The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (29 page)

A way which seemed to appear, when Dual turned
eight.

A stranger came to them seeking
food and shelter for the night, and since Dual’s father was off on another of
his assassination missions, his mother welcomed what could only be more
pleasant company.  The stranger proved to be a far kinder man, meeting quick
approval by both mother and son.  He visited them whenever Dual’s father was
absent, which was often.

Six months later, Dual’s mother planned their
escape to hopefully have a chance at a better life elsewhere.

That chance never came.

Having just been informed by a close ally of his
wife’s affair, Dual’s father returned unexpectedly in the middle of the night
to find the pair asleep together in a most compromising manner.  Slamming the
door, he awakened them instantly, wasting no time before beating his wife’s
lover nearly unconscious.  Running to his side, she covered his battered body
with her own, crying so much that she never saw her son peek through the door.

Having been frightened awake by the noise, Dual
watched silently as his mother pleaded with his father to release her from
their farce of a marriage, begging him to let them all leave in peace.  Once
again, an attempt at reasoning.  For a brief moment, the boy thought that
surely his father would agree, since it would benefit everyone—including his
father, who could be free with his many other women again.

Dual’s innocent mind never expected—or could ever
erase—what
did
follow.

Swearing to see them damned in the netherworld
first, and ignoring his wife’s screams, Dual’s father ran his razor-sharp sword
through both, slaying them instantly.

The boy screamed as his father wrenched the sword
free, only to stab them again for reassurance.

Afterwards, the man turned to
Dual with a malicious smile, using gentle words to coax the scared boy closer. 
Despite his young age, the boy was no fool.  He ran from the room and the
house, escaping in spite of his father’s attempts to catch him.  Only his
father’s loud curses met his ears as Dual swore that night to return one day to
kill the man who’d murdered his mother and the man who had been like a father
to him.

More than twelve years passed,
while Dual maintained secrecy in the home of a gruff but brilliant assassin
sorcerer, before his day for vengeance arrived.  Not trusting to magic
completely, Dual learned the talents of assassins instead, doing mercenary
missions of his choosing, while also honing his dreamphasing powers—a gift
inherited from his mother—in order to locate his father.

In spite of his desire for vengeance, during the
latter of these years, his travels took him through a small village, where he
met a beautiful young girl named Caralei.  Her golden hair shone as brightly as
her smile and her eyes.  Eyes that followed him long after he left, which
prompted his return.

Since she was drawn to him as well, he befriended
her, although using his alternate name, lest she accidentally be placed in
danger.  Also, for this reason, he generally visited her in secret.  It helped
when he became friends with her brother Quell, who would sometimes relay
messages.

For a time, in spite of Dual’s chosen profession,
Caralei provided a bright shard of sunlight in his life, and over time, they
fell in love.

In the meantime, Dual located his father, biding
his time until the moment was right.  With the sorcerer’s help, he obtained a
slow poison to drug the remorseless man, allowing him to remain alive just long
enough for him to witness his vengeful son run him through with his sword.

For several months, Dual thought he could finally
pick up his life and go on now that he’d avenged his mother’s death.  Having
put the matter at rest, Dual’s whole manner improved.  He became betrothed to
Caralei, keeping it secret between them for now, while planning to put his
assassin days behind him and reside in peace.

This wasn’t to be.

With his guard lowered, dark allies of his late
father found revenge of their own, slaying the sorcerer, as well as his few
friends from a nearby village.

But it was what followed that shattered whatever
good remained in his soul.

In spite of his secrecy, it seemed someone
betrayed him.  On the eve of his wedding, the same vengeful assassins
discovered Caralei’s village, setting it aflame.  Turning to a trusted friend
from Barokka to see her safely away, Dual saw to killing the assassins and took
out the majority of them.

His victory was short-lived when he saw the
assassin leader holding a knife to Caralei’s throat, his friend nowhere in
sight.  If that wasn’t enough, the leader took great pleasure in giving the
credit for the attack to the missing man.  Even when his friend appeared soon
after, Dual knew that he was the only one who’d known where Caralei was, their
secret wedding plans, and Dual’s alternate identity.

Dual tried to bargain for Caralei’s life, saying
that they’d taken enough lives in exchange for his father’s most miserable one,
and that he’d rather give his own life than see an innocent girl die.

The assassin leader killed her anyway.

His heart shattered as it had when he’d seen his
mother killed years ago.

Caralei’s brother Quell, who had been out of
town, arrived at the last minute and was a more difficult adversary to contend
with.  His ability to paralyze people instantly downed the few remaining
assassins, and since he’d loved his sister too, he and Dual took great pleasure
in killing them.

However, no vengeance could bring back the lost
soul they’d both held dear. 

Nor would Dual ever forgive the
man who he knew had betrayed them, whom from that day forth he regarded as an
enemy.

That night left scars upon both Dual and Quell
that they would share forever.

Followed by endless years of corruption.

They became well-known assassins,
assisting those of evil more and more.  In time, their names became feared among
all law-abiding citizens of Chavernos, so it was with no great loss to most
when they departed to reside on the island of Barokka.  There, they still
caused havoc, but it was more contained, since the multi-abilitied supernatural
ruler’s nearly unlimited powers could banish both permanently if he chose to.

If that happened, no reasoning would change
his
mind.

Reasoning!
Dual thought again, as his thoughts returned to the present.  Forever
a meaningless, useless ploy.  After his sister Caralei’s murder, Dual was
increasingly surprised that Quell still considered it.

After all, hadn’t he tried reasoning last night?
Dual questioned, remembering how Alarius had supposedly ‘agreed’ to give up the
map peacefully.

