Lucid (19 page)

“Who knows?” Viv shrugged, returning her knives to their places on her belt. “I am just thank
ful they decided to turn back.”

“Do you think their leader ordered them to fall back?” Mitch asked, still keeping an eye on the Nightmare's side of the river
.

“It i
s unwise to make assumptions
,
” s
aid a feeble voice from the back of the boat. We all started and turned around as Sophia stirred. Viv hastened to help the old man up into a sitting position
.

“How do you feel?” s
he asked in a soft voice. “Did they hurt you?”

“Relax, child.” Sophia chuckled. “I am all right. Though, it was foolish of you to come after me when you knew that getting the humans to Woodinvil
le was the best chance we had.”

“It's
okay
!” Mitch said hastily. “We're all right, and now we're all safe. We can go there together!”

“I suppose you're right, Mitch Stansky.” Sophia sighed and the corners of his mouth wrinkled into a well-worn smile. “By some good grace, we are all here in the Lucid's boat.”

“You like it?” Kyle turned around to grin. I had to quickly turn the boat's steering wheel to avoid hitting the embankment
.

“Smooth
,
” I muttered to my brother, shakily taking my place on the boat's floor
.

“Uh, anyway, I got my powers back when I jumped into the river!” Kyle tried to steer the conversation away from his almost
-
accident
.

“Of course you did.” Viv rolled her eyes like my brother had stated something painfully obvious. “This isn't called Lucid River for nothing!”

“Oh, excuse me!” Kyle snapped back. “I didn't have time to read any ‘Welcome to Lucid River' signs as I escaped from Nightmares!”

"
The river was created by the Fantasm elders!” Sophia shouted before Viv could protest. “After we left Miragean, we needed to transport the Lucid dreamers to our city without attracting the attention of the Nightmares or the other clan. We made the Lucid River for the Lucids who wished to find our guidance without Nightmare interference. I am afraid Leona Palma didn't know of this river.”

“Either that or she couldn't stand getting her hair wet
,
” I muttered, looking into the water. The further we went downstream, the further we were away from the souls enslaved in Leona's resort. How was this going to help us rescue all of them?

“Devon, weren't you going to tell us something before we stopped to rescue Viv and Sophie?” Kyle suddenly asked, as if reading my mind
.

“Oh, yeah
.
” I figured keeping it from everyone would only cause problems so I recounted my “dream” about Tiff and Andy to everyone. Kyle seemed most shocked that Tiff was hanging out with Andy — go figure. Mitch was surprised that Kyle and I were missing in the real world — which was understandable, as I'm sure he was wondering what the state of his real self was at the moment. Sophia and Viv, however, were questioning whether or not I actually “dreamed” of the real world at all
.

“But surely you must dream of something while you sleep.” Mitch tried to reason with the Dreamers. Viv looked confused and almost wistful as she pondered Mitch's question. Sophia merely shook his head sadly
.

“We are influenced by human dreams, and that is enough
,
” h
e said. “Our world is much different than your own; as I'm sure you've noticed. You're certain you weren't having a hallucination, Devon Alexander?”

“I'm positive
,
” I assured Sophia. “I mean, I can't be the only one who's had this experie
nce while Lucid in your world.”

“You're not
,
” Mitch said softly from the back of the boat. We all turned to face him. His curly, blond hair covered his face as he looked at the boat's floor. I had a feeling Mitch also fell asleep on Kyle's pirate ship, but I didn't want to press the issue. Now, however…

“What did you see?” I asked as nicely as I could. “It's okay
, Mitch, I told my story.”

“Not much.” Mitch shrugged, finally looking at us. “I guess that's a good thing.” He had a half
-
smile on his face, but his eyes looked sad
.

“Did you see your college?” I pried for more information, realizing that Mitch hadn't really told me much about his family or friends. He knew a lot about Kyle, me, and our friends, but that's because Kyle and I were brothers, and Tiff helped us figure out Leona's resort in the first place
.

“I saw my parents.” Mitch kept his tone casual
. “One of my dad's business partners has been put into a coma. He was young, so I'm sure he's one of Leona's slaves now. Other than that, they didn't really say much. My mom questioned whether or not to phone me at college, but Dad talked her out of it saying that his new business plans were more important. He said I was fine,” Mitch looked out at the water, his voice faltering a little. I had enough experience at camp to know when to look away when a guy did that sort of thing
.

Kyle kept his eyes fixed on the river as he took us further downstream. I didn't know if Kyle's friends ever had touching moments with him, but at least my brother knew when to give people privacy — though he feigned ignorance with me.

Viv, however, had no idea how to handle human emotions. She approached Mitch cautiously as if he were a Nightmare
.

