Dreamer's Throne
Book 2: Chapter 31

Garrett had been running into a lot of situations where Illusory Dream would have been handy, and while he had been able to get by thanks to his ability to manipulate his own dream, the opportunity to create illusions while in the dream seemed like a good one. Better, at least, than the other two options. With all his selections made, Garrett opened up his status to see how it had changed.

STATUS

NAME: Garrett Klein

PATH: Path of the Watcher

SUB-PATH: Dream Gardener

LEVEL: 5

EXP: 5/320

ABILITIES: [7/10]

Whisper of the Dream [1]

Observe the Dream [3]

Dream Seed [4]

Dreamer’s Cloak [1]

Beautiful Bewitchment [3]

Spirit-sucking Thorns [1]

Illusory Dream [1]

The number of experience points he needed to achieve the sixth level felt like a punch in the gut, but Garrett didn’t let it bother him for more than a few seconds. He was on his way to building an excellent experience point farm, at which point, it would only be a matter of time before he grew to the sixth level and beyond. The feeling of power that flooded Garrett as he embraced his new level left him more confident than ever to face what was about to come, and with a thought, he left the dream, opening his eyes in the waking world.

Marta was just getting herself ready, sliding a heavily decorated dagger into a sheath hidden in her boot, when Garrett looked over, and as she noticed his gaze, she smiled at him.

“I’m all ready to go if you are.”

“Do you have any way to attack a spirit that is not mundane?”

Thinking for a moment, she nodded.

“You mean without a dagger or sword or something like that? Spirits don’t like silver very much, but yes. I have an ability from my soul spark that can harm them. Why?”

“Theoretically, if we came across a bunch of spirits that physical attacks can’t harm, I want to make sure we are not completely helpless,” Garrett said, not sounding theoretical at all.

Walking over to take hold of his wheelchair, Marta spoke with some confidence.

“Both me and Henri have abilities that can affect spirits,” she replied, “and as long as we don’t run across a greater nightmare, we should be able to deal with anything else.”

“Greater nightmare? What’s that?”

Leaving the room, Marta looked up and down the hall to make sure the coast was clear before proceeding down the stairs.

“We categorize the spirits who inhabit the dream into three major categories. There are lesser nightmares, who don’t seem to do anything but run around. They’re like the bugs of the dream. Then, there are the larger nightmares, the ones who can easily kill an awakened if you’re not careful. We call them nightmares, or standard nightmares. Finally, there are greater nightmares, who are fewer in number, but are almost like the shapers of the dream. They are powerful enough that if we encounter them, we’re all dead.”

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Marta put the wheelchair down and glanced down the hall toward the basement door before turning the opposite direction. They didn’t see anyone until they entered the room where they were going to meet Eben. Despite Garrett and Marta being early, Eben and two other men were already waiting for them. Both of the men with Eben were lighting stage awakened, and were dressed as servants of the count, proving that Eben’s side had done their own preparation.

“Do you have the mirror?” Eben asked, his eyes sharper than he intended.

“I do,” Garrett said, holding up a wrapped object. “Already I can sense the connection between this mysterious artifact and the other, so I think we will be successful in uncovering it.”

Stretching out his hand as if he wanted to take the mirror from Garrett, Eben suddenly paused and flashed a smile, his eyes darting to Marta who had tensed.

“Wonderful to hear. Let’s not tarry.”

Together, the group left the room and made their way to the basement, the two men posing as servants leading the way. The mansion was quiet, though they could hear the sounds of people still partying in a few of the rooms along the way, and they had to stop once to let an inebriated couple stumble past them to the stairs. The basement was as dark as it had been when the countess had come down, so they lit some lanterns and turned to look at Garrett. Holding up the mirror, Garrett closed his eyes, his pale skin seeming almost translucent in the dim light, and then pointed his finger toward the back of the basement.

Following Garrett’s directions, they picked their way past piles of old boxes and dust covered furniture. It appeared that nothing had ever been thrown away, but instead had been piled up in the dank and dusty basement where it slowly decomposed in the darkness. Using his memory of the countess’ path, Garrett led them to the large pile of old furniture where the mysterious artifact was hidden and then stopped, his face scrunched up like he was confused.

