WISH
Mist covers the mountain tops as giant trade ships sail across Akane's horizon. Sky urchins swim within their currents, dipping and diving through the clouds, around the ships mass, grazing them just slightly. Rain trickles off hundreds of twisted trees and drips on my hair. It's cool to the touch and reminds me of home. I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand.
After almost twenty years, I can't believe I'm finally back on Akane. Everything seems smaller than I remember, or rather normal in size and height. As a child, I distinctly recall feeling tiny compared to the twisted trees, an infant among giants. Now, I can reach up and touch a low branch and feel the life flowing through its velvety leaves. Though, at five foot eleven, I can reach a lot of high places that Mom can't. Definitely a trait I inherited from my dad.
I stretch my arms, prep my legs, and get started. In an instant, an emerald cloak covers my body, gold trim woven around sleeves with thorny vines creeping into the material. Since I'm in Norwood territory, it's safer to disguise myself as one of their shrine attendants, blessing and offering to the Ōgini of Treschine Forest. They're harmless spirits, but I can't let my guard down. Who knows what kind of strong hold Norwood's ruler has over their kind.
My fingers spread out, fingerless gloves appear, along with a satchel, filled with items that I can use as emergency weapons. On our drive over, I made a mental check list. I'm hoping these items will be enough to protect me tonight. Since it's been so many years, I have no idea how much preparation I need to survive this nightmare planet. All of my training has been physical. If I weren't doing this job in secret, I would've called Kusanagi Sensei, but that would only draw unwanted attention. The first lesson we learned from Sensei: never go to Akane.
Too late for that. I pull the hood over my head and press on into the forest.
The air is lighter than Earth's, the gravity less dense, enough that when I walk with a slight bounce in my steps. My feet are nimble, stepping in places through the foliage, avoiding the gnarly roots and their twisted trunks. Lucious blue moss pads the trees like mushroom tops, soft and fresh with rain. A perfect place to sleep... or to get trapped.
It's too quiet, too still. There are no insects, no birds. Darkness seems to follow and it feels like I'm being watched. The further I venture, the further the trees twist into empty husks, mimicking beings with arms and legs. Vines suck the life out of their leaves.
An Ōgini pops its bulbus head out from behind a tree. It peers at me with it's dark haunting eyes, empty and soulless, the body is almost translucent like a ghost, small as a child. Long arms flow from their body, feeding into the bark, giving substances to the tree with its own life. They are harmless. Just a forest spirit. There's nothing to worry about... But I can tell Aiya's nervous, there's an itch in the back of my head. Distracting.
'Be careful,' Aiya says, 'Don't let an Augelli sneak up on you.'
I look over my shoulder, 'Afraid I might get eaten?'
She doesn't respond.
Under a treaty with Gens Norwood, Gens Augelli protects the Treschine Forest from outsider like myself from stealing and destroying. It's just like the minds of people, treating me like a virus that's infected their dream, except on Akane they're more real than imaginary.
Everything here is alive and real.
As long as I stay low to the ground and quietly pass through, I shouldn't draw attention to myself. From what I read, the bloody vultures usually fly above the tree line, rarely coming to the ground during the day, except when they spot a meal.
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.
Rain turns the piles of dust into mud, smoldering the fight out of the Ōgini, they slowly disappear into the trees, while the rain drenches my cloak and satchel. Metal clashes through the forest; there's an echo of dark laughter and a snarl. Time freezes; the air grows thick. I can barely catch my breath, waiting and anticipating what kind of creatures will show next.
When the dust settles, a fox and a vulture, stand in the middle of a clearing. Through the gap in the bushes leaves, I watch them carefully. Both are built to fight, muscles tense, they're more like men than the tiny creatures of this forest. They're so focused on their fight the forest spirits are a mere afterthought. Their swords clash at the sight of each other, until they stand perfectly still, pushing the other back with their strength. Roots break beneath their footing.
I can't stop watching. It's both terrifying and intriguing, so different from the way people fight on Earth. It's barbaric yet elegant in the way they move, and very dangerous for me to be here watching them, but there's nowhere for me to run. If I show myself now, they'll both chase after me, and I don't even know where a door is yet.
