Chapter 20

When dreams come true

“Dawn, my dear child. I hoped it would have been easier to open the relic. There weren’t any clues, and if Dacoit, the lifelong friend of Winston, couldn’t open it, I’m not sure who could. But you are a smart girl. There are many things that no others could have done, that you have.”

“Thank you Ares. But I’m sure we’ll find the key to opening it. Remember the key to the second door, I got it from a dream I had, before that it was just a pretty statue.”

“Dreams?” She looked confused. “None of that was a dream. If you thought it was, than what am I to you?”

That made me think, not to mention, feeling bad about questioning the divinity, Ares herself.

“Dawn, there may be something that you haven’t looked at.”

“I thought I looked at everything. We analyzed it multiple times, tried everything we could think of.”

“It’s was given to the Felines, then it must be opened by the Felines. You’re it. Maybe you’re trying to open the wrong one.”

She faded away as she said it and left me to be, falling into darkness again. This time I landed and knew where I was.

I looked down through the steel grating. It was cut as I did the first time I was here. The throne room was quiet. The chain I had used to climb up was still there, fortunately.

I poked my head in and looked around. Dakur was sitting there on his throne, sleeping. A few others were around him and also sleeping. Snoring, they seemed very fast asleep. I know my skills. I jumped down, clearing the table and landing on hard stone.

I looked at the Ancients, still fast asleep. The black winged horse, Dakur’s messenger, was at the side of the throne, Dyzo the psychic one was slumped up against the wall, the one I attacked the night before was curled up in the corner, his antlers tilting his head at an odd angle. Another one that looked like a giant rat slept a few yards off. There were more, but I didn’t take the time to look at each one.

I snuck off to the door, not noticing Dyzo open an eye and raise off the floor a few inches.

Looking around the corner I found it was clear to head into the hallway. Listening in case there were any footsteps.

I vaguely remember the door that held all the relics. I hope they didn’t try to change the room. There was so much gold and jewelry, it would be unlikely.

I walked only twenty steps to find the door. I was reassured by the fact that the lock was still broken. I closed my eyes and pushed gently, hoping the door didn’t squeak. It opened silently and I was staring again into the room that held thousands of pounds of gold.

I closed the door behind me and studied the room full of gold. I spotted it quickly, the room wasn’t as disorganized as it had been before. In this world everything was organized. The score of relics were on pedestals formed in semicircle with another mysterious piece in the middle, the shape of an infinity symbol.

While I was immersed in awe of it all, Dyzo floated through the door, walls being nothing to him, silently floating through the air. He sat in mid air, legs crossed and glaring at me.

I only noticed because I felt I was being watched. I shot a glance behind me as he silently thrusted his hand at me, twisting and turning his wrist and fingers. I started to feel sleepy, but knew I was already asleep. I blinked consciously and his spell was off of me. He seemed confused why it didn’t work?

Fortunately for me I came prepared. After having found the hangar I thought that I could use some more tools that might come in handy, now that I have the experience. I know what I may need.

Dyzo tried another spell, the room became foggy, but as he looked up I threw a razor spiked star at him. He seemed to notice it between gestures and flicked his hand as if flicking it back. The star reversed immediately and came flying back at me. I twisted and let the star clatter into a gold piece behind me.

I tried another one, and while waiting for him to turn the star around. I threw a third and tried to see what would happen. He reversed them both, but neither had hit me.

I had to think what to do to handle this one. Usually they monologue before killing their prey, maybe he wasn’t planning to kill me, but I think he was also mute. A worthy foe.

The room became really foggy and I couldn’t even see him now. I looked down at my feet, they were gone, hidden behind the immensely thick fog.

I still knew where the rest of the room and objects were and jumped into open space, in case he tried to attack now.

Just as I moved, a black object zoomed past my ear, missing my ear by a few inches. I knew where he should be now. I tried a few more stars, throwing them to different locations in the room. They didn’t come back, and only two had hit stone.

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The fog cleared and darkness befell the room, the lights becoming nothing. But I could see him now, he looked at the star that was planted in his left arm.

I lunged at him, though I wasn’t fast enough, he seemed to just jut upwards, out of reach. I used my momentum and jumped into the wall, two strides and back off, a long high arch, flying upside-down and into Dyzo. I collided with him, we both fell to the floor and I strangled him. He seemed to disappear from my grasp, but Ungu got to him first, bringing him back to my reality. It was just a dream for me as well.

Can apparitions kill each other if neither are real?

I kept hitting and clawing the monster. Overwhelming him, losing his concentration.

After a minute of the suffocating hold, he gave out and I maneuvered my hind legs around to allow Ungu to open his chest. He jiggled and twitched until Ungu found his vertebrae. And I stepped back, leaving footprints of blood.

Not to worry, my streak of good luck is about to change.

I locked the door to the room by sticking a spear through the two handles. I have to be sure I won’t be interrupted or snuck up on again.

