The Dream Catcher's Daughter (29 page)

“And it sounds wonderful. Like music.”

Tara rolled her eyes. “You and your
clichés.”

“Chock full of ‘
em
.”

And for the first time in nearly a year,
Jason and Tara laughed together. It filled the pit with sweet echoes, washing
them in their own childish musings. After they quieted down, they locked eyes.
Then looked away, as though they’d just met. Tara examined her new duds and
body. She raised an arm and pinched it.

“Am I...alive again?”

Jason hesitated, then shook his head.
“Tara died. At least, the one I knew did. You...you’re something else. You are
but you aren’t. Kind of like me. I am Lukoje, but I’m not.”

Tara shook her head. “What does that
mean?”

“It means we have unfinished business.”

“What’ll happen to us?”

“We’ll pay for our mistakes, Tara.” He
looked toward the bridge. “The only way for that to happen is if you follow me.
I suggest we hurry. Shemillah will swallow the whole world if we let her.”

Tara heaved a sigh. “Jason, I remember
things and—”

“I know it wasn’t suicide. At least, not
originally.”

“Huh? You do?”

Jason crossed his arms. “Why would Sirin
have the orb of light, your very essence, inside him? I knew I never liked him,
I just had no idea why. He’s also very good at tearing people down.”

Tara’s hands fell to her sides and she
nodded. She found an umbrella sword at her waist, raised the blade, and looked
at it. She swung it a bit, as though she’d been born with it in her hand. Then
she held it steady, her eyes drifting up and down the blade. It was silver with
purple veins running along the length.

“This is the dream sword,” said Tara. “The
one...Lukoje sealed Shemillah in.”

Jason shook his head. “No, it’s
better—it’s the sword of life, created solely for one purpose. And with a
little extra help, we’ll be able to finally defeat the nightmare.”

***

The bridge led them to another plateau. A
throne larger than the other three combined was carved into a fleshy wall.
Sitting upon the throne, Gelen smiled up at Jason and Tara, then stood and
embraced Jason, squeezing him. She kissed his cheeks as Tara looked on, arms
crossed over her chest. Gelen showered him with loving words: “How I missed
you! My King, oh my handsome King Lukoje! I knew it was you all this time. And
now you have come for me, like I knew you would! How can I ever repay you?”

“Please stop crushing my ribcage?”

The Queen laughed, flipping her hair. “How
you jest! You know pain holds no meaning for you. Even with this new body of
yours, you would heal within moments. Even if I broke your spine.”

He pursed his lips. Now he knew how he’d
survived falling down two flights of stairs and everything else. But that
didn’t matter right now. His eyes drifted back to Tara. Gelen noticed his eyes
and followed his gaze. Her nose wrinkled.

“S. How nice of you to return. Tell me, do
you enjoy causing your Queen pain? And our King! How could you let our King
suffer?”

Tara’s face hardened, her jaw clenched. “I
did so only under the Dream Caller’s influence, milady.” Her eyes widened, and
she shot Jason a look that said, “Did those words come out of
my
mouth?”

“Does it matter? Whether it was the king’s
command or the devil’s himself, your first and foremost duty is to protect him.
Your terribleness reflects on me. Or did you forget that we are one?”

Tara’s arms fell slowly to her sides. Her
mouth opened, but only a squeak emerged. She clamped a hand over her lips.

“What was that?” said the Queen. “Speak
up. I want to hear your excuse.”

“Gelen,” said Jason.

“My King, let me handle this. You have suffered
enough.” And her eyes bored into Tara, all brightness in her smile turning
black and deadly like a mamba’s venom. “So, S. How do you explain yourself?”

Tara’s fingers curled and uncurled. Sweat
beaded on her brow and rolled down her cheeks. Her gaze met Jason’s, and he
gave her a smile. She nodded once, then turned back to the Queen. She took a
deep breath, and muttered something.

“
Hm
?” said the
Queen. “Come again; methinks I heard you not.”

This time, Tara nearly shouted, “I’m part
of no one but myself.”

A wide smile cracked Jason’s face. But
Gelen’s lips seemed to shrivel up, as though she’d just stuck a lemon in her
mouth. Her nostrils flared.

“Oh, you think so? All right. Let us
see...Your name is S. Which stands for Sniff...Which means you are my sense of
smell. You are
mine
, S. No one else’s. Not even yourself. And through me
you belong to King Lukoje. For I belong to him.”

“No, you don’t.”

Both Tara and Gelen turned to Jason.
Gelen’s face went slack, her eyes narrowed at Jason. But he didn’t wince or
even back away. He stood there, shoulders back. He heaved a sigh through his
nose. The Queen managed a small smile.

