“Hey Ollie! You can come back now!” Charlie comes bouncing up to me on the sofa.
I put the book I was trying to read down and stand up to follow her. “You’re done with your conversation?”
“Mostly, Miss Pollyanna wants to talk with you now.”
I nod and I walk over to the table. I take my seat from across her and Charlie sits down next to me. “Is everything okay between the two of you now?”
“Oh yes, I’d like to think so. What do you say Charlie? Are we fine now?” The Dreamer picks up her cup of tea and takes a sip from it.
“...Maybe. I don’t know yet, I mean it’s nice of you to apologize and all but that isn’t something I can just forget about. Plus this place is making me less angry or whatever.” Charlie looks away and shrugs her shoulders.
“Ah, yes I suppose that’s true. Then I hope you might see me in a better light someday…” The Dreamer clears her throat before facing me. “But, that is not the reason I wanted to speak with the both of you.”
“Why did you want to then?” I ask.
“How about I catch you up to speed on some details that I told your friend here. You’ve been chosen, along with a few others, to be Champions for various gods that preside over your world. I am your patron of course, but the others I am unaware of.”
“So there are others who’ll be able to help me?”
“Yes. As Charlie and I were just discussing, she is not one of those chosen but that doesn’t make her less valuable as an ally. I, personally, see great potential in her.”
“What exactly do you see in me? I mean I don’t have any divine backing like the others will, so what can I do?” Charlie interrupts.
The Dreamer cocks her head to the side and a tentacle gently reaches out into the mist. A moment later it returns holding a small mirror, which she holds up to face Charlie. “I may not have the best track record with divination, but I can say that your Inkling has potential for being someone without any backing from a higher power.” The mirror flashes and an image of Charlie appears and a massive explosion of ice and snow erupts from behind her. Followed by one of fire, then one of lightning, and finally one of pure force.
“Woah…”
“You’ll see for yourself later that you can be just as powerful as any other member of this eventual team. Now back on track! While I do not know who your other allies will be, I do know that they will be somewhere in the city you are traveling towards.”
“That’s convenient to know. So is there anything we should be on the lookout for to find these other people?” I ask. I’m starting to worry that it’d be impossible to find a person in a city, let alone the capital of one of the largest nations on the continent.
“Unfortunately no. I do not have a way to identify these other allies, but I’m sure that whoever their patrons are will inform them to be on the lookout for you.”
“Well that’s not great news…”
“Yes, I apologize for my lack of preparation for this. However I doubt it will be difficult given, ahem, reasons. You’ll do fine. Just focus on yourselves, explore your abilities and learn how to handle yourselves. Oh and you might want to practice fighting humanoid monsters at some point, just to be okay with it if the time comes.”
I stare at her, horrified, as she turns away and stands up from the table. The Dreamer makes her way over to the ornate door across this ‘room’ and opens it up for us. One of her tentacles beckons us over, to which Charlie and I both slowly stand and walk over.
“Oliver, I would like a moment if you please. Charlie should go ahead though, it is getting harder to keep her connection stable.” As if to empathize her point, Charlie’s body begins to go transparent for a brief moment. “Mmm, yes, you should hurry up while I’ve still got a good grip on everything. You might feel a slight rush of emotions when you return to your world, so try not to get too mad at me.”
“Wha–?” Charlie starts, before The Dreamer uses one of her tentacles to push her through the doorway.
Then she turns back to me and closes the door. Instantly, her clothes disappear and are replaced with a similar outfit to the last time I saw her with only the sweater now having a moon pattern on the front. She lets out a sigh of relief before meeting my gaze.
“So what was all that about? You pushed my friend out and told her that she wasn’t meant to be here or something?” I ask, confused.
“Sorry. That was rude of me, but I needed to do that. I was losing my hold on her here and I didn’t want to risk anything bad happening. And I never said anything about her not belonging here. I just said that it wasn’t planned by those numbskulls over on the council of Fate.” She sighs and rubs her head as she floats off the ground and over to a sofa to lay on.
I sit down next to her on the other sofa and briefly glance at the history book I was trying to read before, still on the table in between us. “Are you okay?”
“Kind of? It’s hard to describe to mortals how the whole ‘pocket dimension of reality bending powers’ works. It’s like trying to hold onto an eel that you just pulled out of the water.” She pauses and looks at me funny. “You know what an eel is right?”
“Yeah, it’s like a snake but it lives in the water.”
