Dreamscape: Saving Alex (6 page)

The guard hesitated with a long look at me, and
then jutted his chin towards the other guards spaced evenly across the tower
ledge. The steel gates protested as they separated. A strip of light burst
through the narrow opening, blinding me. I blinked away the golden haze and bit
the inside of my lip as I waited for my vision to clear. The creak of the
chains slowed as the guard pulled it taut. Behind the massive gate and bleak
tower, a masterpiece of music, color, and scents awaited.

My mouth dropped. The game had not prepared me for
this.

The guards narrowed their gaze as we passed by.
Nothing, not even their clunky helmets, could hide the accusations in their
scrutiny. The same initial shock of recognition that I had noticed in Pipes and
Deakon now stood on the faces of the guards. But they didn’t seem as pleased to
see me. I tried to ignore it but couldn’t. The hair on the back of my neck
stood on edge, and every muscle in me tightened. I wanted to run and hide. I
walked, slower than I thought possible, not wanting to give them any more
reason to question me.

I held my breath as we walked across the wooden
bridge and entered the busy marketplace.

“Good luck,” Pipes whispered, brushing past me.

“Huh?” I asked, dumbfounded by my surroundings.

“Good luck,” he repeated, leaning closer. “Heed my
words: get what you need and get out. Lindle’s not a safe place, especially
now. Especially for you, even if you know what you’re doing,” he said. He bowed
theatrically and patted Deakon on the shoulder. Their painted smiles didn’t
erase the concern in their eyes.

Deakon nodded in agreement and gave me a solemn
look. “If you need anything, look for help within the trees.” He pointed to a
small patch that I hadn’t noticed before sewn into the cuff of his costume. It
was a large oak with a castle at its base, the Dreamscape logo.

“No, you can’t leave me,” I said, grabbing the
sleeve of Pipes’ cloak.

They exchanged a glance and then Pipes looked down
to where I gripped his sleeve.

“I only mean that I don’t know my way around the
market yet. I should have an escort,” I corrected myself, letting go of his
sleeve and pulling my shirt down.

“I suppose we can do that my lady. We need to get
ready for our show, but our stage is on the other side of the square. We can
show you on our way there.”

“Perfect. I’ll follow you for now.”

Deakon hesitated, glancing around at the crowd.

“I know what I’m doing, remember?” I raised an
eyebrow.

Pipes shrugged at Deakon and held out his arm. “My
lady, we go this way.”

“Why thank you,” I said with a smile.

Deakon grunted and sped through the crowd,
vanishing into the throngs of merchants along the outer edge.

Pipes pulled me back. “Not quite yet. Let him go
ahead. There’s no telling what’s waiting for us at the stage.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” I narrowed my gaze.

“Nothing more than you already know. We may have
left out a few details, though.”

“Like what?” I asked in a whisper, forcing a
smile.

“Well, when we heard about King Helio, we left in
a hurry. A few of the shopkeepers were upset at that.”

“Why?” I asked.

“We do drum up a bit of business for the town with
our entertainment. Let’s just say, a few were a bit upset when we left
unannounced.”

“How upset?” I asked.

Pipes adjusted his collar and chuckled. “Their
henchmen followed us for a few miles into the woods.”

“And then?”

“Well, we are trained with our weapons,” he said.

“So, you just—”

“Defended ourselves, my lady. That’s all we did.
Seems it’s all we’ve been doing lately. I hope you’re here to change that.”

I swallowed hard. “We can hope. Can we go yet?”

Pipes scoured the courtyard and nodded. “Follow
me, but take notice of what you need and where to go. Once we reach the stage,
Deakon and I are committed.”

A cobblestone pathway wound through the open
square in a curved fashion between shops, vendors, and gardens. Rickety old
carts and brightly painted wagons were squished together, lining every inch of
the route; their owners stood in front, barking out orders. The cacophony of
voices excited me. Amidst the laughter and bartering, I sensed a rhythm. Items
were traded with speed and merchants’ smiles increased in proportion to the
gold exchanged. Some things seemed universal.

I shook the wooden box and smiled as the coins
clinked together. It was almost time to shop.

Where to begin? Carts overflowed with freshly
baked goods, flowers, and fabrics. Strewn petals littered the ground, tossed by
quick bursts of air from the opening gates. A flock of puff birds gathered
around the base of the bread carts, stealing crumbs while avoiding the stuttered
kicks of a merchant who couldn’t seem to decide which he wanted to do more:
kick the birds or sell his bread.

