The Sleeper Series

“Ouch.” Charlotte said.

“I’ve already called them. They should be expecting us.”

“Where are we going again?” I asked. The past ten minutes seemed to pass by in a blur.

“Pay attention, Mr. Miller.” Charlotte said, smiling. “He said we’re going to where all the other soldiers are.”

“Yes, Nathan, please pay attention.” Alverdine said.

I’m sorry, I just found out I was DEAD. Gimme a break here.

“Oh, yeah. You got out of your prison, right? What about the Dreamster? Did he get out, too?” I asked Alverdine.

She snapped to attention, suddenly remembering something. “Right.” She said. “I almost forgot. Eat this.” She pulled from her pocket a small container and opened it, revealing a small blue pill inside, one that was strangely similar to the Matrix pill.

“What is that? You’re not trying to kill are ya?” I said, grinning.

She looked at me. I can’t tell you how much I hated that look.

Tough crowd. Really.

“Just eat it. It’ll give you your powers back while you’re up here.”

I took it cautiously. Who knew if she placed something unmentionable in this thing? No offense, but I wasn’t going to be some guinea pig, even if the tester was an almighty being and all that crap.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t make it. The Dreamster did.”

Great. Even more reason not to take it.

“It’s okay, Mr. Miller. I took one, too.” Charlotte said.

“O-Okay.” I said, slowly bringing the pill to my mouth.

Chris was getting impatient. “Goddamit! Just eat the damned thing! We’re wasting daylight here. By the time we get there we’d—”

He never finished his sentence, because at that instant, something stabbed him in the back, the black, oozing blade sticking out through his chest.

No…

“Weaverlings! Get down!” Alverdine shouted, immediately making a huge sword materialize into her hands. Okay. A few things about the sword:

1. It looked way too heavy for anyone to lift, let alone swing.

2. The tip of the sword looked like an anchor. Imagine an arch with a sharp tip protruding from the top.

3. There were strange runes on them, and they glowed in response to the presence of the Weaverlings.

She swung it toward the nearest of the shadows, cutting it clean in half. I stared at it, my mouth wide open. She noticed and rubbed the blade affectionately and proudly.

“The Hierophant. This blade has been with me since my very existence.” She said, swinging it again toward an oncoming Weaverling.

“Mr. Miller! I need help over here!” I heard Charlotte shout. She was surrounded by forty or them, maybe more. Her darts wouldn’t last her very long. Alverdine was already running toward her. She looked back irritatingly.

“Eat the pill already and give me a hand with these!”

I took a deep breath, knowing my friends were in danger, and swallowed it. The moment the thing was in my throat, it was already burning inside me. I fell to the ground, grasping at my body and head. My insides were on fire, and my head was about to explode from information overload. When the pain finally stopped though, I felt stronger than I ever had before. The good part: I knew how to use them.

It was pretty awesome.

ABEO!

As soon as I thought the word, I felt my clothes change, leather mixed with metal, gauntlets in each hand, and my chest covered with an alloy that felt unbreakable. A mask shielded my face, and through it, I saw the world differently. I could see everyone’s energy levels, including the cold body of the soldier.

Guilt and anger mixed inside me. I let him die, all because I was a spoiled baby. I had failed again, just like I did with Sara. I flexed my left hand. The gauntlet on it changed, turning into a blade colder than ice. The sword was basically my left hand now. It was a part of me. It could feel my emotions, and it turned even colder. It introduced itself to me in the form of

words that appeared on the back of my head.

Incideria Icerios…a new sword, made and given to me by the Dreamster. It didn’t have as much power as the original, but it felt more at home. I had more control over it than I did Incideria. I flexed it, hearing the voice say that power was to be earned, not obtained. It was fine by me. I loved a challenge.

“Nice armor, Mr. Miller, now if you don’t mind…HELP!” Charlotte shouted, still launching darts into the enemies.

My new armor was already calculating possible entry points, but none resulted in success.

Then I thought of something unconventional.

I looked up at the building behind Charlotte. It was an average apartment, about 5 stories tall.

