The Dream Catcher's Daughter (26 page)

Shemillah gave another wave of her wand,
and the new body’s hood flew off. Len’s eyes fluttered open, and she stirred.
Cap Man and Jason leaned farther forward.

“She will not rid of you quickly,” said
the Guardian in Jason’s ear. “She wants to play with you. That is Shemillah’s
nature: Pleasure. Satisfaction. Use that to your advantage. She will expect you
to have something up your sleeve.”

Once Len realized where she was, she
struggled, her arms jerking against the restraints. But nothing short of magic
would budge them. The crowd’s excitement burned and their murmurs grew louder.
Their eyes honed in on the woman with green hair and the black robe. Shemillah
raised her hand, and the crowd effectively fell silent. Jason sighed through
his nose. Shemillah stepped aside and motioned a hand toward Len.

“This is Lenmana. Simply Lenmana. She has
no last name, for her life was volunteered at a young age for an important
task. She was to hunt the Dream Caller as the Dream Catcher’s apprentice.
Basically, she became the Dream Catcher’s daughter.” She pivoted on her heel
and walked back to Len and jerked her up by a handful of her hair. “But she
made a terrible mistake! She and all of her ancestors. They made the greatest
mistake of all!”

Shemillah looked down into Len’s face with
a smirk. “For centuries, they have wrongly persecuted the Dream Caller. And now
I’m here to correct that.” She released her grip, and Len’s head bobbed down.
She kept her gaze on the ground as Shemillah moved to the front of the stage.
“Before I make this vile creature pay for her ancestors’ transgressions, I
shall call out another.

“Sadly, he is my lover.”

A gasp ran through the crowd. Jason’s
mouth flattened into a hard line. His fingers closed about his knees, knuckles
whitening. Cap Man shifted in his seat.

“He helps the Catcher because he thinks I
use the Caller’s powers unwisely. And without the ability to perform magic, he
was doomed to have his memory erased. Until today, he’s been running. Trying to
escape his fate. But I know he’s out there, in the crowd. He thinks I haven’t
noticed him. But I can always pick out my
Lukoje’s
face in a crowd.”

The fake, sorrowful love in her voice made
Jason want to puke. She was trying to get under his skin. Jason couldn’t help
but let her. She raised her wand and pointed it into the crowd, directly at
him.

“Jason Ole Lukoje McKinney, my love. Turn
yourself in to me. It shall be I who erases your memory. Because it is my
responsibility as the long-persecuted Dream Caller to right the wrongs done to
me. And you, dear, have committed many.”

Magi were turning in their seats. Many of
them already knew who he was; they’d seen him at Silver Moon. He was the son of
the late Arthur McKinney.

The Guardian nodded at Jason. The
dizziness in Jason’s stomach was great. The pressure in the back of his head
hummed to itself, waiting. He rose from his seat, and the crowd only grew more
excited. As he moved through the center aisle, he heard the whispers: “Poor
boy.” “Filthy coward.” “Trying to do in his own love? How shameful. How
heartless.”

The words didn’t faze him at first. But as
he reached the front-most rows, the whispers didn’t stay quiet. Magi booed him.
Hisses went up, followed by chants of “traitor” and “coward.” He was halfway
between the stands and the wooden platform when Shemillah stepped forward, past
the red mark, a triumphant smile on her lips. In his mind, he only saw the
smile of her second mouth, with its terrible green flesh and all-too-perfect
teeth.

“My love has shown himself!” said
Shemillah. “He will learn, then. If only he’d learned earlier. Then this
wouldn’t have to be such a painful lesson.”

Jason flicked his gaze to Sirin and his
paladins. He also glanced behind him, just to make sure no one was behind him.
His hand was halfway to his pocket when Shemillah’s voice froze him: “My
Lukoje, I know you’re dedicated, but did you think it would be wise to sneak a
cell phone up here? Oh yes, I can sense the magic you’ve stored in there. I
suggest you lay it at your feet. Now.”

Each of the paladins, including Sirin,
drew their swords. The blades glowed and hummed. Jason grunted; he’d known this
wouldn’t be simple. But how could she have known? His eyes flicked to Sirin,
who wore the largest shit-eating grin. Of course he could sniff out the magical
energy of Darlene’s cell phone. What had Jason been thinking?

