1 | The Terrible Dreamer

Chapter 7

I will not be someone's meal tonight.

Water runs nearby. I enter further into a cluster of twisted trees—towards the riverbed that's thick with slimy blue moss and spotted flowers. The stream runs through the forest, zig-zagging between giant roots and overturn trees. The scent of rain blinds my senses; a thick fog rolls over the damp ground and fallen leaves. The flowers should be near here based on the research I gathered on our ride to Kenna's house. They always grow in the dense moss and thorns, glowing unnaturally in the darkness, their features are a cross between fungi and roses. They also take a year to die and worthy of five grand.

Black fish swim through the rocks. Their scales shimmer and teeth razor sharp, a million eyes covered their backs. I abruptly step back from the moss. A fish jumps out of the water, nicking the air by my chin. 'Be careful!' Aiya snaps.

"Shit," I curse out loud and stop, seize my breathing completely, and search the surroundings until I've determined the coast is clear.

Thorns travel on the edge of the riverbed, traveling over to a fallen tree truck. I swiftly cross it, taking a chance just to get to the other side. Fish jump out of the water, fangs snapping at my ankles, missing an inch of skin. I slide over the bark and jumped down on the other side.

'Are you sure the flowers are here?' Aiya asks.

'Yes. They're called Moongales. They only grow in the dark and around a riverbed with thorns. They glow like glow sticks and have this cool neon color—'

'Like those. To your right... Your other right.'

Just to my right, there's a small patch of glowing flowers hidden by a bush. They illuminate in the shadows, petals splattered with neon red, blues and yellows.

When I find it, I leap with joy. 'This is why you're my favorite guide!'

'This is why I got LASIK. Just hurry and grab them so you can get out of there.'

'Have you found a door yet?'

'Not yet. But there should be one around here somewhere. I can feel it,' Aiya says. It has to be true. I can feel it, too. Like a magnet, it pulls at the back of my head, trying to yank Aiya towards Earth—threatening to separate us.

I quickly get to work and conjure plant clippers to my hand. With these it's easy to cut the stems, one by one, I tuck the flowers inside my satchel for safekeeping. I'm almost done.

We'll be heading back soon and this entire experience will just be another memory. Another story. Possibly the last chance I will ever get to dreamwalk on Akane again. Experience the high of living. Even just breathing the air here is exhilarating. My senses tingle to life for the first time in forever. It's an adrenaline just being present in this world.

The words cross my mind before I can stop them. 'I don't want to go home.'

A vulture zips by overhead, circling the twisted branches. Black feathers a dark omen in the sky. It screeches through the woods, vibrating up my back and stinging my skin. I duck beneath the bush and cover my ears, but I'm too late. They feel sticky. Shit. There's blood on my palms and my ears won't stop ringing.

The Ōgini flee by the dozen. Hundreds cover the tree barks nearby, jumping from one branch to the next, running away from the area, over rocks and avoiding the snapping fish. I stifle a gasp. Holy crap. I've never seen so many in one place.

Dirt explodes on the other side of the bush. Rocks fly into barks, squishing the Ōgini running across. Many stop and hiss. They hit the rocks one after the other, crumbling them into dust at impact. They are harmless when you're not attacking their forest. I crouch further, watching, waiting, while Aiya prays to every god in the back of my mind.