The bed couldn't fly inside the cloud and started to dip the moment we broke through. We hit the ground hard and skidded to a soft stop.
The cloud was hollow, just like Pavidale. I doubted this place had a nice name, or any name at all. It was empty and sad. The ground was covered with a layer of rocks, and I noticed there were some pretty serious-sized holes everywhere. I imagined a like cloud like this could be home to some nasty creatures, but thankfully none were there to greet us.
"It's the rile," said Deli as she hopped down, "it's too strong for the bed to work in here."
I was surprised that I could see fairly well. The whole place was lit by a dim red light coming from another small pond, just like in Pavidale. But this pond looked gloomy and mean.
Without saying it, we all sensed it was probably best to whisper.
"How do we get out of here? Can we push the bed back out?" I asked.
"It will just suck us right back in," Deli said. "We'll need to carry the bed across to the other side."
"You're crazy!" Soy said angrily, but still whispering. "This looks like the place from my nightmares! And they never end well!"
"What do you suggest we do then?" she asked coolly.
"Call up the fairies and get them to pick us up with a new bed. A king-sized one this time. I'll wait here," Soy said as he sat cross-legged and cross-armed.
"That's not going to happen, Soy. There's no way to reach them from in here," she replied.
"Well, too bad, because I'm not moving. I'm pretty positive that those holes are filled with monsters," Soy responded. "And you're going to get gobbled up. Gobbled. Right. Up."
"Will you talk to him, please?" Deli said, turning to me.
Soy was pretending to chew while he stared at Deli. "OM NOM NOM NOM," was all he would say.
I sat down next to him.
"Soy, I know this isn't exactly what you signed up for..."
He nodded emphatically.
"But, you're my best friend, and I need you. And those fairies need you even more than I do," I pleaded.
Soy wasn't moved.
He replied, "If you walk across this cloud, you're going to get eaten by the green hog monster things in those holes. And I'm not going to watch it happen."
I understood now that he wasn't just angry, he was worried. Worried for me. But my mind was racing from what I just heard.
"Soy, how do you know what's in those holes?" I asked.
"I told you, this place is just like the one from my nightmare. And I always, always get eaten!" he whimpered.
I looked at Deli and knew that she had heard the same.
"Soy... you're here to save us," I said.
"What?" he asked.
"There's a reason you had those dreams, Soy, just like there's a reason why my bed can fly. You were meant to be my guide. You heard the words inside the Book of Lore. What I'm trying to say is that you got gobbled up in those nightmares so that we wouldn't get gobbled up in real life. You are the only one who can get us through this cloud," I told him.
He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, I repeated, "The only one."
He sat there for a moment, staring at the ground. Then he looked back towards the cloud wall that we just passed through. Finally he let out a big sigh, and rose to his feet.
"Right," he said, "Cal, grab the other side of the mattress, then both of you get behind me. We need to move quickly. I think I may have found the way out last time."
"Got it, Soy. I trust you," I told him.
"So do I," said Deli.
She jumped on the bed as we lifted it up. It wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light. From where we stood, the far end of the cloud looked at least two football fields away, but it was hard to tell. I started to notice that the holes weren't the only obstacles in our way. There were bumps in the ground that looked like small hills, and some tall, scraggily looking trees.
