Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (34 page)

Finn
landed on the far shore where Toss was waiting, and the hail of projectiles
ceased, Nix and Calico concerned that they would connect with their allies
instead.

“Took
you long enough,” Toss said jokingly as Finn swung past. 

“Want
to trade places?”  The beast snapped at him, launching onto the shore, and Toss
was swift with the hammer.  The etched head connected with the nightmare’s
face, turning it aside.

“
Stay
on the move, Finn!  Bring it back to this side!
”

Nix
was calling for him from across the way, the echo distorting his voice. 

He
let go of the wall and engaged the chain hooks again, sweeping around to get
the nightmare’s attention with the glowing lights of his Tikilin suit, but the
angry beast lunged at him faster than he’d been accustomed, and even though
he’d tried to be careful, it was for naught.  The vice-like jaws latched into
his leg, crushing and tearing, and Finn’s roar of anguish echoed across the
cavern.

Even
through the pain, his instincts became focused on survival. He drew his gun
quickly, twisting to fire into the beast’s face, damaging its eyes and shooting
into its mouth, but the harm had been done.  The nightmare slapped him into the
wall, where he hit with an impact that nearly crushed him.  He tasted blood.

Finn
could not think of trying to recover.  There was pain, and then the oblivion of
darkness as he fell into the cold water below.

6

Wren
had been watching Finn’s Tikilin glow as he propelled himself through the air
like a swinging monkey. Everything was jumbled as the beast roared and Nix shot
his gun and Calico sent numerous arrows toward it, but Wren kept her eyes on
the boy who was moving agilely as a wisp, as if her attention alone would keep
him safe.

If
she had believed that, she was swiftly disillusioned.

Beneath
the sound of a gunshot, she thought she heard a shout, and then Finn’s lights
were flung across the cavern.  He fell toward the water and before she could protest,
he disappeared into the darkness.

“Finn!”
she cried, jumping up without thinking of what she would even do to help him,
but she didn’t get far before Nix had caught her arm.

“What
the hell are you doing?”

“It’s
Finn! He fell!  I think he’s been hurt!”

Nix
turned, taking up the whistle around his neck and putting it to his lips–

–
but the creature had already turned on them.  The beast flung itself onto the
shore, its jaws snapping because it could not see.  It had been blinded by
Finn’s bullets, but they were not aware enough to know it.  Nix and Calico
threw themselves aside, but Wren had not moved quickly enough.  The end of her
gown was caught in the creature’s teeth.  It did not seem aware that it had
caught her, but it jerked its head, pulling her from her feet as she shrieked
with panic.

Wren
hit the ground on her back but did not waste time in trying to pull herself
free, yet the snapping of the jagged teeth only pulled her closer.  She leaned
up to pull at her gown, hearing it rip, but did not come loose.

No!
she thought
forcefully as her foot drifted too close to the gnashing teeth. The nightmare
likely did not even know what it had caught, but Wren was determined that it
would not have a taste of her.

The
dagger,
she thought finally.  In her panic, she had forgotten it.  She could cut
herself free!  Her fingers reached for it now, but she had not quite wrestled it
from the sheath before salvation came.

Nix
rushed in, replacing his gun with his blade – an uncommon move for him.  He
drew it with precision, his intent fixed, and he hacked into the nightmare’s
neck.  It roared, jerking its head enough that it ripped the threads of Wren’s
gown and she instinctively crawled back as Nix continued his work toward
beheading the monster.  Two good chops had killed it, and three had done the
job.  Wren might have marveled at that, had she not been so horrified and
breathless.  Her palms were scratched by the rocks beneath her, but she hardly
noticed the pain.  Frankly, she was surprised to be in one piece.

She
could scarcely focus on Nix, even though he was standing in front of her.  He
stood upright, breathing hard for the first time that she could recall.  The
two-sided blade in his hand was caught there, stuck in his grip, his knuckles
white around it.  He stared at the monster beneath him – at the ribbons of its
neck that he’d slashed through – seeming entranced, but finally he broke away
and was at her side, pulling her to her feet.

Wren
threw her arms around him, clinging with fingers and nails until her heart rate
began to slow – until she became aware of herself and accepted the truth.

I’m
alive.  Once again, I’m alive.

“It’s
alright,” he told her lowly, reinforcing her own thoughts.  “You’re alright.”

When
she was finally calm enough to stand on her own feet, she saw Calico nearby,
but the huntress did not appear disapproving at the way she and Nix were so
close.  Instead, she seemed troubled.