“What do you mean?” she said.

“I didn’t stutter.”

She swallowed hard. “You mumbled.”

“No. I said it loud and clear, Gelen. You.
Don’t. Be. Long. To. Me.”

Before he knew what was happening, Gelen
was on her knees, grabbing at his hand. She stared up at him with wide, blurry
eyes. She huffed a string of unintelligible pleas. To Jason, it sounded like
the words he’d spewed after Tara’s death. The tremendous loss. His inability to
comprehend. But Gelen constructed a single intelligible sentence: “What did I
do?”

Jason folded one of her hands between two
of his. “Nothing. And that’s the problem. You’ve done nothing for yourself. And
I realize that’s my fault, Gelen. Do you realize who you are?” When she didn’t
respond, Jason continued, “
Lukoje’s
memories slowly
became mine. After all, I’m not really Lukoje. He’s dead. But his soul was
within me, and it merged with me. Then I remembered the Guardian’s
daughter…Shemillah. She was my first love.

“She is
you
. And you are her. Both
you and Tara. But at the same time, you aren’t Shemillah. You aren’t mine any
more than Tara is part of you.”

“My King, don’t forsake me!”

“I’m not forsaking you, Queen Gelen. I’m
forsaking
Lukoje’s
crown.”

The words seemed to circle Gelen’s head
before sinking into her ears, into the sound preceptors in her brain. She
gripped Jason’s wrist, nearly pulling him down on top of her. But he didn’t
budge. He wore a smile so gentle and kind it was unfair. There was pain in
Gelen’s eyes and confusion in her slightly-parted lips.

“You can’t,” said Gelen. “You’re the king
of Visonia. The kingdom needs you.”

“No. The kingdom doesn’t need me. I’m just
a kid. Storytelling is my purpose. Lukoje made me realize this. When the
nightmare came, Lukoje let it infect him. He wanted so bad to get rid of it, so
he found the Guardian. He gave him the nightmare. And then his child…Shemillah
took all of it because she wanted to show how much she loved him. In a way, she
did it for me.

“Lukoje tore part of her soul from the
corrupted body and turned her into you, Gelen. Then you created your guard. S
became Tara, after I tried to seal Shemillah. Of course, her body wasn’t…like
it was in Visonia. After all, weird things happen to dreams that cross over
freely. Even if they happen to find their way into a natural, Caindom woman’s
womb.

“It’s time responsibility was taken for
Lukoje’s
actions. No more hiding in Visonia. Others
shouldn’t have to bear his burden.”

“But I will! I will bear all the burden!”
Gelen rubbed her cheek against Jason’s hands. “Please, my King. Let me be
useful. Let me be what you need. What you have always wanted.”

Jason kneeled and wrapped his arms around
Gelen. He hugged her to him and then helped her to her feet.

“You aren’t my toy. Lukoje created you,
sure, but I’m not Lukoje. Not really. You should be doing what you want to do.”
He gestured to Tara. “I love Tara because she always kept me on my toes. She
never did anything I wanted her to. But she completes me. We’re independent,
but united.”

“I am independent! I governed Visonia and
kept watch over the city!”

“For Lukoje. And you always waited for him
because you thought that’s what he’d want. I want you to move on. Live your own
life.”

Jason backed away from Gelen’s
outstretched hands. She tripped and fell, landing flat on her face. Jason moved
to help her up, but Tara stepped forward and kneeled next to the Queen. His
eyes flicked to where Tara had been standing. He could barely see the metal of
Tara’s nose-mask strewn on the ground.

Gelen shrugged off Tara’s hands. “Stop
being stubborn,” said Tara. “I’m only trying to help.”

“You have turned my King against me.
Against us.”

“No. He’s not against you or me. Didn’t
you hear him?”

“Yes. He said he loves Tara.”

“That’s me.”

“No. You are S. Merely a guard.” The Queen
reached her knees. Then she hammered a fist into the ground. “A guard...loved
less than a mere guard. How I’ve been cheated upon! After all my loyalty. All
my devotion. I have been everything my King has ever wanted. I have loved him
so much.”

Tara gripped Gelen about the shoulders,
and turned her so the Queen could only look her in the eyes. “You’ve got it all
wrong. You should’ve been doing those things because you wanted to. Not because
you thought Lukoje would love you more. God. If you just love him because
that’s how you feel, then maybe he would love you back. Maybe even more.”

The Queen jerked out of Tara’s grip. She
hyperventilated. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks. “But...but isn’t the point of
life to love and please others? Isn’t that what it’s all about?”

