The Dream Sanctum: The Eternal World (19 page)

For a moment, Lindsay faltered. Her newfound
strength wasn’t enough to destroy this many, and her confidence was not yet so
great that it could not be broken. She wasn’t like Kai or Kwin or the others.
Even all of them together hadn’t been enough to push back the Nightmares; it
had only been a result of their quick thinking and strategy that allowed them
to overcome the darkness, and Lindsay was no tactician. She was outnumbered and
overpowered. She wished she still had the strength and confidence she did when
she had defeated the serpent. That was something she alone had done when all
the others couldn’t.

She wiped her face in her palms to clear the
mist from the broken fountain. And then she looked down at her hands.

When she had beaten the giant sea monster, it
had been because she knew that salt water conducted electricity better than
pure water. It hadn’t been something she had thought out; the fact had just
come to her after she had been knocked overboard, and she decided to use it to
her advantage. So, maybe…

Slowly, the gears turned in her head. She
looked down at her damp hands again, then over at the broken fountain, then
around at the city’s walls. Her smile returned to her face, now one of excitement.
She couldn’t believe she missed it. Her power was stronger when there was water
to amplify it – and she was standing right in the middle of Aqua Capital.

At first, nothing happened. And then the
ground began to shake.

The wave of oncoming Nightmares slowed, and
the wolf glanced from side to side, suddenly wary. The rumbling increased, and
as it did so, Lindsay spread her arms wide, her hands alight, and she stared
directly into the wolf’s eyes.

The rumbling was pierced by the sound of
splintering and cracking. The smooth, thick glass that covered the underground
river Aqua Capital rested on was breaking, and the cracks spidered across the
city square away from Lindsay’s feet and up the walls of nearby buildings.

Lindsay reached down and far, as far as she
could, until the massive river under her feet was within her grasp, stretching
as far as the city and beyond. The water from the river seeped into every small
creek and irrigation system and water fixture in the entire city, and she could
feel all of it. With tremendous effort, she grasped the water below and all
around her, and
pulled.

The city erupted as the river was released.
The city’s outer walls collapsed as the water within broke free, and torrents
of water broke up through the ground where the glass had cracked and weakened.
Hundreds of the shadows were washed away instantly, and the rest were in
complete disarray as they tried to escape the rapidly rising water. Those that
could not fly sought high ground or tried to change their form, but many were
swept away before they had time.

But this was only the beginning. As the
distant towers startled to crumble in on themselves, Lindsay rose high above
the square, watching the chaos below. The wolf bounded from building to
building, easily keeping ahead of the water and racing towards her with
incredible speed, but its attempts were fruitless. The whole city was a bomb.

Lindsay focused with everything she had left
and let fly an incredible burst of power. She sent a steady stream of electric
blue flowing into the rising waters below and watched as it quickly spread
through the city, traveling through every wall and fountain and tower,
annihilating every shadow it touched. The sight below was so bright Lindsay
almost had to look away, but she couldn’t – she had to make sure the creature
died.

Agile as the wolf was, it was not fast enough
to escape the city before the wave of energy consumed it. Covered by water from
the explosion, it convulsed as the waves of energy reached it, then fell into
the dark, swirling water below. Raising her right hand high above her, she
thought of what she had seen in Semyaza’s battle with Alastor, and with one
last cry, she thrust one last blinding strike downward into the heart of the
water. The floodwaters lit up beneath her, and she could see the wolf fighting
powerlessly against the current, but only for a moment. The instant the bolt
strike it, it vanished with a ghostly howl that echoed all around her.

And then, just like that, it was over. Silence
fell again, but it was different this time. As Lindsay slowly glided back
toward the ground below, the sun began to shine through holes in the darkness
above. The shadows were fading.

To her amazement, she watched as the water
slowly fell, draining back into place into the river underground. The broken
buildings slowly began putting themselves back together, and all the cracks in
the ground seemed to disappear in reverse, the breaks sealing up underneath
Lindsay’s feet as she landed. The city was safe and whole once more. No one had
yet returned, but she knew they would.

Turning her gaze back to where the wolf had
been, Lindsay saw a familiar-looking golden door standing amongst the
still-fading smoke. She smiled. This time she had won.

She skipped over to the door and opened it, jumping
through without a second thought. A wave of dizziness struck her, but before
she knew it, she was standing inside a rock tunnel. Behind her was the other
side of the tower door, and standing together nearby were Kai and Kwin, who
looked immensely relieved to see her.

“You made it!” Kwin exclaimed happily. “I was
starting to get worried.”

Kai hurried over hugged her tightly. She knew
he must have been scared for her, but from the expression on his face, she
guessed he had been through something disturbing as well. She thought better
than to ask about it now.

“We should hurry,” Kwin reminded them, and Kai
nodded.

“I’ll lead the way,” Kai said, moving to walk
protectively in front of Lindsay, but she lightly pushed him out of the way.

“No, I’ll lead,” she replied. “Let’s go get
these guys.”

Trying not to smile at the look Kwin and Kai
shared, she led on through the tunnel and into the darkness.