“I
don’t see Finn,” she told them.

Wren
felt that her heart stopped for a moment.  She had been too caught up in her
own troubles to even think about what had happened to Finn, and now she felt
guilty for it.

Finn! 
Is he alright?  Where is he?

They
began to call for him –
Finn!  Answer us!
– searching until even Toss
had made it across to their side with the raft.  As they continued to search
without a response, Wren began to fear the worst, even though she did not want
to believe it.

“You
don’t think he’s–  I mean, he can’t be
gone
.”

None
of them responded, looking somber, and she knew they all feared this as she
did.  Involuntarily, her mind began to gather all her memories of him, showing
them to her in flashes.  She couldn’t believe he was gone – couldn’t accept it!

“Finn!”
Nix barked, trying again, but with an air of insistence instead of concern.  He
was demanding a response, not begging for one, and Wren understood that he did
not want to believe this outcome as adamantly as she didn’t.

They
waited, and as their breath hung in the backs of their throats, they finally
received an answer.

“
Here
!”
came a strong, but somewhat pained voice from down the shore.  “I’m here!  I’m
alright!”

Relief
flooded over them.  They rushed toward the sound of Finn’s voice, but when he
came into view, the relief was not what Wren had hoped it would be.  Finn was
sitting upright near the edge of the water, soaked, clenching his leg.  The
cloth of his pants was ripped to shreds and there was blood coating his hands. 
He was injured, but the extent remained to be seen.

They
knelt around him promptly.  Nix drew his knife and cut away the excess material
to reveal long gashes beneath, the flesh ripped by a row of sharp teeth.  The
sight was gruesome and Wren looked away, turning her attention to Finn’s face
instead.

“You
got lucky,” Nix commented. “It could have been much worse.”

“I’m
alright, I swear,” Finn claimed, but winced as he said it.

“Way
to be a hero,” Toss scolded, but there was relief in his voice.

“You
know me.  I always have to impress the ladies.”

Nix
looked back to Calico.  “Help me bandage him up?”

“And
we’ll need clean water, Toss,” Calico instructed.

They
began to dig in their satchels for bandages, and Wren let him lean on her for
support.

“Nix,
mate,” Finn said, drawing his brother’s attention.  He was wearing a crooked
grin.  “Hell of a trophy! 
Ow
…”

“Be
still, you idiot,” Calico chastised mildly, but there was a little smile on her
mouth, glad as the rest of them that he was not dead.

Though
Finn had been hurt, Wren finally began to feel relief once again.  His wound
did not look good, but he would survive it.  They would fix him up and then get
out of here to find a safer place for him to rest.  Everything was going to be–

The
sound of a gunshot echoed through the cavern and they all came to attention,
but the best she could tell, it had gone over their heads.  This shot had been
a warning, and had not come from any among their company.

Someone
else is down here with us.

“Who
are you?” a firm voice demanded of them, sharpened along the edge with
intolerance.

They
turned toward the words to see that there was a stranger in their midst: a
young man, perhaps around their same age.  In his hand there was a large gun,
aimed their way, but they had not been aware of him before he fired in their
direction, too consumed with their wounded friend.  He’d caught them fully by
surprise.

Nix
and Toss stood to shield the others, their movements gradual but noted by the
stranger, his gun trained on them.  Wren had to peer past the two to keep her
eyes on him.

The
one before them had black hair, greasy and long, kept away from his face by a
soiled bandana.  He wore goggles much like Finn’s, and was dressed simply in a
billowy white shirt he’d ripped the sleeves out of and black pants – nothing
elaborate, and no armor of any sort like the others.  His gun, however, was
most impressive.  It was an almost futuristic assemblage, fitted with a scope
and embellished with gold.  He held it steadily.  Wren couldn’t see how she
might have known him, and the others didn’t seem to either.

“Who
are
you
?” Nix asked in return.

“I
asked you first, and I expect an answer,” the boy said menacingly.  “Because
all I see are a few trespassers, and around here, that’s considered a
punishable crime.”

“What
isn’t?” Finn sneered lowly.

The
boy aimed his gun towards them, his arms taut.  He was affixed and ready to
fire if any made a move against him.  Wren examined the stranger, trying to
find something familiar, but though he was near their age, she could not get
him to match anything that she’d been looking for.

There
were people on the island besides the Wolf Pack
, she reminded
herself.

“We’re
just passing through.  We don’t want trouble,” Nix told him.