For a moment, only silence met her
question. She looked up to Tara, whose lips were pressed into a hard line. Her
gaze flashed to Jason. Her bottom lip quivered. She dug her fingers into the
fleshy ground. Tears streamed down her face.

“Is it not? Is love not important?”

“It is important,” said Jason. “But only
if you love yourself, first. Especially your dreams. You have to love and
respect your dreams, Gelen. Without them, you’re only a shell.”

She stared up at Jason, her chest heaving
and collapsing. He thought she might burst into more tears, but her breathing
eventually slowed. Her eyes stopped leaking, and her face smoothened out. She
gulped, shook her head, and barked a laugh.

“I suppose I am not worthy of life.”

“Don’t say that,” said Jason, weakly.

“I am not independent. I have lived my
whole life under your—under
Lukoje’s
control. To try
anything different now would drive me insane. As sad as it is, I am not at all
upset.”

Jason stepped forward. “You should be. You
should be upset. You should want to be independent.”

“But I do not. I do not know what I want.
I have only known how to be what
you
desire. I have put little thought
into anything else.” She looked up to Tara. “And you—part of me, yet not
anymore. How you have changed! You were always the odd guard. I should not be
surprised Lukoje favors you.”

“His name’s Jason,” said Tara.

Gelen shook her head, grinning. “I cannot
even call him that. This is why it is better if I become part of you, S.”
Jason’s jaw dropped. Tara stared deep into Gelen’s face. Gelen continued, “You
have led a new life separated from me. He would be unhappy with anyone but
you.”

“But what about Visonia? It needs a
queen.”

Gelen shook her head. “It never needed a
castle. Visonia is a place for those who dream to come and do so. The rest is
up to Jason.” She looked up at him. “With his mystical sleeping sand and dream
umbrella, he will ensure they have good dreams.” Gelen turned back to Tara.
“So, please, let me join you. We are still part of the same whole. Instead of
me, though, you will be the whole. As it should be.”

For a long moment, Tara only stared into
the eyes of her queen, like staring into a mirror. The brave look in her face
was like the one Jason remembered when they wrote
Tale of the White Knight
.
It had been something strange. New. But Tara took to it.

With a small grin on her lips, she held
out a hand to herself.

Len fell back, her head thudding against
the cement floor. Blood bloomed on the back of her skull. Her lips peeled back,
teeth bared. Her eyes swam in their sockets, trying to focus on the green figure
approaching her. But her vision was blurry. To her, Shemillah looked like a
giant green smear on the canvas of her vision.

Something white cut through the green
smear—Shemillah’s second mouth, smiling.

“I was going to melt you inside me. But
killing you sounds so much more fun!”

Len struggled to sit up, clenching her
mouth tight with the effort. The red warmth spread down her neck and covered
her shoulders. The pain throbbed in time with her pulse. Each beat of her heart
made her wish everything would just stop. But it pumped life into her. Despite
the aches in her joints and the possible concussion, she reached her knees.

Her eyes cleared a little, and she could
better make out Shemillah. The green amazon with six arms and a mouth spread
across her stomach. She towered over Len by nearly three times Len’s height.
But this didn’t bother Len. Not in the slightest. What bothered her was
Darlene, unconscious, being held by two of Shemillah’s six arms. Toward
Shemillah’s left, near the platform, lay the crumpled heap of the Guardian. Not
dead, but curled up and murmuring to himself. His hood was pulled back, and Len
could see the back of the Guardian’s skeletal head.

Not too far behind Shemillah, stewing in a
puddle of her own blood, was the Dream Catcher.

Len’s gaze flicked back to Shemillah and
then to Darlene. Her hands clenched.

Shemillah grinned. “Missing your flute?
Well, it wouldn’t have done you any good. Look what it did for your mistress.
Soon, you and this bitch will join her!” She shook Darlene, her head
whiplashing.

“Stop that!” said Len. “I’ll fucking kill
you!”

One of the tree trunk-like arms smashed
into Len. She floated for a few moments, then landed on her side. Her elbow
crunched beneath her. Her lips peeled back as she screamed.

She rolled onto her belly, trying to get
her arm out from under her. It took effort, for her arm now bent the wrong way.
She bit back another scream before heaving bile onto the floor. She tried to
catch her breath, but Shemillah’s tumultuous footsteps cut her short. She
looked up and saw Shemillah had turned her attention to one of the sleeping
crowd members. She leaned over and, with one of her six arms, picked the crowd
member up. She opened her second mouth.

“I’m a little famished. I think I’ll down
this poor sap before I kill you.”

