The Dream Sanctum: Beyond The End (17 page)

“It isn’t an easy choice,” Alastor replied. “There is plenty to consider.
We could simply say goodbye and be none the worse for wear. After all, we have
each other here in the real world, so it’s not as though we need the Sanctum to
see each other.”

“The Dream Sanctum is simply a luxury,” Kwin agreed. “If you feel the
risks are too great, you need not endanger yourself.”

Kai, however, shook his head.

“You make it sound so easy, so logical. It’s not like that. We can’t just
not go back and then move on. After everything we’ve been through and
everything that’s going on now, how can you say that so easily?”

“‘Easily’ is not the word I’d use to describe this choice,” Kwin replied,
fixing him with an almost hurt expression. “The Sanctum has become a second
home for me. It’s important to me in more ways than you can imagine. You of all
people should know what it means to me.”

“So let’s not make it sound like anything else. Let’s not say it’s just a
luxury, we’re making it seem so unimportant–”

“It
is
a luxury. Life, however,
is not. I can understand the desire to play it safe and stay alive. I almost
threw my own life away over the Sanctum once. I wouldn’t ever ask anyone to do
the same.”

“We don’t have to decide now,” Alastor interrupted gently. “We still have
all evening before it’s time to sleep, and we don’t even have to do it tonight
if we don’t want. I have my own mind made up, but that’s because I’ve had more
time to think.”

“What are you going to do?” Lindsay asked.

“I’m going to try my best to escape. I’m relatively confident that I can,
and Elvia will be with me, so that’s a plus. I’ll swim if I have to. All I know
is that I think I can do it, and I’m willing to give it a shot.”

“But what if you don’t make it?” she continued anxiously, looking
genuinely upset now. “What if… you know…?”

“I have a view on death I don’t expect many others to share, but the idea
of death doesn’t bother me all that much. We all die eventually, and I figure
if I’m going to die, I might as well go out doing something I love. Now, I
don’t think I
will
die, but not being
afraid of death has definitely impacted my decision.”

“You’re right, I can’t share that view,” Kwin answered shortly, looking
him straight in the eye. “I’m very happy for you that you aren’t afraid of
death, but think about how you sound when you say that in a room full of people
who love you.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. I’m not risking my life for nothing, and if you
weren’t all thinking of doing the same thing, none of you would be here.”

“We’re weighing our options, not throwing out how death doesn’t bother
us,” Kwin snapped, standing up to glare at him. “I refuse to listen to you
casually talk about how we all die eventually, as if I’m not sitting here
worried sick at the thought that my best friend might just not wake up
tomorrow. As if you don’t care either way. Well I care, Alastor, and if you
won’t at least acknowledge–”

Before she could finish, Alastor had crossed the room and pulled her into
a tight hug.

“Stop that. You’re right. I was insensitive, and I’m sorry,” he murmured.
“I want you to know that I will fight with everything I’ve got to come back
safely. More than anything, I want to come back alive. I’m only doing this
because I’m sure I can, not for some cheap thrill or because I don’t value my
life. Or you.”

Kwin said nothing, but then pulled away after a moment, refusing to meet
his eyes.

“Okay. I believe you.”

Lindsay put her arm around Kwin’s shoulder as she sat back down, and
Alastor took a step back, taking a deep breath.

“Let’s take some time to think. Remember, we don’t need to decide
anything now.”

No one said anything. Kai didn’t know what to do. Before, he would have
easily said yes. He also felt confident in his ability to escape, and if he
would be going with Alastor and Elvia, he felt even better about his odds. But
now he doubted himself. If he agreed to go, no doubt he would make Lindsay feel
the same way as Kwin. Lindsay had already been hurt once, and he had promised
to make sure she wouldn’t get hurt again. Was a special dream really worth more
to him than Lindsay?

He shook his head. That was framing it the wrong way. He knew he could
make it. What’s more, if he did, he would be able to make sure Lindsay could
escape safely as well. And despite all else, the Sanctum was still incredibly
important to him, and he didn’t want to give it up without a fight.