A blonde tail whips out from behind the fox, a black painted mask obscures his features to appear emotionless when killing his enemy. He's an assassin from Gens Nisha, known as the Faceless. Why is he out here? This is Gens Norwood territory.
The fox carefully watches his opponent—the vulture stands just out of reach, his wings spread back, they open wide. Razor sharp edges glisten off the feathers and explode from the wings, shattering tree bark and stabbing into the Ōgini that watch and wait in curiosity. Black tar drips from their bodies, oozing over the moss and bark, disappearing into the dust like an unwanted dream.
The Faceless fox is nowhere to be seen.
'You need to get out of there. Fast.' Aiya's words come out jumbled.
I duck low and survey the area. 'I don't see a door. Have you found it yet?'
And where the hell is that fox?
'Who cares about the door! You just need to get out of there right now. We'll find another door. Somewhere far away. Far from here. Wish, are you listening!'
A small blonde fox appears from the dust and bites the vulture in the thigh. It holds on fast, ravaging at the skin, red blood drips from its muzzle. That's right. The Faceless are all shifters. It must be the Faceless fox from earlier.
When the vulture claws at the fox, it catches blonde fur and nothing more. The small fox disappears into the mist—a true nightmare hidden within Akane. Witnessing this is far more frightening than reading it in a picture book. A shifting fox. A bloody vulture. What's next?
The vulture hisses through his cracked beak and clutches at his thigh. "That damn half-breed!" he yells, then cocoons himself in the razor-sharp wings.
Half-breed. He means shifter. That just confirms I was right. This planet really is a nightmare come true. Back in his Faceless form, the fox jumps from a treetop, a crystal knife in hand, and stabs his enemy through the neck.
I fall back, the wet leaves pressing into my palms. He just killed him. He just stabbed that vulture like his life meant nothing. This planet truly is a nightmare. Trembling, I scramble back, ready to flee, and come face to face with a second black mask. Another Faceless assassin.
Luckily, my training kicks in. I conjure a knife and slash the air in front of me. The Faceless steps back, giving me room to flee. But he's faster. He yanks me back by the cloak and slams me up against a tree trunk and knocks the knife out of my hands. I throw a fist and he dodges, catching me before I can go for a second. My hands are pinned above my head as he grips me without mercy and presses a crystal knife to my neck.
For the first time since coming to Akane I feel like I might actually die.
Shimmering light gleams from its thin blade; rainbows dance along his mask. He stands overwhelmingly tall, towering me as a predator would upon their prey. Shadows engulf him from head to toe, covering him like a cap of death and despair. Goosebumps rise over my skin as shadows whisper up my body. Everything about him is so dreamlike and unbreakable. If I move at all, I most certainly will die.
I can't see his teeth nor his eyes, but I don't need to. His voice is so cold, I imagine everything about this man is sharp and deadly, a man without a soul. "Dreamwalker."
Shadows drift further around his body, molding with his mask, I can't tell if he's here or there. A trick of the mind. It whispers beneath his knife's edge and caresses my face with inviting darkness.
I jerk back; he presses closer, right up against me. This man has no boundaries. Lean and hard, his body is made of stone. I try not to gag. This isn't happening. This can't be real. Why out of all the people on this damn planet did I have to come across two Faceless! I can't die here. Not like this. I have to think. Think, Wish. Think!
His cold mask grazes my ear, breathing in my scent, shivers crawl through my skin. "Where is the paper butterfly?" he asks. My lips crack open, but I'm too terrified to speak. He presses on the blade, my skin stings with the threat of blood spilling. "I can smell it on you."
Somehow, by grace of the gods, I speak. "I—what?"
Well, sort of. Apparently, that isn't the right answer.
He stares at me through his blank mask, watching, unmoving. Shadows crawl over my legs like tiny spiders, nipping at my skin, I open my mouth to scream and the Faceless smothers me with his palm. Sharp nails draw thin lines across my cheek. "Tell me where it is or I will cut off each finger until you do."
I'm going to die. I'm really going to die.
I can't breathe.