“This
doesn’t really seem like a nice way to greet the people who just did you a favor,”
Finn called, his teeth still clenched in pain.

“A
favor?” the boy asked.  “That nightmare was my tool!  I lured it in here.  It
kept the lesser beasts away!  You just killed a valuable asset, my friend.”

The
stranger drew up his lip, and with that expression, the shroud of doubt was
lifted from Wren’s mind.  She recognized him.

But
can it be?

 “Mach?”

At
the sound of that name, there was a slight change in his face – recognition. 
The name, at least, was familiar, whether or not he was a twin.

“I
don’t know you,” he said, trying to sound firm, but Wren heard a clear note of
doubt in his voice.

The
rest of them just stared at him.  They did not seem to see what she saw.

“Are
you sure, Wren?” Nix asked.

“It’s
him,” she insisted.

“I
said I don’t
fucking
know you!” Mach growled, growing hostile at the
accusation.

“Just
be easy,” Toss encouraged, holding up his hands in hopes that the boy would
lower his gun.  “We just need to sort this out.”

“There’s
nothing to sort out.  I’m telling you I don’t know who you are!”

“Either
way, we don’t mean you any harm.”

Though
Toss was a giant, there was something soothing and calm about the sound of his
voice, and it worked on Mach like magic.  He calmed down a bit – just a bit. 
He did not lower the gun.

“We
wound up here by mistake,” Nix said, still guarding Wren, “but if you could
offer us any aid, we’d appreciate it.  Our friend here is injured.”

Mach
eyed them all, perhaps examining them for vile intent, but finally, though he
claimed not to know them, he relented.  He lowered the gun, and they were all
relieved.

He
walked back toward the cavern wall, twisting the gun strap to hang the weapon
on his back, and reached a wooden contraption with a winch.  Turning it, a
series of ropes and pulleys led a few wooden slats to open up in the roof of
the cavern, letting in natural light.  This relieved the darkness, and they
could have a clear look at each other.

He
stared at Wren, and his expression softened.

“You
can bring your friend back toward my camp,” Mach offered, losing his former
hostility.  “I’ve got some supplies to bandage him up.”

1

That
night, gathered in the cave, the fire was warm.  Wren hadn’t expected the heat
to go very far, but after the ceiling lights had been closed, the warmth
radiated within and it was quite comfortable.  The water remained calm where
the nightmare had been slain, but they were away from that, farther into the
cavern that she and Nix had explored earlier.  They just hadn’t gone far enough
to see the truth of it.

This
open cavern was apparently what had been left of a pirates’ cache.  There were
piles of open crates and barrels, though if there were any valuables left, they
could not be seen. There were several old tents, perhaps indicating that there
had been other people here before, but Mach was alone now, and he had made a
place for himself here.

There
was a pallet bed, boxes of equipment, animal skins and many other strange
gadgets in what appeared to be the living quarters of this place.  He also had
some contraption that purified the water, and everyone had been given the
chance to bathe in a large wooden basin with a continuous pump, which Wren was
thankful for.  Food had been prepared, which was also well-received – some sort
of cave toad, but Wren tried to pretend she didn’t know that.

Finn
was resting here with them, bandaged and in good spirits.  Calico had been
tending to his leg, administering herbs to kill the pain when she cleaned his
wounds.  Already, it seemed he was improving, and Wren guessed it was his
prolonged exposure to Tikilin that made this possible.  She didn’t want to rush
this, but she also felt the need to hurry on.  It wouldn’t be safe to linger in
one place.

They
had all kept silent for the most part as they’d eaten.  Mach watched them
carefully, and Wren found herself observing him.

While
she could not deny that he might have lost his memories of the past, there was
no doubt in her mind that he was one whom she was looking for.  He may have
been separated from his brother, his hair dyed black, but she knew him by the
freckles on his nose and the curve of his haughty mouth.  She thought that the
others could see it now as well, though they’d likely never spent much time
trying to tell the twins apart.  But how could he have forgotten them?

Maybe
he wanted to forget.  Just as Rifter used to.

“I
suppose you know I’m wondering what you’re all doing down here,” Mach spoke up
suddenly, tired of pleasantries.  “Passing through the caves?  I can think of
several better ways to travel.”

“We’re
on a quest,” Finn said good-naturedly, as if handing off some great secret.

“What
kind of quest?”

“Oh,
just the standard kind.  We’re out to save the world and all that.”

Toss
gave a little chuckle, and Wren smiled.  She had once shunned their humor in
bad situations, but now she was grateful for it.

