The Reverie - Part 4

Abby woke up with a start. How she could have possibly fallen asleep again when she read of the hound of Haliden, she didn’t know. But her resolve to speak with Danielle had grown since reading the book. Whether she was in a reverie or not, she needed to know if she and Ben would be safe with the couple or if she needed to plan an escape with her brother. There was no way she could leave him now, when such a monster might be hunting.

To make matters worse, the sparks were becoming stronger when she touched the pages of the book, and the once small golden fleck in each of her eyes had now grown into a thin line circling her irises. Thankfully, it would dim considerably after she was awake. But the fact that it was there at all, and growing, made her worry about what would happen if she continued to read from the Magic Realm. And if she were somehow drawing magic from the book, would she also draw creatures from it?

She shuddered at the thought.

Surprised to find herself awake before Ben, she hurried to get dressed and walked quietly downstairs, hoping for a moment to talk.

“You’re up bright and early.”

Abby looked up to see Danielle smiling at her from the front room.

“I was just tidying up before breakfast was ready. How are you feeling?”

Abby smiled and nodded. “I’m feeling much better today.”

“I’m so glad! Come on, let’s check on the biscuits I put in the oven.”

Abby followed her into the kitchen and helped while Danielle made eggs and bacon for everyone, wondering how she should broach the subject of the book, or if she should even say anything at all.

“Danielle, do you know anything about reveries?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the woman had paused before putting eggs on a platter.

“I do,” she replied quietly.

Abby looked at her cautiously before proceeding. “Well, um. What do you think about them?”

Danielle continued to place the platter on the table. “I think they are very rare among the Realms, and as such, they should be protected. Why do you ask?”

Abby’s lips felt dry as she tried not to lose her nerve. “Most people don’t want anything to do with people who have magic.”

“Mmm. I think people are more afraid of Torvius than anyone with magic. But people can act badly when they are afraid, so reveries are in hiding now.”

“But you don’t think they should?”

Danielle continued to set the table. “I think they have no choice at the moment.”

“What would you do if you knew one?”

“I would—”

Ding Dong 

They both turned to look at the hall, where the doorbell rang loudly.

Danielle frowned absently. “Who could that be at this hour?” Untying her apron, she glanced out the kitchen window. “Caleb is somewhere out back. Stay here.”

Abby nodded and peeked around the kitchen door to watch as Danielle answered the front door. Too far away to hear the words spoken by the stranger on the porch, she waited until the door was closed, and Danielle watched the stranger leave from the front window.

When Danielle turned to her, a look crossed her face that had every alarm going off in Abby’s head. She knew that look. Fear. Something the stranger said had made Danielle afraid, and it terrified Abby.

“What’s wrong?”

Danielle put her hand on Abby’s arm. “I need you to wake Ben and get him ready as quickly as possible. Hurry and eat, if you can. I have to find Caleb.”

Abby was about to ask what was going on, but the look on Danielle’s face stopped her. Instead, she raced up the stairs and woke up her sleeping brother, who remained disoriented while she grabbed clothes and told him to get dressed quickly.

When she had gotten Ben to sit at the kitchen table to eat breakfast, she glanced out the window and saw Danielle talking to Caleb. The discussion seemed to be a serious one, with Caleb taking out his phone and making a call.

Abby couldn’t possibly think what would make the two seemingly calm people so nervous; she only hoped it wasn’t something she had done. One thing nagged in the back of her mind—what would happen to the reverie Valora and Galien were searching for? And how could she tell Danielle and Caleb she had the book and thought she was a reverie, herself?

The words were on the tip of her tongue for the entire ride into the city, but she couldn’t seem to voice them. She hoped they would say it was something unrelated. Maybe her imagination had simply run away from her in creating something ridiculous.

Abby’s thoughts were interrupted when she realized they were no longer moving. Her forehead wrinkled when she read the familiar sign above the shop. “Sidewinder Books” was a strange name for a bookstore, in Abby’s opinion.

Danielle ushered Abby and Ben in the door behind Caleb, while the two grown-ups looked around nervously.

“What are we doing here?” Abby asked quietly.

Danielle placed her arm around Abby’s shoulders while they walked. “We need to see someone here. I promise it won’t take long.”