His nails dig into the tree trunk between my trapped wrists. I gag, swallowing the vomit that threatens to spill. "I don't have the butterfly. I've never seen a butterfly." My voice grows stronger the more I speak. "I was just stealing some flowers. Where's the crime in that?"
He cocks his head to the side and seems to analyze me once more. I struggle to get out of the vines. Think, Wish, think. What am I missing? Why can't I do anything right! What happened to all that training? Why isn't my body responding? I'm just too scared.
I can't breathe.
Like an angel descended from heaven, Aiya speaks through calm words. 'Wish, take a deep breath. You can do this. Remember your training. Anything you touch you can use to your advantage. You are a dreamwalker. You are a Capri. You can do this.'
Aiya's right. I can do this. I am a dreamwalker. I'm on a planet where impossibilities are possible. My hands may be seized but my shoes are free and running has never failed me.
Shadows sharpen over the black mask. "Enough. I'm done playing this game."
'Do it now!' Aiya yells and that's all I need to snap me out of it. I kick my heel back against the tree and send a small explosive bullet into the core of the tree. This is Akane. Anything is possible in a dream for me.
The ground rumbles in the explosion, quakes our bodies as the tree groans. Twisted bark cracks behind my heel, chipping away until the tree starts tipping forward. He lets me go.
I run off. The leaves shake as their comrade's base explodes and it falls to the ground. Fury in their anger, their roots seem to grow and block my path the further I run. Quick on my toes, I gracefully maneuver over every single one.
Darkness dances in the corner of my eye. I conjure a flash grenade and toss it into the sky. A bright light explodes, my own shadow runs ahead, reflecting my movements until I'm able to catch up and dash through the forest, Ōgini still lingering about.
'Turn right at the big boulder up ahead. A door should be nearby. I can feel it,' Aiya says.
The boulder comes into view. I turn right and run like no other. With my long legs, I easily dart over the rocks, jump the bushes, bark scratches my fingers as I jump over another high root. Shadows dance in the corner of my eyes again. The Faceless isn't far behind.
But then I stop.
As if I entered an entirely different part of Akane, tall grass sways before me, paper golden beneath the misting clouds. They stretch for miles long, no trees in sight. The ever presence of death approaching me from all sides. 'Is that really the closest door?'
Aiya hesitates. 'Yes. It's straight through there.'
Things are always too good to be true.
I take a deep breath and run right in, zig zagging through. Maybe a disrupted trail will keep them from finding me. My breath comes out shallow. Legs burn; muscles ache. Mud clings to my running shoes, threatening to pull me into its depth and never let go.
Blonde hair flashes by my left; pointy ears poke up from the tops of the grass. The Faceless fox is now on my trail. Great, just what I need.
"Cutting down that tree... That wasn't very smart to anger Norwood, Dreamwalker." The fox has a bite to his voice, playful and rough, two combinations that don't work in my favor. "Or was that your intention all along? To invade our world and create chaos?"
I bite the inside of my cheek. I can't let him get to me. He's just trying to pinpoint my exact location. If I speak, I'll be dead in a matter of seconds. That man obviously has no aversion to killing, and I'm not about to let myself fall on the end of his blade.
I leap over a rock partly hidden in the ground. The world is also working against me too. I didn't want to cut down that tree, but what choice did I have? Kill or be killed. That's the kind of world Akane is. The Faceless fox chuckles from my right. When did he get over there? He's too quick and quiet. Even the grass barely shows his movements.
"I can hear you breathing," he says, his voice much closer now. "I can smell your fear."
Blonde hair flashes right before me, just a few stalks away. I run further to the right, away from him. The treetops are closer now, the top of a door rising further above the grass. I'm getting closer. I'm almost there. I run straight for it.
My shoes kicked up dirt and press into grass. The closer I get the colder it becomes. When I stumble, I look down and can't find my feet. A pit of black covers the ground and slowly rises, inching its way up over my knees, to my hips, my hands. I can't feel the grass. No, no, no–
The shadows swallow me whole.
It takes everything in me to pry open my eyes, and when I do, the door appears before me just out of reach. The threshold stands on its own, an iron door welded with vines and snakes, emerald eyes and glass pressed from sand. It's the Andreatte Estate's Main House door.
