Zac and the Dream Stealers (3 page)

Immediately, his spirits lifted. He felt pleasure, excitement, and contentment all at once. It was as though he had been wrapped in a cotton-candy cocoon of happiness.

The warming light surrounded him. It enveloped him. It was a part of him.

A figure appeared from nowhere, floating serenely toward him.

As the shape drew nearer, Zac could see it was a woman. Her skin was like the glow of the moon and her hair tumbled around her beautiful face like ribbons of silk.

Captivated, Zac recognized her, not from memory, but from photographs. The joy that engulfed him now was so intense he thought he would burst.

“Mum?” he whispered.

She smiled back at him. She looked like an angel.

“I've been waiting to meet you, Zac,” she said. Her voice was soft and distant.

He felt an overwhelming urge to hug her and never let go. But then he heard Granny's voice ringing in his ears:
“No matter what you encounter, it won't be real.”

“Come with me, Zac,” murmured the vision.

Zac stood for a moment, mesmerized. He was so close. He wanted more than anything to take her hand and go with her. But he also knew it was a trick, a cruel deception to tempt him to stay.

He opened his mouth to say something, but there was a lump in his throat. A burning feeling spread from his chest to his eyes, and hot tears trickled down his cheeks. With a deep breath he wiped his face and managed to utter the most difficult words he'd ever had to say.

“I have to go.”

“You can't go, darling,” said his mother.

Zac spoke again, this time more forcefully. “I can't stay,” he said. He thought of Granny, and, as he pictured her face, the vision released some of its hold on him. “This isn't real. You're not real. I wish you were, but you're not.”

Fighting every instinct, he walked past the image of his mother, then looked over his shoulder. She was watching him with a confused expression.

“Come back,” she said.

Zac closed his eyes and thought of Granny again. She needed him. Thinking of her gave him strength. He turned away.

As he did, there was a horrible ripping noise. Zac looked back once more and felt a lurch of horror. The vision of his mum was changing. She was shrinking, becoming hunched and twisted. Her skin was rot-ting before his eyes, falling off the bone. Zac turned and ran, almost tripping over his own feet. The monster followed. She was fast. Gasping for air, Zac pushed himself on, but he was running too quickly. He slipped, tumbling to the floor. The terrible, zombielike ghoul stooped over him, shedding chunks of flesh. Her flaking face grew closer and closer, until it pressed against his skin. He screamed.

“Zac?”

“Is he all right, Eve?”

“I don't know. Zac? Zac! Open your eyes, lad, come on!”

“Mum?”

“Look! He's waking up!”

“He is! He is! He's waking up!”

Zac's vision was fuzzy. He felt as though he'd been dropped on his head. Peering down anxiously at him were the blurred faces of Granny, Cornelius, and Julius.

He sat up, and Granny gave him another rib-crunching hug.

“Good lad!” she said, tears filling her pearly gray eyes once more. “I knew you could do it. I'm so proud of you!”

“It was Mum,” said Zac, and the rotting face flashed in his mind. “When I tried to get past, she turned into . . . some kind of zombie.”

Granny exchanged a grave look with Cornelius. “This is bad,” she said. “Like anything magical, the Gateway draws its protective power from the Dream Plains. I expected it to try to trick you with what you dream of most, but not to twist it into something so truly terrible. Things must be far worse than we thought. The Dream Plains are being taken over Zac, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I'd never have put you in such a position if I'd known. Are you all right?”

“I think so,” he said. “It seemed so real for a minute, and then . . .” He shook the vision from his mind. “It doesn't matter. I've made it.”

Granny helped him up.

“Zac, are you sure you're OK?” said Julius. It was the first time he'd spoken to him.

“I'm fine. Thanks. Aargh! What's that?”

Zac leapt back from Julius, who seemed to be holding a small ball of fire in his hand. Amused, Granny and Cornelius looked on as though it was the most normal thing in the world.

Julius gazed blankly at Zac for a moment, then he looked down at the fireball and grinned. “Not to worry, Zac,” he said. “It's only a bit of magic to help us see in the dark — it doesn't hurt.”

“Oh, right,” Zac muttered.

Cornelius coughed quietly to indicate they should all pay attention. “Now that everyone is safe and well, I think we should get back to business.”

“Of course,” Granny replied. “Lead the way.”

His eyes twinkling, the old man tipped his hat, stepped to one side, and opened his arms dramatically.

Now Zac realized they were in a huge cavern. Ahead, the floor fell away into a deep canyon. It was as if they were in the belly of the world.

“Is that where we're going?” he gulped, pointing toward the other side of the chasm.

“Yes, lad,” Granny said.

“But how do we get across?” He was half dreading the answer.