“I’m in,” Kai said suddenly, and he meant it. There was nothing else he
could do. “I’ll come with you. I know we can do it.”

Kwin shifted where she sat, uncertainty in her eyes as she stared at the
floor. It was an expression Kai still wasn’t used to seeing from her, and it
was an uncomfortable reminder of their vulnerability. Even after the incident
with the Nightmares she seemed unbeatable, but their current predicament had
reduced her to nothing more than an eloquent ten-year-old, and he had a feeling
she was having difficulty coming to terms with it.

“I am… undecided,” she said finally. “I may need some more time. I
expected that you two would be going back, but I’m not sure if I am ready to
take such a risk yet. I would probably only hold you back due to my physical
limitations. I will let you know before tonight, however.”

The room became silent as all eyes fell on Lindsay. She avoided their
stares, then sighed. When she spoke, her words were almost too quiet to hear.

“I don’t think I can. It’s just… I can’t risk it. It’s too much,
especially after the Nightmares. When the wolves got me, I couldn’t wake up.
None of you know what that was like. I felt completely helpless and afraid. It
was horrible, and I don’t want to go through anything like that again,
especially if it means I could actually die this time. My sister was worried
sick, and if she had any idea… I just can’t. I’m sorry.”

It was Kwin’s turn to put a comforting arm around her. Kai couldn’t think
of anything to say. He wanted very much for her to come with them, but there
was no denying she had a good reason for her fear.

Now, suddenly, the burden fell on Kai. If he was going in and Lindsay
wasn’t, he needed to escape. It wasn’t just to save his own life, but he knew
that since he was making a conscious decision to risk his own right in front of
his best friend when he had the option to remain safe, it was all on him. She
could suffer no fault from her choice, but his was different. He tried not to
think about how she would feel if she realized her friend was never waking up
again. He had already felt that pain, and as much as he had scolded Kwin for it
before, he was about to do the same thing to the one he cared about most.

“Well then. Tonight we march,” Alastor said, looking at Kai with as much
of a smile as he could muster. “You and I can talk logistics in a bit while
Kwin decides what to do. We’ll need something foolproof, but we should be able
to do that no problem.” Then he turned to the others. “And hey, if everything
works out, maybe we can figure out a way to come back and help you two.”

Kwin only nodded, and Lindsay didn’t respond at all.

Kai and Alastor spent the rest of the day going over various plans and
attempting to find out what had the best chance of working. Kwin and Lindsay
sat close together, simply keeping each other company. Occasionally Kai would
glance over at them, hopeful for a sign that they were all right, but they
wouldn’t look in his direction.

The later it became, the longer the day seemed to draw on. The
realization that Kai and Alastor were going off to a place from which they
might not return was slowly hitting them. If this failed, that was it. There
would be no help for them.

The moon was high when the four reconvened in Alastor’s room. Tension
hung over the room, and Kai felt his heart pounding in his chest.

“Kai and I have everything taken care of, and we’ll get to work as soon
as we fall asleep,” Alastor explained, his expression innocently cheerful. Kai
knew it was only to help the others; Alastor felt almost as anxious as he did.
“Are you sure you’re not coming with us?”

“I am sure,” Kwin replied. “I could not in good conscience leave a friend
alone in such a state. If things appear to work for you I may attempt to follow
you, but at the moment my responsibilities are here.”

“Understandable. We’ll be sure not to fail, then! Maybe we can even make
a nice little boat for you if we have the time.”

Kwin rolled her eyes, but next she took Alastor into a tight hug.

“If there are any problems, I
will
follow you in there. Anything Devnon is capable of will pale in comparison to
what I will do to you if you make me worry any more than I am now.”

“You got it.”

Lindsay came over to them next. She finally met his eyes, and her
expression caused a wave of guilt to wash over him.

“I guess this is goodbye for now,” he said, giving her a smile he hoped
was encouraging.

“I thought you said you didn’t like goodbyes,” she replied with a small
laugh. “I want to beg you to stay, to say I would do anything to keep you from
doing this. But I know how stubborn you can be. And anyway, I don’t ask you for
much, so I hope you can do me this one favor and… not die.”