Len tried to scream, but her stomach
rocketed more bile up her throat, and it spewed onto the ground. When she
lifted her head, the sleeping man’s legs disappeared between the lips of
Shemillah’s second mouth. It sighed, and Shemillah rubbed her stomach. She
turned to Len, and for a moment, Len thought she’d be next to slide down that
monstrous throat. But Shemillah only smiled. Then held up Darlene, dangling her
by one ankle, just like the sleeping crowd member.

“I’m still a bit hungry. Why not her? I’ll
bet she’s juicy. Let’s crunch her between my teeth and find out.”

Len stood now, rushing Shemillah, only to
be swept away like a measly fly. Len hit one of the seats, her back crackling
as it bent over the steel of the headrest. Burning pain zippered up her arm and
spine. She nearly blacked out, but somehow kept her eyes open. She looked up at
Shemillah. And the green amazon grinned back.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you say goodbye
after I’ve chewed her up. I might even spit her head back out for you to kiss
before I kill you.”

And she lifted Darlene high into the air.

Len clutched at her right arm with her
left, clenching her teeth, almost gritting them. She wanted to get up, but her
legs wouldn’t listen. Slowly, Shemillah lowered Darlene closer to her second
mouth. Darlene’s hands touched the large, flat tongue. Its drool hung in a
strand like a glistening pendulum from it bottom lip.

Where the fuck are you, Jason?
she
thought.

Darlene’s head entered Shemillah’s mouth
when as Len passed out.

***

A light flooded the inside of Shemillah’s
mouth. And the giant monster jerked, dropping Darlene. Luckily, she landed on
her side, which yanked her out of unconscious bliss, her eyes fluttering open.
She first saw Len, and the unnatural angle of Len’s arm and back. Calling Len’s
name, Darlene stood and ran to kneel beside her. The gray-haired girl still
breathed, but just barely. Darlene could see the blood caked on the back of
Len’s neck. She reached for her cell phone. Shemillah’s roar made her teeth
clatter.

Shemillah twisted and wheeled about, her
arms gripping her stomach. Her second mouth clenched shut. It looked as though
something might be trying to burst through, and Shemillah tried to stop it, to
swallow it back down. But her mouth burst open, and a rainbow light flooded the
Arena. The light hung in the air, crystalline sparkles floating through
oscillating colors. The strange light filled Darlene with a warmth she could
truthfully say she’d only felt in her dreams. Perhaps this was all a nightmare.
And now it was turning into a dream.

Something emerged from the rainbow light.
They floated down like two snowflakes, growing larger and larger as they
reached the earth. By the time they touched down, Darlene was fairly convinced
this
was
a dream.

Jason and Tara stood together, side by
side. Each wielded an umbrella-shaped sword, and they pointed them at
Shemillah, who was still vomiting all over the floor.

Jason turned back to Darlene, and smiled.
“
Yo
, Smokey. Thanks for
waitin
’
up.”

Darlene grunted. “Just hurry up. I think
Len needs a doctor.”

“Just make sure to carry her there. We can
tease her later.”

Shemillah staggered, trying to stand. Her
eyes came into focus, and she saw Jason and Tara standing before her. She
scowled, and her second mouth did as well.

“I had a feeling you’d give me
indigestion,” she said.

“Always. And look! I brought a friend.”

Tara gave Shemillah a little wave.

“You may have escaped, but I’ve still
attained greater power just by having you in there.” A pitch black aura emanated
from her flesh, hovering inches around her. Darlene could feel the pure evil
inside the aura.

Jason pointed his sword at Shemillah. “You
may have great power, but you have a weakness. One that I had only realized too
late.”

“Fool. I have no weaknesses.”

Jason stabbed his sword into the ground, a
grin spreading across his lips. Shemillah raised all six of her arms, readying
to smash them down. Jason said something under his breath, and he braced
himself. Shemillah hammered her arms down, but before she could connect, she
was tackled to the ground.

Darlene couldn’t believe her eyes.
She shouted at Jason, “Jason, run! Get
outta
here!”
She stood, her eyes flicking back to Shemillah. The Dream Caller rose quickly
to her feet. Across from her, quite a few feet taller, stood Talshe. As she was
about to run to Jason, Darlene watched in wide-eyed amazement as Talshe tackled
Shemillah again, grappling with the mighty six-armed monster. Darlene stopped
dead in her tracks. She had to be dreaming. How else could she explain Talshe
attacking Shemillah?

Shemillah tossed Talshe away, and Talshe
rolled along the ground, but she stopped herself and stood. She spat into the
floor and grinned. Darlene realized something:
Talshe’s
flesh was no longer gray, but a healthy pink. Shemillah wheeled around, facing
Tara and Jason. Except, where Jason and Tara should be, she found another boy
and girl looking up at her, grinning. The girl looked to the boy and pushed on
his shoulder.