Cornelius let out a bellow of a laugh and looked up. “Why, we follow the moonlight, of course!” he yelled, his voice echoing in the vast space.

As the echoes died away, Julius extinguished the fireball with a casual wave of his hand. Immediately, blackness swallowed them. Zac staggered back a few paces. Then he saw it.

High above them was a crack in the immense arching roof of the cavern, and through it Zac could see the moon, bright in the night sky. A beam of crystal moonlight cut like a blade through the darkness, drawing a straight line from where they were standing, on the edge of the canyon, to the opposite side.

“The moonlight marks the path,” said Granny. “As long as we follow the beam we'll be safe. Just don't look down.”

Cornelius grinned widely. “Shall we?” he said, clapping his hands. “This is my favorite part!”

Then he stepped off the edge of the canyon.

Zac was about to shout out in horror when he realized that Cornelius had not fallen. He was, in fact, standing on what looked to be thin air.

“I don't . . . I can't . . . how?” Zac spluttered in disbelief.

“Don't think about it too much,” said Julius. “It's best just to get on with it.”

“It's all right,” said Granny. “I'll go first. Stay close. Follow in my footsteps exactly.”

Zac nodded stiffly.

“Good lad,” said Granny, and she stepped from the ledge into nothingness.

Zac crept forward. The abyss yawned before him like the mouth of some massive, hungry creature. Granny beckoned to him.

“I — I don't know if I can,” he said.

“Of course you can,” said Granny. “You made it through the Gateway. You just have to believe in yourself.”

And so, taking a deep breath and wondering whether it might be his last, Zac stepped from the edge.

He was still holding his breath when his feet touched down on something solid. He opened his eyes, which had been jammed shut so tightly he'd begun to see stars. Granny was standing right in front of him. He hadn't fallen! He flashed a smile at her.

“Well done! Now follow me!” she cried.

Feeling a little braver now, Zac shuffled along behind Granny, sticking carefully to her path. Walking on moonlight was like nothing he'd ever experienced. His feet sank slightly, and each step sounded a little different from the last. Like a lost tune, his footsteps rang out into the void. He was walking on music.

When Zac finally reached the ledge on the other side, a wave of relief washed over him. His legs were shaking terribly, and he had to fight off an almost over-whelming urge to kiss the ground.

Cornelius shook him by the hand. “Tremendous!” he beamed. “Truly tremendous! Now we just need Julius.”

Zac looked behind him. He had to stop himself from laughing.

Julius was about halfway across the moonlit path. He was on his hands and knees, very possibly about to be overtaken by a snail.

“Come on, Julius!” Cornelius boomed. “Pick up the pace!”

“Better safe than sorry, Cornelius!” replied Julius, inching toward them. When he was close enough, Cornelius leaned over and yanked him rather painfully to safety by the waistband of his pants.

“Where to now?” asked Zac. There was a sheer wall of rock in front of them.

“Almost there,” Cornelius said. He pushed against the rock and it began to crack open, revealing a gap justwide enough for them to squeeze through.

“You first,” said Granny.

Zac smiled, and wriggled through the opening. On the other side the nighttime air was warm and sweet. Under a colossal moon, a whole world opened up before him.

What a sight it was!

He was standing on a shelf of red rock miles above the ground. Below, a waterfall tumbled for a sparkling eternity. A patchwork of fields, woodlands, and mountains reached to the horizon and beyond. A swooshing sound overhead made him look up. Two enormous winged creatures were flying above him, gracefully rolling and dipping in the warm currents of air, their scales glittering so brightly they might have been carved from crystal. Zac watched them swoop out of sight.

“Dragons!” he breathed.

Footsteps behind told him that Granny and the others had arrived, too.

“It's amazing,” he said. “It's stupendous . . . It's . . .”

Granny's eyes twinkled. She walked past Zac and stood on the very edge of the cliff, inhaling deeply. A wide smile broke over her wrinkled face.

“We're home, Zac,” she said. “Welcome to Nocturne.”

Rumpous Tinn flinched.

His skull was pounding with white-hot pain. He tried to touch the wound on his head, but found his hands were bound tightly.

He wasn't in his beautiful cell anymore. He had been tied to an uncomfortable iron chair in the center of a bare, circular room, with only one apparent exit. The walls were completely covered by blood-splashed mirrors, and torches cast flickering spotlights over his exhausted body.

Tinn's attention turned to the door. It opened to reveal the tall, elegant figure of a woman dressed completely in black. Her black cloak was so long it trailed on the floor, and a black skull mask, encrusted with glittering black jet, covered her entire head. Her eyes were hidden behind two circles of dark glass.

She stood before him for a long moment, and he felt her eyes bore into him from behind those eerie black lenses.