Now or never,
he thought.

He reached for the phone and opened the
screen. The spell book app booted. He looked up and saw Shemillah’s face only
inches from his. She snatched the phone from his hand as Sirin ran down the
steps to stand by his mistress. Shemillah held the phone to her face,
scrunching her nose at it.

“This is what kids use these days? As a
wand? That’s one thing I’ll change.”

She crushed the phone in her grip, plastic
bits peppering the ground. Then she draped her arms over Jason’s neck and
stared upon his face. Her lips curled up. Desire burned in her eyes.

“How I’ve longed for this,” she said. “You
probably don’t remember, but I do. I remember everything.” She leaned down and
kissed Jason.

The crowd fell silent. Even Sirin stared
with slack-jaw. Jason only sat there, placid and motionless as the Dream Caller
tongued the inside of his teeth. His leg muscles twitched, urging him to tear
away. But he didn’t. Not yet. He was certain the Guardian must have a plan. Why
else let Jason walk into Shemillah’s arms?

Shemillah pulled away and gave Jason a shake.
“Hey, you alive? This is the last kiss you’re going to get. From this mouth,
anyway.”

She lowered her head for another kiss, but
stopped. From the crowd, Cap Man walked toward the stage, the Guardian trailing
behind, stumbling along on a cane that Jason hadn’t seen until then.

“I’m sorry,” said Sirin, scampering up to
Cap Man. “She’s not handing out kisses. Please return to your seat, sir. We’re
about to get under way with—”

His mouth stopped working because Cap Man nearly
shoved his entire fist down Sirin’s throat. The paladin leader fell flat on his
back, blood dribbling from his nose and mouth. The other paladins left their
posts, storming toward Cap Man. Shemillah unhanded Jason and turned toward Cap
Man. Her eyes fell to the dream catcher hanging from Cap Man’s neck. Shemillah
whipped around and screamed at the paladins to stop. Cap Man pulled up his
phone, spell book app already open, and activated a spell.

A burst of blue light shot from the phone,
hitting everyone within a twenty-foot radius. Jason fell to the ground,
covering his head. He landed next to Sirin, who after the light cleared,
trembled and convulsed.

It started as a wisp of light. Gathering
at Sirin’s mouth, the light grew and grew until it became an orb. Jason had
seen the King of Dreams carrying this orb in the mansion. The orb of light
rocketed forward, smashing into Shemillah. The Dream Caller flew back, but
stayed upright, her heels grinding into the stone floor. The light slowly
seeped into her, crawling in through her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and flesh.
Her scream split the air; Jason clapped his hands over his ears.

The rest of the paladins seemed unaffected
by the blue light, and they each jumped from the platform, holding their swords
high. Jason looked up, and where Cap Man was, Darlene now stood, the cap and
plaid jacket hanging off her body three sizes too small. Next to her, tall and
cloaked in shadows, stood the Guardian. His green eyes burned fear into each of
the paladins and halted their advance.

Shemillah straightened herself, and glared
at the Guardian. “Father!” she shouted. “Welcome to my homecoming party! I see
you brought plenty of tricks, but where’s my treat?” And she drew her wand,
blue lighting zig-zagging from the tip.

The Guardian stepped in front of Darlene
and raised one finger. The lightning bounced off him and struck the stands.
Shrieks of panic rose from the crowd as they scrambled for the exit.

“Paladins!” shouted Shemillah. “Let no one
escape! Use any means necessary!”

Jason rolled around the stamping feet of
paladins. One paladin struck down an elderly woman who could barely walk.
Another paladin sliced through a young couple, their blood spraying across
several audience members. The shrieks grew louder as Jason rose to his feet,
careful to avoid the unconscious Sirin. Two hands seized his shoulders, and
Jason’s head jerked up. Darlene stared him in the eyes, a slight grin on her
face.

“I need you to grab this,” said Darlene,
motioning to her chest where the dream catcher was.

“Is this really the time to be telling me
about your sexual frustration?”

“The dream catcher, dumbass! Grab the
dream catcher!”

