Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 434

Chapter 434: Wake me up inside
Mia had been sitting anxiously beside the sleeping people, wondering how long it would take, when her aunt woke in a panic.

“Get him out! They need out!” She cried hoarsely.

Sapphira immediately began shaking her husband, prodding him, and even slapping him across the face until he groggily came to.

All eyes turned to Trace.

He should be able to wake himself more easily than anyone else could. He should be able to pull himself out of even the most stubborn dreams with ease, shouldn’t he?

Mia had always looked up to her uncle for his magic, as well as his other qualities. Surely she couldn’t doubt them now.

“TRACE!” Anaisa shook her husband’s shoulders desperately. “Please, wake up! Wake up!”

The man remained still, breathing slowly.

Mia shivered with the chill of the possibility he wouldn’t, suddenly feeling rather cold, and her mind raced as she tried to think of some way to help.

“Denholm!” She threw a sharp look at the man, who seemed nervous. “Make Trace’s body feel as if it’s being doused in ice water!”

When she was little, it had snowed, and she’d woken rather suddenly to her brothers throwing snowballs at her in bed. The melting water had been atrocious, but she’d been instantly wide awake.

“I’m a bit busy, if you hadn’t noticed.” Denholm sneered. “Get the old men to hit him with a rock or make a fly buzz in his ear.”

“NOW!” She screamed, ready to become violent if he didn’t do as she asked. “We’ll all die without him, and that includes you!”

He glared at her for a moment, and then smiled slowly.

“A rude awakening does sound like what our dear Trace deserves, doesn’t it?” He said. “Perhaps even a bit more rude…”

Denholm glanced at the sleeping man’s form and narrowed his eyes slightly. Mia held her breath.

What was she doing? Denholm was unpredictable. Evil. Giving him ideas, asking for his help! Was she insane??

Trace’s body convulsed, and he bolted upright quickly enough to knock Anaisa away.

“Wha—wha–STOP!”

His voice was a mixture of chattering and rage, and his body continued to shudder violently for several more seconds.

“Ah, just wanted to make sure you were thoroughly awake,” Denholm raised one eyebrow, and Trace looked like he was going to attack the man.

“Never again,” He warned.

“Your lovely niece told me to wake you!” Denholm raised an offended hand to his chest. “I just saved your life.”

“You–” Trace’s statement was cut short as he jumped to his feet. “Later. He’s trying to wake and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Not in a particularly jovial mood just now, is he?” Denholm mocked. “I can’t blame him after uninvited visitors of such low quality.”

“I asked for your actions, not your commentary,” Mia snapped at him, and Denholm rolled his eyes.

Trace waved his hand, and fine dust appeared in the air, landing all over the Emperor’s face.

Mia stilled, figuring out for the first time that the enormous being’s breathing had changed. No longer deep and slow, it was growing shallower and lighter.

Just as her uncle had said, the being was waking. She didn’t like that at all.

And none of the other magic users had anything to contribute whatsoever.

She looked for a way to keep the Emperor asleep, knowing in her heart that wasn’t how her gift worked. Nothing happened.

“Can’t you do anything?” Mia asked the wight, who stood to one side watching with an expressionless face. “Open the window wider to let more magic in them or something? Bring some jewels up to strengthen them??”

The wight tilted its head slightly and moved towards the window, responding to her request in some way. That was… something, at least.

“What do we do?” Ford asked Trace.

“Prepare. He’s trying to burst the dream and wake up… It’s destabilizing. I have to keep it intact, but to do that, I might need to let off some pressure and… a few things might get out,” Trace glanced over his shoulder at the group.

Dark circles under his eyes testified to his exhaustion. His shoulders sagged under the weight of the world he carried on them.

“We’re ready. Do whatever is needed,” Grandpa spoke for everyone, and Webster nodded.

They had managed a system of keeping Webster alive involving tying him up tightly while Grandpa rested, since the old man didn’t control insects while he slept.

The monster would have reverted to its violent, unpredictable state. So, as Grandpa got tired, he would have Webster walk to a corner and stand perfectly still while he was secured in place.

It was wildly useful to have him available to defend the humans from anything that escaped the dreams… like they were about to do, now.

“What did you say to him to make him so mad?” Martin frowned.

Mia glanced at him. “Does that matter right now?”

“It might. I don’t plan on talking much, but if I say a few words I don’t want them to be the ones that will send that thing over the edge into a murderous rage.” Martin crinkled his brows together.

“He’s already been in a murderous rage for a long time!” Ford told the older miner. “I doubt anything you say can make it much better or worse at this point.”

“Will you all shut up?” Denholm snapped. “Blasted difficult to concentrate with all this chatter.”

“For once, the idiot and I agree,” Trace huffed, sweat pouring down his brow. “Everyone ready?”

Mia moved away from the pillow with Anaisa and Sapphira. It was an unspoken rule that the woman would take a backup role while the men engaged in melee.

Most of the men were protective, especially if one discounted Denholm’s disdain for chivalry.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be all right. It has to be,” Anaisa murmured to the other two ladies. The princess nodded confidently, but Mia sent a worried look towards Ford.

She didn’t want anything bad to happen to any of them, but his self-sacrificial habit made him the subject of particular worry.

A popping sound preceded the flood of nightmares.