Dancers twirling saffron scarves weaved in and out
of carts, urged on by whistles and cheers. They moved down the pathways,
rolling their hips as they wound around the crowd. Some of the busiest carts
stood in the shadows of the square. I tried not to image what a disheveled man
picking at his teeth with a knife sold, but his cart had a steady line of
customers.

I hardly noticed the stares and strangled protests
of the people maneuvering around me until the dust from their frantic pace
choked me.

“Outta my way, lass,” a deep voice commanded.

I jumped in surprise. The commotion had hypnotized
me for a moment. I shook out of the trance and mumbled an apology as a burly
man clothed in a wool tunic passed by me. A small herd of winged sheep tromped
in front of me, kicking up enough dust to hide them in shadows. Unable to catch
my breath, I coughed, drawing the attention of the people passing by.

Women dressed in opulent gowns glared at me over
their bags of rolls. Children pointed and laughed, stopping mid-bite. Surely my
cough wasn’t that loud. Why were they all staring?

Then I looked down and saw my torn shirt. My
cheeks melted with embarrassment. I hastily pulled it down and slinked into the
shadows along the side of the square, behind the rows of carts. I ran to catch
up with Pipes, now a dozen steps ahead.

“Care for a trinket? Pretty jewels for a pretty
lady,” a melodic voice called out. I turned to answer, but he wasn’t talking to
me. I shrunk deeper into my shirt.

As I walked further along, I listened to snippets
of conversation and watched the interactions.

“… But two golden coins is the best I can do,” one
woman said, batting her eyes and tilting her head to the side, ogling a dragon
necklace in her hand.

“Sold. Here you go, my lady,” the merchant said,
sliding behind her to clasp the jewelry onto her neck.

“Fresh bread!” the baker called out, waving his
loaves overhead. My stomach rumbled, but I didn’t want to spend my money yet.
Not until I knew everything that this market had to offer.

“No. All sales are final,” another peddler said,
pushing a woman’s items away.

From the darkened shadows along the outer edge of
the path, I could only see the items placed along the sides of the carts, but
that was enough. My eyes grew wide at the sight of decadent chocolates. Baskets
of ripened berries flipped my stomach, and my hands twitched with a desire to
hold the soft fabrics and scarves draped and billowing in the wind.

Not every cart held the extravagance I had
expected. Hidden between the opulence, older carts sold smaller trinkets. Worn
leather books propped up the broken leg of one cart, while small flies swarmed
over boxes of overripe fruit. I stepped up onto my tiptoes to peek at a nearby
wagon.

“Sssomething yous like over there, my dear?” a
voice rasped from behind me.

I jumped and whirled around, hiding my startled
gasp. “What?” I asked, trying not to stare at the grungy man leering at the
hole in my shirt. The setting sun glinted off the edge of his knife’s blade as
he rolled it over his cheek. Dirt smudged his forehead, and crumbs stuck in his
matted beard. When he smiled, my stomach turned. His rotten teeth and rancid
breath were nothing compared to the twisted gleam in his eyes.

“I’s can get yous anything yous wisssh, my dear.
Yous name it,” he offered, taking one step closer.

I tightened my grip on the wooden box behind my
body and stepped closer to the crowd. “I don’t have any money, sir,” I whispered.

He wiped the blade along his tattered shirt and
slowly lowered his gaze. When he met my eyes again, his smile sent a shiver
down my spine. “Paymentsss are negotiable.”

I turned and ran into the crowd, knocking over a
display of Lindle souvenirs and banners.

“Watch it!” a woman grumbled as she hastily
grabbed her items.

“Sorry,” I said, stumbling forward, anxious to get
out of their sight. It seemed every move only made me stand out more. Pipes’
words came back to mind. This place wasn’t safe. I shuddered and ran my hands
down my arms. I hadn’t thought about any non-game dangers.

My heart jumped when I caught a glimpse of neon
fabric mixed in with the crowd. How had I let him get so far ahead? Ignoring
the jeers and stares, I hurried forward, only briefly glancing at the carts and
dancing girls.

This city seemed to accept the darker exploits
with ease. I bit my inner lip and continued trailing my new friend. I couldn’t
see any more flashes of the bright costume he wore. My heart sank. In this
crowd, how could I hope to find a single person?

Through the noise of the crowd, I heard a single
bird chirp. Then another joined in, followed by a soft whisper.