And I'm not alone.
A blonde tail traps my legs, full of sandpaper and bristles. His hands tighten on my arms, claws dig into my skin and pierce just hard enough to make me bleed. I'm a rabbit caught in a fox's trap. With no way to run, I struggle and tremble, then struggle some more.
The Faceless fox presses further into my back, licking his top lip. "You smell like sweets. I wonder if you taste like one too."
"Kato, that's enough."
The second Faceless steps out from behind the door and with it comes that impenetrable darkness. A single claw extends from his fingers and scratches a line down the threshold, screeching metal and needles, claiming the door for his own. He's teasing me, holding me hostage just out of reach from returning to my world. Bastard. Will he kill me right here?
Shadows claw their way over his body like an animal that can hardly be controlled. He clenches his fists and the shadows tighten on his arms. They react to his emotions–to his anger. The closer he gets the darker my world grows. Each step has a purpose, controlled and determined, and as he stops in front of me, the temperature drops once more.
He towers over me. "I will ask one last time. Where is the paper butterfly?"
Shadows caress me, nipping at the skin, searching my entire body. Fear threatens to choke me again, but I won't let it this time. If I'm going to die, I'll die with pride. "How many times do I have to repeat myself? I only came here to steal some flowers!"
With the flick of his finger, Kato bites down hard on my shoulder. I scream so loud it echoes. God, it hurts like a bitch. He retracts his sharp incisions, savoring the blood over his lips as if I'm a rare steak cooked to perfection. I can't stop trembling.
My chin is snatched and forced to look at the shadows and the blank mask of this monstrous man. "Where is the paper butterfly? I know you have it," he speaks, too close. "This is my last warning, Dreamwalker."
Why hasn't he just killed me already? There has to be something holding him back besides information. Does it even matter? He will kill me, if not now then later.
Kato suddenly cuts the satchel off my shoulder and hands it over to his companion. He dumps the contents onto the dirt, spilling the flowers and other trinkets all over my shoes. He searches every item without caution. The gods must be on my side.
This man has no idea the mistake he just made.
I toss my head back hard. My skull crashes into the fox's face. He lets me go, cursing my title and all that it's worth. He can yell to the heavens above, call for reinforcements, but they won't catch again me now that I'm free. I stomp on a small music box.
A high-pitched whistle screeches at the top of its lid, one that only shifters can hear. The fox presses his ears down, crouching to the forest floor, whimpering, but the other Faceless doesn't react at all. He reaches out for me.
Wait. He's not a shifter? But he's a Faceless. All Faceless assassins are shifters, captured by the Nisha and forced into a lifelong servitude. Even a few Faceless are known to be part Nisha and shifter since they live so close together. He can control the shadows. He is a Nisha. That is a fact—this doesn't make sense.
I conjure another blade and this time I don't hesitate. I don't hold back.
I cut his mask in two.
It falls away in parts, and with it, the shadows retract like they'd been burned by my touch. Large horns appear, curled into sharp points on his head. He grabs for his face; fear stricken in his black eyes. An old faded scar runs over his left cheek to eyebrow. He's young, maybe my age. For a second, I falter. I know him. The picture book back home is grainy from a distant camera shot, but with the shadows and the turned angle... and the horns... Oh, god.
Aiya gasps. 'Vear, Ruler of Gens Nisha.'
No, I can't let myself be distracted. This is my last chance.
I snatch up the flowers and run towards the door. I ignore every instinct to look back. Ignore the way Vear's eyes light with hatred. Ignore the pain in my shoulder. I grab the iron door knob and push it open. The stars surround me, expanding into the unknown vast universe, towards a glass door back home. Back to Kenna and Ken's home. Back to my anxious best friend. Back to my loving mother.
Back to the one place I'll always call home...
"Dreamwalker!" Vear shouts and I swear I hear him stomp a foot down inside the portal.
A crystal knife cuts my side and clangs against the door frame, lost in the abyss between worlds. It hurts so bad. I stumble and clench my side, trying to put pressure on the wound. It's deep, blood oozes between my fingers, but it's not enough to stop me. I keep pushing through.
The second I'm through the door home, I slam it shut behind me.