Defying Equilibrium

Chapter 19: In the town of Magdelin

The dream that Oscar had the previous night was really beginning to mess with his head. The strange boy, the strange landscape and that unnerving feeling that was all too real... Oscar just couldn't keep the thoughts from his mind as they continued their journey on foot.

It was beginning to pour with rain as they continued through the dense forest, and the ground beneath their feet was fast becoming slippery and muddy. They were thoroughly soaked to the bone by the time they reached a fork in the road, with the sign post reading:

< Magdelin - Spencer >

Ahmed led them down the path on the right-hand side, and the rest were all to tired and cold to question his decision or even ask where they were headed. Even thoughts of the dream faded from Oscar's mind as the only thing he could envision was a roaring fire and a soft bed, the likes of which he would not likely see in a long, long while. Oscar had never heard of either of these towns, Magdelin or Spencer, but any town seemed like a good place to head.

Even Dare, who barely felt the cold normally, was shivering as they walked, on and on. Ahmed, the only one seemingly unaffected by the rain, wind and cold, did not look as if he would be stopping any time soon.

They approached what appeared at first to be just a cluster of dark silhouettes among the trees, but was revealed to be a group of buildings camouflaged well against the dark night. As they entered the town, they could now clearly see as light was spilling, bright and warm, from the windows of the buildings that lined the street. The town seemed very small, only one street of shops and taverns, but no one was complaining.

They approached what appeared to be an inn, and within minutes Ahmed had arranged rooms for them. Rooms at the inn were built to accommodate two people per room, so Sansu and Dakora would share, as would Oscar and Dare.

Oscar and Dare collapsed into their room for the night, immensely relieved and grateful to simply be out of that pouring rain. The room was sparsely furnished, only containing two slim, rickety beds with thin blankets, but it sure as hell beat sleeping in caves as they had been doing for the past few nights. In the nights preceding, they had not even been able to light a campfire, as Ahmed deemed it would attract too much attention with the guardians on their trail.

They shed the outer layers of their soaked clothing, and Dare fell face-down on his bed, too tired to even get under the poor excuse for a blanket. “If anyone wakes me before daylight,” he proclaimed with his face in the pillow, “then they can expect to be poked, in the face, with a chair.”

Oscar laughed, but half-heartedly. He too was tired, his body felt like lead. And yet, when he lay down to go to sleep, he found that his mind was still wide awake. And the one image that he could not unsee behind his closed eyelids was that strange boy, in the dream.

“Have you ever heard of a dreamwalker?” he asked. He assumed that Dare would already be asleep,but he asked anyway. He felt as if he had to get the words out, just had to say them out loud. He thought that maybe saying it out loud would make it seem less insane. It didn't.

He didn't expect Dare to react, but his best friend sat bolt upright in his bed, despite his previous exhaustion. “What did you say?” Dare asked suddenly. “Did you say dreamwalker?”

Oscar was a little taken aback. “Uh, yeah I did. Does it mean something to you?”

Dare paused, and then nodded slowly. “Yeah, I've heard the word before, that's all. I don't know anything about it,” he said, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. Dare was never a great liar, and Oscar saw through what he said straight away. “Do you know what it means?”Dare asked innocently.