T
hough the tunnel was dark,
it wasn’t long. They had walked in total darkness for only a few minutes before
light appeared at the other end. The three friends ran towards it, anxious to
get out of the dark and see what was on the other side.

Kai hoped against hope that this would be the
end of their journey, that their trials were behind them and that the Creators
were just ahead. Despite the situation, he felt excited. The magnitude of this
meeting had not escaped him; regardless of their circumstances, he was about to
meet the Creators, the ones who had shaped this dream world centuries ago, a
privilege reserved only for those specifically chosen every few decades. He had
so many questions.

But as they reached the end of the tunnel, his
excitement faded.

Before him stretched a vast, beautiful valley
that extended farther than he could see. Below the exit to the tunnel was at
least a hundred-foot drop, but immediately in front of him was a long and
narrow river flowing within a hill that fell steeply on either side. It was as
though this hill had been built specifically to carry the river, which led far
into the distance. Tied to the edge of the wooden dock that made up the
tunnel’s exit was a long boat made of white wood.

“It would appear we must now go sailing,” Kwin
sighed sarcastically. “What pointless obstacle is this?”

“You have passed every obstacle you must. Do
not worry about the remainder of your journey. You are now safe,” came a
familiar voice from their side.

Kai whirled around. Semyaza stood nearby, her
hands clasped neatly in front of her. She was free of wounds, and her
expression was one of warmth and satisfaction rather than the irritation and
impatience that she had worn so often.

“
YOU
.”

In an instant Kwin moved protectively in front
of her friends, her hand open at her side as she prepared to create a weapon,
but another figure waved frantically to get her attention.

“Whoah! Hold on there, kiddo. Let the lady
talk first.”

Kwin’s anger quickly vanished, replaced by
total astonishment.

“Alastor?”

“Yeah! Isn’t this cool?” Alastor expressed
happily, gesturing around at the wide valley before them.

“How…?”

“We had some time to think after we realized
what was going on; namely that Kai’s father was the keeper and that the
Creators were keeping your connections to this world open. There’s also the
possibility that being flung into a building at the speed of sound could have
affected my thought process,” Semyaza replied, not unkindly.

“How do we know we can trust her?” Kwin asked
Alastor uncertainly, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two, and
Alastor laughed.

“We’re on the same team, we always have been.
Now that you’re here, she’s going to help us get where we need to go. She’s
actually pretty great if you get a moment to sit and chat with her. Speaking
of, what took you so long?”

Kwin rolled her eyes.

“Are we going to be taking this boat?” Lindsay
asked.

“We are indeed,” Semyaza answered. “This path
will take us directly to the Creators. Though it may look far, it will not take
us long to reach them. All the same, we should keep moving.”

One by one the friends stepped into the boat.
Lindsay and Kai sat next to each other, as did Kwin and Alastor. Semyaza took
her place at the front of the boat, and with a gesture the boat untied itself
and started moving.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Kwin murmured
happily as she leaned her head on Alastor’s shoulder.

“Me too. Funny story, actually,” Alastor
laughed. “I had dozed off, and I had the weirdest dream. My parents were taking
part in a horse race, but then they leapt off the track and started chasing me,
and I had to make a great escape on a unicycle. Then this massive golden door
appeared, and I completely ignored it until Semyaza stuck her head through it
and basically told me to get over here this instant.”

“I… that’s… well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Kwin
replied, raising an eyebrow.

Their conversation soon turned to the trials
they had all been through, and Alastor listened earnestly as they told their
stories. Upon the completion of Lindsay’s story, he gave her a high five.

“You blew up the
entire city
? That is sincerely cool.”

“Well, she had an excellent teacher,” Kwin
said.

“I suppose, but you were always the one for
causing explosions.”

“My apologies. I didn’t mean to imply I was
talking about you.”

They laughed. As Alastor turned around to
continue talking to Semyaza, Kwin and Lindsay turned to Kai.

“So what exactly were you looking so happy
about when Fred came to pick you up?” Lindsay inquired.

“Oh, right. Mum came to talk to me just before
you guys got there, and it turns out…”

Kai relayed the entire story to them, and the
girls’ eyebrows rose in sync as he explained. When Kai recalled what his mother
had wanted to tell Devnon, Kwin’s jaw dropped and Lindsay cheered.

“And then, just as I was leaving, she said she
was going to go take a nap,” Kai finished, a wide smile on his face. “If the
mirror world still works, she’s probably in the Sanctum right now.”

 
From
the front of the boat, Semyaza cleared her throat quietly, and the others
turned to look at her.

“Alastor has so kindly reminded me that I had
something I wanted to say to all of you,” she started, looking slightly
uncomfortable. “I realize… our interactions were anything but pleasant, and
that was my fault, so I apologize for the way I treated you. I hope you can
understand that I was only trying to do my job.”

Kwin hesitated. Kai gave her an encouraging
nod, and then she spoke.

“I understand. I don’t resent you or what you
were trying to accomplish. I was trying to accomplish the same thing, so I
regret that things went the way they did. I’m sorry for trying so hard to take
you down. That it was due to being emotionally compromised is no excuse. I’m a
different person than that.” Kwin trailed off, refusing to make eye contact.