“Reasoning is for fools,” he said curtly.  “Remember
your sister, if you believe otherwise, Quell.”  His words brought pained
remembrance to his ally’s face.  “And if we’re to find that map before that
fool Alarius gets any farther, we’d best find him now.”  A bitter smile twisted
his expression.  “And when we do, maybe we should teach him the price of
betrayal.”  Nodding once in dark resolve, he leaned against the wall.  “Yes, it
would seem, Quell, that poor Alarius’s family might just miss him in the future
after all.”

*****

Darkness was the farthest thing
from Dominick’s mind, if one discounted the times he traveled through the
strands of space to reach his Earthly companion.  On the contrary, in the
evenings that followed, he made good on his promise to keep their evenings
interesting.

One night, Dominick took her ice skating,
although she was a novice.  He proved to be a good teacher, soon having her
soaring across the ice as he held her, and she even managed to skate on her own
for a bit.  Not that she didn’t prefer being held in the warm embrace of her
tutor, whom she gladly went back to.

Afterwards, they toasted marshmallows over a
campfire, which in reality would have melted the ice, but in this case, just
provided pleasant warmth.

As Julianna leaned against her companion’s
shoulder, eyes closed happily, she started when her back was nudged. 
“Dominick, cut that out,” she told him.

“Cut what out?” he laughed.  “I thought you
wanted another marshmallow.”

“I mean…”  Opening her eyes to realize he wasn’t
responsible, she turned slowly, her eyes widening.  “Polar bear!” she screamed,
while Dominick bolted around to face the creature staring at them with a
muffled roar.

“By Chaos, where did
he
come from?”
he gasped, as Julianna shot behind him to clutch him fearfully.

“You mean this wasn’t
your
idea?”

“Julianna, why would I conjure up a polar bear
while we’re spending time together?”

“I don’t know, but you do go for the unusual
stuff.”

“Not
that
unusual,” he sneered,
gesturing to the bear.  As if being beckoned, the creature began padding closer
to the couple, causing them to edge backwards.

“I don’t think
he
knows that.”

“Go back to your igloo!” Dominick called out,
clasping her against him.  The bear didn’t seem to care for heeding
dreamphasers, moving forward anyway.  “That’s it.  We’re heading back to the
castle.  Hold tight, love.”

“Like I’m not already?” she whimpered, even as
the bear raised a paw towards her.  She shut her eyes with a scream, a moment
before hearing Dominick laugh jovially.

Her eyes flew open with shocked amazement,
finding Dominick petting the creature!

“He was just playing,” he told her, earning a
contented sound from the bear.

“Dreams!” she sighed.  “I’ll
never get used to them.”  Upon seeing her frown, the bear padded over to lick
her cheek.  With cautious reluctance, she petted it too.  “You’re just a big
teddy bear, aren’t you?”  Upon hearing five or six similar bearlike roars, both
she and Dominick glanced up swiftly.  “What is this, a bear convention?”

“Let’s not stick around to find out,” replied
Dominick, quickly teleporting them away.  “Home at last,” he said warmly.

He surprised her, bringing them back comfortably
in front of a roaring fireplace, wearing their casual clothes again without the
heavy furs.  Placing his arms around her to hug her close, she snuggled back
against him, glad that he’d read her mind for a much nicer alternative to
continue the evening.

“Better?” he asked.

She smiled, entwining her hand with his.  “Much.”

Another night had them sailing on a raft in the
ocean.  For a while, they shared the equivalent of a picnic lunch, although
Dominick had mischievously set them up in formal evening attire.

“Methinks thou hast gotten a bit too much sea air
in thy brain, my lord,” she laughed.  “Have a good explanation as to why you’ve
set us up in the middle of nowhere?”

“My dear lady,” he replied with mock seriousness,
“just because we’re playing the part of a shipwrecked duo doesn’t mean we have
to look it.”  Handing her a sparkling glass of champagne, she took it
graciously, clinking glasses afterwards as was customary.  “And we’re not going
to be nowhere forever.  I assure you there’s a deserted island out there just
waiting to be found.”

“Ah... and if the sharks get us first?”

“Don’t be silly; there aren’t any sharks out
here.”  A triangular black fin passing by seemed to indicate otherwise, earning
an ‘I-told-you-so’ look from Julianna.  “It would seem I stand corrected,
love,” he amended.  Gesturing towards the disappearing shark fin, he called
out, “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you sooner, Roger!  She never told me you
were a dreamphaser too!”  Julianna broke into laughter, giving Dominick a hug
while he smirked knowingly.

“What if there’s
no
island out
there?”

He shrugged, taking another sip of champagne, and
put his arm around her shoulders.  “Considering this is a dream, does it really
matter?”

Looking up at the peaceful sky which was now
yielding a beautiful sunset, along with the unusually perfect calm of the
ocean, she finally shook her head with a smile, leaning against him
contentedly.  “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

“As am I,” he whispered, smiling back as he
kissed her.

Last night they’d been walking in
a park beneath a starry sky, leading to an area filled with bubbles, many that
were regular small bubbles and yet some that were quite large.  Dominick transported
them into one that was incredibly gigantic, able to hold them both.  To
Julianna’s surprise, he assured her the bubble had an endless air supply, even
though the walls were solid as well as transparent.

Slowly, the bubble lifted into the sky, and
Julianna fell back into Dominick’s arms, clutching him tightly as the ground
got further away.  “What are you doing?” she asked with concern.  “You know I’m
not good with heights.”

“Don’t be afraid, love,” he replied, “I’ve
planned something which will get your mind off that.”

She started to question this, even as the velvety
darkness of the sky intensified, whereas she could no longer see the ground,
but only a translucent glow surrounding the bubble.  “Dominick, what have you
done?” she gasped.  “Where are we?”