Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 92

Chapter 92: A new vision
Sanders smiled at Trace patiently. “Did you know I’ve watched you since you were a child?”

“That’s not at all alarming or unnerving,” Trace rolled his eyes and then went back to glancing across more windows as they passed.

They were in something like a long, white hallway lined with mirrors, but instead of reflections of themselves, images of magic users bending their crafts to various goals rested in each one.

“You look into people’s minds. Myself, simply their past.” Sanders shrugged. “Which is more unnerving?”

Touche.

“What was your point?” Trace swallowed.

“I have seen the lives of every magic user.” Sanders continued as if Trace had never spoken. “Such fascinating lives, varied and colorful, and enthralling, if their power is strong enough.”

“And Oakdown’s?” Trace frowned.

“I’m afraid Oakdown commanded me not to talk about the first time I saw him.” Sanders eyed Trace and came to a stop.

Trace gritted his teeth, knowing the information must be important, and having no idea how to access it… until he realized they were no longer walking.

The window nearest to the pair was shining. Trace blinked, gazing into it as Sanders’ breathing calmed.

A vast, nearly unfathomably large cavern appeared as Trace watched. The ceiling was dripping with rock formations, the floor uneven save for a narrow path that seemed to run between the stalagmites.

Trace took a step forward as he watched a pair of men make their way along the trail, avoiding ponds of crystal-clear water and bulbous outcroppings of stone.

In the very center of the cavern, there was, against all logic, a shining tree that looked as if it were woven from golden wire. Spiraling upward until it occupied more than half the height of the enormous space, its branches sprawled outward, reflecting and magnifying the light from the two torches the men held.

As they drew closer, the light became even greater, as if the tree were responding to their presence, greeting them. The tips of its branches held not green leaves, nor needles like an pine, but rather, leaf-shaped shards of stone.

The lowest of these shone fiery red: rubies glowing as if they were molten rock rather than solid. In the branches just above these, the ‘leaves’ were a brilliant orange-yellow topaz, followed by a mossy green jade, diamonds, sapphires, tanzanite, and other remarkable gems Trace couldn’t begin to name.

He gasped at its beauty. The delicate golden branches held each stone in place, absolutely still, and yet the entire tree seemed alive with movement, faintly swaying in some unfathomable underground wind.

“Where is this?” He asked breathlessly, anxious to see this sight in person.

“I do not know.” Sanders frowned. “I have seen it for as long as I can remember.”

The men with the torches drew close to the tree, and the second one marveled.

“When that Foundrel brat said some treasure was buried in the caves, I thought she was lying.”

It was Oakdown, dressed in sheriff’s garb. This must have happened before he became a Count.

“It’s beautiful. The diamonds alone will be enough to buy us each anything we ever wanted,” The second man, whom Trace didn’t recognize, spoke with a gleam in his eye.

The Count walked closer, reaching to one of the lower branches and gently pulling a ruby the size of his fist off of the tree.

The golden timber groaned in protest, and trembled. The enormous stone crumbled in Oakdown’s grasp.

“What the–” He stuttered before he convulsed in agony. “GAH!”

Oakdown fell to the floor of the enormous cavern, seizing and writhing as he screamed. The second man turned white as a sheet as his eyes stared in horror.

Slowly, the movement ceased, and Oakdown grew still. The other man moved closer, tentatively.

“Get away from me,” Oakdown snapped, causing the second man to jump several feet away. Confused, he looked down at himself.

“What did you just do to me?” He questioned, alarmed.

“I… I think I used magic,” Oakdown slowly sat up and looked down at himself.

“What?” The other’s eyes brightened, “Then I should–”

“No! Stop!” Oakdown commanded, freezing the man in place.

“What are you doing, Barnabas? If I also get magic, then together we can–”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen, Verito.” Oakdown shook his head. “In fact, I’m not sure I can allow you to know about this place.”

“What do you mean?” Verito swallowed. “You’re the sheriff, tasked with enforcing the law out here. Surely you wouldn’t…”

“I could command you to forget, but… I don’t know how long that holds yet, or how well. So I think we should test this out, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about, Barnabas? I’ve been your deputy for almost a year, we’re in this together…” Verito seemed frozen in place until the future Count spoke again.

“Remember that bottomless pit we passed on the way down into this cavern? Go throw yourself into it.”

“WHAT??” The man’s feet began to move even as he questioned the command.

“Kill yourself, so that you cannot reveal this place, or its fortune, to anyone. I’ll also have to find out a way to wipe out anyone…”

His contemplations continued aloud as Verito disappeared from view. A horrible, echoing scream permeated the cave as the vision finished.

“Why didn’t you tell the king as soon as you saw this??” Trace turned and demanded of Sanders. “The man is a monster!”

“I do not usually see things immediately as they happen.” The older man sighed heavily. “As I told you, I have always seen this tree, and never seen anything happen here before. I had no reason to watch it constantly.

“The first I heard of Barnabas, soon to be the Count of Oakdown, was when my sister began to whisper to me that a man had taken her captive. She said if I valued her life, I must not speak of him to the king. I am known amongst the higher nobility, as you have seen, but I never thought that would endanger her.

“It was only after hearing her that I found this vision and learned who he was, and what he had done. It terrified me, but there was little I could do, for upon our first meeting he exerted his will on me. I have learned to circumvent his instructions, and understand the extent of his power. Yet, I cannot overcome it alone. I need your help.”