Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 433

Chapter 433: Off
Trace blinked.

“Audacity.”

The single word was so pervasive that it shook the ground around them.

Though the effect was alarming at first, it was easily achieved by anyone in even moderate control of their dreams. It spoke little of the volume of the voice and more the consciousness of the dreamer.

His eyes narrowed. Something was a little off.

But what?

The Emperor did not turn, not even his head to look at them. The three humans stared for a moment, and Ben took half a step forward and bowed deeply.

“I am Prince Ben, emissary of King Harold. Though it may indeed seem audacious for me to speak, I must do so now, for the sake of humanity. We seek restoration of peace between my people and your eminence.”

Another long stretch of silence felt like sinking beneath the waves of a vast sea, but Trace’s eyes were trained on the hulking form in front of them.

The light given off by Trace’s creations was not abundant. In fact, it was extremely muted from what he was fully capable of… but one did not run about changing another’s dream too much.

If the Emperor wanted it dark, Trace would only push back against that a certain amount. Could only push back against that a certain amount.

For the Emperor was more powerful than any other dreamer he’d ever encountered.

“Brazen,” The voice rumbled again, and this time, Trace registered the fact that the echo was not quite what it should be.

A quirk of the dream, or…?

“If it is brazen to ask for peace, than I am wholeheartedly so.” Ben declared boldly. “I want nothing more than to provide the opportunity for safe, quiet lives for my people. I hope you can see fit to speak with me so that I may achieve that goal.”

The hulking form still did not move, and Ben took another half step forward. Trace still held onto the man with one hand, determined not to let them become separated. He was still suspicious of everything here, and would never forgive himself for carelessness.

“Prevaricator.”

While the Emperor seemed to have a far wider vocabulary than his smaller counterparts, he certainly didn’t waste a single word.

“I speak truth,” Ben said more humbly. “Humans thrive in peace, and I seek that more than anything else. Peace amongst people and peace between us and others. You seem to have no love for our race, and that is understandable given your past interactions. However, I am prepared to negotiate a cessation of all human presence on Wight lands with a promise of no interference or encroachment on your affairs or possessions.”

Anaisa’s hand tensed in Trace’s. Did she see something he didn’t?

“LIAR!”

The roar made Trace fully absorb what his mind had been trying to pick at since they landed down here on the floor. The voice was huge and full of emotion, but the form they spoke to remained perfectly still.

Too still for the amount of emotion rolling through the darkened canyon.

“Look out!”

Trace snapped out the words as he pulled the other two forward as hard as he could, heaving up a wall behind them as he did.

The bricks materialized instantly out of nothing and turned to steel.

Half a second later they were vaporized as a massive fist crashed through them at breakneck speed.

It landed where the humans had just stood, slamming into the ground hard enough to create a network of cracks through the rock that spread like harrowing spiderwebs across the ground… and grew to entangle the feet of the humans.

Trace ignited fire in a semicircle behind them, slowing but not stopping the violent progression.

“Wake up!” He cried to his wife. “Get out!”

“With pleasure.”

Trace’s heart stopped. Surely not… surely…

As Anaisa’s hand disappeared from his, Trace concentrated on protecting Ben, pulling layers of rock around them.

He was tempted to flee upward, but this entire world was within the Emperor’s control. There was no place apart from his influence.

Two flying humans would be a prime target for one so large as the Emperor, anyway.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up,” He chanted softly to Ben.

“I’m trying,” Sapphira’s husband seemed strained.

Conjuring sleep powder, Trace showered it with abandon over the entire area the Emperor occupied. Heaven only knew if it would have any effect here, but he couldn’t do nothing.

Another earth-shaking fist struck the ground, pulverizing Trace’s barriers as he pulled Ben back further. Two of the fireflies were crushed.

“Peace! We are here for peace, and truth!” Ben cried. “Do not mistake us for others, it has been many generations! We are not the same as that man!”

“Magic users. Thieves.” The Emperor intoned, and Trace struggled to evade the fingers grasping at him.

Fingers that could easily crush him in their grasp.

“I didn’t choose to have magic! I was born with it,” He defended himself, but he knew the defense would ring hollow. Others with them had magic taken directly from the stolen tree. “We didn’t know!”

Finally, Ben vanished from beside him, and Trace clenched his empty hands, concentrating on getting back to consciousness.

His magic was waning, and Trace was spent. It was also more difficult to wake up than it should be. Why wasn’t he sitting up, gasping right now?

“Stay,” The Emperor commanded, and Trace felt a sort of movement in his soul. One that was vaguely familiar, and drove him to panic.

“Do not command me! I am not your subject!” He called, pulling up yet another wall of rock to fend off the Emperor’s hands. “Let me leave.”

He would not lose the freedom of his will. Not again. Especially not within a dream. Dreams were his playground, his expertise.

“Let me know if you want to talk peace again,” He murmured into the darkness as another firefly was destroyed.

Curling down into a ball, he willed himself harder than ever to wake.