The Dreamfarer

18

For a while, they could not find him. They were standing on a wide expanse of green; it was not clear enough for her to discern what it was meant to be. As she started to walk over it, however, it became richer in color, and grass began sprouting out of the solid green ground. Mae smiled; it was as if her influence, her presence in this dream, made the place come into focus. 

It was bright enough for Mae to know that this was no nightmare. The thought made her fingers curl in anger. Why did Berteph deserve a nice dream? How disgusting of a person was he to attempt such a thing, to be beaten and confined for it, yet still not even regret it enough for it to impact his dreams?

Soon enough, she would learn that she was wrong; his act had impacted his dream, but not in the way she had expected.

They found Berteph in an apparent rage. He was stomping along a little ways ahead of them, and they kept it that way; Folco had not yet taught Mae how to make herself invisible in dreams, if it was even possible, and so they dared not show themselves. Berteph knew that they were Dreamfarers, or at least knew that Folco was one - Mae wasn't sure how much information about her had been given out amongst the warlocks. Perhaps Kroma had wanted to keep her a secret. It was highly possible.

She wondered if Berteph knew what being a Dreamfarer actually meant. Would he know that it was actually Folco in his dream? That Folco would be aware of everything that occurred in it when he woke up? That he could take control of the dream, though it was not his, and change it into something more to his liking? She doubted that Berteph knew the extent of a Dreamfarer's powers. She doubted that he knew much at all, seeing as Folco had kept much of what he could do hidden from even Kroma. More likely, if he saw them, Berteph would think that he was dreaming of them. And considering recent events, he would probably try to attack them, which would throw a wrench in their plans.

Mae noted with interest that everything in front of Berteph, everything that he was headed towards, was much clearer than what lied behind him. It was his dream, after all, so the only things that he was really seeing were the things that seemed much clearer to her and Folco right now. Behind him was an expanse of nothing, nothing of importance, as dreams often brought something along and caused the dreamer to forget about it just as quickly. She did not know whether Berteph even saw himself in his dream, or just how blurry all of this was to him. She only knew what she was seeing, and what nobody else but Folco would ever get to see the same way.

"Mae..." whispered Folco, nudging her shoulder with his. She glanced up at him and he jerked his chin in front of them, gesturing for her to look that way. She did, and her breath caught.

Berteph was marching towards Swynborough.

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Mae and Folco followed at a faster pace after that. Mae knew that there must be more than just these fields outside the gates of her hometown, but that any trees or rocks or anything that actually existed probably just did not seem important enough for Berteph to draw into his dream. It made her sort of sad; she would have liked to see what lied beyond her city, but she shrugged the desire off quickly. Folco would show her someday, if she asked him. She did not plan to stay away forever.

Berteph made it to the gates and did not hesitate; he threw a fist at the wall, and it crumbled at his touch. Mae heard him laugh, and he strolled into Swynborough without a single glance back.

She did not wait for Folco to prod her forward; in fact, she did not wait for Folco at all. She launched herself towards the gates, releasing Folco's hand so that she was unhindered as she ran. Sure, she chose Dreamfaring over all of this, but that did not mean she didn't care about her town at all. Especially considering it was Berteph that was threatening it.