"The Dreamers"

Chapter 01 Chapter 02 Chapter 03 Chapter 04 Chapter 05 Chapter 06 Chapter 07 Chapter 08 Chapter 09 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37

“It’s amazing how quickly he heals…” one of the doctors commented, referring to the lowly man who had been sent to inform the Apacian army to ignore their previous orders. “He got over a dozen arrows shot into his body, and not one of them penetrated any major organs… It’s amazing how lucky this poor fellow has been.”

“May I return to see the king now?” the timid little man asked.

“Are you insane?!” objected one of the other physicians. “You have at least twenty holes in your body! Granted, none of them did any real damage, and most of them barely penetrated your skin, but I think it would be wise to rest for a while.”

“No, I’m fine thank you,” replied the diminutive servant. “I feel fine. Now may I return to my work please?”

“Well…okay. If you say you feel all right then I suppose it’s okay to release you from our care.” With this bill of health, the small man left the medical ward and returned to inform the king of his mission’s failure.

“Lesson 23… While agility and speed are the fundamentals of most types of war, a stout defense can often be the best offense. Take the tree for instance,” Rune said, pointing towards a nearby oak. “It possesses obviously no agility of any kind, yet it can stand the fury of a raging storm. Granted this is not an exact analogy, but you can see my point nonetheless.”

“Exactly how many of these lessons are there?” Venge asked with a sense of irritation in his voice. “I mean, lesson 23? Come on, there has to be an end to all of this.”

“The lessons will continue until you can get that sword, Venge. Until that time, I suggest that you learn to enjoy your training.”

“I am actually enjoying the training… I wasn’t at first, but I am enjoying it to a point. Although this is the first time we’ve trained outside of our regular meeting place. I guess part of my training was coming here to Cadea, right?”

“Precisely… I told you to come here so that you would have a chance to practice your lessons. I suspect that things went well?”

“Well, yes… I felt almost unstoppable out there yesterday. …I met Marcus Einlanzer while I was fighting I’m sure you know.”

“Yes, another desire of my own. I felt that you were being brainwashed by Apacian propaganda, so I made sure you had a chance to meet your ‘betrayer’ first hand.”

“I can see now that most of what I was told was a lie or just misconstrued… Marcus was forced into turning his business over to Barosh once Egido stopped paying him and began his threats… I never expected such a thing out of my own king.”

“Perhaps it’s time you started living your own life and build your own stout defenses to other’s whims. This concludes lesson 23.”

“Oh, I see now… So this lesson didn’t actually include any physical training… I wasn’t expecting that.”

“All things require a different train of thought and process that makes a soldier who he is. Lesson 24 will begin tomorrow, as it seems you have some visitors to which you must now attend.” With this, Rune leaped up into a nearby tree and disappeared from sight. Venge had become acquainted with Rune’s methods of departure by this time and thought nothing of it as he looked behind him to greet the visitors that Rune had been speaking of. It was the small band of rebels composed of Tiras, Gideon, and Marcus.

“We’re about to get going, Venge,” Marcus yelled from a distance. “Are you planning on coming with us?”

“And that concludes my report, sir.”

“I can’t believe they shot you…” Egido III commented upon hearing his timid messenger’s report. “I suppose there must have been ample reason for it though…”

“It really hurt, sir… I hope you aren’t planning on sending me on any more missions like that…”

“Actually, that is what I was planning on just now.” The coy little man shivered in fear as he waited for his instructions. “Now, now,” he king began, recognizing the ill-wrought anticipation of his subservient. “Don’t dread this particular mission. I’m sorry that I must use you to do this work, but all of my messengers have been either sent off to deliver messages, or have been killed in battle. I just want you to tell Commander Raine to move from his present location to New Ardras. That’s all I wish for you to do.”

“Well, that sounds reasonable enough… They won’t shoot me like the last time, will they?”

“Oh, of course not. I suspect something odd had occurred to elicit that last incident.”

“Oh… Well, where is Commander Raine right now?”

“He’s located in Death Valley, to the north of here.” The frightened servant gasped when he heard the name, in obvious respect towards the recent occurrences that had befallen him involving his new position. “Oh, there’s nothing to worry about: it’s just a name. In fact, I hear that Death Valley is quite lovely this time of year. There’re supposed to be many exotic faunas during these warm months. Now, be sure to loop around the mountains to the right side when you arrive. Now, go, subservient! Succeed and I will reward you handsomely!”