Cheeks red, Jason grasped the dream
catcher firmly. It felt warm, then suddenly started glowing and shot twenty feet
into the air before falling back down, landing only about seven feet behind
Shemillah.

The Guardian tossed a black fireball at
Shemillah, and she deflected it with her wand, sending it off behind her, just
left of the platform. She parried with a jab of her wand, firing off a green
bullet that grew until it was the size of a wrecking ball. The Guardian held up
both hands, grabbed hold of the energy, and opened his mouth. As the bullet’s
magic funneled down his throat, Shemillah shot another bolt of lightning at her
father’s feet, sweeping him off-balance. The energy bullet exploded in the
Guardian’s face. His body thudded against the ground. Shemillah pointed her
wand for the kill.

Music flooded the Arena. It was unlike any
music Jason had heard before: It was heavy, ancient. Every note articulated
perfectly. Reverence lifted the music up and pushed it through the air,
carrying it far and wide. The paladins and crowd members stopped and then fell,
eyes shut. Snores emanated softly from hundreds of mouths. The only ones left
awake were Darlene, Jason, Len, Shemillah, and the Dream Catcher.

Shemillah wheeled around, narrowing her
eyes. The Catcher blasted through more notes, and Shemillah seized up, her arms
spreading wide. Her skin turned green and she started to grow, but she
struggled to keep her eyes open. The mouth on her stomach appeared, spitting
and growling. Eventually her eyes gave out, and the Dream Caller nodded off,
her skin still green, the giant mouth halfway open and slobbering. The Dream Catcher
lowered her flute.

Everything was silent, save for the sound
of snoring. Darlene ran onto the platform and freed Len. She pulled her into a
hug, and Len’s face froze. Jason thought of a deer in headlights as he watched
Len, unsure of what to do. Her eyes flicked to him; Jason motioned with his
arms. After a few more seconds, Len returned the hug.

Jason felt a presence at his side, and
turned to see the Guardian and the Dream Catcher. The three of them turned
toward the unconscious Shemillah floating mid-air. Jason sighed.

“Guess it’s time,” he said.

“Indeed,” said the Guardian. “But you have
known for a while, I imagine.”

Jason nodded slightly. “
Kinda
. I had a feeling. Especially since Shades. And now,
after seeing the orb of light vanish inside Shemillah, I know for sure.”

The Dream Catcher turned her gaze on him.
“Does that mean you remember?”

Jason didn’t say, for a thought occurred
to him. “If I go in...How powerful will Shemillah become?”

The Dream Catcher tightened her grip on
the flute. The Guardian stared at Shemillah, his eyes drifting up and down her
lime green body. He sighed.

“Even if I hold nothing back. Even if we
had three more of me and three more of the Dream Catcher, Shemillah will have
no problem exterminating us. It’ll only be a matter of how long we can last
against her.”

“We’ll buy you as much time as we can,”
said the Dream Catcher, holding up her flute. The instrument glowed blue, then
turned into a sword. “But hurry. These bones are old; I don’t know how much
longer they’ll carry me.”

Jason’s throat tightened, his face ablaze.

Darlene and Len were still hugging,
swaying slightly back and forth. Jason thought they might be talking and he
didn’t want to interrupt them. Shemillah was only about one and a half times
bigger than him, but the mouth on her stomach was still large enough for him to
fit into. He touched the giant mouth, and it twitched. It felt so clammy and
breathless.
Of course it doesn’t breathe,
thought Jason.
This mouth
only eats.

He spread the lips wide, and his spine tingled.
The hairs on his neck pricked up. He scrunched his nose as he inhaled the
rotten stench wafting up from the back of the nightmare’s throat. He readied
himself to dive headfirst.

“Jason!”

Len and Darlene descended from the
platform and ran to him. Their hands were linked, fingers woven together. Jason
smiled, then looked up at Len.

She nodded. “Darlene said yes.”

Darlene grinned, squeezing Len’s hand. “So
you better do whatever it is you need to do and come back, because this girl
owes me a movie and dinner. And you
know
she’ll need a few pointers.”
Behind Len and Darlene, the Dream Catcher raised a brow. The Guardian shook his
head, a smile on his lips. “Oh, and kick ass, Jiggy!”