Dreamscape: Saving Alex

Chapter Five

I cried out as my knees struck the gravel and my palms ripped open. Red drops appeared on the ground, and I bit back my tears. This wasn't in the game. All my previous worries about getting hurt or being found disappeared as my survival instincts kicked in. I needed to get out of there.

"Who's that?" the taller man squeaked.

I crawled away while the shorter man answered. "She's our spy. Who knows how long she's been following us or what she's heard. You're not getting away that easily." He lunged forward and yanked my legs back. Fresh wounds tore open next to the dragon weed blisters along my shins. I screamed and kicked, twisting out of his grasp.

He silenced my yelp by curling a rough hand around my face, covering my mouth with sweat and dirt. The other hand pressed me down. Rocks dug into my thighs. I shrunk under his strength.

"I swear, I'm not a spy," I pleaded in a muffled voice, gagging between short breaths of air. My eyes shifted from the weapons swinging at his hip to the rotten teeth poking out from beneath his sneer. "I haven't heard a word, I promise. Just let me go. You have the wrong person!" I struggled to break free.

"Deakon!" the taller man yelled, his voice suddenly strong as he lifted a shaking hand to cover his mouth. "Let her go."

"Are you crazy? We can't let a spy go, even if she's a girl. She's dangerous, and besides, the cause can use the money, you know that."

"Deakon, look at her. Her hair..." His voice trailed off and his eyes widened.

My hair? I lifted a hand to it out of reflex, wincing as it stuck in a tangled heap. I pulled a branch out and looked at the tall man again. Surely my hair wasn't messed up enough to scare him. I'd take it though. Any excuse to escape.

Deakon shook his head and leaned closer. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Pull out your glass," Pipes said. "Now! What have you done?"

The exchange between them startled me. Pipes obviously knew something the other guy didn't. I just didn't know what it had to do with me, or how I could use it to my advantage.

The shorter man fumbled with his pocket and pulled out a large sphere of glass. With one hand still pressing me down, he used the other to lift it to his eyes.

"In the queen's name, it can't be!" he said, dropping the glass. The pressure on my shoulders released, and I fell back to the ground, staring at the men. What just happened?

"Please forgive me," Deakon said, dropping to his knees, pressing his forehead to the dirt.

I shuffled back and my heart slowed. "Forgive you?" I repeated, watching him grovel on the ground.

"We didn't know it was you," the taller man said, pressing his hood back and bowing at the waist.

"Good grief man, show some respect," Deakon said, knocking out the back of the taller man's knees. "She's not royalty, she's...she's..." Every time his eyes darted to me, they sped back towards the ground.

His friend fell with a grunt and shook his head, regaining composure before he looked at me and joined his friend with his forehead to the ground. "I meant no disrespect, my lady. We just didn't expect—"

"Didn't expect what?" I asked, afraid of their response. Who or what did they think I was? I ran through the list of characters in my mind, holding my breath. Was I the princess, a rogue, another juggler—

"The Golden Hero."

An image of the game's opening sequence popped into my mind, a little green man shooting an arrow. The Golden Hero, of course. Why would I think I could go through this world unnoticed?