“Yes, sir! But… my name is…”

“No time for that!” the king interposed. “We have little time! You know your mission, now leave!” “Subservient” immediately galloped away on his horse, which had ironically not gotten a single arrow lodged in it from the hail of death that had rained on them from the messenger’s previous mission.

“What are we going to do now?” Tristam asked, concerned over the plight of her father. “Will we still be able to find my father even though we have Wameya?”

“Well, I’m sad to say, lass,” responded Sean, “that it doesn’t look like there’s a need for him. Besides that, we wouldn’t have the slightest idea of where to find him.”

“Other than that…” began Eliezer, “it would be suicide to try to rescue him, considering that he’s imprisoned right now. I’m sure your father would prefer that you stay safe until we find a window of opportunity in which we can save the survivors of Verendian massacre.”

“I… guess so,” Tristam responded hesitantly, lowering her head in obvious dismay. “I’m thankful that we could find a translator so easily though,” she noted, referring to Wameya, who was leaning up against a nearby tree.

“Wameya glad of helping. Least Wameya do for prophecy man is tell him cave words,” the native managed to utter. “Chief tell… is okay for prophet Eliezer to enter holy cave. Go now?”

Eliezer smiled at the peculiar methods of speech used by his new friend. “Yes, ‘go now.’” The four travelers accompanied Wameya to the cave they had at one point visited in secret, now as heroes in the eyes of the savage cannibals, ready to discover the secrets of the Dreamers.

“Do you really think we’ll find something relevant?” Lukas, who had previously been very quiet and attentive, inquired.

“Aye, we’re bound to find us something, lad,” Sean spoke up. “I’m sure that all ye need is a little patience.”

“I’ll get him yet!” Agabus spoke to himself, all the time struggling to push a large projectile into one of the many cannons of Commander Raine’s fort. “One hit from this chemical bomb I made and Gideon is a goner. Even if it doesn’t hit him exactly, the explosion from all of these volatile chemicals will incinerate everything in the area!” Agabus laughed out loud to himself as he slammed the door shut on the rear of the cannon and began aiming it towards the flowered field in which he suspected Gideon and his fellow travelers to soon arrive.

Gideon, still traveling with Tiras and Marcus, was busy speaking with Venge, who had decided to travel with them after the four had escaped the onslaught on Cadea. “Have you ever been to Death Valley?” he inquired of Venge.

“Not to my knowledge… I may have, but I sometimes have trouble recalling things,” Venge remarked, thinking back to his training with Rune and wondering precisely what had become of him.

“Well,” Gideon replied with a laugh, “make sure you never enter on the left side. That’s where the targeting site of Raine’s fort is located. Only a fool would journey there, although it is deceptively peaceful due to the excessive faunas. Even though Commander Raine is my friend, it’s sometimes very hard to distinguish friend or foe on these large and open expanses of fields.”

“Yes, I recall during my training with the Apacian military hearing that one should never enter through the left… All military personnel are informed of this, as only travelers from the right side of the canyon are allowed to enter.”

“Precisely. I pity the poor soul that should enter in through the flowered fields of death to the west…”

“What a beautiful field!” the king’s messenger began. “I’m sure I heard the king say enter through the left… It’s so beautiful here, and there’s not a sign of the ravages of war that I had seen earlier everywhere else.” The subservient removed himself from his horse to momentarily take a look around the beautiful landscape. Unfortunately for the tenacious little man, he had been spotted by the less than successful Agabus.

“There he is! Gideon, you’re mine!” the man laughed insanely as he pointed his weapon towards what he thought was Gideon. “Fire in the hole, buddy!” Agabus continued to laugh maniacally as he lit the fuse to his stolen cannon and ran up to the top of one of the towers to watch his prey die.

“Ah, they’re so… pretty. And the sky is so beautiful too! There isn’t a cloud in it! Why, I’ve never felt so alive!” The little man paused as he noticed something small and black growing in the sky. “What’s this? A pretty blackbird come to welcome my arrival to Death Valley?” he asked to himself with a smile on his face. Unfortunately for the cheerful traveler, the increasingly large black object was not that of a blackbird, but that of the chemical bomb Agabus had just fired. The lowly man realized his fate too late unfortunately, as he let out a faint scream before a massive explosion rocked the entire countryside, launching a massive fireball screaming up into the heavens like a messenger of death.

“Wow!” Tiras exclaimed. “Look at that fireball! Nothing could have survived that!”

“Blast!” Agabus exclaimed, only recently noticing that Gideon was on the other side of the fort. “Foiled again!”