“Alright, then. Let’s see what this baby can do.” I said, lifting Icerios. I ran, lightning fast to the building, implanting two deep slashes into the concrete. It did the job, cutting the whole thing clean in half. I ran again for Charlotte, picking her up and rushing away as the concrete crashed down on the Weaverlings.

Something was wrong, though. I didn't have my necklace with me anymore. It must've been lost when I passed out in the portal to the real world. Now I had nothing to store my energy in. Why not make one then? Seems like a good idea.

I changed back into my normal clothes. My armor had disappeared, the metal contracting to a single silver ring on my left ring-finger: my own creation. It had a stunning blue aquamarine as a centerpiece. When I touched it, it felt as cold as liquid nitrogen would have felt like.

“I’m impressed, Nathan. That was quite smart of you.” Alverdine said, brushing dirt off her dress. When I thought about it, the whole white dress thing was different than her usual bronze armor. It was almost like Charlotte’s look. I brought it up.

“Oh, this? I guess I just got accustomed to being in the girl’s body.”

Suuuuure. I’ll let that pass for now.

“Now what? Our tour guide just died on us.” I said, feeling a lump in my throat as I turned to his body, and found it gone.

“Hey, where’d he go?”

“To the Orb. And no, I am not answering your question of ‘what is it?’”

Shot down even before I asked.

“I guess we should start in the general direction of where he was going.” Alverdine said, moving forward.

We walked past houses and streets, but none of them looked spirit-filled. Only full of good-enough-to-be-dead people; sleeping people not worth our attention.

I nudged Charlotte.

“Didn’t we already pass this house?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think we did.”

“Are you sure Alverdine knows where she’s going?”

She shook her head.

Alverdine leaned in close to us. “Watch out. I think they found us first. Don’t put up a fight. They’ll think we’re enemies if you draw your weapons.”

“But won’t their bullets just pass us?”

“This isn’t the Dream Realm, Nathan.”

“But I have my powers back.”

“These aren’t people dreaming, Nathan. These people are spirits, we’re spirits. Do the math.”

Oh.

Almost as if on cue, a rugged, husky voice came from one of the buildings.

“Identify yourself.”

“We are merely travelers. We mean no harm.” Alverdine said, putting her hands on her head. We followed her, and knelt to the ground.

“Can’t we just tell them who we are?” I whispered to her.

“They haven’t been in the Dream Realm yet, so they wouldn’t know, let alone care, who we are.”

“Check them.”

Soldiers appeared out of nowhere and checked us for weapons. I tried to keep still, but they kept touching me in…uncomfortable places.

“Clean!” The guard shouted.

The owner of the rugged voice jumped down from the roof. He wore a green overcoat, filled with different sorts of pins and medals. I swear, this guy looked like a Christmas tree.

His face looked scarred from countless battles. When he talked, there was this air of authority to it, like Hitler.

“My name is John Scragg, colonel of this division.”

“I am Veronica. This is Cammy and Reuben. We just…expired. We’re still quite in shock about the whole thing, actually.”

Don’t ask me about the whole changing our names thing. I was just as startled as Charlotte was, but we knew better than to show it. We just looked at each other.

Scragg looked around. “I don’t see the lieutenant with you. Where is he? He said he found some ghosts, and I’m assuming he was talking about you, since you’re the only other spirits here. So where is he?”

“I’m sorry sir. We couldn’t do anything.” Charlotte said, sobbing.

The colonel’s expression didn’t change. I was appalled. Who could resist Charlotte? This guy was definitely not human, or at least didn’t use to be. You know, coz he’s dead?

Never mind.

“Arrest them.” He said, gesturing to his men. They cuffed us, and led us away. Charlotte caught my eye as she passed, mouthing the words: I tried. I gave her a sympathetic look.

“Hey, Alverdine,” I whispered as we were walking. “Why are we tagging along with them anyway? We can just escape from these things, right?”

“We need the energy source for our portal back.”

“Why? Can’t you just make one like you always do?”

She shook her head. “In the Dream Realm, energy was all around us. Here, there’s almost none. Except, of course, the spirits.”

