Dreamweaver, page 4
Well, that did it. “I’ll show you incompetence, you pimpled walking butt-sore!” I launched at him with a fist already flying, only for it to land harmlessly on the cushions he leapt from. He forced me to jump as he rounded a leg my way, trying to topple me, then spun on his heel, slamming his other foot back and I narrowly avoided that too. Reaching back to a corner table, I snatched up a rose-patterned vase and swung it at him, effectively soaking his pants and combat boots, but only managing to clip his ribs with a fist as he ducked.
He swiped his hands at his wet clothes sprinkled with flower petals. “Ah, shi—ooph!” He doubled over the next moment as I rammed the heavy vase into his gut. It shattered when it hit the floor as he snatched hold of my forearm, wrenching my elbow up and back, causing me to gasp with pain as the nerves in my shoulder started to scream. I returned the favor by stomping on his instep, causing him to swear again and he blocked an elbow-jab to his jaw that would have taken a tooth or two from his stupid face.
I was too busy trying to pummel the idiot to hear the office door open and two pairs of feet enter the antechamber. As I headbutted Cay in the jaw instead, sending him yelping to the floor, his grip releasing, a growling voice I recognized far too well spoke over my attempt to throttle the jackass and his shots to my shins with his metal-toed boots.
“I told you this wasn’t a good idea.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” said a second voice, and this time both Cay and I froze in the process of trying to rip each other apart. Commander Flow didn’t have to raise her voice even a fraction for us to take notice of her presence. “Enough.”
Scrambling back from where I had a fistful of the moron’s shirt, my other fist poised for landing on his nose, I tried to regain my breath, rubbing the back of my hand over my split lower lip, wincing a bit at the sting. In turn Cay stopped trying to choke the living daylights out of me and collapsed back onto the floor. I noticed with satisfaction that he was winded, too.
“Thanks for the help,” he wheezed at his sister.
Anessa, who hadn’t moved an inch from her chair, fiddled with the ends of her ponytail. “Anytime.”
“Present yourselves,” Flow demanded.
All three of us rushed to attention at that, forming a small line before the Commander and her second in command, Treu Havon. While the latter towered over everyone in the room, an elephant-sized man with flint colored hair and a black mustache, Flow stood shorter than anyone, almost child-like in her stature. Her night-black hair was woven into a dragon-tail braid that slipped down her back, nearly touching her calves, and the black almond-shaped eyes in her almost cherubic face glinted like forged steel. The ragged deep red scar that dotted across her clavicles only added to her menacing aura. I knew she could carve my limbs from my body sooner than I could draw air to beg her not to.
Treu could as well, but at the moment he had spotted the broken vase and let out a despairing whimper, clutching his chest. “Not my flowers.”
Did I mention he was a regular customer of Aro’s homemade crocheted accessories? He sported one now, a pastel blue solarwatch covering that clashed with the sleekness of his black and silver uniform.
“Explain yourselves,” Flow said simply.
Cay elbowed me sharply, making me grunt ungracefully, and I licked my lips anxiously before replying, “I was trying to teach the Molts a lesson, Commander.” I was likely going to be horsewhipped for this, but I said it anyway. “However, I overestimated the intelligence of their shared solitary brain cell.”
That earned me a sharp pinch from Anessa, who twisted her nails into my upper arm. I closed my mouth tight to keep from yelling, my hand twitching to hit her back, but I forced it to stay at my side.
Flow simply watched me for a moment, making me break out into a cold sweat, before surveying the other two for another long minute. “Are you children?”
“No, ma’am,” we groused back in a grumbled chorus.
“Then act your age, if it isn’t too difficult.” She gestured towards her office. “In you go.”
Trying not to cower as I obeyed her, I hastily stepped into her office and moved as far from the Molt siblings as I possibly could, setting my back to the green wallpaper on the far side of Flow’s personal office. Confining me and them into a small, circular room together was asking for bad news, and I swept my gaze around the room swiftly, cataloguing possible ammo. If worse came to worse, I’d huck one of the walnut chairs at Cay’s fat head and snap one of the elegant pens on the desk to spray Anessa with ink. The mess would paralyze her.
