Dreamscape: Saving Alex

Chapter Nine

The last, lingering moments of sleep were my favorites.

When I was trapped in that ethereal place between wakefulness and sleep, my biggest dreams of adventure came true. For a few blissful moments, I thought that Dreamscape was nothing more than a dream. Befriending armed jugglers, narrowly escaping murderous thugs, and finding glittery money boxes made sense. Dreaming of a video game was normal.

Being stuck in it wasn't.

I made a new wish in the last tendrils of sleep. Not for another adventure, but to be home, in my own bed. I could almost imagine being there, if I ignored the sharp rocks digging into my ribs, the quick breeze that froze my damp clothes, and the pain pulsing through my body.

Nope, I couldn't even pretend that I was home.

I flipped onto my side and swore as the gravel found new spaces between my ribs to poke. Sleep didn't offer me a reprieve from pain. The longer I rested, the more my body protested. Sharp spasms ran through me at the slightest of movements. Breathing hurt, pushing myself up onto my elbows burned, and when I sat up and hunched over, every muscle screamed at me.

I leaned forward and brushed a few small rocks off my cheek. Small puckers covered my face where the gravel had dimpled my skin. I hung my head in my hands. I wasn't ready to deal with another day here.

Even with my eyes closed, the theme song nagged me. That infuriating tune bore its way into my head until even my inner thoughts sung on cue. I despised it. I pulled the cloak up over my head, but it was no use. The melody infiltrated everything, from the water lapping up on the shore to the birds' song. It didn't matter where I looked, I saw and heard the programming of the game.

It felt like a subliminal message, like my mom's snide remarks; always giving me a gentle reminder about who was in charge. I discounted the messages at home, or at least I tried to, but could I afford to ignore them here? It seemed pretty clear this place had a plan, even if I didn't know it.

Wait! I was the Golden Hero.

I picked up a larger chunk of gravel, tossed it into the river, and watched miniature waves appear, altering the rhythm and sound of the water rolling up onto the shore. I picked up a handful of pebbles and tossed them all in, forgetting about the pain, and smiled as the underlying rhythm faltered.

My eyes widened with a new idea. I could make my own choices here! If I tried hard enough, I could alter the underlying programming and maybe return home. Trying certainly couldn't hurt anything.

But where would I go? Taking control meant actually knowing what I was doing. And I had no clue.

I plunked more rocks into the river, along the shoreline. As the water settled back to normal, the song recalibrated itself in the background. Maybe the key wasn't in fighting the inevitable, but in working with it. Fumbling through the levels hadn't gotten me anything but pain. Maybe if I crafted a plan, I might actually stand a chance.

I took the leather bag I had used as my pillow and dragged it across the ground in front of me, smoothing out the pebbles. With my blank canvas in front of me, I took out the jeweled dagger and dragged the blade through the rough ground. The rocks didn't move as smoothly as I would have liked, but this wasn't an art project. It was a strategy. Visual clarity helped me. I had to get all these little pieces of information out of my head to really see the big picture. What I knew from memory seemed small in comparison to the forest and marketplace I had already gone through.

I scribbled triangles around all four sides of the makeshift map to represent the woods. Dreamscape's great forests were filled with giants, colossal trees, cacti, and sand traps. There was no telling what I would find in each section. Passing through the dark forest had proved difficult enough. And the shortcuts I relied on back at home...well, I didn't even know if they existed here.

After the forests, I drew a jagged line across the middle. A mountain range I only knew as the ice world split Dreamscape in half. In the other direction, the river that swept me away from the marketplace divided the terrain.

I sat back and appraised the map. Dreamscape seemed so undeveloped in comparison to the maps I knew from school. Exotic and diverse, but simple in construction. In the most basic sense, it was forests transected by a mountain range and river, with a few towns, castles, and manors thrown in.

I placed the dagger tip on the edge of the western forest and drew a straight line east, mimicking my route with Deakon and Pipes. I stabbed the knife in deep and leaned behind me to grab a couple of larger rocks. I placed the biggest rock next to the blade. That was Lindle, the capital. And from what Pipes had said, I knew Berkos' castle wasn't much further north.

I wrapped my hands around my knees and stared. Could it be that simple? Even though there wasn't much to the world, I knew my path would be so much more difficult than just walking up to the castle. No one skipped straight to the end of the game, even with shortcuts. I was missing some key points, I knew, but none came to mind. I'd have to fill in the blanks as I went.

As I went...the thought lingered in my mind. How long could I stay on the shore? I tucked the box into my leather bag.

As if reading my mind, a bright red bird swooped low, dragging its feet in a line across the river's surface as it approached. Then the rest of the flock arrived, lining the river's edge like an out-of-bounds warning. It was time to go.

I grabbed the bag and threw it over my shoulder, flinching as the edge of the wooden box slammed into my back. Since sleep hadn't healed me the way I expected, I needed something more, like a healing potion.

If only I knew how to get one. The game simplified everything—collect coins, get food, collect more coins, buy a potion, get healed. Survival was secondary to the adventure.

I doubted that a medicine hut or the red liquid of a healing potion would materialize out of thin air. The possibility of making one flashed through my mind, but I quickly dismissed it after glancing back at the dragon weeds on the shore. Red petals and berries spotted the forest bushes, but I wasn't sure which to use. There were too many variables to consider. The red liquid I needed could be made from anything.

There was only one thing to do. Keep moving and keep my eyes open. I had no doubts that something would happen soon. Something always happened.

I hobbled over to the trees that lined the entrance to the forest and stumbled forward from tree to tree until I found one with a low-hanging branch. A rattling sensation grew in my chest as I sawed through the thick wood, fashioning a walking stick.

With the new support, I moved a bit more quickly and entered the forest, careful to keep my breaths shallow and even. I couldn't be distracted today. Not when I had no idea where the river had deposited me. I could be anywhere, and worse, I had no clue what hid in these woods. I glanced around at the towering trees, waiting for the overwhelming dread from yesterday to return. It didn't. These trees seemed arbitrary. Nothing stood out to pinpoint me at a location or specific level.

Light flickered down through the forest canopy, teasing me with warmth. I stretched out my arms, hoping it might dry the last bit of dampness from my clothes. A steady stream of leaves fluttered from above as animals skittered through the branches. The tree bark broke into thick vertical fissures, covered by varying shades of green moss. Vines spiraled from the top of the canopy where yellow birds sang.

Hardly any branches swooped to the ground, meaning I wouldn't be able to climb here. Not that I could have climbed anyway.

I wandered for what seemed like hours. Except for the noise I made tripping over the occasional puff bird or horned rabbit, everything seemed quiet.

And then a slow rumble, like a distant storm, sounded ahead. It grew until the raging thunder turned to wild thrashing. Along the path ahead of me, something crushed the bushes and sent the puff birds scrambling. A flock of bright birds squawked above me as they took to the air. Twirling feathers fell with the leaves, and the vines swayed ominously behind them.

"What now?"

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