Now, time to snatch my Relic. It wasn’t where it was last time. It was quiet and no sounds outside, I was safe for now. Hopefully Dyzo doesn’t wake up the others, if he still can.

Studying the relic now, nothing was very different to how it was before. I stared at it, and it stared back.

As if compelled by some magical force, I struck the pose the cat was sitting in. Sitting on the hind legs, one paw up in the air and smiling a grin from ear to ear. I laughed as I smiled, thinking how ridiculous this must look.

I touched my paw to it’s own and kissed it on the nose.

Still laughing, I stood back for a moment and waited. Ticking noises came from the inside and it opened. The thick gold peeled off like the petals of a flower opening up. It was now a beautiful creation, like some flower I had never seen. On the inside the petals gave forth a single scroll of paper in a small bottle standing upright.

I took it and opened it up. Curiously, I unrolled the paper.

May good fortune

bless you and your village

for all of eternity!

Best Wishes, Winston

That was it? A wish of good luck?

It was good intentioned, but I don’t think this was it. Maybe just a decoy? But no, that’s not how these things work in this world. But still nothing seemed different, I didn’t feel all that more lucky. Maybe luck is only felt in time.

I guess it was time to head home.

I decided to keep the door locked somehow, no use for these monsters to get in and ruin the rest. I put a chest in front of the door, leaving just enough space for a small Xeno like me to get through. Filling up the chest, I picked up lots of gold and put it in the chest. Hoping it would last, but I don’t think it would if Dakur really wanted to get in here.

I picked up the relic, it now looked like a blossoming lotus, and put the message and the bottle in a pouch on my suit.

I took one last look at Dyzo. Bled out on the floor, sprawled with his chest burst open and my prints of blood trailing around the room.

Carefully and quietly, I took the spear out from the door, opened it, and went back to the throne room.

I could hear the anger from far down the hallway, the rest of the Ancients inside had noticed Dyzo was dead.

I peered around and saw the slumped body of Dyzo. His real body was left in the throne room. Dakur and the other Ancients were gathered around the body, feeling for a heartbeat, trying to wake him up.

I remembered that they couldn’t see me, except for Dyzo, who’s dead. Still, I tiptoed into the throne room. Dakur sensed me. He turned around, sniffed the air, eyes rolling around the room, searching for a glimmer of a ghost. The others sensed me too. They split up and moved around the table, searching in vain for something they couldn’t see. I was standing plainly in front of them, thirty feet away.

I laughed silently. My way out was just above Dakur.

Securing the new relic in my arms, I ran, jumped from the table, one step on Dakur’s head, off the wall and grabbed the chain. The chain I had left one day, the first day I had visited this castle in the rock.

I didn’t have time to stop and laugh at them. From the corner of my eye I saw the messenger, the black horse, wings spread wide launching himself blindly towards the chain as it swung with an invisible phantom on the end.

I jumped up and out, in two pulls I was through the grate. The hole was too small for the messenger to fit through. He targeted the chain, still hitting it, hoping to throw me off.

I looked up at the dismal sky now above me. Time to go home.

Ares laughed calmly and a light appeared in the sky, it grew slightly larger and formed a square. As I squinted at it, I noticed it was only the inside stone wall of my temple, my bedroom. The sunlight hitting the wall opposite to where I slept, blinding me momentarily as I regained awareness and woke up.

The lotus was gone, I wasn’t holding it to my chest anymore.

I got up and checked my pockets. The bottle was inside. I rolled it between my open hands and decided to take it to Clyde.

I found Clyde sleeping on his charging station. I shouted from the door, “I opened it!” and walked into the hanger.

He looked confused, his head spun around and his lights flickered on and off a couple of times. “Opened what?”

I tossed him the bottle and watched as he opened it and read the message aloud.

“This is all you got?”

“Yeah, but I think there’s more.” He went over to the Relic. “You opened it last night? While I was sleeping?”

“Yeah.” I said.

“But I would have noticed if anyone came in here.”

“I am very silent.” I said, misdirecting him. “I can’t tell you all the details. But I did find out how to open this one.” I hope, I said to myself.

Clyde was obviously very confused. “How did you find out. You didn’t seem to go anywhere. I did note quite some energetic dreams, but that isn’t really too abnormal for you. Always a deep sleeper, heart pumping and breath racing. Even higher than when you’re out and about.”

I remembered that he has full knowledge of my location and body functions at all times, just not so much when I’m sleeping yet adventuring off somewhere else.

“Never mind how I found out. Watch.”

I picked up the relic. It was still the cat, eyes painted and smile stretched to make it cartoonish, yet lifelike. I positioned it on the table and did the same thing I did in the room full of gold.

Clyde watched me. I laughed again, just as I did before. Clyde laughed as well, reservedly. He seemed nervous.

I kissed the head of the cat and waited. This time, the ticking was louder, the gold unfolded into a lotus and a small vial of some clear liquid emerged from the center.