Abby nodded. “But why here?”

Danielle shrugged. “It’s a safe meeting spot. The owner doesn’t pay attention to anything beyond the front counter.”

Abby took Ben’s hand and followed them to the back of the shop, hidden by an array of tall bookshelves.

“Stay right here,” Danielle instructed before joining Caleb. The two spoke in a hushed conversation with another man with slightly greying hair.

Ben squeezed her hand. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I think something happened, but they aren’t saying what.”

“Will they send us away?”

Abby looked down at her brother and noticed how tightly he was holding onto her hand.

“I don’t want to go back. I want us to stay with Danielle and Caleb. I like them.”

She pulled her brother in for a hug. “I know Ben. Me too. Let’s wait to see what happens, okay? I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Okay.”

Abby’s attention moved to the rest of the shop, wishing her life could be more like a heroic adventure found on the pages of the stories she read. Instead, it seemed more like an endless tragedy she couldn’t escape.

She sighed and casually reached up to take a book off the shelf in front of her, opening her view of the counter where the grumpy old man perched on a stool, facing the front door. Something was strange about the man. The store phone rang, and the old man picked it up, speaking too far away for Abby to hear. He glanced in Abby’s direction but couldn’t see her behind the full shelves.

Something was off.

She watched intently, trying to read his lips for any clue about his conversation, when she recognized one word he spoke—reverie.

Her breath caught. She stepped back and turned to face the distracted adults. “He knows.”

Grabbing Ben’s hand, she rushed to where Danielle stood. “He knows.”

Danielle and Caleb looked up at her in surprise. “What?” Danielle asked.

“The shop owner. He’s telling someone on the phone about us,” Abby blurted out.

Caleb looked toward the front of the store before turning to the man he had spoken with. “We’re getting out now. Shut down this location as a meeting point; it’s been compromised.”

The man looked skeptically toward the front of the store. “Are you sure?”

“We can’t take that chance, can we?” Caleb’s tone was firm.

The man nodded and disappeared down a side aisle to exit through the front of the store.

“C’mon,” Caleb ordered quietly.

Shouts came from the front of the store, where the man they’d just met with had exited. Abby caught a glimpse of the store owner as he flagged down Haliden soldiers and pointed at the fleeing man. Panic seized her heart.

Caleb ushered them to the back of the store, where a hallway held offices and restrooms. “This way.” Finding the exit door, he opened it and led them to the back alley.

They had only taken a few steps before they heard shouts from the main street.

“Caleb, we won’t make it to the street before they see us,” Danielle said in a trembling voice.

He led them behind a stack of empty pallets and motioned for them to crouch down. Soldiers ran on the main streets, passing by the alley, but it was only a matter of time before their hiding spot was discovered.

A door swung open loudly, alerting them to an employee from a neighboring store walking casually to the dumpster across the alley.

“Come on,” Caleb whispered, leading them to the open door.

They hurried through the back door and made their way to the aisles of the store, blending in with the customers.

Abby swallowed when the smell of the hardware store filled her nose. The memory of being struck flooded her mind and made her pulse quicken in fear.

Of all the doors that had to be open, why did it have to be this one?

Caleb instructed quietly, “The car is across the street. We walk out casually like nothing is wrong, and we should be able to get out.”

Danielle’s hand trembled as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “They’re looking for the four of us, Caleb. They’ll see us—”

“We’ll go two at a time. You take Ben and wait for us in the car.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “We can do this, okay?”

She forced a smile. “Okay. Come on, Ben.”

Ben took Danielle’s hand and looked up at Abby. “You’ll meet us there?”

Abby nodded. “I’m right behind you.”

The two of them walked slowly out the front door and disappeared on the other side of the parked cars. The temperature plunged into an icy cold that made Abby’s skin prickle. When she saw her breath, her heart lurched.

“We have to get out of here,” she whispered.

Caleb stared ahead at the front of the store, trying to see if the others had gotten into the car safely. “Just a second,” he said absently.

“We have to leave now. He’s here.”

Caleb looked down at her in confusion. “Who’s here?”