As if sensing my thoughts, Treau settled next to me, laying a heavy hand on my shoulder, causing it to sink towards the marble floor, and I tried not to grunt with the effort of opposing his strength. I kept my eye on the Molts as they stood on the opposite side of the room, glowering my way.
“You may sit,” Flow said, sweeping past the semi-circle of chairs before her desk to lean against it, facing us with folded arms.
None of us moved.
“Suit yourself,” she replied smoothly, as if the tension in the room had no effect on her. Which I know it didn’t. “But this is going to be a long conversation, and you may as well get comfortable.”
“Why are we here?” Cay demanded, which I thought was gutsy of him. “Commander,” he added at her sharp glance.
“You’re here because of what occurred last night,” she said simply. My mouth instantly went dry at her words. “You’re here because of what has occurred on other nights, as well.” Her focus turned to me, and I stiffened where I stood. “You’d be stupid not to notice how you have been a target of multiple attempts on your life. Most of them were essence driven attacks.”
Not sure of what to say to that, I licked my lips and just nodded like a moron. How in the world did she know about the attacks? Was I in trouble? Wait, were the Molts in trouble? Was she going to confirm my sister’s and Dane’s suspicions that they were behind every attempt to kill me? Did this mean I got to punch them now? Cracking my knuckles, I widened my stance, but Treau’s fingers bit into my shoulder in a vice-like grip that made my eyes water and I stilled.
As if she knew my thoughts, Flow’s mouth curled in the smallest of smirks before she looked to the Molt siblings. “By your count, how many attacks have you intervened on, Harvester Mindmender? You as well, Spinner Soulbearer.”
Blinking like a startled owl, Cay twiddled his thumbs as he said, “Ah, maybe five times, Commander?” Beside him, his sister tossed her purple ponytail off her shoulder as she held up three fingers. She reciprocated the glare that I gave her, adding a bit more disgust than I was capable of. Nightmares often came side-by-side with memories, and so it hadn’t been too surprising that Cay had needed his sister’s help with the raw essence that had attacked me on previous nights. I just wish it didn’t give her one more thing to smear in my face regarding how repulsive she found me. What can I say? My leg brace and my orphan status had just rubbed her the wrong way from the beginning.
Plus, maybe it was also due to my sparkling personality.
Crossing my arms, I let myself flop backwards into a nearby leather chair, which was no doubt worth more than what I made in a year. Slouching in it regardless, I settled in, eager to watch as Flow invoked whatever punishment she deemed necessary for their deliberate attacks on me. Maybe she’d flog them. Maybe she’d imprison them. I grinned broadly. Maybe it’d be both.
“I’m glad to report that both of you passed your tests set before you.”
My jaw hit my chest. What? What just happened? What did she—?
Cay’s blinking went on hyperdrive and even his sister managed to make a baffled expression with what I knew was an entirely cosmetically frozen face. “Commander?” Cay said weakly.
Flow was cleaning the tips of her nails with a small silver dagger, like the fact she was announcing such news was mere tea-time gossip to her. Hardly worth her notice. “I ordered the essence attacks on Harvester Dreamweaver. I deliberately set her life at risk to test your abilities, especially when combined.” This made the Molt siblings stand up even straighter, though I wasn’t sure how that was possible with the stick shoved up both their butts. “I needed to see just how far you were willing to push yourselves to help… a comrade.” I actually let loose a startled, choking sound of protest at this and Treau narrowed his eyes at me in warning. “You’ve managed to show your competence so far, but further testing is necessary.”
My boots slammed onto the ornate carpeting covering the floor and I jolted to a stand, voice rising shrilly, “Hold on just a moment! Are you saying you placed my life in the hands of these”—I helpfully pointed at the Molts before waving my arms around to properly express my rage—” these useless baboons?” The sheer realization hit me in the gut, and I plowed on, despite Flow’s expression. “I could have—I almost—They nearly got me killed!”