“I’ll try my best.”

They shared a hug as well, then turned to look at the others. For a few
moments, no one said anything. None of them wanted to leave, but Kai knew that
he was going to have to go now before he changed his mind.

“What a strange predicament we find ourselves in,” Kwin said softly.
“You’ll be sleeping just a few rooms away, yet you’ll be in a completely
different world fighting for your lives. For all I have come to love our
Sanctum, I’d like to put this behind us for good, and quickly. Make sure you
succeed.”

“I feel you,” Alastor said. “Don’t you worry. Our plan is to find the
ship, and once we do, we’ll let you know and we can run away for good.”

“Let’s get moving,” Kai pressed, glancing at the clock. “If we time it
right, we can get there while most people are still inside the city.”

“All right. You two stay safe,” Alastor said, looking at the girls.
“We’ll be back.”

A
s soon as Kai entered the
dream, he was nearly knocked off his feet by an immense gust of wind. He fell
sideways into a tree, then managed to regain his balance. He quickly looked
around and saw that he was in the middle of a powerful storm. Waves twice as
tall as he was pounded the shore, and a strong gale howled through the trees,
which were bending dangerously. The sky was almost completely black, and
already Kai was starting to feel cold.

Before he could dwell on the situation for too long, he heard a sharp
whistle nearby. A few meters away, Alastor and Elvia stood, beckoning him over.
He ran to them, looking around to make sure no one was watching.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Alastor said, and to Kai’s surprise, he
looked quite cheerful. “With a storm this harsh, pretty much everyone is going
to be indoors. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to act like we’re our copies
until we can get out of sight. Now, let’s find our ship!”

“Do you have any idea where to start?” Kai asked, raising his voice to be
heard over the wind.

“Not exactly, but they can’t have taken it far. When I was away, Elvia
and I searched as much of the coast as we could, so I can definitely tell you
all the places it isn’t.”

“What if they just cut it up for firewood?”

“Not a chance. Even the Wave Rider wasn’t chopped up, and our ship is far
superior to that. They aren’t as starved for resources as Devnon wants everyone
to believe. Besides, if he wanted firewood…” he gestured to the mass of trees
all around them, then shook his head. “Devnon is a practical man, but also a
sucker for trophies. He’ll be keeping our ship nice and safe.”

Alastor’s optimism was contagious, and soon the three of them were moving
swiftly through the trees along the coast. The weather that masked their
presence also limited their vision, however, and more than once they had to
stop and shield their eyes from particularly nasty gusts of wind that carried
sand and leaves with them. Progress was slow, but Kai was determined to keep
moving.
I will not fail them. I will not
fail Lindsay
. The thought of her sitting anxiously back in Alastor’s
mansion solidified his resolve, and he pressed on.

Half an hour into their journey, at a nod from Alastor, Elvia moved off
silently into the trees on a different path.

“Where’s she going?” Kai asked, watching as she vanished behind some sand
dunes.

“From what I remember, there’s a small lake nearby that drains into the
ocean. I wonder if they might have pulled our ship there to keep it safe from
the waves. A storm like this can tear an anchored vessel apart. There are also
some caves I want to look at for the same reason.”

“We passed a bunch of cliffs when we first came in, do you think it could
be there?”

“It could!” Alastor affirmed. “We can get a good vantage point from the
tops of the cliffs as well. Now all we have to do is get there without being
blown off the–”

He broke off suddenly, then without warning, pulled Kai down behind a
tree and motioned for him to be quiet. Kai looked at him questioningly, then
shrank back as he heard the sound of people moving noisily through the
undergrowth.

“…see why we have to do this stupid patrol. They wouldn’t come back here
in this weather, not with the ability to come in whenever they please.”

“That’s the thing, innit? They know not many people will be out during
the storms, so that’s when they’ll come in.”

“All just a guessing game. Even if they did come back, what would they
do? Sightseeing? I’m telling you, now they all got away, they won’t blow that
chance. One of ‘em looks like our Kwin, and if she’s got a brain that’s
anything like ours, they won’t be coming back. They can’t be that stupid.”