“No. You are not just going to—”

“Hey! No talking back there!” Scragg said.

Is she THAT heartless? There has to be another way. I won’t stand to have innocent souls dragged to their deaths to power up a simple, one-use portal.

By the time we got to the small village where their “HQ” was, the sun was already three-quarters down. Scragg led us to a small bungalow, its low windows catching the last of the waning sunlight. We stepped inside, and faced about ten or twenty guns, give or take (I wasn’t counting), pointed at us.

Scragg lifted a huge, calloused hand, and at once the guns fell to each of the soldiers’ side.

“Why the hell do we have to keep them alive?! They killed Barlington!” One of them said.

Please don’t agree, please don’t agree, please don’t agree.

Most of the soldiers in the room shouted “Yeah!” while the colonel himself seemed to slightly deliberate for a while.

We’re dead.

“I say we kill ‘em right here, right now!” They said.

Oh, we’re in deep sh—

“No. Not yet.” Scragg said.

Yes! I felt like crying. We’re alive, baby. But I could’ve probably taken them out easy if it came down to fighting.

They threw us in a spare room, inhabited by a single bed, and a slowly breathing figure on it, covered by a blanket. The person looked like he or she was asleep, probably still alive, as in human sleeping alive. Charlotte collapsed on the floor beside the entrance, tired from the day’s events.

I wondered if it was a girl on the bed. I slowly crept toward it, planning to pull the cover aside. My hand reached out.

“Let’s go.” Alverdine said, slapping my wrist down. I drew it back, offended.

“I-I wasn’t planning anything.” I said quickly.

“Whatever. That’s a man, by the way.”

I stared at the figure, feeling sick to my stomach. I shook the thought off and focused on my ring, feeling energy flow out of it and into my body, changing me into my armor. My mask immediately sensed what I wanted, and tolf me that there was a sort of spirit shield all over the far wall. So much for passing through it.

My armor began searching for the wall’s focal points, where I was supposed to hit.

“Wrong way, Nathan.” Alverdine said, grabbing my shoulder.

“Right way. I am not going to let you kill innocent souls for our portal. There has to be another way.”

“Listen to me. All of these souls are meaningless. Insignificant to us now. They will all end up going to the Orb anyway.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t even have an idea what this Orb is.”

Suddenly, the wall crashed behind me, sending rubble right through us and hitting the rest of the house. I heard screams outside, and the strangled cry of John Scragg. The wall behind us must’ve also crashed, crushing the colonel behind it. The man on the bed had been killed, too. There was a hand under the ruin of the far wall. By this time, Charlotte woke up from beside what was left of the door, instantly horrified at the sight of our attacker.

“Whoops. Sorry. It was your fault for placing that shield there, you know.” The vampire said, disdainfully looking at the hand under the fallen wall.

I felt rage boil inside me. It was her again, the same vampire that eluded me from Charlotte’s dream. I wanted to just kill her at that moment.

“Never thought I’d see you here, Sister Alva.”

“You better not start this again, Vierra. You know how I hate that nickname.” Alverdine said, summoning Hierophant in her hands.

Wait a minute. They're SISTERS?! How the hell can an immortal being and a vampire be related?! I guess the fact that they both have blue hair is a minor giveaway, but still!

"You guys are SIBLINGS?!" I said, voicing my thoughts.

"Unfortunately. There always has to be a runt in the family right, little sis?"

"We'll see how smug you are when I kill you."

I changed into my armor and ran towards her. We still had a score to settle. Alverdine pulled me back, her cold blue eyes staring into my surprised face.

“Not yet. She’s still too fast for you. Besides, that sword of yours is still a greenhorn. Just leave this to me. A little family feud won't hurt anyone.”

They circled each other, Vierra smiling and baring fangs.

“Why don’t you let your pet loose, Alva? I’ll give it at least a little fighting chance.”

Alverdine chuckled.

Hey, who’s side are you on?!