“Hey, wonder how long it’ll take her to
figure it out?”

The boy shrugged. “Well, she’s pretty
clever. I’m sure she’ll have a good idea once we’ve got her surrounded.”

Shemillah lunged at them, but they dodged
at the last moment and ran down the length of Shemillah’s body, all the way to
her ankles. As Shemillah stood, the two grabbed her ankles and held her in
place.

“Now, Talshe!” shouted Bootelia.

Talshe sprinted forward, and with each
step she doubled in size until she was nearly too tall to fit inside the Arena.
She kneeled behind Shemillah and clasped her hands around the Dream Caller,
locking her fingers tightly together so that only Shemillah’s head was exposed.
Shemillah thrashed and grunted, her eyes darting about.

“You dreams! Listen to me! I call upon
you! Release me!”

But the giantess only smiled. “You’re not
our boss.” And she gave Shemillah a little squeeze, which elicited a hiss. “Be
thankful I don’t crush you.”

Darlene then noticed Jason and Tara. Where
had they gone? This had to be a dream: nothing made sense.

Jason crossed his arms, and glared at
Shemillah. “Well, Dream Caller. I’m afraid it’s time to take back what’s
rightfully mine.”

“Rightfully yours? Ha! Just because you
have me restrained doesn’t mean you can extract the nightmare from me. Even if
you are the King of Dreams!”

Jason clucked his tongue, shaking his
head. “Tsk, tsk. You shouldn’t get so full of yourself. That’s the problem with
that nightmare. It rots you from the inside out. First you start thinking
you’re better than everyone else. Then your skin turns green. Then you start
devouring everyone else, because you want everything they have. Because you
want to feel like you did before the nightmare. That’s how the nightmare
feeds.”

He pulled his umbrella sword from its spot
in the ground. “But I’ve known this for millennia. And I’ve had ample time to
think about it. As Jason McKinney, I had a problem remembering. Bootelia and
Amor there, at your legs, said the dreams were just trying to help me. It took
me a while to realize that they
were
. Talshe was trying to get me inside
so I could see you had somehow broken your chains. And another part of it was
that you controlled her. But you had no control over the twins or my other
guards. They simply followed their instructions. Just as your servant, Sirin,
served his mistress.

“But my guards were turned violent by your
corruption. And I’m certain one of them will be happy to see you.”

Shemillah’s eyes widened.

“The funny thing about leeches...they suck
things out. Like blood. Or nightmares.”

A shadow extended from Jason’s figure,
trailing along the ground toward Shemillah.

The Dream Caller shook her head. “No! You
shouldn’t be able to call them! You shouldn’t be able to! I made that deal with
you. You shouldn’t be able to say that word!”

Jason shrugged. “You made that deal with
Jason Ole McKinney. Not the King of Dreams.”

He pointed a finger at her, and said,
“Forth!”

And out from the shadows leapt the giant
hound Leech. But he wasn’t hairless or crimson: His fur was a bright gold, and
it shimmered in the light as he soared through air. His brown eyes honed in on
Shemillah’s face. His mouth opened, and he angled it sideways. Shemillah
jerked, then went still. A loud slurping noise echoed through the air. Leech’s
fur changed from gold to black, then gold again as the blackness seeped out of
his fur and distilled into the air. Jason held out his left hand to Tara, and
she put her umbrella sword in his hand. He now held up this sword, the sword of
life, and pointed it at the darkness.

And he said:

“Darkness, o darkness,

child
of my longing,

come
to your new home

where
space so wide

will
let you stretch

and
have time to
think.”

The darkness snaked through the air,
converging on the point of Jason’s sword. Shemillah’s screams occasionally
punctuated Leech’s slurping, but soon she went quiet, and by then the darkness
was all but contained within Jason’s sword. Once no darkness remained in the
air, Jason lowered his blade. He nodded at Talshe, who released Shemillah.
Leech and the twins scattered as the ex-Dream Caller stood there, staring
blankly at Jason.

Shemillah extended one foot forward, and
fell, crashing on her side, face in the dirt.

Darlene ran to Jason, opening her mouth to
say something, but Tara held up a hand. Jason pointed to Shemillah.

The ex-Dream Caller shrank, her flesh
changing from green to pink. Her hair pooled about her, covering half of her
nude body. After her body stopped shrinking, Jason handed his regular umbrella
sword to Tara.

“Here,” he said. “Won’t be needing one.
Not after this.”

Tara took the untainted sword, nodding.
Jason walked toward Shemillah. Darlene called out his name, but he didn’t stop.
He kneeled down next to Shemillah, examining her side.