“Okay good, my comparison works. Basically keeping your friend here is like holding onto a freshly caught eel barehanded. It can be done, just it’s difficult to do and very frustrating because you could lose the eel back into the water. But in this case it’s keeping someone in a place that they shouldn’t be in and reality desperately wants them out so it’s just going to erase them.”
“That sounds like it would be a terrible experience. But then why can I stay here longer than Charlie? I’m mortal too so shouldn’t it be hard to keep me here?”
“No, you’ve got some of me and a few others in you now. My power in you and your Inkling act as a sort of anchor to let you come and go without issue.” Her teacup floats over and she takes a sip from it without lifting her head, immediately choking on the liquid inside. “Oh, oh no, that was a mistake. Ugh, why did I do that?” She coughs for a moment before regaining her composure.
I chuckle at the sight of, what I’m just realizing to be an all powerful being, choke like a kid who was fooling around would on a cup of tea. It’s weird how normal she acts sometimes, like she isn’t really any different from me. Other than the fact she can apparently control reality or something.
“I have to ask, why do you act differently all the time? Like when we first met and just now while Charlie was here, you were dressed up in fancy clothing and acted all proper. Now you look comfortable and act like someone who didn’t come from power would.” I ask curiously, as I watch the woman before me sit up and summon a towel to wipe away the tea she coughed up.
For a moment she says nothing while a tentacle tries to clean her up, but nothing really comes out, then she breaks the silence. “I think it’s because I feel like you wouldn’t judge me for not being all grand for who I am in the big picture. I was once a powerful figure, but now? Now I just want to live a simple life in my forced isolation. No more power struggles, no more wars, just rest. I know that I’ve got you fighting a battle for me right now, but you understand right? Not wanting too much excitement in your life.” The woman stares wistfully off into the misty background.
I just sit there and process what she just said. Someone, who is supposedly more powerful than even the gods are, wants to just relax? I mean, she could quite literally do anything I think. Maybe it’s something to do with whatever happened between her and the Nightmares. Or maybe it’s just something to do with living a longer life? I’m not sure.
I take a moment to stare out into the mist as well, the swirling blue tinted fog dancing in an endless void that seems to go on forever. Like waves in a river, peaceful but could turn violent at any moment. The longer I stare into them, the more I feel at peace with everything that’s happened. A sort of calming sensation that is definitely not natural, but also not concerning. And for a moment I swear I could have seen… nevermind. I have to concentrate to break away from the hypnotic mist and back to the task at hand before I drift away completely.
Clearing my throat to gain The Dreamer’s attention I ask, “So you had something you wanted to discuss with me? You stopped me from following Charlie through the door, so I’m assuming you had something else important for me to hear.”
“Right, yeah, sorry. I wanted to talk about your Inkling and some other things.” She sits up and looks at me. “So you’ve now gotten three out of the four things I had planned on you having. It may be a while before I can get that last one out there, but you should be okay with what you have. Your Ethereal Tentacle, your Rending Grasp, and your…” She sighs and hangs her head for a moment. “...Eldritch Blast. Those should be enough to keep you safe for the most part.
“Okay, anything else about them I should know other than their names?”
“Yes. Try to avoid overuse of everything except for your Rending Grasp. Anything else you have from us that requires active focus to use will be dangerous if you become over reliant.”
“Why? What happens if I push myself with them?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“You might die. Again. And it would not end well, mostly because I’m not sure what repercussions would happen to you as a mortal.” She looks away and picks up the book from the table. “Just promise me that you’ll try not to overdo it with anything. If you start to feel bad from using your Inkling, try pulling at another living creature with your Rending Grasp. Preferably an enemy so as to not hurt one of your friends.”
Oh. So that means that I did hurt that demon when I used those weird not real hands on him. Got it. Don’t do it to friends and allies. “I have a question for you actually, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“Go for it Ollie. I’m all ears.”
“Will you ever tell me what happened back in your past? The stuff with the Nightmares?” I ask, then quickly adding, “You don’t have to say anything if it makes you uncomfortable. I was just a little curious.”
Her tentacles start to float around her head for a second, before she takes a deep inhale and… punches herself in the face. I react accordingly by trying to see if she’s okay, but she holds out a finger to stop me.
“Soon. Not yet though. I’m sorry.” She takes the book in one of her tentacles and places it back onto the shelf. “You should go now, it’s getting early.”