“Are you upset by what you saw?” s
he asked almost too curiously so it sounded rude. Sophia reached out to Viv to draw her back, but she shook him off
.

“Well, yeah
.
” Mitch, taking aback by Viv's bluntness, had no choice but to answer. “I mean, they're my parents. They should care about me, even if I moved away.”

“Perhaps they know you are strong enough to take care of yourself
,
” Viv replied, matter-of-factly
.

Mitch's eyes widened in surprise, and I had to admit that she made some sense. Mitch was, by far, the bravest out of us — the humans, anyway. Although I was sometimes jealous of Mitch, he got us out of sticky situations through sheer bravery so many times, I had to admire him. Mitch was everything I wanted to be in the dream world, and he didn't even have to try
.

“I—I guess
,
” Mitch finally said, letting out a low sigh. “It would have been nice to see that they cared, though, or at lea
st know if I also disappeared.”

“Wonder why we disappeared like that.” Kyle finally said something
.

“I have a theory
,
” Sophia joined in. “But I must check some references in Woodinville. We should be there soon.”

New Friends and Challenges

Mitch and Kyle tried prying more information from Sophia, but the old man's mouth remained shut as we sped downstream.

“When we arrive in Woodinville, I promise!” Sophia exclaimed, his voice shaking from exhaustion. Viv shot reproachful looks at my brother and Mitch.

“Sophia has been through enou
gh for one night!” s
he snapped
. “
A
nd it has all been for you. Let's get to Woodinville and rest before you ask so many questions.”

“Oh, right,” Kyle grumbled, fiddling with the boat's steering wheel. “I'm just supposed to drive
my speedboat, which rescued you from Nightmare assassins, to wherever you tell me.”

“Exactly
.
” Viv, n
ot catching his sarcasm, smiled
. “
Y
ou can turn off onto this embankment. The pat
h to Woodinville is near here.”

Kyle did as he was told (which was surprising) and docked his boat on a small, bobbing platform. The planks looked like they were made out of the woven grass, same as my new Dreamer shoes. I stepped onto the dock, however, to find it very sturdy. Pretty
and flexible
. I admired the Dreamer vegetation.

Mitch jumped off after me, and Viv followed suit. She helped Sophia disembark, and we made it down to the small, dirt path at the edge of the forest. I turned around and saw my brother was still on his boat.

“Uh, Kyle?” I asked cautiously. He looked as if he didn't know what to do next
.

“I don't know if I should follow you.” My brother looked at the path warily. Viv stamped her foot impatiently.

“And why not?” s
he demanded
.

“Well, I know you're the tribe that's supposed to be nice to the Lucids,” Kyle began, pulling at the collar of his black band tee. “But didn't Leona put a bad taste in your mouths? How w
ill the others react to me?”

I thought Kyle had a very valid point. Leona made Lucid dreamers, and all the power that came with them, appear pure evil. Salik and the other Nightmares seemed to only fear Kyle. Did
the Dreamers feel the same way?

“They will accept you,” Sophia said confidently. “You are with us. Also, you rescued us. An evil Lucid would not do such a thing.”

“You will be stripped of your power once you leave the river,” Viv added over her shoulder, already heading down the path. “So you won't be able to fight back. The others will see you as po
werless and will not fear you.”

“Gee, thanks,” Kyle muttered, but he ended up climbing onto the dock. We followed Viv and Sophia along a narrow, winding path through the thick forest. Though it was morning now, the dense trees made it still seem like nighttime. Viv had to produce her wooden flashlights to guide us through the forest
.

“How much longer?” Kyle complained, pulling pink leaves out of his hair
.

“Not much
.
” Viv turned her head to Kyle. She sounded more cheerful now. “We are almost upon the Territory Line—”

“Which you just crossed
,
” s
aid a voice from the trees
.

None of us had time to react. The stranger leapt down upon us with such agility, even Viv was caught off guard. Mitch tried drawing his sword, but the newcomer swatted it away. The stranger pushed Mitch over as he ran and stopped short in front of me. There was no doubt he was a Dreamer. His green eyes were as bright as the lights in Viv's torch and contrasted greatly with his tan skin. His curly, black hair fell gracefully around his face and bounced as he dodged Mitch's physical attack
.

“You humans dare to enter our realm?” He growled viciously. “Weren't the Nig
htmares enough of a challenge?”

Viv and Sophia tried to shout warnings, but the Dreamer was on a roll. He rounded onto me, and I instinctively backed up
.

“No!” I shouted in desperation
, crossing my wrists in front of me
. To my amazement, a surge of my old power came back. My little ball of light reappeared for just a second between my hands. It only lasted long enough to impress the newcomer, though
.