“Where’d you go my lady?”

“Pipes,” I cried, grabbing his forearms. “I’m so
glad it’s you. Some of these people…” I didn’t finish the thought.

He looked down at me with concern. “Are you all
right, my lady?”

“Yes,” I answered sheepishly, suddenly remembering
who he thought I was. Straightening my back, I pulled my hands away and forced
a smile. “Yes, I was just surprised by the size of the market. I wasn’t
expecting all of that.”

“Of course. It takes a moment to absorb everything
here.”

I nodded. He had no idea.

“We’re almost there. The stage is just around the
corner. Hopefully Deakon’s not made a mess of all our stuff. He does that
sometimes, you know.” Pipes winked at me.

“I can’t wait to see it all,” I said, reaching for
his hand. I didn’t want to lose him in the crowd again.

The far edge of the square was quiet. Wooden
benches lined the wall, curving around small pockets of trees and flowers.
Pipes pulled me forward before I could comment on anything.

“Wow,” I whispered, turning the corner and seeing
the stage.

Pipes beamed and ran ahead. “Let me present to you
our humble arena.” He bowed and covered his chest with one hand.

Wooden planks and iron benches lined a semi-circle
around a lopsided stage. Rotten beams leaned against the distressed posts. When
I looked up, a tangled maze of beams and pipes held the structure in place. A
crumpled sheet of velvet crowned the top. The older man struggled across the
theater with an armload of banners and poles.

“This is… big,” I said, searching for the right
word. “It’s no wonder the vendors were upset when you left.” I rushed ahead and
grabbed a handful of metal pipes from Deakon.

“This is nothing, my lady. You should’ve seen it
before we left. Signs, ribbons, torches, we had it all. Now, this is all that
remains.” Deakon sighed, dropping his armful of banners by the scaffolding near
the front of the stage.

“All that remains?” I asked.

“I’ve already cleaned up a bunch.” He grunted and
nodded towards a corner overflowing with shredded debris. “I’d say they weren’t
too happy with us.”

“Then tonight we must put on an even better show,”
Pipes said. He grabbed the edge of a banner by Deakon’s feet and stretched it
between his arms. “We’ll have this stage back in shape in no time.”

I admired Pipes’ enthusiasm. “Let me help,” I
said, reaching for the other end of the banner.

“No, no, no,” Pipes argued, shaking his head.
“You’ve already done too much to help us. You must be on your way. You’ve seen
the market. Get your goods and go. Before anything happens.”

“No, I insist. I’m not going anywhere until I help
you set up for tonight. After all, you were delayed because of me.” I grabbed
another banner from the stage floor and held it out, reading the scrolled
letters.
Juggling for the Cause.
“Is it safe, announcing your support
like this? I mean, you just said that this town is full of Berkos’ men.”

“If subtlety worked here, my lady, we’d go that
route, but it seems to be an excuse to ignore us and our message.”

Pipes stopped hammering and leaned over the
rickety scaffolding. “We won’t be ignored any longer. The rebellion needs more
support, and this is one of the only ways we can recruit for it.”

Deakon grabbed the other end of the sign. “I’ll
take that, my lady.”

He climbed along the rickety scaffolding that held
the upper portion of the stage together and hammered one edge of the sign into
the rotten planks.

A loud bang came from above, followed by a
clattering of metal. Deakon stopped hammering and dove into me, pushing me off
the stage.

When I recovered, I swore and massaged the spot
where my hip had hit the ground.

“Deakon!” Pipes exclaimed, jumping onto the stage,
waving through the dust.

I clambered up, brushing off the dirt as I limped
to the stage. Where I had just stood was now a pile of metal beams and wooden
supports.

“Oh no! Is he…” I let the question linger.

Pipes turned around with a tight smile. “No, he’s
going to be fine. Just a small cut on the head. He’ll be better in no time.”

Deakon sat up and picked splinters out of his
hands. A trail of blood slid from his forehead down his cheek, and red blotches
stained his face and arms where the beams from the stage had struck him.

“Are you sure?” I asked. He didn’t look fine to
me. I climbed onto the stage and walked closer, glancing at the beams wavering
above us.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s not like this is the
first time some stuff’s fallen down.”

“Deakon, how can you say that?” How could he act
like this wasn’t a big deal? “This is more than just some stuff falling. Y-you
sa-saved me,” I stammered, falling to my knees at his side.