“Kroor.” As the words left her mouth, she turned to look back toward the rear entrance and saw a giant paw appear at the far end of the aisle. “The Hound of Haliden.”

Caleb’s eyes widened, and he grabbed her arm to sprint to the front of the store.

As they pushed past customers, screams erupted from the back of the store along with crashing shelves.

“Well, what do we have here?” The familiar face of the teen boy Abby had hoped she’d never see again stepped in front of the door.

Before Abby could speak, Caleb grabbed the boy by his collar and threw him aside. The shouts continued while they sprinted to the car to join the others waiting inside.

When Caleb hit the gas, she looked out the window, and her breath caught in her throat. Soldiers had spotted them and moved to intercept the car, while the cruel teen from the store had joined the chase. The glass doors of the hardware store exploded as the nightmarish hound burst through them like paper.

Abby trembled at the sheer size of the beast she had read about. He was closer to a lion than any hound she had ever seen, his black fur spiking like a frightened cat’s.

In a surprising twist of fate, the soldiers ran from Kroor as soon as they saw him, knocking the teen boy down in their rush to escape his fury. The boy wasn’t so lucky and made the mistake of looking straight into the hound’s eyes, leaving his body frozen from head to toe.

He was nothing more than a terrifying statue of ice.

Abby turned around to see Danielle’s horrified face. “We have to go faster!”

Danielle’s voice wavered. “He turned to ice.” She looked at Caleb, who was gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. “Can we outrun him?”

“I don’t know.”

The silence after Caleb’s admission was deafening. Abby’s thoughts screamed for a way to solve their problem, but her panic kept any solution from becoming clear.

Suddenly, she thought of the book.

“We have to find Galien and Valora! They’ll get us to safety!”

“You read the book?” Caleb asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. I’m sorry if I wasn’t allowed—”

“No, it’s okay. I’m not mad, Abby. It’s just not something I expected.” He glanced back at her reassuringly. “Do you have any idea how to get to them?”

“Umm… wait! There are some kinds of underground waterways connecting Haliden and Asherath. They said they would try to get through them if they weren’t blocked. Do you know where any of those could be?”

“There are two,” Caleb answered. “Before I was a law enforcer, I served as a soldier. Everyone has to patrol the border and waterways at some point. The safest bet is the one at the West Gate. They don’t have as many soldiers there. If the tunnels aren’t blocked, we might be able to get through.”

Danielle nodded. “Okay. But what about that thing chasing us?”

Abby turned to face the back window. “I think we lost it—”

The car swerved sharply to the right when a blur of black rammed into the side. Abby and Ben screamed at the impact, holding each other tightly.

“Caleb!” Danielle shouted.

“Hold on! I’ll try to lose him by the factories!”

Caleb sped down the road, turning with a screech onto the main streets of the business district, where buildings were plentiful. Disregarding the flashing lights and stop signs dotting the road, he continued at a breakneck speed, forcing workers to shout and jump out of the way.

Abby watched the hound chasing them, leaping over fallen people and smashing into food vendor carts, hurling food into the air. Try as they might, the beast wasn’t deterred from following them down every winding road.

A loud horn blared ahead of them, warning everyone of the oncoming train that would soon thunder along the railroad tracks just outside the business district.

Caleb pushed the accelerator harder, aiming for the railroad crossing as the barriers began to lower.

Abby held Ben tightly and screamed when she saw a train speeding toward them on the tracks, missing them by inches as they shot across and continued down the road out of the city. When she dared to look back, she saw only the train cars rolling by. The loud howl of the beast sent a chill down her spine. She knew she would see the terrifying creature again.

They sped down a winding road until they noticed brake lights up ahead. Traffic was at a dead stop, with vehicles of all sizes in line to reach the checkpoint.

“What’s going on?” Danielle asked.

Caleb slowed to a stop and put his window down. “Wait here.” He exited the car and walked over to a small group of drivers standing outside their vehicles.

They waited nervously until he came back and sat down.

“There’s a roadblock ahead. Guards are checking all vehicles and asking questions. No one knows why.”

Danielle answered, “They’re looking for us.”

Caleb nodded. “We’re going to have to go into the woods.”

