Three Forces Empowered | Dream Team

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Sapnap nodded at the door. "This one."

George frowned at him. "What? Why this one?"

"I dunno, I just have a good feeling about it. Look, you never question the feels."

"I'm not even sure that you're using the word properly."

Sapnap ignored him. He exhaled deeply to calm his jittery nerves, then turned the handle, opening it with much more force than was necessary. Just in case the bad guys really were in the room. He wanted to give a terrifying first impression.

He and George stepped in. Immediately, his eyes widened in surprise as he looked around. There was Dream, tied to a chair, looking just as shocked to see him as he was to see the assassin. In front of him, standing between Sapnap and his friend, were two men. 

Even though Sapnap and never met Peligro before, he knew automatically that the man standing beside Actaeon was the one and only.

For a minute, they all stared at each other. Then, Dream stood up.

That alone baffled Sapnap. Wasn't he tied to a chair? How did he escape the ropes?

"You took my father from me," Dream said quietly, advancing on Peligro. "You took my first-ever friends from me. You made me go on one dangerous mission after another with no regard as to whether I survive or not." His voice was rising as he went. "I'm not going to let you take anything else! Especially not George and Sapnap!"

He lunged forward, his knife --- which apparently nobody had thought to take away --- out in front of him. Peligro stepped to the side, a knife appearing in his hand as well, and parried the blow.

"Weak," he snarled. "You can't stop me. I will take everything."

Dream pushed back, whirling around and bringing his blade in a deadly arc towards Peligro's head. There was the sound of a bow being drawn taunt, then the twang as it was let loose, and an arrow hit Dream's blade, forcing him to draw back. There was a flurry of movement, and then Actaeon was behind Dream, the tip of an arrow pressed against the back of his neck. Slowly, he forced Dream to take a step towards the door, then another.

"No sudden movements," Peligro said calmly. He glanced over at Sapnap and George. "From anyone."

Sapnap pulled George to the side, their backs pressed against the wall, as Actaeon marched Dream out the door. Dream had a murderous look on his face that just barely showed through under his mask of calm. Suddenly, Sapnap felt afraid.

"I'll come back for you two later," Peligro whispered to him and George as he passed, and then he, too, disappeared out of the room.

Sapnap exhaled shakily. "That is about as close to death as I'd like to get today."

"No way for that," George said, already heading out the door. "We're going after him."

That's fair. We need to help Dream.

"But do we, though?"

George glanced up at him, stopping at the doorway. "What?"

You talked out loud with your thoughts, Sapnap thought, cursing himself. "Uh... what I'm thinking is, does Dream really need our help, though? He could take on two people easy."

At that moment, shouts echoed from outside of the room. Sapnap's head snapped up, looking around wildly, as did George. "It doesn't seem like it's just two people, then," Sapnap said, his eyes wide.

George shook his head and silently disappeared beyond the door.

***

Sapnap rushed through the corridors. It was a lot easier to navigate than those of Superiora's castle and those of the mage's tomb, with it just being a straight line and all, but he had never felt more stressed as he tried to locate Dream.

"Here!" George called to him, following the sound of the battle. "I've found him!"

Sapnap ran beside him through an archway and into a large courtyard. He had no idea where they were. Certainly not the village with Ant, at least. It looked more like...

A castle.

They were in a castle.

Sapnap spotted Dream in the middle of it all. There were way more than just two people. 

"Oh my god," George gasped as he stared at the commotion in front of him. "There's like more than twenty people against one."

In front of him, a couple of people grabbed Dream's arms and twisted his knife out of his hands. A needle flashed in someone's hand, with some sort of purple liquid in the clear part. The tranquilizer, Sapnap thought.

Dream kicked around, bringing a few of the knights and assassins down, but more grabbed onto him, forcing him onto his knees. The people parted respectfully as Peligro strolled through, stopping right behind Dream and placing his hands on the assassin's shoulders. "You can't defeat me," he said with another one of his smiles. "You never will. I will always win."

Sapnap tugged out his sword and took a step towards Dream, but sharp stabs of pain on the back of his legs bringing him onto his knees as well. "You're not going anywhere yet," Actaeon whispered in his ear.

Beside him, George was forced down as well by another assassin. Sapnap met Dream's eyes. They sparkled like emeralds. It was one of the things that Sapnap liked the most about him.

No, stop. Stop getting off-track.

"You'll get to watch as I kill your friends," Peligro said. "I had actually had a different plan for you, a very nice gift for my brother, but this'll do I suppose."

'Brother?'

Actaeon placed an arrow at Sapnap's throat, the tip spreading cold all over. He shivered slightly and felt the movement cause it to pierce his flesh.

We're going to die.

I'm going to die.

George is going to die. Dream is going to die.

And all because of Peligro. Because apparently, Dream is his brother. Because he hates us. Because he's the bad guy.

Sapnap stared into Dream's eyes as Dream stared back. He realized just how angry Dream was. He saw all the pent-up frustration and despair in them. Dream was scared. He was stressed. He just wanted to protect his friends.

As Actaeon started to drive the head of the arrow deeper into Sapnap's neck, Dream snapped.

He flipped around and punched Peligro in the face, causing him to stagger backwards, clutching at his broken nose. As the people around him tried to react to what was happening, Dream grabbed the dagger off of someone's belt and twirled around, tossing it towards Actaeon. Sapnap's captor fell with a grunt. A second later, so did George's.

Sapnap stumbled back as person after person started falling before his eyes. Dream grabbed the axe off of the nearest person's belt and twirled it around, sinking it into an assassin's chest. He tugged it out again, ducked under a sword, and decapitated the man trying to kill him.

The grace with which Dream wielded his weapons made Sapnap truly appreciate his skill, even if he was still terrified. It was like they were an extension of his body, albeit a very deadly one.

The amount of blood around him was making Sapnap sick. He was fine with blood and all, since he got hurt on a daily basis, but the increasingly expanding pool in front of him made his legs go weak.

He glanced over at the prince. George's face was pale and his eyes were as large as saucers. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Sapnap felt frozen in place as Dream took down enemy after enemy in front of him. He was a killing machine, taking down one person after the next without even pausing for breath. He turned the weapons of his opponents against them, sword against owner. No remorse. No second thoughts.

There was only death.

And for the first time ever, Sapnap felt truly scared of Dream.