“Maybe you’re right, but after what they did to our city, I’d like to see
their heads on pikes.”

“Now that I can agree with. Let’s just hope they don’t figure…”

The storm covered the rest of their words as they moved out of sight.
Alastor and Kai waited a few more moments before getting up and moving out
cautiously.

“Well, it looks like they aren’t completely daft. I feel bad for those
gentlemen, though. No telling how long they’ve been looking for us,” Alastor
said calmly.

They continued on silently, and as they moved along, Kai was suddenly
very aware of how tired he was. He realized he felt how he usually did after
repeated all-nighters during exams; his mind seemed dulled, his body weak, and
his reactions slowed. He shook his head to throw off the onset of tiredness,
but despite the storm, it seemed to pull at him relentlessly.

Alastor seemed to notice and put a reassuring hand on Kai’s shoulder.

“I’m feeling it too. It’s awful, isn’t it? It won’t last much longer,
though. Once we get past the barrier that took our powers, we should be nice
and refreshed. Personally, with the way I feel now, I couldn’t care less about
getting my powers back until I’m awake enough to avoid accidentally blowing
something up. Not that that’s happened before.”

“I’m sure.”

Alastor grinned, then looked over toward the water. Kai noticed that they
had made their way to the tops of the cliffs they had first passed on their way
here, and that the waves, which had previously risen higher than both of them,
were now at least twenty feet below. They crashed into the rocks, spraying a
fine mist up to where Kai and Alastor stood.

“Let’s take a peek down there,” Alastor suggested. “There might be an
inlet where the water is less violent.”

While the cliffs seemed dangerous, they spotted a narrow path that wove
its way down the cliff side. The heavy mists and crashing waves prevented Kai
from seeing where it led. As they moved on, he saw a gap in the rocks he hadn’t
noticed before. But it was a long way down, and he struggled to find footing.
Every time he closed his eyes to block out the water, he felt a new wave of
exhaustion pass over him, and he fought desperately to avoid falling asleep.

However, as they drew nearer to the water’s edge past the jagged rocks,
he saw that the water was actually quite calm. The line of rocks near the
opening of the inlet caught most of the waves as they came in, and he could see
the white crests of hundreds of small waves on the ocean’s dark grey surface
beyond.

Alastor nudged him and pointed over toward a small cave. Kai had to
squint, but then he saw it: tucked away into the cave, safe from the buffeting
winds and angry waves, was their ship.

“I asked Elvia to patrol up above to make sure no one follows us, and our
ship looks to be unguarded. In other words, this looks way too easy,” Alastor
said quietly. “My guess is that they figure we wouldn’t try to escape during a
storm, but I thought Devnon was smarter than that.”

“If he’s still alive. He was right there when the building collapsed.
Maybe we got lucky and it collapsed onto him.”

“What a horribly cruel thing to say,” Alastor said. “I agree completely.”

“Do you know what happened back there? It seems weird that everything
collapsed except for where Lindsay and I were,” Kai pressed.

“Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t there,” Alastor replied absently, looking
around at the caves as they got closer to the ship. “Life can be funny that
way, you know? Sometimes you just accept that life has handed you a convenient
coincidence and move on without asking questions.”

Kai thought he detected a glimmer of a sad smile on his face, but it was
gone in an instant, replaced by focus. They slowed down as they approached.
Alastor drew his sword, scanning the room with his sharp eyes. Kai looked
around as well, but it seemed they really were alone. The cave wasn’t large, so
there wasn’t much space for an ambush. The only remaining possibility was…

“I’ll go first,” Alastor murmured. “We’ll sweep the deck, then I’ll cover
every inch of the ship below to make sure no one is hiding inside. They might prefer
to stay inside, especially with how luxurious it is. I wonder if the TVs get
any reception out here.”

Kai almost choked as he tried to silence his laughter, and he followed
Alastor as he moved silently onto the deck. It too looked empty and untouched,
as though they had been the ones to anchor it there themselves. Alastor quickly
checked the control area, shook his head, then stood by the door to the
kitchen.