Silence reigned for a full minute after my words stopped echoing off the office ceiling. Flow carefully set her dagger away up her sleeve before looking at me, like she was removing the temptation to skin me alive. Her eyes were piercing as she set them on me. “You have a competent healer.”
The air in my lungs left in a rush, leaving me gawking at her, a panicked cold sweat breaking out on the back of my neck. I could almost taste my heartbeat. She knew about Daneon. Somehow, she knew about his unauthorized healing sessions, about my illegal essence gathering, about the weakness that hit my body sometimes.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh—
“Relax,” Flow ordered in a bored drawl, flicking a hand my way like she was shooing a fly. “Simply do as you’re told, and nothing will happen.”
Feeling like my throat was coated in sand, I tried to stop the trembling that took hold of my body. My knees felt like pudding. What was she going to demand? What was worth her risking my life repeatedly? What was worth forcing my compliance so that she would threaten Dane to get me to listen?
“As I mentioned, further testing is required.” Evidently tired of standing, Flow hopped backwards to sit on her desk, her small legs dangling in a deceivingly carefree way. “I need to know what more you are capable of. If you prove successful…” She shared one glance with Captain Treau that made me cold to my toes. “Then you will be given a special assignment.”
My mouth worked uselessly, no words coming out, and I could only stare from her to the Molt siblings as a clenching knot twisted in my belly. What special assignment? What further testing? Was she going to put my life on the line, again, to see what the Molts were capable of? I looked directly at Anessa, who was far too intrigued to be innocent. Well, that was it. I was going to die. I was going to die, and I’d never eat Aro’s confections again. I’d never again get to tease Dayja about her massive collection of glittery eyeshadows.
I’d never get to tell—
“You’ll follow me,” Flow continued, heedless to the panic coursing through me. “We’ll go directly to the catacombs, and I will give you further instructions before we begin.” She stretched out an arm towards the side of her desk, flipping over a statue of the god of luck, revealing a bright blue button underneath that she pressed. A faint glow rose up before her, solidifying into a solarscreen.
“Authorization requested,” said a serene male voice.
A scanner ran over Flow’s eyes, flickering off the next moment as the same voice said, “Authorization approved. Welcome, Commander Flow.” The screen vanished.
Then, with a rumble, the walls began to twist as the floor we were on began to descend in a slow, smooth spiral. The late afternoon light spilling in from the office windows shrank away as the opening above slowly closed back over, leaving us in darkness as we went further and further down.
Chapter Four
In my last moments alive, I can’t say I would have chosen to spend them with these two individuals currently next to me. The three of us stood shoulder to shoulder before a gaping cavern entrance, carved in the resemblance of a massive set of jaws opened wide to swallow us whole. The stone fangs alone were taller than I was. The idea that these catacombs, as Flow had called them, existed beneath the streets of the capital and the general populace had no idea was as creepy as the faint moaning that diffused through the air. Seriously, how did wind even make it down here?
Then again, maybe it wasn’t wind.
I was not going to think about ghosts. I was a grown woman, dammit, and I was not going to be scared of the dark right now.
My internal pep talk wasn’t very successful.
Elbowing Cay next to me sharply made me feel slightly better. “Stop mouth breathing, you idiot.”
For his part, he didn’t even look my way, focused solely on the blackness that awaited us ahead. He dared a glance over his shoulder, where Commander Flow and Captain Treu had disappeared via the floor elevator taking them back up to the safety of the Commander’s office. Removing a small flying sphere camera from her belt, she had programmed it to follow us, presumably so she could keep a watch on us. At least, I hoped she was keeping an eye on us. Her friendly parting instruction had simply been, “Your objective is to not die. You will know when your task is complete.”
With that cryptic message to guide our way, how could we fail?
“Is now a good time to mention my solargun is broken?” I questioned, words floating along the cold air in small puffs.