“It’s fine! If it helps, you didn’t actually
kill me.” Kwin looked up in surprise, and Semyaza smiled. “As you know, we’re
immortal. Unless the world itself dies, we can’t die.”

“How did I beat you, then?” Kwin asked
intently.

“Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t have
been able to. Not with every dreamer in the world combined,” Semyaza explained.
“We are of the world, and our power is limitless. But that also means that as
the world dies, so does our power weaken. That said, I must commend you; I have
never seen skill and power such as yours in all my years.”

Despite herself, Kwin smiled, clearly honored
by such a compliment. If Semyaza was interested in making amends, Kai thought,
she was off to a great start.

As they continued down the river, Kai realized
he had a question burning in his mind more important than anything else he had
been thinking of. He hadn’t even realized that this was something he wanted to
know, but ever since the conversation he had with his mother earlier, he
somehow felt… incomplete.

“Hey, Semyaza,” he started, and she glanced over
at him with pleasant interest. “You’re in charge of the keepers, right? So…
does that mean… did you know my dad?”

To his surprise, Semyaza laughed.

“Yes, I had the pleasure of knowing your
father, and through him, your mother. I try not to get personally attached to
anyone in this world, but it was hard not to with him. He was genuine, kind,
strong and brilliant. Sometimes it is hard to choose a keeper, but back then I
had no doubt in my mind, not for a moment. He was a great man and great human
being, and if I may say so, I imagine you will end up much like him.”

She soon turned back to continue talking to
Alastor, but that was fine with him. He wouldn’t have been able to continue
talking anyway. What she had said, short though it may have been, had overwhelmed
him. He stared at the bottom of the boat as he processed her words. So that’s
how it had been. Keepers were chosen, not born or randomly selected, and out of
everyone in the world, the Creators had chosen him. His heart swelled with
pride. Though he knew he had much exploring still to do, he felt like he was
off to the best possible start.

As their journey progressed, it seemed that
even Kwin was warming up to Semyaza. Their conversation started awkwardly at
first, but took off immediately after Semyaza started discussing their battle.
Ever one to discuss tactics, Kwin jumped right in, and within a few minutes
were talking like old friends. Kwin explained some of her theories on the
Sanctum, and Semyaza looked thoroughly impressed.

“You came up with all of these yourself?”
Semyaza asked.

“I did. It took many years, the completion of
many hundreds of books and even more study, but up until just recently those
were my theories on how I believed the world to work. Needless to say, recent
experiences have thrown my confidence for a loop.”

“Don’t be discouraged! What you’ve told me so
far is excellent,” Semyaza continued reassuringly.

“Hey, where’s Ella?” Lindsay asked Alastor
suddenly.

“Oh, damn. I knew I forgot something,” Alastor
said, snapping his fingers. “I was going to get her, but I was so excited about
getting back in I totally forgot. I don’t suppose I can go back and bring her
in now, can I?”

“Unfortunately not,” Semyaza responded. “With
the Sanctum’s power still dwindling, not even I could bring you back in if I
wanted to.”

“Drat. She would have loved to see this. Maybe
next time,” Alastor though aloud. Semyaza smiled, but Kai thought he detected a
trace of sadness in her eyes.

“We’ll be arriving soon. Do you have a plan
for when you meet the Creators?”

“Not exactly. I suppose we were hoping they
would be willing to listen to us and hopefully offer us some way of helping
them fix this world now they have lost their keeper,” Kwin clarified.

“Well, they do have a history of being
receptive. Believe me, it’s not that they have been refusing to consider your
aid. It’s… more complex than that. But you’ve made it this far, so I can no
longer say that anything is impossible.”

Kai looked around Semyaza towards the distant
horizon and saw the faintest shape of a massive spherical shape in the
distance. As they moved closer, he was able to tell that the giant shape they
were sailing towards was a gigantic building. The light shone off the surface
of the sphere, and Kai guessed that the whole thing was made of glass.

“This is the Eye of the Creators,” Semyaza
said softly as they approached. “It is from here that they can see everything
in the world they have created.”

The closer they came, the more impressive the
building’s size seemed to be. It was so tall that Kai felt himself getting
dizzy as he tried to keep his eyes on the very top, which soon passed out of
sight.

The boat slowed, then came to a stop, gently
bumping into the marble path where the river ended. It was a beautiful sight.
With hardly any clouds in the sky, the sun shone down upon everything in sight,
bathing everyone in a pleasant warmth. The grounds in front of the massive
buildings were covered in white concrete pathways, lined with more golden
marble, and deep green grass grew in neat rows and circled the structure. Tall
trees with blossoms of pure white grew around it as well, and every so often a
comfortable breeze wafted by, carrying with it clouds of sparkling petals.

As they walked slowly up the stairs leading
towards a pair of great bronze doors, Dumar met them outside the door. He
greeted them with a nod, then pulled open one of the heavy doors with ease.

“The Creators await,” he said quietly, then
ushered them inside.