“It should be here. I don’t see anything,” he said, his brow furrowing.

“Maybe it’s inside the pile,” Eben replied, shining his light onto the decaying wood of a table that was turned on its side. “Look, there seems to be enough room for someone to sneak in. Let’s move some of this stuff and see if it’s in there.”

Handing his lamp to Garrett, he gestured for the other two men to help and began to remove the table, uncovering more of the small passage that the countess had taken. It was dusty work, but even the heaviest piece of furniture was no match for three awakened, and in a few minutes, Eben let out a hiss of triumph and pointed through a gap.

“I can see the frame! It’s actually here! Careful, make sure you don’t look into it or it might activate.”

Carefully clearing things from the side, he found the cloth that had covered it before and tossed it over the mirror, blocking the reflective surface. Lifting the mirror out of its place, he leaned it against a discarded sofa and stepped back, brushing the dust from his hands.

“This is it. I can feel it. Who would have thought that the rumors were true.”

Wheeling himself closer, Garrett looked closely at the frame, noticing the subtle differences in the women carved along the mirror’s edge. Letting out a low whistle, he turned to look at Eben, only to see that the silver haired man was watching him, a strange expression in his eyes.

“We have to pay the cost to calm the mirror, right? Otherwise, it will continue to devour anyone who looks into it. Any ideas on how we do that?”

“No,” Eben said, shaking his head, “but I do know how to figure it out.”

“Watch out!”

Hearing a loud shout, Garrett saw Henri and Grant charge out of the shadows, their blades drawn, but they were not quick enough to stop Eben from pulling the cloth off the mirror, reflecting Garrett in its bright surface. Marta, who was in the background, was pulled away by Grant who tackled her to the ground, but Garrett was stuck in the reflection, his limbs growing cold as the corrupting influence of the mirror began surrounding him.

A moment later, the long haired woman holding the hand mirror and comb appeared, standing behind his wheelchair.

“Ooh, what a handsome young man. Your hair is so beautiful.”

Henri stabbed his sword toward Eben, attempting to get past him to kick the mirror away, but Eben had drawn his own sword, skillfully warding off Henri’s stab and returning a slash of his own. Marta scrambled up from the ground, shooting Grant a grateful glance as she hauled him up with her. The two men in servant uniforms were about to attack Henri from behind, so Grant and Marta charged toward them and soon their corner of the basement was enveloped in a flurry of swords and daggers.

Like the calm in the eye of the storm, Garrett sat in front of the mirror, his eyes growing hazy as the woman in the mirror began to comb his hair, each stroke causing him to fall deeper into his daze. None of the other exorcists dared get in front of the mirror, so they danced around behind it and on either side, leaving Garrett to his fate. Blocking a stab targeting his throat, Henri glared at Eben who sneered back.

“I should have known that you would have crawled out of the gutter to interfere with my business,” Eben said, the point of his sword hissing as he lunged.

“You’re the one in our jurisdiction,” Henri snarled, drawing his sword in a circle to deflect the stab.

“You call it that, but you wouldn’t have been let through the front door if you hadn’t snuck in. All noble houses are under our authority. But regardless, this mysterious artifact is ours!” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“In your dreams! You’ll take it over our dead bodies.”

“That suits me just fine!”

In front of the mirror, the long-haired woman had just finished combing Garrett’s hair and she tilted her head to the side, revealing bits and pieces of that terrifying smile under her hair.

“All done. Why don’t you come and help me comb mine?”

Garrett couldn’t move a single inch, and he could feel the thick strands of hair that had completely wrapped around him even though he couldn’t see them with his naked eye. As the woman in the mirror held up the hand mirror, Garrett finally saw the thick, dark, tangled hair that bound him like rope and felt it begin to pull him forward, toward the mirror.

“Garrett!”

Though he could hear the shouts from Marta and Henri, Garrett was entirely bound, and couldn’t even speak as he was pulled through the surface of the mirror. Like breaking the surface of a pond, he felt himself enter a space that was like the dream, tumbling forward out of his chair. At the last second, his hands tightened around the armrests, and he pulled the wheelchair in after him, bringing it into the Hollow Space.