“Who are you?” asked Tinn.

“Mr. Tinn,” she replied, bowing mockingly. “What a great pleasure this is.” Her voice was a grating, metallic whisper that made him grit his teeth. Listening to her was as comfortable as chewing on tinfoil.

“My name is Shadow,” she said, “leader of the Dream Stealers.”

“Why have you brought me here?” Tinn demanded.

Shadow circled Tinn slowly, only speaking when she was standing in front of him again.

“Come now, Mr. Tinn. There is more to you than the frail old man who sits before me now. I know who you truly are.”

“Oh, really? So, who am I?” said Tinn.

Shadow bent down, her glass eyes almost touching Tinn's face. “You are the Grandmaster of the Knights of Nod,” she said.

Tinn looked into the blank face before him, his gaze steady. “The Knights disbanded years ago, after the last war,” he lied. “They no longer exist in anything but history and myth. Everyone knows that.”

“Do not mistake me for a fool,” spat Shadow. “The Knights live on, in secret. Do not attempt to deny it.”

“What do you want?” asked Tinn.

“Many years ago, you were visited by an oracle,” said Shadow. “The story is legend among Dream Stealers. You were told that only three people could stop our rise to ultimate power. I believe you call them the Trinity.”

Tinn stared, unflinching, into the circles of black.

“As you can imagine, I'd very much like to make sure that these three people are exterminated before they can become a problem.”

“And you expect me to help?” said Tinn.

“My dear Mr. Tinn,” said Shadow softly, “all I want is for you to tell me who they are.”

Tinn laughed. “You must be mad.”

“On the contrary,” said Shadow, “my mind is clearer than ever. I must locate and destroy the Trinity. Tell me what you know now and you will not suffer, Mr. Tinn.”

“You really want to choose this road?” said Tinn. “You genuinely believe that gaining more power is worth torturing Wakelings and poisoning Nocturne?”

“My destiny is to lead the Dream Stealers to victory!” Shadow boomed. “The more the Wakelings are shaken, the more power we can extract from their fear. Dark magic, as you call it, is the key to our future. We shall take control. It is inevitable.”

“And what will become of the rest of Nocturne?”

Shadow straightened up. “I am a reasonable person,” she said. “Everyone in Nocturne will be given the chance to embrace the Dream Stealer way of life. Those too shortsighted to see the potential —”

“— will be killed?” said Tinn. “Adapt or die? Is that it?”

“That is how life has always been, Mr. Tinn,” said Shadow. “No more of this. You will answer my question. Who are the Trinity?”

“I don't know,” Tinn said defiantly.

“If you will not tell me, perhaps there is some other way I can track them down, some instrument that will lead me to them. Might you know about that?”

“I can't imagine what you're talking about,” said Tinn.

“I see.” Shadow paused. “In that case, you leave me no choice.”

“Do what you must,” Tinn whispered.

As Shadow's glass eyes delved deep into his mind, Tinn began to sweat. Flashes of long-forgotten memories began to play in his head like a slideshow, and he knew Shadow could see them, too. She was browsing through his mind like a catalog.

One image burned brighter in Tinn's mind than all the others.

Shadow was suddenly still. “Yes,” she breathed. “That will do nicely.”

She raised a black gloved hand.

A billow of smoke began to form around Tinn.

His head snapped back in shock. Eyes wide, sweat poured down his face. Wildly, he tried to shake off the horrifying vision that was forming in front of him. His eyes rolled back in their sockets.

“No . . . no, it can't be . . .”

Shadow flung her hands in the air, as if she were conducting a symphony of pain.

“She's dead! She's dead!” wailed Tinn. “Oh, Aris . . . my poor Aris, my sister . . .”

Rumpous Tinn's worst nightmare was engulfing him.

On the other side of the door, huddled in the darkness, was a girl. She was caked in grime, and her clothes were matted and torn.

Trembling, she listened to Tinn's screams.

Over the years she'd heard that sound many times, but it never ceased to frighten her. The Dream Stealers would come and go from this secret place. Creatures were herded here and hoarded — used as toys and for dark magic experiments. Humans, trolls, goblins, whatever the Dream Stealers could find. Most didn't last long.

Footsteps echoed along the corridor.

The girl pressed herself flat against the rock wall and made herself invisible as two Dream Stealers turned the corner, their black cloaks flowing, their silver-encased arms folded across their chests. One of them glanced at the spot where the girl stood clutching her heart, but saw nothing. A moment later they were gone.

The girl reappeared. The old man was alone in there, and for some reason she wanted to help him. But she had to be careful.

There was quiet for the briefest of moments, then the cries of Rumpous Tinn shattered the silence again.