

He could see it more clearly now. Not just glittering eyes, it had the general shape of a spider, but with six spindly legs instead of eight. Large antlers ended in points, with nearly-transparent strings of a web strung between them.

“That thing counts as a bug?” Mia was the first of the group to catch on, and a shudder rolled down Ford’s spine.

“Sure, unless you think he’s coincidentally doing exactly what I want him to,” Grandpa replied easily. “Saw the number of legs, thought I’d try, and now looks like we don’t have to walk that much after all.”

“You intend for us to ride your new pet?” Anaisa seemed repulsed by the idea.

“You’re welcome to walk if you want to,” Grandpa stepped forward from the others as Webster lowered a front leg into a kind of kneeling position, allowing the man to climb up easily onto its thorax. “I’m gonna take a break.”

“I’ll join you,” Mia volunteered, following her grandfather onto the strange perch.

“Can it attack other stuff?” Martin asked, and Grandpa shrugged.

“Sure, he seems tough. I bet he can take on whatever we see.”

“Good enough,” Martin went up after Mia, leaving Ford and Anaisa to stare at each other.

The redhead stared warily up at the enormous… bug. For it must be a bug, mustn’t it?

“I don’t like it,” She frowned deeply, and he shrugged.

“Me neither. I’ll stay down here with you if you aren’t going to join them.” Ford nodded.

As her brother–probably–he felt some responsibility not to leave her alone.

Anaisa clenched her jaw as Webster swayed lightly in a taunting dance.

“Grandpa.” She warned with a stern air, and the old man snorted.

“Thought you might be convinced if you saw how fun it was,” He goaded. Webster lifted a foreleg and gestured as if to poke Anaisa. She glared until the leg was lowered once more.

“Enough. Fine, I’ll come, just… stop that.” She told him tightly.

And so, the final two humans of the expedition climbed atop the unusual mount, and they restarted their steady progress through the tunnel.

But much faster.

The creaking movement of Webster’s long legs was quite swift compared to the short strides of the humans. In no time at all, the ambient light became brighter, causing Ford to snuff out his lamp and put it away.

Webster’s back, though hunched into an asymmetrical curve, was wide and just flat enough for the group to sit easily, with space between them.

Nevertheless, Ford had taken up a position right next to Mia. She was leaning against his arm, scooting closer as she shivered against the rush of air Webster’s speed brought to their faces.

Ford laid a hand over hers, staring ahead. The tunnel was about to open up into a cavern far more vast than even that impossible-seeming place where the pair had ventured so near to the beginning of their acquaintance.

Back when he was far closer to the shameful, selfish person he’d been most of his life.

This chance to redeem himself would not be wasted. He would undo the damage that he’d had a hand in causing.

As Webster reached the very edge of the tunnel, he paused, letting everyone’s eyes adjust to the change.

Ford gaped.

The tree–Martin’s tree, from the cave–had been a sapling. The forest Mia had told them about was indeed here, but far more fantastic than she could ever have described to him.

Oak, Cypress, Cedar, all manner of trees grew taller than he’d known trees could! They were probably taller than the copper mines were deep! And all golden and dripping with glittering jewels. He marveled at such a phenomenon for a moment before Grandpa had Webster skitter down the slope from the tunnel and into the thick of the magical forest.

Just before they dropped below the tops of the trees, he looked across the forest and saw, on the far side, a great distance away, an enormous obsidian castle gleaming in the light of the bejeweled trees.

Its spires were indeed similar to the projected images Daniel had created in the air, but far more terrifying in person. Though Ford had seen the wights before and survived, and in fact not seen them kill any people, he still had a difficult time believing that anything but evil could reside in such an edifice.

The air below the jeweled canopy was heavily laden with magic. Each leaf of each tree gave off its own glow, reflected of the golden trunks and refracted by the other trees. Rainbows and all colors of light danced as a gentle breeze made the branches sway gently and clink like wind chimes or soft laughter.

Ford wondered just exactly how many mysteries lay in this unknown place.