Vierra pounced on Alverdine, the rest was a combination of blurs. They were both so fast it was hard to see who was winning. It was also pretty cool that even with the Hierophant, Alverdine still had the speed that could match the agile vampire.

After a few hits and dodges, they circled around once more, looking for an area of opportunity. Alverdine decided to take the most basic of tactics.

“So, Vierra. Why are you here?”

“To meet one of your mythical friends, I believe. The one who can end this war once and for all. Of course, like in the legends, only the one who can summon her first can win her favor.”

Alverdine twitched slightly. “You know where the Empress is?”

“Duh. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know, silly. She’s in the land of imagination. You of all people should know where that is.” She smirked.

By now, the conversation had fallen into an end. Alverdine was still exhausted from the fighting, but the vampire was still standing, breathing normally. In desperation, she changed the topic to buy more time.

“By the way, Vierra, where’s your portal? Surely you didn’t walk all the way here from the Dream Realm. Maybe we could hitch a ride with you back.”

The vampire laughed. “Keep dreaming, Maiden.”

What happened was so fast that I staring at both of them and still missed it. Somehow, Alverdine had taken one of Charlotte’s darts, tipped it with a sort of greenish liquid, and inserted it into Vierra’s neck. Everything happened in less than a second.

“Now, sister, you will tell me what I need to know. Where did you come in?”

“P-p-portal…th-through t-tunnel…East side…” She said through gritted teeth.

She passed out, falling to the ground in almost slow motion.

“You think I can get one of those?”

“No.”

“Where are we going now, Ms. Alverdine?” Charlotte said, ignoring the previous conversation.

“To the nearest Tunnel of Souls.”

She turned to me, fire in her voice.

“Do NOT, disobey me again, Nathan. I know what I’m doing, and you obviously don’t, so please stop acting like you do.”

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I waited for her to storm ahead, then approached Charlotte.

“What’s this Tunnel of Souls?”

“It’s sort of like ‘going into the light’ for the souls, but only if they get near enough to one, which is why there are such things as ghosts. There are a lot scattered around the world,

but the only ones I know are in Europe and somewhere in Ottowa.”

That makes sense, at least.

Alverdine led us through various twists and turns, this time really quickly, as if she knew where she was going now. Her eyes were closed, following the path on sense alone.

We stopped in front of a small apartment. It looked deserted with its crumbling brick walls. If I looked closely, there was already a demolition notice on it.

“This is where the tunnel is?” I asked. “Doesn’t look like much.”

Alverdine shook her head. “Not there. Down here.”

All our eyes looked down.

A manhole.

I groaned.

=====================================================================================

The castle seemed ominous in the endless night of the land, but tonight, it was even more sinister. The stone and black marble exteriors seemed to reflect the moonlight, giving the castle an evil shine.

Vierra entered the throne room as always, only the Weaver wasn’t there. He was away, doing battle with the escaped Dreamster. The vampire pressed a hidden switch under the throne’s armchair, making it slide to the side and revealing an old stone staircase, leading even deeper into the castle.

The room at the bottom was old, lit by a few number of torches. There were different passageways circling the room, all leading to different places in the Dream Realm. A secret underground of tunnels and exits. Vierra approached the figure seated in the center of the old throne room. The being was seated on a much older version of the throne upstairs, the whole thing cracked in some places, but the person on it retained his dignity. He was, after all, one of the most powerful of the first beings created in the Dream Realm.

“Everything is going as planned. The boy has gained Power, just as you predicted. It is only a matter of time until both he and the Dreamster find the Orb of the Damned, along with the Chieftain.” Vierra said.

“Good. Very good. ” Said the one on the throne, his voice high-pitched and mischievous. “The Empress has been spotted, yes?”

“Indeed. I have my wolves already going to fetch her.”

“Really, now? Well then, that’s great isn’t it?”

“Quite.”

“I trust you did all the preparations I told you to do? The Weaver and the Dreamster are both bickering again, yes?”

“Correct. My sister the Maiden and the Adversary also rush to Imagos as we speak.”

“Excellent. You may leave, and be careful not to be spotted on your way out.”

“Yes, Deceiver. I understand.”