A moment ago, he had been in the basement of the count’s mansion, and now, as he got to his feet, he found himself standing in an old dressing room. A large mirror covered the wall behind him, and a table with a number of combs arranged nicely on it stood to his left. There was no one else in the room, but Garrett heard the door creaking and quickly activated Dream Cloak, shrouding himself in the fabric of the dream. Not even a second later, the long-haired woman he had seen in the mirror floated into the room, her hair flying around her. Her head turned, scanning the room as she tried to figure out where Garrett had gone.

“I can smell you, handsome. Why don’t you come and help me with my hair?”

Speaking softly, her voice scraped like a rake across Garrett’s mind, nearly shocking him out of his hidden state. Taking a quiet breath, he slowly moved backward, distancing himself from the wheelchair and the beautiful flowers that covered it. As he moved away, the ghostly woman moved forward, her feet floating over the ground. Behind her, another woman floated through the doorway, her expression permanently twisted into a scream. Her body was as pale as a corpse, and her hair flowed around her head, twisting in the air as if it were being blown by the wind. As soon as the second woman entered, the long-haired woman seemed to grow angry and turned to face her, causing the floating corpse to shrink back.

“What are you doing?! Get out! He is mine! Mine!”

A terrible shriek rose from the floating corpse and her hand rose, pointing a dirty and broken nail at the flowers that covered the wheelchair.

Realizing that the corpse’s target was different, the long haired woman relented.

“Fine! You may take… one… you may only take one.”

As she spoke, the Long-Haired Ghost had turned back to look at the flowers, changing her mind halfway through as they began to shimmer. In the corner of the room, Garrett’s heart was pounding so loud that it sounded like a war drum in his ears. He was hopelessly outclassed when it came to a physical battle, and he wasn’t even sure if the flowers would be able to help him against the Pale Fiends, but he knew he didn’t have a choice. He had already tried to leave this Hollow Space but the window that had popped up dashed his hopes.

[This Hollow Space has been sealed by its owner, the Long-Haired Ghost. Get permission from its owner, the Long-Haired Ghost to leave.]

I guess I’ll have to risk it. Time to see how good these flowers really are.

Closing his eyes, Garrett quickly came up with a plan and began to issue commands. Half of the dream flowers on the wheelchair began to sway, releasing their bewitching aura as more and more Pale Fiends floated into the room. Among them, Garrett could see the countess, her expression frozen in the same exact scream that she wore the last time Garrett had seen her. Hidden inside of her were two dream flowers, and as they reacted to the presence of the other dream flowers Garrett had brought in, he began to work, sending energy into them. At the same time, he took a deep breath and spent all of his remaining experience points, planting flowers in three more pale fiends. He had known that he was taking a risk, and as the energy left him, it proved too much for Dream Cloak, and the skill broke, causing the Long-Haired Ghost to turn toward him.

“I knew you were hiding here! I found—”

The ghost’s voice rose in a shriek before suddenly cutting off as the world in the mirror suddenly changed. In the waking world the basement still rang with the sounds of battle as the awakened fought fiercely. At first, out of consideration for the fact that they all worked for different branches of the same organization, they had been holding back, but as the fight progressed, it slowly heated up. Kicking his opponent’s weapon to the side, Grant landed a stab that tore through flesh on the man’s side, sending blood splattering across the ground and causing the rest of the combatants to instinctively increase the tempo of their attacks. Just as they did, however, a dreadful feeling shrouded them and they all felt thin hairs wrapping around their limbs.

The fighters all froze, shock and horror covering their faces as they realized that the mirror had been turned around at some point and was reflecting all six of them. In it, the long-haired woman was standing there, a comb in her hands as she stared at each one of them. Behind the mirror, holding the frame, stood a figure in dark leather clothing, a smooth black mask that carried a familiar flower motif covering her face. Seeing them all staring at her, Ryn shrugged.

“Believe me, I don’t know what’s going on either. I’m just doing what the boss said.”

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