Danielle’s eyes widened. “But that thing—”

“We can make it. But we have to leave now.”

Caleb stepped out of the car and shut the door, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. When the coast seemed clear, he motioned for the others to leave the car and follow him.

They walked through the groups of people, trying to blend in with the frustrated drivers. When a dispute arose between two angry men, Caleb saw their opportunity to escape into the woods unnoticed and guided them among the trees.

The sound of honking horns and angry people faded as they ran deeper into the forest.

Abby held tight to Ben’s hand while they followed Caleb and Danielle, climbing up steep inclines and jumping over fallen tree limbs. It felt like they had run for an eternity before they began to see lights through the trees ahead.

Once they had almost reached the tree line, Caleb motioned for them to hide behind a cluster of bushes.

Abby’s heart sank when she saw the checkpoint dotted with soldiers on alert. No vehicles were allowed through unless each passenger was searched. They inched toward the edge of the road and jumped into a ditch.

“We need a distraction to get everyone’s attention off the road,” Caleb said quietly. “The tunnels are just over that hill. We’ll have to run for it.”

Danielle shook her head. “How are we going to create a distraction?”

“I’ve got an idea. Be ready to run when you see people moving.”

“What? No—”

Caleb darted out of the ditch to the back of a work truck filled with dirt and bricks, left unattended by the driver, who stood arguing with the soldiers in the center of the checkpoint. It was only when he inched to the front door that Abby noticed he was holding something large in his hand. Squinting, she could see it was a brick he must have grabbed from the back of the vehicle. When he cautiously opened the driver’s side door, her eyes grew wide.

Suddenly, the truck began rolling forward in the direction of the line of soldiers and traffic. Caleb jumped back into the ditch and waited until a commotion arose between the soldiers and the owner of the truck. The slight decline in the road only propelled the truck to pick up speed while drivers shouted and ran to escape the crash.

“Go!” Caleb instructed them hurriedly.

As chaos ensued behind them, they raced across the road and tumbled down the steep hill leading to the entrance of the forgotten waterway. They splashed across the bank of a once-thriving river, now shallow from the blockade at its source in Asherath.

Caleb helped them jump down into a wide cement ditch stemming from a tunnel that disappeared into a hill. They raced to the tunnel entrance, only to be stopped by a locked iron gate. The thick chain wrapped around the gate held a large padlock, old and rusted by time.

Caleb ran to a cluster of rocks on the riverbed and grabbed a large one before racing back to the gate. Shouting grew closer to the river behind them while Caleb slammed the rock into the padlock repeatedly until it fell to the ground. Once the chain had been ripped away, Caleb swung the gate open and ushered them through.

A howl in the distance stopped them in their tracks.

“Hurry!” Caleb ordered.

They raced into the tunnel, stumbling as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. A flashlight turned on suddenly and lit the tunnel ahead.

Danielle looked at Caleb in confusion. “Where did you find that?”

Caleb guided them deeper into the tunnel. “I found it in the cab of that truck. Let’s hope no one else sees it.”

They ran along the eerie waterway until they found a giant pile of dirt and rocks blocking the path ahead. Before they could speak a word, Caleb ran to the corner of the pile and began digging feverishly.

The others raced to join him, cutting through the dirt and rocks until they could see light streaming from the end of the tunnel. The hope of escape renewed their energy as they clawed away the barrier until they could slide through a small crevice one at a time.

It was when Caleb crawled through last that they almost dared to breathe a sigh of relief. But the moment was short-lived when they heard a howl from somewhere just beyond the tunnel.

They sprinted to the exit and burst into the light, trying to put more distance between them and the relentless hound. Another blockade was up ahead, forcing them to climb out of the cement trench and exposing them to the soldiers keeping watch at the border. Shouts came from behind them as their escape was spotted from the wall.

Abby scanned the open landscape and saw no way for them to outrun Kroor or the soldiers. When a shadow passed above, she looked to the sky and saw the most beautiful sight!

“Kirro! Down here!” She waved her arm until the golden eagle circled around and landed close to them.

When Galien and Valora jumped down from the towering eagle, they looked at the group with concern.

Abby stopped in front of them, out of breath. “I’m Abby. I read the book—”

“You’re the reverie,” Valora interrupted.