“You
—” the Dreamer's eyes widened, “
—
s
o soon? It cannot be…”

“It is, Elis.” Viv stepped between us. I tried summoning the ball back, but it seemed my magic only returned long enough to save my butt
.

“Vivax
.
” t
he Dreamer I assumed was called Elis turned to her. “I'm sorry. You know we raised our security after the last incident. And I heard there was more trouble on your side of the river
—
”

“Never mind that
.
” Viv waved her hand impatiently. “We've more important things to discuss. And for the last time, call me
Viv
!”

****

Elis led us down the path to Woodinville. Apparently his real name was Fidelis, and he was a guardian of the Dreamer village. His sole duty was to protect Woodinville's borders from any outsiders, including Nightmares and Lucids.

“Though you have become rarer as time passes,” Elis commented, looking at Mitch and me. Kyle huffed behind my back, apparently still upset that Elis hadn't even bothered to ask his name
.

“Blame that on Leona,” Mitch said angrily. He was marching in step with Elis
.

Mitch was a little taller and more slender than Elis, and his blond hair and pale skin seemed strange next to the Dreamer's darker skin and hair. Although they had contrasting features, I had to admit the two resembled each other. Their broad shoulders stood out proudly and stretched their almost identical white shirts. Elis was a warrior, and it seemed Mitch also fit that role in the Dreamer world
.

“Yes, she has created some problems
,
” Elis admitted. “I suppose on both sides of the world. She has taken m
any of your kind, has she not?”

“Yes,” I replied in an angrier voice than I meant
.

Having my “dream” about Tiff and Andy made me remember seeing Melissa back at the resort. I had made her Lucid, but was that enough for her to escape? Andy made me promise to help her if I could, and I ran away in the end. When were we going to be able to save her and all of the other souls back at the resort?

“Hopefully, we will be able to rid our lands of Leona and rescue her human slaves,” Sophia said as if reading my mind. He gave me a wink as he said, “I have a hunch where to start, but
we're going to need some help.”

“Anything!” Elis replied brightly. The guardian really liked the old man for some reason. Well, he liked him better than he liked Viv, anyway. Usually, I'm pretty oblivious when it comes to reading other people's emotions, but even I could tell the two were tense around each other. Viv already created as much distance between herself and Elis as possible and was yards ahead of the rest of us.

“We're here
,
” Viv announced, pushing two pink tree branches aside.

.

Picture a village in your head. They don't really exist in our
everyday lives anymore, but I know you're imagining something rural. Wooden houses, wells, and dirt roads right? A Dreamer village is not the same. In fact there was nothing wooden in this "
Ville
"
.

Woodinville was less of a village and more of a secret city. We had to walk down a steep incline to reach the bottom of a valley. The path was so narrow, that I had to squeeze between Sophia and Kyle to pass. The walk made me feel really anxious, but once we got there, I didn't feel so claustrophobic
.

The streets were paved with what looked like chrome and what felt like fine stone. There were sleek, silver skyscrapers shooting up to the tops of the valley that would make the Empire State Building look like a moderately tall building. Wagons powered by jets silently zipped around the intricately designed streets and expressways.

The higher levels sported official looking businesses, while the lower floors contained the cafes and smaller shops. All of the Dreamers seemed to wear the same fashion as Viv and Elis. The women mostly wore skirts, shorts, or dark jeans with some sort of battle-ready gear, such as utility belts or hiking boots. The men wore button
-
down shirts with cargo pants, and most of them wore camo-designed boots and belts. It seemed the entire “village” couldn't decide whether to dress for work or the apocalypse
.

“It is small,” Viv admitted, mistaking Mitch's, Kyle's, and my shocked faces for disappointment. “But it was the best we could do after the Nightmares ambushed our home.”

“Oh, well you tried your best
,
” Mitch said dryly, taking in the jet-powered wagons
.

“Come, we must consult the rest of Deem,” Elis said, who clearly didn't understand why we were so impressed by Woodinville
.

“Who?” I asked, knowing I probably sounded stupid.

“Deem is what we call the resistance group,” Viv explained. “It is those of us who do not wish to stay cooped up in this little village. We want to restore balance in our world and overthrow the Nightmare tyranny.”

“It is exactly what I told you
not to join!” Sophia said angrily
.

“Yet, here we are
.
” Viv shrugged. “I know we may have experienced some…
setbacks
, but we made it to Woodinville with alliances.”

“And they are waiting for my arrival,” Elis added. “We should meet them.” He led the way down to what appeared to be the main street in the busy village
.

“Well, all right!” Kyle clapped his hands togeth
er. “Let's go meet the rebels!”