“You don’t have a weapon, so stay up here and keep a lookout. If you see
anyone, come find me; don’t call out. Stealth is the name of the game here.”

Kai nodded and watched as Alastor vanished inside. He caught a quick
glimpse of the room before the doors closed and saw that nothing looked
tampered with there, either. It was almost too easy. A sudden thought passed
through his mind:
They wanted us to find
our ship
.

A few minutes passed and Alastor hadn’t returned, but even though there
were no sounds of any trouble below, Kai started to feel concerned. Alastor was
a smart and talented man – the champion of the Tournament of Blades, no less –
but he was still only human here.

But then Alastor reappeared, looking slightly more relaxed, and Kai saw
that his sword was once again on his belt.

“Looks like we’re in the clear,” Alastor said. “At least for now. The
seas are rough, but this is Carpenter’s handiwork. We should be able to get out
just fine. Now we just need to think about what to do with the girls.”

“I’ll go get them,” Kai said. “I can tell them where to find the ship,
and Elvia can escort them here once they fall asleep.”

“Not a bad idea! Better we all get together as soon as possible. Being
separated in a place like this is discomforting. Go ahead and tell them to fall
asleep. I’ll stand guard while you’re gone.”

Kai nodded, then closed his eyes, waiting for the rush that would send
him back to Alastor’s mansion.

But nothing happened.

“The faster the better, I’d like to get out of here pronto,” Alastor
called from the side of the ship as he inspected the hull.

“I can’t.”

“What?”

“I can’t wake up. It’s not working.”

Alastor paused and watched as Kai tried one more time, but it was no use.
It took a few moments for Kai to realize what was going on, but he shivered as
the realization swept over him.
This is
it. I’m trapped.

“All right, I’ll give it a shot,” Alastor said. He closed his eyes and
stood still for a few moments, but quickly gave up. “Damn, me too. Looks like
we’re stuck. This changes things, but we’re still in good shape. We’ll sail to
a safe distance past the barrier, then wake up to tell the others what’s going
on.”

He leapt back onto the deck and started toward the control area. Kai
pushed away the boarding plank and began to untie the ropes.

“Come up here when you’re done; I’ll need a second pair of eyes to watch
for obstacles with me.”

“What about Elvia?” Kai asked as he hurried up the steps to join Alastor.

“She’ll meet up with us. We’ve already planned a rendezvous once we get
out of here.”

Kai had to resist asking his next question:
How are you talking to her if she’s not your creation?

The ship started slowly, carefully at first. The volatility of the waves
made it difficult to see what was below, and the high winds made it difficult
to move in the direction they wanted, but soon enough they made it to the
entrance of the cave. Kai couldn’t resist taking one last look back at the
path, almost expecting to see someone running off to report their escape, but
there was nothing.

The instant they reached the entrance to the inlet, Kai was nearly
knocked off his feet as the first waves hit. The port side of the ship rose
high in the air, and then they came crashing down again, sending a spray of
water in both directions. He hardly had a moment to regain his balance before
the ship was struck again.

“Just give me a minute, we need to turn…” Alastor called over the winds,
looking too focused to finish his thought. He positioned the ship so that they
were perpendicular with the waves, and the bow cut cleanly through the waves as
they came. The difference was immediately noticeable, and was enough for Kai to
steady himself. The wind was strong and the ship was picking up speed quickly,
and for the first time, Kai felt confident that they were finally in the clear.

“All right, we’re going to make one short stop to pick up Elvia, then
we’re out of here,” Alastor said affirmatively. The thought of making any stop
made Kai feel uneasy, but he nodded. Exhaustion was pulling at him again, and
the only thing he wanted right now was to get some real sleep.

They sailed for nearly fifteen minutes before Alastor cut the sails, and
the ship slowed down, gliding closer to the shore.

“All right, I’m going down below to make sure everything is all right
after the storm hit us like that. If Elvia gets here before I’m back, just get
the sails down and pull us away. We have to make this quick.”

Kai nodded, struggling to stay focused.