Despite the blackness, I could feel Anessa’s glower. “Your gun is broken? You complete moron, why didn’t you say something sooner?!”
“Well, I figured if some monster comes our way, I’d just feed you to it and it’d die of poisoning. Ow!” I jogged backwards, away from her sharp heels.
Cay’s silhouette was lit up the next moment as he tapped on his solarband, waking the flashlight. It seemed pathetically small in comparison to the bleak cavern around us. “Would you both knock it off? We need to come up with a plan.”
“How?” Anessa demanded sharply. “We have no idea what we’re supposed to be doing down here. Or what is down here, for that matter.”
“Well, we aren’t going to get answers just standing here,” he snapped back.
I smiled ear to ear, watching them bicker. If I was going to die, this was an unexpected, though welcome, treat Fate had given me and I was soaking in every piece of it.
“We need to figure out what we have first.” Cay threw a revolted glance my way. “Enea’s gun is broken, so that leaves us with only yours and mine. Please tell me at least your solarband is working, Dreamweaver?”
I tapped it on, shining it directly into his eyes. “Yup.” I tapped it off as he swore at me, jolting away. “But we’ll go ahead and use up your battery first. Hope it’s as big as your ego.”
He bared his teeth at me. “Try to remember I’ve saved your life, you ungrateful brat.”
“Because Flow wanted to test you two, so no, I won’t thank anyone for being nightmare essence bait.”
Anessa rolled her shoulders back with a weary sigh, like everything was on her nerves. “Okay, shut up you two. We have solarbands, we have two guns, I have a few knives, Cay I know you’ve got a taser somewhere on you. That sum it up?”
“Not quite,” I said, “but go ahead and do your bossy thing.” I wasn’t about to tell her what my backup weapon was. It wasn’t exactly… usual. At least, I had yet to meet anyone else who could do what I was capable of. I only used it at the most desperate of times, and it was still a wildcard even then.
She actually rolled her eyes at me. “And Enea’s equipped with sarcasm. We’re saved.”
“I’ll go in first,” Cay said, turning to face the cavern entrance. “I’ll scout ahead and come back to report what’s there—” he broke off at my sharp laughter.
“Not happening, Molt,” I said. “You’ll drive whatever monster you find in there my way to chew on while you skip ahead to whatever sort of finish line Flow has set for us.”
Exasperated, he drew his gun, powering it up. “You’re—”
I didn’t care to hear what his opinion of me was. “We’re going together. In case you have short term amnesia, Flow said she’s testing both of your abilities, and it all depends on my drawing nightmare essence towards wanting to attack me, doesn’t it? I’d hazard a guess that she wants to know just how well you both can control nightmare essence.” They actually remained silent when I paused for a beat. “Both of you keep your guns drawn. Anessa, give me a couple knives.” She squawked in protest, and I pointed to my broken gun until she relented, drawing two slim daggers from her right boot.
“You better not break those,” she muttered.
“Nah,” I assured her, “I’ll just be sure to scratch ‘em up good.”
“Oh, deities above,” Cay groaned, “I’m going to shoot you both before this is over.”
“That would defeat the whole point of saving my life before,” I told him jovially, giving him a hearty wink to seal the deal. While he sputtered murderously, I stalked forward, drawing in a deep breath, going first. I had to be the bait, after all. The sphere camera zoomed around me to hover over Anessa’s head. She batted at it like an annoying bird. If only it’d poop on her head. “Hold your light up, Cay. Let’s go.”
“Yes, mother. Ouch!”
“Call me that again and I’ll aim higher.”
To no one’s surprise, Anessa stalled until she could place herself last in line, giving a good amount of distance between her brother and herself as we trailed forward into the cavern’s entrance. The skin between my shoulder blades itched just knowing the dunder-head twins were behind me, but I did my best to ignore it, stepping over the jagged teeth carved into the stone floor. “Sheesh. Dramatic, much? Who designed this place?” Whatever this place was. “Did either of you know there were catacombs beneath the city?”
Silence met my answer.
“Yeah, ok, just checking.”