 “So
your name is Mach, is it?” Nix supposed.

“Yeah,
but I still can’t imagine how you know that.”  But he didn’t ask.  “Who are
you?  I might as well know your names since you know mine.”

“I’m
Finn and this is Toss.  That’s Nix.  This lovely, vicious lass is Calico–”

The
huntress glared at him for his comment.

“What?”
he asked innocently.  “Not like you were going to offer up.”

“And
who’s this girl?” Mach asked, directing his attention to Wren.  She was a bit
stunned that he didn’t talk to her directly.  “Beautiful – but by God!  She
stands out something terrible!  Pirate bait!”

She
still said nothing, confused, until Nix turned his face to her.

“Introduce
yourself,” he instructed, leaning back casually and starting up his pipe.

She
forced a smile, turning back toward Mach.

“I’m
Wren,” she said, looking for any shred of recognition on his face.  She saw
nothing.  Either he wasn’t faking his memory loss or she was poor at spotting
liars.

Mach
stared back at her with a blank expression for a moment.  Then a slight smile
crossed his face.  He looked back to Nix in disbelief.

“Wren,”
he said doubtfully. “
Right
.”

“She
is Wren,” Nix told him calmly, glancing back to her. “Aren’t you?”

She
nodded slowly in response, thinking the conversation sounded quite strange. 
She wasn’t sure where it was going, or even if she should keep insisting her
identity, so she kept quiet.

“So,”
Mach said finally. “
Wren
, is it?  That means you’re searching for the
Rifter.  Sounds like he might be the reason for this quest of yours.”

She
wondered if this was her cue to speak about the true nature of their journey,
but before she gathered the nerve, Finn jumped in.

“That’s
right.  He apparently has some plan to fix this world.”  He paused to shrug.  “All
I know is when this world goes back to the way it was, the first thing I’m
gonna do is strip naked and jump into the frozen waters of the tundra.  I was
too much of a weasel to do it before, but after all this – hell, I’ll be glad
for it!”

“No
you won’t.” Mach rebuked disbelievingly.  “Not even the Rifter would have the
balls for that.”

“I’ll
bet I do, and don’t say I won’t,” Finn said seriously with a pointed finger.  “What
do you want to wager?”

Toss
chimed in.  “A gold piece if you slow dance with a water nymph afterward.”

“I
like the cut of your jib, mate,” Finn laughed.  “You’re on!  And while we’re at
it, what about you?  What’s the first thing you’ll do?”

“I’d
like to start smithing again,” Toss remarked, “and maybe have a little hut with
a statue garden out back.”

The
rest of them stared at him in muted disbelief.

“What?”
Toss asked innocently, but there was a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“I
already know that Nix wouldn’t change a damn thing,” Finn mocked, still
laughing at Toss.  “He can’t get enough of solitude.”

“I
certainly haven’t had any peace since
you’ve
come along,” Nix retorted.

“What
about you, Wren?”

She
didn’t care for being put on the spot – especially since she didn’t have a
clear answer, but they were all looking at her now, and she said the first
thing that came to her head.

“I
don’t know if I’ve thought of anything specific as all that,” she started. 
“There are a lot of things that I miss and many things that I invented in my
time away from here, but I just want to be able to sleep – to wake up in the
morning and hear birds singing.  I know there will always be dangers of some
sort, but I want to feel safe – like I used to.  I want to be surrounded by the
ones I love.  I just want to
live
.  I want to grow old and know that the
choices I made were the right ones.”

She
had drifted away from them as she spoke, but she was suddenly aware of the
silence.  When she looked up, she saw that they were all staring at her, but it
was not with disapproval.  They were surprised and yet subdued by her simple
wishes.

Wren
felt herself blush, trying to look away but instead caught Nix’s eye.  He
peered at her, his expression soft, and she wondered if – in that moment – they
had shared the same dream.

“That
was well-spoken, Wren,” Finn said, breaking through the moment which felt so
awkward now, but he was quick to move on.  “So tell us about your statue
garden, Toss.  Will there be some lovely lady muse to inspire you?”

“Maybe
there will be,” Toss declared, to which Finn howled with pleasure.  They went
on jovially until the laughter died down, and then Mach decided to turn back to
more serious things.

“So
if she is Wren, then the rest of you must be the infamous Wolf Pack.  I hear
there’s quite a price on all your heads.  Specifically,
for
the heads.”