Before she could reply, Caleb answered, “She is. Can you get us to safety?”

Galien nodded. “We’ll have to make a couple of trips. I don’t know if Kirro can handle all of us at once.”

Danielle shook her head. “No, we don’t have time for a second trip. That beast is almost here—”

“Kroor? How? We left him in Twilight Cove,” Valora said, looking to Galien.

“I don’t know. He must have a doorway we don’t know about—or someone’s helping him with magic.”

Caleb asked, “How many can you take?”

“Four at most.”

Danielle’s eyes watered. “Please take Abby and Ben. Get them to safety.”

Caleb nodded and kissed her head as she wiped her tears away.

“No! We can’t leave you,” Abby cried out.

Ben grabbed Dani before she pulled him away. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered.

Caleb ran and tackled a soldier trying to get to them. “Go! Go now!”

Galien grabbed Ben and lifted him onto Kirro before grabbing Abby’s arm and forcing her to sit behind her brother.

Valora sprinted to Caleb, helping him knock the soldier unconscious.

Galien shouted, “Valora!”

She shook her head at him and pointed to Kirro. “Take them!”

Shaking his head in frustration, he ushered Danielle onto Kirro’s back and mounted the golden eagle behind her. “Go to the river! I’ll find you!”

Valora nodded once and turned her attention to the fallen soldier. When she grabbed a knife from his belt, she stood and seized Caleb’s arm. “Come on!”

They started to run, with Valora guiding them through trees and brush, hoping to escape the soldiers. They had only just made it beyond the tree line when two soldiers tackled Caleb to the ground, subduing him with restraints before he could fight back.

Valora turned to help him when Kroor burst through the trees and landed with a thud so violent that the ground shook.

The moment Caleb saw the beast, he looked at Valora in panic. “Run.”

When she realized she could never free him in time to escape the hideous beast, she forced herself to bolt. She heard the shouting of the soldiers and the snarling of the hound behind her, driving her to run faster.

She knew Kroor was behind her; she could practically feel him breathing down her neck. When she saw the land drop off ahead, she knew there was no stopping. Jumping off the small cliffside, she was motionless in the air before landing in the rushing river with a splash. When her head surfaced, she spluttered the water out and let her body be taken by the current.

She had made it!

A huge splash came from behind her, turning her attention back to see nothing but the remnants of something large in the water. Her heart seized as she looked up to the cliff she had jumped from and saw it was empty—the creature was gone.

“No, no, no…” she mumbled before seeing the hideous beast break the surface.

Turning around, she began swimming with the current while searching for a way to escape without him following.

The cold water splashed over Valora’s face as she tried to get closer to the land. All she needed was a low branch to pull herself out, preferably in a spot the hound couldn’t reach.

Valora’s eyes scanned the rushing water ahead and noticed rocks jutting out from the shoreline.

It was now or never.

Swimming as close as she could, she dove for the moss-covered rocks and strained to wrench herself free of the forceful current. Once she managed to pull herself out, she stumbled upright and jumped from rock to rock until she landed on the sandy shore.

Without bothering to glance back, she ran straight into the trees and didn’t stop, even when her curiosity screamed at her to see if the beast had escaped the river’s current.

The moment she thought she could finally be safe from Kroor was the moment she heard a bone-chilling howl.

She pushed herself faster, hoping to gain more distance from the infernal creature, when she saw a black silhouette at the corner of her eye. She couldn’t stop the yelp that escaped her when the shape bolted up beside her.

“Spiri!”

Her heart surged with such relief that she barely had time to register another creature coming fast on her trail. Reality crashed in quickly enough for her to grab hold of Spiri’s mane and pull herself up before Kroor snarled behind them.

The moon mare surged ahead, leaving the hound to growl viciously in frustration before it gave up and disappeared in another direction.

Though relief settled in her chest that she was escaping the beast of nightmares, an ache was also there. She was supposed to save them, but she had failed. Some kind of swiftguard she was proving to be.

Valora knew another battle with the beast would come soon. Her jaw clenched in determination as she thought of her father and the legacy she wished to carry on for him.

She would not fail again.