The King's Dream //ENG VER//

CHAPTER 4: "Now What?"

(Artist of the chapter: @ foolsoong on Twitter. Go and support the artist!)

GEORGE

Dream pulled on my arm and started running towards the forest. His movement ability was indescribable, every time there was a tree, branch or bush in front of him he easily evaded it, as if he already knew it was there, instead I tripped over the uneven ground and branches scraped my arms. I had never seen myself in a situation where running through a forest every day would help me, now I regretted everything.

Dream noticed that I was tired. Tired of everything, of running, of jumping, of hiding. He knew perfectly well that if it was for me, I would have already surrendered to those people. His white mask started me out of the corner of his eye and then he started thinking. A knife flew past my ear, from which I began to feel a great burning. I couldn't help but grunt from the unexpected pain. This seemed to wake something up in Dream, who started running even faster, pulling me with him.

He turned a sharp corner and kept running. I made the mistake of looking back. Those people were still behind us, and closer than before. One of them seemed familiar to me from the dance, now with a terrifying smile. This for some reason made me run faster, something that from what I could tell, Dream thanked.

A few seconds later, my head felt like it was going to explode from exhaustion.

"Dream... I can't anymore..."

"I know" he said in a calming voice, even in this situation he was careful with his words. "Just one more push."

My legs burned and grew heavy. My throat was completely dry and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

One last sharp turn and Dream released me. He positioned himself at the base of a huge leafy oak tree and placed his hands in the form of a step. I watched the distance from him to the nearest branch.

"Dream, I don't think I can..."

"Just trust me."

Dream's voice sounded desperate and tired. I stopped thinking about the situation and placed my foot in his palms.

Mentally we both counted to three and with incredible strength he gave me enough momentum to reach the branch. He waited for me to get comfortable enough not to fall over and smiled to himself over the mask.

A thick voice was heard in the distance. "There they are!"

Dream turned in the direction of the chasing subjects. Everything in his body tensed and under this happy little face he knew there was a face full of concern.

I extended my hand towards him. My heart began to beat faster as I heard his footsteps approach. "Come here, it's your turn."

"I'll distract them." He said, ignoring my words. "Stay here until I come back for you."

"What? No. Dream!"

He ignored me and ran with speed in the opposite direction of the assassins, who in seconds were chasing him.

Then the forest became the quietest place I had ever heard.

—————

My notion of time had completely disappeared. The sky was dark enough to see the moon in the sky. Dream had not returned, winter was approaching and it was already noticeable in the air.

I blew into my hands and put them on the back of my neck to gain warmth. Where are you?

My mind kept playing with me. What if he was dead? What if they defeated him? What if they kidnapped him? Did they do something to him?

With shaking hands, I scanned my wounds. A somewhat deep cut in the ear, another in the hand in which I held the stupid crown during the attack. Without realizing it, I held it so tightly that the same metal cut part of my palm. I had occasional bruise and scratches in places I never would have thought of. All this on top of a feeling of immense fatigue.

I poked my head out of the branches a bit so I could see the ground. There was no one. A few hours ago screams were still heard but nothing was seen or heard in this moment.

Will it be safe?

My instincts didn't ask, and I jumped out of the tree. The impact to the ground stunned me a bit, but now I found myself in the middle of the forest, without knowing my exact location, much less that of Dream in a creepy environment of any scary story.

The wind was blowing stronger and stronger and the only noises I heard were those of the forest.

I walked for a few moments in the direction I had seen Dream run. I looked around for something that would tell me where he was or where he had gone. To my right I found a tree with a large groove, probably made by Dream's ax, later on, blood. I followed the path for a few seconds jogging.

I heard something behind me. With so much darkness I could not see exactly what was there until I turned around, a figure in front of me rose imposingly. One of those killers, but this one was twice as big and muscular. He looked tired and had several cuts on his face, but seeing me the sight of him lit up with malice and he brandished his sword in my direction.

Something cut the air and a thud was heard on the ground. That man had fallen in front of me, now dead with a dagger stuck directly to the back of his neck. Dream was behind him, hanging upside down from a tree branch with his arm extended in the air after he had thrown the dagger. I couldn't help but think how sinister his mask looked in the dark after killing someone in front of my eyes. Ironically, a feeling of relief crossed my chest.

"Dream."

He nimbly released himself from the tree and tried to walk towards me, but his leg failed and he fell to his knees to the ground.

I ran towards him and tried to lift him, after a little push he managed to stand by himself.

"I'm fine." Dream's voice sounded relieved, but above all, exhausted.

I scanned him quickly. His mask had a groove in the bottom with blood running down his neck, spots of crimson liquid covered much of his armor and uniform, not to mention the ax. Probably some of that blood was his. Contrary to his words, he didn't look fine.

"I'd scold you for moving from where I left you, but you were actually a perfect bait, I've been trying to get rid of that guy for hours."

"What happened?"

"Those men followed me for a long time and I kept them as far away as I could, almost to the other side of the forest to leave no clues. The others fled when I killed his companions and came back to look for you, but this guy was in the area and tried to kill me. He beats me in strength and size, so I had to make a change of plans." He spat blood-laced saliva into the guy's face and kicked him hard in the gossip. Something thundered.

This was a Dream that I had never witnessed. There had never been a situation where he had actually killed someone when he was in the castle. This whole situation reminded me of a younger Dream, killed for his life, the kind of person who scared me when he arrived at the castle.

Dream looked me up and down, I assumed that he was doing the same as me when I saw him, looking for injuries. He finally sighed, walked over to me and wrapped me in a cold metallic hug, but I have to admit, comforting.

"I'm glad you're okay."

That hug did not last long, when he separated I felt the cold of the wind again, I would have liked him to stay... at least a few more seconds. I sighed.

"Now what?"

"I have an idea where to go, but you have to walk quite a bit."