The Dreamer stands up and walks over to the door, opening it for me. I follow her and before stepping through say, “I should be the one apologizing. This is obviously not something you like to talk about and I shouldn’t have asked. You can forget about it if you want to.”
She smiles at me and places a hand on my shoulder. It’s rougher than I expected. “It’s not your fault, plus you should know why I’m asking you to fight in the first place. Now go on, wake up and take on the new day.”
I nod silently as I step through the doorway.
…
Jolting upright, both Charlie and I wake up at the same time. Mom turns to look at me with mild curiosity but makes no move to ask about what just happened. Currently she’s rummaging through our food supplies and pulling out stuff for breakfast.
“Good morning you two. Hope you slept well, because we’ve got another few days of travel left. We should be able to see the capital in two or three days though.” Mom turns back to pulling out food for us to eat.
I glance over at Charlie, who has a complex expression on her face. It twists between anger, confusion, surprise, disappointment, and then loops back on itself for a few moments as she starts to stand up.
“You okay over there? You see a little all over the place.” I say as I get out of my bedroll and help Mom clean up the campsite for our breakfast and departure.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just give me a moment to process some stuff over there.” Charlie replies as she points over to a tree, which she then walks behind and screams. Not in terror but in rage, is what it sounds like at least.
Mom looks over at me and I shrug in response only saying, “Some stuff happened last night in a dream I guess.” She gives me a tired look and sighs as she starts to eat some hardtack for breakfast. I chuckle as I join her by taking a small apple to eat and watch as Charlie paces around the tree, eventually coming back to us and eating some food as well.
We finish up eating and pack our things, setting out on the dirt road again towards the capital. Mom says we’re about ten days out and that she’s hoping to find an outpost or something to pick up an actual meal and bath for us before we go into the city. I for one would love to get cleaned up, traveling makes for a lot of dirt.
Through fields of grass and wheat, we travel along the road towards wherever the capital is. Blue skies and songbirds fly overhead as we cross a lengthy stretch of green pastures where a few ranches are. We pass a couple of small homes, no villages though, and don’t really run into anyone as we travel outside from a few merchants or farmers going to the nearest town to sell their wares.
After another mostly uneventful eight days, with a few practice sessions with the wolves, I spot a small point on the horizon. We’d been passing more towns recently which did allow for us to get cleaned up, so I guess that should have been a good sign that we were getting close to the capital. As we got closer the next day, I can make out more of the city.
That point is some roof of a very large building standing proud in the center of the city, a dark cobalt blue with golden accents that shone like a beacon. Mom said that’s the main place where all the government officials meet, apparently bards are quite flashy. I guess I should have known that though, given the stories about them. There are also what look like tall stone walls that stand guard around the city at this distance.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.” Mom gazes into the distance towards the city wistfully. “Those walls haven’t aged a day.”
“You’ve been here before?” I ask, sitting next to her upfront learning to drive the wagon.
“Yes, back in the day most places didn’t have an adventurer's guild so anyone who wanted to be one had to come to the Bardic Republic to get certified. Me and my sister actually got registered here in Golosumna back in the day.”
“Woah…”
She nods and continues to stare off at the city. “It’s also where I met your dad. Back when we were both adventurers.”
“You and Dad were adventurers? I mean I know Dad was but you too? I don’t remember you ever really acting like that.” I look over at Mom in surprise.
“Yeah, I was once an adventurer. Your dad wasn’t as good as me, but he had the heart for it, more than anyone I ever met. I guess that’s why I started to party with him. Hoping that some of his good nature would rub off on me and my sister or something.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well me and Helia weren’t really adventuring for any noble reason. Mostly for coin, but I originally wanted to be more of a helpful person than anything. When I met your dad I saw how I had gone past that and it felt like I was letting myself down, so I started working with him and the rest is history.”
I stay silent after that and continue to drive the wagon forwards. Eventually night falls and we set up camp. Hopefully for the last time in a while, I’m getting a little sick of sleeping on the ground honestly. No dreams come to me as I fall to blackness, but I do hear a voice whisper something to me.
“We’re close now. Try and take it slow from here. And fight some monsters. Experience is good.”
With that little piece of advice from what sounded like The Dreamer, I drift off into sleep. When I wake up, I’m feeling quite invigorated. I help Mom pack everything up and make sure Charlie isn’t going to try eating hardtack again like the last few days, saying she wanted to see if she could get used to it.
“We should be able to make it by late afternoon, if we push the wolves to run as fast as they can. Hopefully we can get through without too much trouble with the guards over the wolves, I know how much you love them Charlie.” Mom says as she gets into the seat at the front of the wagon.
