The Dream Quest

     “This was once a beautiful and vibrant city,” Xantan said as Faleinn guided them to the edge of the city. “Perhaps when Jahbal- or whoever it is- has been defeated, people could settle here again. A city filled with memories of the past and visions of the future… I can see great harmony here.”

     Faleinn smiled at him. “Your heart is true, Xantan. You will make an excellent leader.”

     Solanza thought she could see a blush beneath the Lupe’s white fur.

     Maybe it was just her imagination, but as they started their journey back through the forests of Kal Panning, everything from the trees to the sky seemed more vibrant. Was it the effect of yesterday’s torrential downpour, or had the curse of Kal Panning extended beyond the city walls? Whatever the cause, it felt like a good omen. Solanza smiled at Xantan, and he smiled back at her.

     All too soon, they found themselves before the cave that would lead them through the only safe route into the Two Rings. It was a surprisingly short cave, with only a locked door in the center. They looked at each other and shrugged. Finally, something easy.

     Solanza retrieved the key from her pack and was just about to place it in the lock when-

     “Hey! HEY! What’re you doing?!”

     Solanza and Xantan turned to find a red Techo running towards them from the cave entrance. He didn’t seem to be much of a threat, although he was barreling towards them at a fast clip. The Techo stopped a few feet away from them and doubled over, gasping for breath. “Don’t exercise much,” he mumbled. His accent was so thick Solanza could barely understand him, and glancing at Xantan’s bewildered face, he was doing no better.

     Finally the Techo caught his breath and fixed them both with a glare. “Trying to intrude, are you? Well, you won’t be getting past me! Guarding this here gate has been the life’s work of my father, and his father, and his father’s father, and now it’s mine!”

     Solanza interrupted him with a polite smile. “Excuse me, Mister Gatekeeper, but we have the key.”

     “Not bloody likely,” the gatekeeper scoffed, snatching the key from Solanza and examining it before gasping in terror and shoving it back at her. “No! It can’t be… Well, get on with you and get out of my sight! I want nothing to do with you! Go on, shoo!”

     Solanza and Xantan exchanged perplexed glances. She took back the key and unlocked the door, which opened easily. The gatekeeper had his face turned away, as if he couldn’t bear to watch them step through the gate. They could still hear him muttering imprecations under his breath from the other side.

     “Weird,” Xantan mouthed to her, and she stifled a laugh.

     The rest of the cave was as simple as the entrance, and within a minute they were again outside, this time wrapped within the hold of the Two Rings mountain range. The forest here seemed different than the one at Kal Panning, the trees older, darker. Every snapping twig had Solanza on high alert.

     Suddenly Xantan tugged at Solanza’s arm. He put a finger to his lips at her questioning gaze, then pointed at one of the trees ahead of them. Something was walking through the undergrowth, heedless of the noise it created. Xantan and Solanza flattened themselves behind the broad trunk of a tree and peered around the side.

     It was a Tuskaninny in a robe wielding a staff. “A sorcerer,” Xantan breathed in her ear, hardly louder than her heartbeat. “One of the minions of whoever dwells within the palace. If it sees us, they will know we are coming.”

     Solanza nodded understanding. They waited a few long moments for the Tuskaninny to disappear behind another tree, then crept in the opposite direction.

     Her heart was in her throat, every moment expecting to hear a shriek of recognition or, worse, the whistle of fireballs in the air. Xantan was tense beside her, his wand at hand, twitching at every noise. Somehow they managed to escape detection. Eventually they found a balance between stealth and speed, and they made it through the forest without any further encounters.

     Suddenly the palace loomed above them, its height towering above the tallest trees. Solanza shuddered as she looked at it. It may have once been a beautiful palace, but the wear of centuries and the influence of whatever evil being lived within had twisted it into a hulking, malevolent thing.

     They slipped inside the door and paused at the threshold. A beautiful courtyard stretched before them. Somehow the plants still looked neatly manicured. Solanza nodded her head in the direction of the staircase, and they padded on silent feet across the courtyard.

     It was terrifying to be so exposed. They moved perhaps faster than they should have, rushing for the relative safety of the enclosed room ahead. They made it across without incident and crept up the stairs.

     Solanza quickly stifled a groan at the sight before them. The room was a diabolical maze of swirling waters and haphazardly-placed pillars. “There must be some trick,” she whispered to Xantan.

     Xantan frowned, deep in thought, and closed his eyes. He was silent for a long moment, then opened his eyes. “Follow me, and step exactly where I step,” he whispered back. “I can sense where the traps have been laid.”

     Solanza swallowed uneasily but did her best to follow him as he carefully navigated the obstacles. They reached the other end of the room and eyed the staircase with trepidation. This was it. At the top of these stairs was the one responsible for causing so much hurt and destruction. Xantan gave her paw a squeeze, and together they ascended the stairs.

     A red Eyrie stood in the center of the room, his gnarled claws curled around a magic staff. His eyes were cold as he tracked their movement, their sudden, confused stop. Solanza felt like she had missed a step on the stairs. “Jahbal,” she breathed.

     “Faleinn was wrong,” Xantan said grimly. Louder, he said, “Jahbal, your reign of tyranny has ended! Lay down your staff and face justice.”

     Jahbal’s low, humorless laugh seemed to come from everywhere. “Silly little adventurers,” he hissed. “You are no match for me- the great and powerful Jahbal!” And with that, he slashed his staff in the air.

     Fireballs rushed towards them, and Solanza ducked out of the way. Xantan stood his ground and deflected the ones he couldn’t avoid before sending an answering volley. Jahbal raised his staff, and the fireballs stuttered to a stop in the air before dropping to the ground.

     Xantan hurled more fireballs at him, but Jahbal didn’t seem to react when one hit his shoulder. Jahbal leveled his staff at Xantan, and the Lupe howled as he was struck by an icy blast. Jahbal moved toward him with almost preternatural speed, slashing fire and lightning bolts through the air. Xantan barely rolled out of the way in time and countered with a fireball of his own that Jahbal again shrugged off without seeming to notice it. “He’s too strong!” Xantan shouted to Solanza. “We can’t defeat him!”

     Solanza knew she should do something to help her friend, but she stood at the edge of the room, frozen. He was right. Jahbal was too strong. Stronger than she remembered when she had defeated him previously. It was as if all of their attacks went straight through him. Like they were fighting a shadow. Or a phantom…

     Solanza took a deep breath and let the buzz of the fight melt away, let her eyes drift closed. They couldn’t defeat Jahbal, and maybe they shouldn’t even try. What was she missing here? What about this felt so wrong? “This isn’t real,” she murmured, and she felt the truth of it in her heart. Her eyes opened. “Xantan, this isn’t real!”

     “It feels real to me!” Xantan shouted, patting out the flames on his shoulder from a spell he hadn’t quite dodged in time.

     “Trust me!” Solanza cried. “Stop trying to aim at Jahbal. Cover the entire room!”

     Xantan looked at her with desperate anguish, but listened to her. The next time he raised his wand, he aimed not at the Eyrie stalking towards him with malevolence gleaming in his eyes, but at the far corner of the room. The first fireball hit the wall and crumbled into a smoldering heap. The second fireball rebounded and nearly hit Solanza, who ducked just in time. The third fireball… vanished.

     “AAAAAGGHHHHHH!!!”

     Solanza and Xantan both flinched at the agonized scream. Jahbal seemed to flinch, too, and then he abruptly vanished in midair. Suddenly, there was something in the corner that had not been there before. A creature pawed at the smoke curling from the shoulder of its robe. It looked at them, its face contorted in a snarl, and they saw it was…

To be continued…