The Kid Lich Awakens

The Kid Lich Awakens 9 Will P.

Billy the Kid Lich Pt. 9

Dream Hunt

She was going to find him. The Morrigan was a very clever goddess and when one gets locked away in a magical prison, they find ways to continue to affect the mortal world. In her case, it was through communicating with other gods and mortals through dreams. When she was asleep, her spirit tended to take the form of a raven, an animal sacred to both her and Odin, the patriarch of her pantheon.

She knew who she was looking for. The Jewel of Ra had shown her the boy's face. He didn't seem like he'd put up much of a fight if she attacked him, and he certainly didn't seem like one of the rare mortals who are capable of sensing that they are in a dream and then affecting the dream around them afterwards. Back in the 13th century, mortals had called this dream walking; she'd heard modern day mortal scientists call it lucid dreaming.

As a raven, her eyesight was vastly improved. Should could also "fly" but technically speaking she wasn't moving at all since her physical body was just sleeping in a hotel room while her mind traveled through the Du'at, an ancient Egyptian term that collectively refers to any location that one visits in a dream.

Her raven form was also jet black, and very fast. In the realm of dreams, she didn't have to follow the laws of physics, so she increased her speed to that of Mach 1, leaving not a sonic boom but a very distinct trail of powerful godly energy being expended behind her. She zoomed over a variety of scenes: snowy mountaintops with men and women climbing them, fiery volcanoes, lands populated by prehistoric beasts, deep sea landscapes full of both real and cryptozoological creatures, solar systems with all kinds of exotic planets filling them, some with life and some without.

"Halt." Who said that? She thought to herself. When she slowed to a near stop and focused on the figure in front of her, she was a little confused. It looked like a normal man, but he was wearing long brown robes with the hood up. She couldn't make out his facial features. She considered her options: she could attack the man, but if it was her target and she killed him, she'd wake him up and send his mind back into his body, she could try to flee, but she doubted that would work because now that he'd noticed her there'd be no outrunning him; just as the laws of physics didn't apply to her, they didn't apply to him either. She opted for cautious negotiation. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"My name is Morpheus, I inherited this realm from my father, the Titan of Sleep, Hypnos." Well at least I'm only dealing with one god. No sooner had she finished this thought when she heard an ominous growling noise behind her. She turned around. Behind her was a cheetah, its back arched and body ready to pounce, its teeth bared and jaws ready to bite. Then the cheetah spoke. "I would advise you don't attack my brother."

"Easy, Phobetor." Morpheus said. Phobetor was the god in charge of creating the fearful parts of prophetic dreams. He typically takes the form of a quadrupedal beast chasing the dreamer. Oh geez, two gods. Now I'm outnumbered. "Wrong again." A third voice said. "Phantasos, please reveal yourself." Morpheus asked his brother. A sheath for a knife that The Morrigan hadn't noticed on Morpheus's hip opened on its own and a knife floated out and then transformed into the shape of a man. Phantasos, the god of inanimate objects in prophetic dreams, had planned to secretly arm his brother in case this goddess decided to attack the three of them, who were collectively called the Oneiroi.

The Morrigan began brainstorming options for if her negotiations went bad. She couldn't flee; but she could commit suicide, both mortals and gods have not experienced death, (yet for mortals), so the mind didn't know how to simulate what came after. However, the Morrigan only knew this was true for herself, a Norse goddess. What she did not know was that if her closest ally, Set, died in a dream, he'd die in the physical plane as well. This was because the Egyptian gods used to have to sail the Sun Barge and fight monsters for twelve hours while they sailed through the waters of Chaos and onward to the next dawn, and in order for them to try their hardest in order to succeed, there had to be real stakes. So the fates had decreed that Egyptian gods would die in the real world if they died in a dream.

Morrigan had morphed back into a human form. She was very attractive, being a goddess. Her aura had flavors of death and doom about it, giving her a sense of finality.

If she had to fight the Oneiroi, she could split her soul three ways, creating two copies of herself, each with exactly one third of her spirit inside them. Then she'd still have to split her focus three ways as she attempted to fight three gods on their home turf. And in a dream, meaning the whole fight would likely involve a lot of shapeshifting. She figured the suicide option was best.

"Where are you going?" Asked Morpheus. "Oh, nowhere. Just enjoying the sights. So many magnificent dreamscapes to observe!" She tried for a charming smile, but as serious as she was, she didn't smile often and the expression felt alien and unnatural on her face.

"Someone who is sightseeing doesn't move as fast as you were." Phantasos pointed out. "Yeah, you were hard to keep up with, even for a dream you were booking it." Added Phobetor. "Perhaps she's searching for something." Pondered Morpheus. "Or someone." Said Phantasos.

The Morrigan did not realize that the Oneiroi weren't applying deductive reasoning; they were literally reading her mind. As the Sons of Hypnos, they were charged with creating all important dreams for mortals, gods, and everything in between. Now that she was in their custody, their passive ability to read her mind was kicking in.

After some time, Morrigan realized this. It felt like nothing, at first. But then she felt it: on her scalp, a slight tingling sensation at her temples. It wasn't even unpleasant. She manifested a wickedly sharp silver dagger in her right hand and began the motion to jab it into the base of her jaw. Phantasos observed this.

"No, wait!" Shouted Morpheus. Phobetor pounced forward. Phantasos transformed back into a knife and tried to parry her upward jab, but it was too late, Morrigan had already "killed" herself. She woke up to the early dawn of natural sunlight coming in her hotel window. Morrigan thought to herself: I will find him. End of Pt. 9.

- Will P.