Charlie and I climb into the back and she responds, “I can explain that they’re not dangerous. Plus I’m sure that if I show them my Inkling they’ll believe me.” She shifts a bag over from where her seat is and plops down, getting comfortable.
I roll my eyes as I sit down across from her, to which she sticks her tongue out at me. “Like they’d believe some random stranger who hasn’t even got a fully formed Inkling to bring wild animals into the city.”
“They’re not wild! They’re… um… in training. Yeah in training!”
“Mm-hmm, I’m sure they’ll be very convinced.”
“Oliver, don’t tease her. She’s going to try to get you back if you keep this up.” Mom joins in as we start moving.
Quickly, the wolves start to break into a sprint and charge towards the capital. Grassy hills fly by as we tear through the open fields around us, the wolves howl with happiness as they run wildly across the dirt road. Charlie gives a whoop of excitement and I watch as the city’s walls grow taller and taller. There are some interesting carvings in the part of the walls we’re heading towards, the gate looks like it’s an open book for us to pass through. There’s also long curving lines with what I’m assuming to be music notes, with something shiny embedded in them, that dance across them in sprawling patterns.
The sun passes overhead and just like Mom said, we’re at the gates in the later half of the afternoon. Surprisingly, nobody else is there. I mean, it makes a little sense due to the fact we didn’t see many people traveling in the same direction as us. Maybe there’s another place people come from and enter or something.
“Hold travelers! What have you come here for? …And why do you have monsters pulling your wagon?” A guard dressed in brown leather armor approaches the wagon from a small door next to the gates. He has dark brown hair and a shabby beard.
“We’ve come for knowledge and learning.” Mom states without giving them an answer for why we are traveling by wolf.
The man looks at her confused, then turns around and walks back through the door he came from. A moment later he returns and another person follows behind him, a woman dressed in similar armor but hers has red accents. She has light brown hair that’s been pulled back into a ponytail and freckles across the bridge of her nose. She’s maybe only a little taller than Mom.
“Have you come to enroll? I’m sorry, it’s just a little odd to see someone this early show up to enter a college. Most aren’t open yet, it’s still the summer break.” The woman seems to overlook the fact we’re traveling with wolves, despite their companion keeping a hand on a sword at his side.
“I understand that we’re early, I’m also planning on visiting a relative who works at one of the adventurer academies.”
“Ah, so you plan to enroll there then? Or is someone else in there as well?”
“I have two others with me who will be the students in question.”
The man turns to his companion saying, “Ma’am, should we not be questioning their intentions on bringing monsters into the city?”
“No, stand down. I’m sure there is nothing to be worried about, afterall I doubt Venna here would bring any kind of danger with her. Right?”
My mom smiles and jumps down from the wagon, walking over and embracing the female guard. “It’s good to see you again, Nel! I didn’t expect to see you working as a guard of all things. What happened to staying an adventurer until you died early?”
The woman laughs lightly and steps back. “Eh, got offered a nice job and felt like actually living a life rather than chasing tales of glory. Good to see you by the way. Is that your kid back there?”
“Yep, him and his friend. Hoping my sister will help get them connected with some schools so they can learn something new.”
“Well they’re in the right place for learning new things I’ll say. Welcome to Golosumna and enjoy your stay.” The woman says something to the other guard I can’t make out and he runs off. Only a minute passes before the gates open into the city. “Tell Lia I said hi would you, and also to stop by more often. We should all catch up over something to drink soon.”
My mom gets back up into the driver’s seat and cracks the reins. “Sure, I’ll pass the idea along.” And with that final piece of conversation we finally enter the capital of the Bardic Republic, Golosumna.
Passing through the massive metal reinforced wooden gates, we enter a sprawling city. Buildings everywhere, people walking and talking on every corner, and magic is already very apparent as a pair of people shoot off a few sparks into the air as entertainment for a crowd.
We made it. The first time I’ve ever left the village too. This is amazing, to see what else the world has to offer. Now I understand why Mom wanted to show me stuff like this. It’s absolutely incredible. And this is also the next step in my, um, quest. Yeah, my quest. I’m going to find those other people and learn how to fight and do some good for the world!
“Here we are kids, the home to the greatest schools on Amelioru, Golosumna. I hope you're ready because this place only gets better.” Mom whispers to us, glancing over her shoulder as another shower of sparks fill the air.