The
rest were silent at that, perhaps unsure how to take it.  Wren did not try to reply,
feeling that this was not a conversation meant for her.

“You
want to try your luck, is that it?” Nix asked threateningly, staring at him
firmly, but he was not the only one.  All of them had taken clear offense to
the remark.

“Nothing
like that,” Mach said, holding up his hands as if to hold them off.  “But it
does answer my question.  Your quest is to gather up and reunite with your
leader, is that it?”

“It
could be that we’re missing a couple of our brothers,” Finn said leadingly. 
“There used to be a pair of red-haired boys with us.  They looked quite a bit
alike, these two.  We’re still looking for them.”

“I
don’t know anything about that,” Mach sneered.  He leaned back against a rock,
crossing one foot over the other.  “I look like a red-haired bitch to you?  And
I certainly don’t have a brother.”

Despite
Finn’s effort to encourage him toward the truth, Mach was not anxious to give
in.  They all watched him, but their effort to jog his memory, or at least to
have him admit it, had not been effective.  Collectively – silently – they gave
up for now.

“So
where are you headed?” Mach asked.

“To
the other side of the mountains,” Nix said simply, and Wren guessed he was
refusing to give more information than that.

“Through
the canyon?” Mach asked curiously, sounding interested.

“Yeah,
that’s right,” Toss chimed in, still munching on his meal.

“Hmm,
I wonder…” Mach looked away thoughtfully, finally directing his attention back
to them.  “I wonder if you’d let me help you.”

“But
you don’t even know where we’re headed,” Wren started, but she was quickly cut
off.

“I
don’t
care
where you’re going,” he insisted roughly.  “I just wonder if
you’d let me help you – to cross the canyon, of course.”

“You
have a way?” Nix asked.

“I’ve
been working on it for a while,” he said. “I’ve calculated specific areas in
the mountain where, if plugged with enough explosives and set off at the right
time, I believe it will create a land bridge across the canyon. I just haven’t
worked up to it yet. But with you here, it’ll give us both what we want.”

Wren
was quiet, glancing towards Nix who seemed deep in thought.  She didn’t know
what to say.  He was better at reading people than she was, though she couldn’t
help but want to be a bit cautious, especially until she knew more about who
Mach had become in the last four years.

“What
do you think?” Nix asked finally, looking toward the others.

Toss
looked up from his seconds.  “Worth a try,” he said agreeably. 

Finn
shrugged in a way that said ‘why not?’ and Calico was staring at the fire,
leaving Wren to wonder if she was even there with them.

Nix
looked into her eyes then, just as she’d expected him to.  “What do
you
think?”

Wren
didn’t say it, but she didn’t want to be the one to make this decision.

“Why
should we trust you?” she asked Mach instead. “According to you, we don’t know
anything about you.”

Nix
smirked at her words, turning back to see what Mach’s reply would be.

“Fair
enough,” said Mach, holding up his hands in surrender. “I was with pirates for
a while, but I’ve been through with that for almost a year now.  I’ve been
living down here by myself, hunting nightmares and trying to survive.  That’s
all.”

So,
the old raft they’d used was his, most likely the one that had taken him away
from the pirate ship.

 “And
we know you won’t hurt us?  That this isn’t some sort of trick?” Wren asked.

“It
was just a simple proposal, lady,” he said, getting annoyed.  “Promise.  All
business.”

She
sighed.  She supposed giving this a try would be better than trying to make it
across the canyon on their own.  She nodded.

“I
think we have a deal,” she said. “We’ll help you.”

“It’s
settled then,” Mach said, using a stick to prod the fire. “We help each other
pass the canyon.  Then we forget that the other ever existed.  Follow me?”

She
nodded, but only because that was what he expected her to do.  She was certain
of his identity and she wasn’t willing to let that stop her, intending to get
through to him, but for now she would relent.

They
sat for a while beside the fire until a cool breeze funneled through, making
the cave groan.

2

On
the far side of the island, near the lagoon where the black nightmare sludge
had swallowed the incubating dreams long ago, several ships approached.  They
anchored in this spot, away from prying eyes, and the men aboard loaded
themselves into smaller boats to row themselves to shore.

For
the first time in four years, the pirates returned to land.

There
were stray nightmares – lesser, unformed abominations – roaming the beach, and
while those were the very things that the men had fled from, they leapt from
the rolling surf and attacked the creatures with renewed vigor.  As if
believing themselves invincible now that their leader had reemerged, they
battled the nightmares with guns and blades, slaughtering the very creatures
they had once feared.